Thursday, November 27, 2008

Bundesliga overtake English Premier League in shirt sponsorship value

Figures released today show that German football's top domestic league, the Bundesliga, has overtaken the Barclays Premier League as the league with the largest total income from shirt sponsorship.

According to figures from SPORT+MARKT's tenth annual European Jersey report,published in UK newspaper, The Times, Bayern Munich are ahead of Manchester United in having the single most valuable shirt sponsorship deal.

However, the move is attributed in part only as a consequence of German top-flight clubs becoming more attractive billboards for sponsors. The economic climate and the drop in the exchange rate of the pound against the Euro have been largely responsible for reducing the value of English sponsorship deals relative to those of the top European clubs - even though the contracts have not been renegotiated.

The Times, also reports that the overall level of shirt sponsorship across the six main European leagues has dropped for the first time, from €405.3million (about £344.2million) in 2007-08 to €393.2million this season.

“Due to the weak British pound, Bayern Munich beat Manchester United to the title of the most valuable jersey deal,” Hartmut Zastrow, the executive director of SPORT+MARKT, told the paper.

“The main reasons why the Bundesliga now generates higher income from jersey sponsorships than the Premier League lies in [clubs] lacking jersey partners and the current weakness of the British currency. The sponsor of West Ham United, XL airlines, went bankrupt, West Bromwich Albion have yet to find a partner and Aston Villa now bears the logo of a charity organisation on its jersey.

“The Bundesliga is the winning league in this jersey report after slipping behind the English FA Premier League last season. For the first time revenue from jersey sponsorship in the Bundesliga exceeds the €100million mark. No other league has reached such a consistency of sponsorship deals for all teams.”

Source: www.sportbusiness.com