Well, hello 2024! It’s here already, and that can mean only one thing: it’s time to determine what kinds of sponsorship trends will continue guiding this profitable, expansive industry forward.
And yes, what a time to be involved in sponsorship, with spending expected to hit $194 million this year in the United States alone, according to Statista. The data from Statista also indicates that a compound annual growth rate of 3.94 percent between 2024 and 2028 is within reason.
So, besides the industry continuing to grow steadily and increase record-breaking profits, what else will happen in sponsorship in 2024? Well, I’m no psychic, but through my experiences and insights, I have a feeling we could be poised to see the following trends.
It’s All About Sports Betting
You can hardly turn on a sports game and sit through a commercial break (provided you do that sort of thing and don’t use it as a snack/bathroom break) without hearing at least one sports betting commercial.
From BetMGM to PointsBet, BetRivers, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook, Bet365, and Caesars Sportsbook, these brands are on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days.
It’s not only sports networks allowing sports betting brands to advertise on their channels. Sports players and analysts have also gotten in on the action, as have major stars like Kevin Hart.
Online sports betting is only getting started! Its revenue is projected to achieve $9.65 billion this year in the US, proving that there’s a huge subset of people interested in making money from watching their favorite sports (and, you know, betting successfully).
The CAGR is super-healthy at 13.03 percent between 2024 and 2028, in which time the market will be valued at $15.75 billion. Whew!
Sponsorship activations centered around sports betting are going to become more prominent in 2024 than they were in the earlier part of the 2020s, when this trend really began dominating.
Of course, this raises an issue depending on your audience. For example, family-friendly sports organizations or leagues can’t really get in on sports betting, nor can those with audiences primarily composed of viewers/attendees under 21.
However, if your audience is attuned to it and legally able to participate, you would be foolish not to take advantage of sports betting in a sports sponsorship capacity this year.
TikTok Takes Over
With 150 million monthly users on TikTok in the US alone, this social media platform is having a big moment. The average time a TikTok user spends scrolling per day is 1.5 hours, which is quite a lot of screentime!
So, what is it that people do on TikTok? It’s not only a platform for showcasing the latest dance crazes. Almost 50 percent of Gen Z-aged users rely on social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok for searching rather than Google.
That’s huge from a marketing and SEO perspective, but what does it mean for you, the sponsorship seeker in 2024?
If you offer social media services as one of your assets, you must incorporate visual platforms like TikTok and Instagram into the mix.
Learning to make shorts, which are condensed videos popular across those platforms and YouTube, will benefit you, as will using targeted keywords to help social media users connect with your sponsor.
Food Brands Show Larger-Than-Life Innovations (Albeit With Some Kinks to Work Out)
As 2023 came to an end, Pop-Tarts made history during the Pop-Tarts Bowl, an Orlando, Florida football game. It wasn’t only the name of the event, but that it debuted an edible mascot, the first of its kind.
So, how did the whole thing work? A human-dressed oversized Pop-Tart jumped into an even larger “oven,” while holding up a sign that read “Dreams really do come true.”
Then, when it came out on the other side, it was an gigantic edible Pop-Tart for the gawking onlookers to enjoy.
I’m sure there was a hatch or trap door around the back for the human mascot to exit and that anyone in attendance would have been far too distracted by the giant Pop-Tart that was being broken into pieces and thrown out into the crowd before those on the field converged upon the sugary sweet treat.
It all sounds great, right? Yet it didn’t quite have the impact that Pop-Tarts probably intended. Plenty of vocal social media users pointed out how strange and dark it as that the Pop-Tarts mascot had one goal, being eaten, which meant its death.
Some said that achieving the goal was bittersweet.
As a whole, the activation was received positively, even if it had some strange undertones.
Larger-than-life activations like these could be the next horizon, especially when talking about the meeting of sports and food brands. Major food brands like Pop-Tarts have the capital to achieve something like this.
More firsts could be on the way from Pop-Tart’s competitors.
Naming Rights Are Back
As a sponsorship seeker, naming rights remain one of your most surefire assets if you want to bring in a big-value deal. However, even I’ll admit that for a couple of years there, naming rights weren’t receiving the traction they once did.
The interest in naming rights was on a downward slump for years, but in 2023, it hit its lowest valley in the past 10 years. However, 2024 has begun with a pleasant surprise: interest in naming rights has resumed, especially in the sports sponsorship sphere.
If you’ve held off on offering naming rights as a premium asset, now would be a great time to add this service to your menu.
For those sponsorship seekers already providing naming rights, you should start the year with a valuation to determine whether your naming rights opportunities are worth more now that interest has resumed.
VR/AR May Be Poised for More Growth
Digital sponsorship activations and assets have been the trend for a while, naturally facilitating the move to alternate reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
AR has really exploded in the sports sponsorship market, with major names from Coors Light to Adidas transcending the value of their sponsorships with MLB and NHL through alternate reality.
2023 was a banner year for this technology, and I see it becoming even more commonplace and widespread in 2024. Now that the big brands have led the way, I think even more pioneering names will feel it’s safe to jump on the AR and VR bandwagons and ride them until the wheels fall off.
As the technology spreads, it should become more affordable and accessible for mid-sized and smaller brands to utilize.
AR and VR achieve many goals sponsor companies seek. They create inventive brand exposure opportunities, improve customer retention and loyalty, and introduce interactive, unique experiences at events like sports games and expos.
AI Is Unignorable
Of course, you can’t talk about AR and VR without AI following in the same breath.
AI is a lot of things to many people. To some, it’s a threat to creativity and a job risk, while for others, it’s an augmentation tool.
I’ve discussed AI in sponsorship in a post from 2023, where I spotlighted the sponsorship tasks it can achieve and those it can’t.
The technology can advance incredibly fast, so as of this publication, AI’s abilities remain the same as when that post came out. However, that’s not to say there won’t be some seismic shift in 2024.
For now, I would stick to using AI for email writing, image creation, report organization and outlines, audience segmentation, data culling, and ideation for activations and assets.
However, even then, you have to triple-check everything with a fine-toothed comb. AI lies. It makes things up. It produces inaccuracies. It’s imperfect technology requiring a human to rein it in.
And remember, as much as you might lean heavily on AI in your sponsorship endeavors in 2024, it can’t do everything for you. It’s a useless negotiation tool, and it can’t host discovery sessions, even if it can recommend questions for you to ask.
How is AI currently being used in sponsorships? Well, Kellanova, a Kellogg’s brand that sponsored the Pop-Tarts Bowl, has begun utilizing AI for content ideas to reach its Gen Z audience.
Sports Sponsorship Eclipses Other Types
While there are so many types of sponsorships out there succeeding, such as event and festival sponsorship, sports are still king.
Sports get huge numbers of viewers in the billions, with the NFL leading the charge in 2023 with 947.9 billion viewers. That’s followed by MLB with 329.7 billion, NBA with 285.2 billion, NHL with 181.3 billion, and MLS with 3.1 billion viewers.
Sports game attendance was also high in 2023. Unsurprisingly, NFL got the most fans cramming into stadiums, attracting 69,389 people on average per game.
The average attendance in the MLB was 26,808, then 17,947 for NBA and 16,877 for NHL, which are still healthy numbers.
With sports on the rise, companies across every industry want to get their piece of the pie. That explains why you see so many financial, food/snack, clothing, beverage, and tech brands get in on sports sponsorships.
A driving force that’s keeping the interest kindled is women’s sports. The growth in this sector can push sports sponsorship income past $8 billion this year, which is crazy!
AR, AI, and sports betting remain the cornerstones of the women’s sports sponsorship market in 2024, proving that this area isn’t that different from other types of sports.
Don’t Sleep on Pickleball
Although technically falling under the sports sponsorship category, I wanted to give pickleball its own mention. Pickleball has achieved meteoric growth as the 2020s have gotten underway, with its number of American players hitting 8.9 million in 2023.
People can’t get enough of its competitive nature and how easy it is to pick up and play. The game was invented to stave off boredom in children, after all.
As the fastest-growing sport on the market, pickleball partnerships have picked up across 2023, and I don’t expect them to slow down one iota as we enter 2024. If anything, I think the pickleball sponsorship opportunities will only increase.
Weary sponsors perhaps new to the game might not have seen its lasting appeal, at least not initially. However, as the number of new players continues to grow and pickleball mania sweeps the nation, more brands will be ready to get on-board.
If you produce pickleball equipment, like balls or rackets, this is your year to shine. You have data on your side to prove that pickleball has the audience to achieve goals for sponsors.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering, what is the future of pickleball like? Is it really worth hitching your wagon to, or is this a fad that’s going to fade out in a matter of years?
It’s impossible to say for sure, but I see pickleball becoming a lasting sport. It’s just as easy for older folks to play as it is kids, so it’s actually fun for all ages. That inclusivity and accessibility mean pickleball resonates with a greater number of audiences.
However, you must remember that pickleball-related activations and assets cannot be marketed toward “everybody.” That’s far too broad. You must still do your due diligence and segment your audience.
Wrapping Up
The sponsorship market is nothing if not interesting, as these 2024 trends and predictions prove. Most of the current focuses on the market will continue from last year, including AR, AI, and VR. Sports sponsorship still reigns supreme, with pickleball an unexpected area of focus, and women’s sports seeing huge, high-value opportunities.
Has reading over these trends made you want to focus extra hard on your sponsorship program in 2024? Reach out to me to set up a call, and I’ll see how I can help you achieve your sponsorship goals.
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Chris Baylis is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Sponsorship Collective.
After spending several years in the field as a sponsorship professional and consultant, Chris now spends his time working with clients to help them understand their audiences, build activations that sponsors want, apply market values to their assets and build strategies that drive sales.
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