According to Onside Sponsorship, venue naming rights deals including Lansdowne Road (home to Irish Rugby and football), The Point Depot (Large Music/Theatre Venue) and other venues, the new GAA Football and Hurling Championships sponsorship model restructure as well as major global events such as the Olympics in Beijing and Euro 2008 will push spending to a new high.
This record high comes off significant double-digit growth in Irish sponsorship in recent years, as 2007 saw sponsorship spend in Ireland stretching to an estimated €113 million. 2007 was very much rugby’s year in terms of sponsorship spend growth, fuelled by The Rugby World Cup, major new deals such as the seven figure Bank of Ireland sponsorship of Leinster Rugby, while new events like World Rally Championships and factors like a People in Need Year (Large Cause Related Property) also contributed to last years surge.
John Trainor, Managing Director of Onside, notes that: “Confidence in our market forecasts are strengthened by a new survey that we have just completed with key decision-makers in the Irish sponsorship industry across sponsors, rightsholders and agencies, which revealed that 76 per cent of those currently operating within the discipline believe that sponsorship spending in 2008 will increase in Ireland compared with last year.” Sport, broadcast sponsorship and the environment were found to be the areas likely to see greatest increase in spend in 2008, while venue naming rights was singled out in the Onside Industry research as the area expected to provide strongest growth opportunities for sponsors in 08.
"The principle challenge facing sponsorship practitioners that was highlighted in the industry research was the spiralling costs of rights and the knock-on limitations this imposes on a sponsors ability to adequately leverage these rights" according to John Trainor.
