During Saturday’s Champions League final in London, "commercial colours were as visible as team ones," according to Duncan Robinson of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Large adidas footballs "dangled over the marching German supporters." Beneath the raised walkway, "young predominantly female staff clutched placards bearing the name of sponsors," such as Heineken and Russian energy group Gazprom, and "guided guests to their pre-match hospitality." While many other forms of marketing are struggling, "sponsorship at the top of football is clearly still booming." Football attracted about $4.5B in global sponsorship in '12 -- "significantly more than any other sport and two-thirds more" than in '11. Deals at the very top of the game "appear immune to the slump afflicting the rest of the economy." ManU sold the rights to its training ground, training shirts and overseas tours for almost $30M per season to Aon. Aon CMO Phil Clement said, "We felt that for global reach it was good value. Compare it to running an advertising campaign in 120 countries. Advertising is difficult. To have one program that works globally, externally and internally -- that’s a nice value proposition." In other words, sports sponsorship "kills 120 birds with one rather expensive stone." The very large figures garnered by the world’s biggest clubs and competitions "have led some to question how long growth can last." However, PwC U.K. Head of Sport Julie Clark said that fears of a bubble "are overplayed." Clark: "There are still new markets to go for. There isn’t any evidence that it’s reached the peak yet" (FT, 5/26).
