Sports

Sponsorship outlook 2026: The trends and market forces shaping the year ahead

Sponsorship outlook 2026: The trends and market forces shaping the year ahead

Jan 13, 2026 |

Regulation, shifting fan behaviour, challenger formats and new market entrants. 2026 is shaping up to be a year of opportunity for brands and rights holders that understand how the marketplace is changing, where budgets are moving and how value is created. The result is a more active but competitive environment. One defined not by fewer deals, but by savvier buyers, greater...
Why IBM’s Wimbledon renewal is the sponsorship all brands should envy

Why IBM’s Wimbledon renewal is the sponsorship all brands should envy

Jan 7, 2026 |

IBM and Wimbledon have just extended their partnership for another multi-year term, taking one of sport’s most enduring commercial relationships beyond 35 years. In an industry obsessed with novelty, few sponsorships survive a single leadership cycle, let alone three decades. Fewer still are renewed because they continue to do exactly what both sides...
Behind closed doors: What sponsors really think about measurement

Behind closed doors: What sponsors really think about measurement

Dec 4, 2025 |

On 27th November, The Sponsor hosted a Leaders Roundtable debate at the St James’s Club in Mayfair, where senior brand and marketing leaders gathered to tackle one of the industry’s most persistent measurement questions: how do you credibly demonstrate sponsorship returns? The ambition was straightforward. The reality, as anyone in the room will attest, was anything...
Data driven sposnsorship