When UEFA EURO 2012 kicks off in Warsaw at the start of June, with the dust still settling in Europe’s big five football leagues, sales of merchandise can be expected to soar. A successful tournament will help ensure over 18 million jerseys of the 16 national teams and 98 top clubs will change hands. These partnerships are worth more than EUR 500 million to sport equipment manufacturers.
The SPORT+MARKT European Football Kit Supplier Report 2012 sheds light on the relationships between trade partners, illustrates the different business models, addresses trends and developments and delivers valid figures on the volume of the kit supplier market in Europe for the first time.

To view an exclusive extract, click here. [English, PDF 470 KB]
 

Like its Formula1 World Championship-winning driver Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, the brand, left its competition for dust in 2011. New Motorsport24 results show the Austrian energy drinks giant was the most successful brand in Formula1 last year, generating global TV exposure value worth $195.8 million (148.7 million EUR). In the annual review of six major international motorsport series (not including Nascar and Indycar due to their specificity to North America), South Korean conglomerate LG was the only competitor that came close to matching that success.

Whether Red Bull can maintain their remarkable progress will depend largely upon its team’s success on the circuit over the coming season. Rivals Vodafone, UBS and Pirelli will all be set to pounce at any sign of a slip. In MotoGP, Repsol and AlpineStars fought a close battle for the throne in 2011, while Pirelli was the clear winner in World Superbike. Chevrolet led the way in WTCC, while Audi topped the DTM podium followed closely by Mercedes.Ford seized the largest share of media value in the World Rally Championship.

To view a Top 5 ranking of brands active in six selected series, click here. [English, PDF 161 KB]
 

With over 20,000 hours of broadcast coverage across five continents in the 2011 season, the FIM Superbike World Championship can truly be classed a global force in the motorsport landscape. This year, Superbike celebrates its 25th anniversary with a 14-round international calendar that includes the series’ first visit to Russia with the August event at the new Moscow Raceway.

In an exclusive SPONSORGLOBE interview, Paolo Ciabatti, WSBK Director at Infront Motor Sports, the series’ owner, discusses the challenges facing top-level motorsport today, opportunities for potential growth in the future and Infront’s unique "A to Z" business model in Superbike. Indeed Ciabatti, whose career in motorsport stretches back over three decades, insists the mission to take Superbike to an even wider audience has only just begun: "I think the Superbike championship can achieve more and also become established in new countries… we are working hard to achieve these goals."

Read the full interview here. [English, PDF 384 KB]
 

Australian Rules again succeeded in increasing its dominance on the country’s diverse football landscape in 2011. This is among the key findings of REPUCOM International’s 10th Annual Football Benchmarking Report, the market-leading insight into the health indicators of Australia’s four professional football competitions: Australian Rules (AFL), Rugby League (NRL), Rugby Union (Super Rugby) and soccer (A-League).

The new research shows that AFL was the only one of the four codes in which interest levels grew between 2010 and 2011, stretching its lead over NRL with over 40% of the nation’s 16-69 year-old population describing themselves as fans. In terms of cumulative TV audience, the two leaders were roughly neck-a-neck with over 113 million tuning in to each throughout the year. However the combined live event audience for AFL was almost double that of its closest competitor, while it also leads in fanbase and avidity.

To view a detailed extract from the full report, click here. [English, PDF 367 KB]

Overall sponsor media value increased in both NASCAR and Indycar, the country’s dominant motorsport series in 2011. Total media value for the NASCAR Sprint Cup equaled nearly $1 billion, with entitlement partner Sprint accumulating close to 10% of that total. REPUCOM captured and analyzed brand exposure for nearly 1,800 brands across the season making it the country’s most sponsor-driven sport.

And rightly so; according to REPUCOM SponsorLink research, motorsport fans in the US continue to lead the field in key consumer metrics such as brand consideration and brand loyalty, outpacing the other four major traditional sports. A number of exciting storylines will unfold in 2012 across US motorsport, including the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut of Danica Patrick, who left open wheel racing in 2011 to pursue a career racing stock cars full-time. In the IndyCar Series, a number of changes will be implemented including a new body style and a revamped schedule which leans heavier to road and street courses including an event to be staged in China.

Choosing the right driver and team to sponsor in motorsport is the key to exposure and fan recall success, as REPUCOM attributed nearly 2/3 of the total media exposure in that series to its top 15 drivers based on points rankings. The remaining field of 20 drivers represented the leftover value. An interesting trend was noted that consistent performance netted better results than winning single races.