Asian & Middle Eastern Brands Lead In EPL Shirt Sponsorship

The figure for the upcoming EPL season – according to a Sportingintelligence report – is a £31.8m (US$41.7m) rise on last year and is up from £100.45m (US$156.7m) in 2010/11, the first time the report was conducted. Over half (£181.5m, US$ 237.8m) of the sponsorship total comes from Asia and the Middle East, with the likes of UAE airline heavyweights Etihad (Man City, ~US$59m), Emirates (Arsenal, ~US$52.4m) as well as Japanese tyre giant Yokohoma (~US$52.4m) leading the race.

The Sportingintelligence figures only account for the front of EPL shirts and do not include sleeve sponsor branding, real estate that clubs were able to sell for the first time last season.

The ranking shows a significant gulf between the sponsorship revenue secured by the Premier League’s top six clubs, and the rest of the league. Five clubs received over £45m (US$59m) for their sponsorship with 6th place Tottenham Hotspur securing £35m (US$45.9m); 7th place West Ham receive £10m (US$13.1m).

Some other fast facts from the report include:

• Half of EPL clubs receive £6m (US$7.9m) or less from their main sponsor
• Nine clubs have online betting firms as their shirt sponsor
• None of those club sponsorships are in the top six clubs by value

Sleeve sponsorships offer a significant opportunity for clubs and 16 Premier League teams now have sleeve sponsors. The values of sleeve sponsorships similarly vary between clubs from an estimated £10m (US$13.1m) a year for Arsenal and the two Manchester clubs, down to £5m (~US$6.6m) for Liverpool. The other clubs generally receive between £400k (US$524k) and £500k (US$655k) from their deals.

Four years ago, ASN published a guest feature which had observed that 6 of the 20 EPL clubs had shirt sponsors from Asia and the Middle East. This updated statistic shows how Asian brands have stepped up their game in the EPL space; making us wonder, how far will this trend go?