“Sponsorship is the only recipe that resists. This year, we have not experienced any notable failure ”, do we slip into Premier League, the employers’ union of professional football clubs. While the ticket office has not brought in anything since the imposition of closed doors at the start of the season, that television rights have disappeared, that player sales plunge, direct corporate sponsorship is one of the rare cash flows French clubs.
Before the Covid-19 crisis, during the 2018-19 season, this sponsorship provided 16% of the income of a Ligue 1 club, according to the most recent data from the national management control department of the National League football (LFP).
“Despite the Covid-19, the sponsors, big and small, have remained faithful, confirms Ludovic Dumas, boss of XIX Sports Consulting, a sports sponsorship consulting firm. These companies buy visibility in a stadium or on a jersey. The matches take place and are televised. They stay. ”
No snowball effect
During the first confinement, in spring 2020, a few companies were forced to suspend their support for certain clubs, such as Bistro Régent in Bordeaux (temporarily) or CroisiEurope in Strasbourg, but this did not snowball.
On the contrary, some have decided to invest, like Hollywood, the brand of chewing gum that became, in the fall, a partner of the LFP. According to the annual study by Deloitte on the money of the largest European clubs, published on January 27, sponsorship revenues increased in 2020 by 3%.
“Not all businesses have been weakened, recalls Magali Tézenas du Montcel, from Sporsora, the lobby of a large number of players in the sports economy. They have for the moment a simple speech: we must not add the crisis to the crisis for the clubs. “
Commercial gestures
Some could have taken advantage of the situation to negotiate rebates. “A lot of figures are lying around, nothing is confirmed”, underlines Mme Tezenas du Montcel. “The new sponsors are tempted to enter cheaply, but there is no clash”, assures Ludovic Dumas.
“Some clubs have extended one-season contracts, especially for the operation of the boxes, which are closed today. This remains within the limits of classic commercial gestures, we temper at Première ligue. Clubs have no interest in reducing prices, because they will no longer be able to push them back up after the pandemic. “
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