Payment brands prioritize sports sponsorship spending in North America and Europe, as these regions offer the best mix of scale, visibility, and measurable commercial returns. The most active brands are largely payments infrastructure and retail/business-focused, along with the card networks, which use major leagues and global events to achieve scale and consistent activation across markets, channels, and partner ecosystems. In 2025, global card networks dominated the payments sector’s sponsorship spending, with North American brands such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express taking an outsized share, reveals GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform.
GlobalData’s latest report, “Sponsorship Sector Report – Financial Services –Payments 2026”, reveals that in 2025, payment brands concentrated nearly half of their sponsorship spend on sports federations, and sponsorship across the sector is dominated by properties in North America and Europe.
Olivia Snooks, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Visa, Mastercard, and American Express directed a large share of their 2025 spending to Formula 1, drawn by its global reach, fast-growing affluent fanbase (especially in the US), and highly visible partnership and activation opportunities. Mastercard’s expanded McLaren deal—leading to a 2026 title sponsorship—shows the value of aligning with a top team and strong brand fit, while enabling cardholder perks like ‘Priceless Experiences’.
“More broadly, F1’s shift toward cashless, app-based commerce gives payments brands a high-volume setting to showcase and test payment tech and drive measurable usage, and Amex’s support of F1 Academy helps reach newer, more diverse audiences as future fandom and spending habits form.”
In 2025, payment brands allocated nearly half of their sponsorship spending to sports federations, which also had the highest average deal value. The appeal is the reputational boost and visibility federations deliver. Deals typically include category exclusivity, an “official payment provider” designation, and integrated rights across the federation’s properties, enabling activation across multiple events and serving as a platform to showcase innovations like contactless payments to large audiences.
Snooks continues: “Spending is lower across events, venues, and athletes mainly because average deal sizes are moderate to low. Athlete totals may be understated since we only track the 100 most commercially successful athletes, and this may undercount high-volume backers such as Visa, which runs its long-standing Team Visa programme and supported 45 athletes for the 2026 Winter Olympics.”
Europe and North America host globally prominent leagues and events with consistent mass reach and sustained fan engagement. In North America, widespread digital payments across ticketing, concessions, and in-venue spending also make sponsorships easier to activate via co-branded offers and frictionless payment experiences.
Snooks concludes: “Global deals across the payments sector are relatively rare but represent 15.6% of annual value, reflecting the premium brands place on cross-border reach and year-round visibility. Brands spend an average of $5.24 million per global deal—the highest of any region—to gain worldwide exposure, build trust across markets, and maintain consistent brand presence.”
