A new survey undertaken by sponsorship consultancy ONSIDE and Sport for Business has identified rugby, athletics, and golf as the three Olympic sports that are currently most attractive to sponsors in Ireland.
While rugby and golf’s year-round schedules of competition drive their popularity, a pre-opening Ceremony kick-off for Sevens and a high-profile Irish golf team will help both sports consolidate their positions at the top.
However, it is athletics that has had a breakthrough 18 months leading into Paris 2024 due to a string of achievements on the track, most notably from Rhasidat Adeleke and her relay colleagues.
ONSIDE’s 2024 Sports Impact Monitor found that 6 in 10 members of the influential Sport for Business community have improved their perception of athletics over the past six months, with over 8 in 10 now highlighting it as an attractive property for sponsors.
This places it over 20 percentage points ahead of the next Olympic sport on the list, rowing, which is narrowly ahead of swimming.
While rowing’s position remained steady from 2023 to 2024, swimming climbed significantly due to strong performances from Daniel Wiffen, overtaking both basketball and hockey.
In addition to showcasing 32 sports, the Olympics will be a shop window for the next generation of Irish athletes.
“Over 90% of industry experts believe the use of sports personalities to endorse a brand or company is an effective form of sponsorship, with over 50% interested in aligning with a brand ambassador in the next 1-2 years,” said ONSIDE’s Director of Intelligence and Insight, Kim Kirwan.
“We tracked an increase in brand ambassador deals leading into the Olympics and Paralympics and – based on what we saw after the Tokyo games – there will be two or three star performers able to strike even bigger deals post-Paris.”
Almost four times as many organisations have entered new sponsorships as have dropped out of them since the start of 2024, and 80% are optimistic about how the industry will perform in the next two years.
“The industry is buoyant and positive heading into the Olympics and Paralympics but there are notes of caution as well, particularly as we look to the next generation,” added Rob Hartnett, Founder of Sport for Business.
“Three-quarters of respondents said the sport needs to do more to engage younger audiences, and 87% of respondents said that sponsors should invest in the grassroots aspect of the sports they support.”
This was the second time the usage of artificial intelligence in sport and sponsorship in Ireland had been tracked in the study, and its usage is growing rapidly. In 2024, half of respondents said AI will be an important part of their company’s activation strategy in the next 1-2 years, more than double the number from 2023.
This is the seventh wave of the ONSIDE Sports Impact Monitor that was first launched during the pandemic in 2020. All respondents are members of the Sport for Business community, and the survey was undertaken from June to July 2024.
Sport for Business will host its annual Sponsorship Showcase event in Dublin on Thursday morning, October 10th. We will also be hosting special events concerning Children and Sport on September 19th and Sport and Artificial intelligence on November 7th.
Register your interest to attend a Sport for Business event here.
The IRFU, GAA, FAI and Sport Ireland Ireland are among the 300 organisations, which include all the leading sports and sponsors, as well as commercial and state agencies, that are members of the Sport for Business community.
Find out more about joining us today.
Check out our upcoming events to discover ways of connecting in person with our membership.
