Sponsorship Research International (SRi) released figures showing new data on global sponsorship spending. In '98, an estimated $20.3B was invested in the worldwide sponsorship market, an increase of 11% from the '97 estimated expenditure of $18.1B. Among the figures:
| WORLD WIDE SPONSORSHIP RIGHTS EXPENDITURE: '87-'98
|
| 1987 | $5.60B | 1991 | $8.30B | 1995 | $15.100B |
| 1988 | $6.25B | 1992 | $9.40B | 1996 | $16.570B |
| 1989 | $7.01B | 1993 | $10.80B | 1997 | $18.103B |
| 1990 | $7.70B | 1994 | $13.02B | 1998 | $20.309B |
NO U.S. BLUES: The Americas, which account for 37.8%, and Europe, which accounts for 36.4%, combine to form the largest share of sports expenditure, while Asia accounts for 20.8%. On an individual country level, the U.S. ($6.40B), Japan ($2.70B), Germany ($2.35B) and Britain ($1.02B) contributed the largest amounts to overall spending in '98. SPORTS SEES MAJORITY OF DOLLARS: The main beneficiary of sponsorship spending continues to be sports, and SRi estimates that on average, roughly 65%, or $13.2B of global rights fees is invested in sports through the sponsorship of events, federations, teams, individuals and stadiums. There are variations from country to country. Examples include Australia, where expenditure on sports represents roughly 82% of overall spending, and the Netherlands and Britain, where sports spending accounts for approximately 56% (SRi).
