“We are trying to make activations with our players for our sponsors, even more demanding since the confinement. But it’s very complicated to have them on hand because of the health crisis … “Like this marketing manager, European clubs are struggling to recoup the investments, sometimes at high prices, of their partners .
Confined to the four corners of the planet, the star footballers, the most attractive assets for companies looking for an audience, are unable to wet the jersey for the sponsors of their club or national team. Worse, without matches broadcast on TV, brands backed by team jerseys or stadium advertising screens no longer have a platform to shine their respective logos with millions of viewers.
To the point of questioning their contracts in the context of a major economic crisis? In West Ham, the question is already settled: one of the sponsors of the English club, the financial services company Basset & Gold, has just gone bankrupt … For companies still standing in the airline sector or the hotel and restaurant industry , major advertisers hit hard by the crisis, the time is for questioning.
Provisional suspension
“It is quite obvious that, having no more benefits, everyone is forced to suspend, it seems so logical to me. This is a case of force majeure, ”explains AFP Marc Vanhove, the owner of the Bistro Régent restaurant chain. Bordeaux jersey sponsor, the French company had to temporarily suspend its contract, which runs until 2023, before the payment of the monthly installment in April, “until we have the dates of recovery”.
Even the Accor hotel group, main sponsor of PSG, left doubts about the payment of the full amount provided for in its contract (about 50 M EUR annually) due to difficult economic conditions … before affirming to have honored its commitments two days later! Worried? “Some of these large groups can say overnight we stop everything because we are in an emergency situation where we have to eliminate all unnecessary expenses. explains Jean-Pascal Gayant, sports economist to AFP. “And in the event of a crisis, the first budget we cut is often com ‘,” he adds.
After the shortfall in TV rights, such a phenomenon would be a second blow to the finances of the clubs, already exhausted. Because if the main revenue item of the main European clubs comes from broadcasters (44%), commercial income, drawn mainly by the sponsors, however represents 40% of their turnover, according to a study by Deloitte.
“More than ever” support needed
“When you’re a sponsor, you want visibility,” said Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, on Europe 1 Sunday. But at the same time, it is in bad times that you recognize your friends and those who are there for you. ” Despite the financial risks, the risks of image in the event of desertion can push advertisers to maintain their efforts, in particular for the companies “which make their pin of the game” in sectors little touched like technology or agro-food , estimates a market expert on condition of anonymity.
“We can go get them by saying to them: You can play the white knights by investing in sport, in this difficult period,” continues this source. Not investing, it can even be frowned upon. On the contrary, it is now, in this dramatic situation, that the support of sponsors is necessary, more than ever. We will not retire in moments like this, “added a spokesperson for the Iberdrola group, main sponsor of the first Spanish women’s division, to AFP.
If some do not want to “leave the boat in the middle of a storm”, will it be the same in the long term in a market that promises to be disaster? “There is of course a risk that companies who wanted to invest will not do it anymore, do it later,” predicts Bruno Bianzina, director of the agency Sport Market, while the players in the sector estimate a drop in investment of 60 at 70%. The announcement of several lean years …
Created: 04/11/2020, 08h15
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