The June '13 Australia and New Zealand data analysis report by IMR Publications "puts the value of Australian sports sponsorship" at A$774M ($728M) and New Zealand at NZ$182M ($156M), according to MARKETING. Relative to GDP, the report suggests that sponsorship spend levels "are significant and compare favourably with other developed nations."
Analysis of the data shows that, in Australia in particular, "the profile of sponsorship differs from other Western economies." In most countries, the financial service sector "is by far the dominant player in sponsorship, typically accounting for between 20% and 25% of total spend."
In Australia, however, it is only 13.4%. Similarly, telecom "is normally another major investor," but again in Australia, Telstra’s rugby league title sponsorship at A$22.3M is the only deal of major significance and the sector is worth just 5.6% of the total.
Instead, the automotive (13.2%), alcohol (7.4%), government (6.1%) and soft drinks (6%) industries "contribute higher levels than in most countries." Mango Senior Sponsorship Dir Ben Greenslade said, "Obviously, sport is a key part of the culture and so it’s a space where brands really, really want an association. If you look at the categories in Australia -- automotive, alcohol, government -- they’re all areas where, when you look at it as a percentage, Australia is actually investing more in sponsorship than other countries around the world." But not all brands "are placing such a high value on this particular marketing stream." Vodafone, "rather sensationally, last year axed its lucrative sponsorship deals with the Australian cricket team, the summer Test series and its V8 Supercar team to save tens of millions of dollars." M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment Managing Dir Jamie Gilbert-Smith said, "There is always an inherent risk in attaching your brand to a third party in whatever the arena is, and sport is definitely something where there really have been risks" (MARKETING, 7/28).
