Shirt sponsorship in Europe's top six leagues is now worth 830 million euros a year and is on course to top one billion euros within two seasons, according to a study released Wednesday. The Repucom sports data firm said that English Premier League shirts are the most valuable - overall deals having risen from 244 million euros ($273 million) last season to 330 million euros ($370 million) in 2015/16.
Overall, shirt deals in England, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain have gone from 736 million euros ($825 million) last season to 830 million ($930 million) in 2015/16. "At its current rate of growth, we expect to see European football shirt sponsorship investment top one billion euros by the 2017/18 season, if not next season," said Jon Stainer, managing director, Repucom UK.
Manchester United signed a $600 million seven year deal with Chevrolet in 2012. Barcelona is reported to be negotiating with Qatar Airways to extend their deal with a similar amount. Most of the cash to be featured on the front of shirts comes from countries operating outside of the target championship. The United Arab Emirates, with 163 million euros, is the leading foreign spender. Emirates airline sponsors Real Madrid for an estimated $40 million a year and Etihad airline has its name on Manchester City's shirt.
Germany is the second highest spender across the six championships with 136 million euros followed by the United States with 87 million euros, mainly car firms, according to Repucom. Gambling firms have also become major spenders, accounting for 42 million euros, the sixth biggest industry, up from 11th biggest.
"For brands, shirt sponsorship consistently returns the highest advertising values," said Stainer. "The rise of betting companies across the leagues, for example, is something certainly worth noting, especially as we start to see markets like the Netherlands and Germany reduce the restrictions on betting sponsorship."