Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the world’s richest soccer league is attempting to return to record revenue levels once again. With the media rights market plateauing, Premier League clubs are placing an increased emphasis on sponsorship as a means of driving additional revenue, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Business of the English Premier League 2021/22’, reveals that the league’s clubs are estimated to earn just over $1.5bn in sponsorship revenue throughout the 2021/22 season, a 6.9% increase on the 2020/21 season.

Liam Fox, Sport Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “After the market shrunk in the 2020/21 season largely as a consequence of the pandemic, which saw brands curtail their marketing spend to make it through the crisis, the Premier League’s sponsorship market has shown signs of recovery for the 2021/22 season.

“The 6.9% increase in Premier League club sponsorship revenue has largely been driven by burgeoning industries and new entrants into the sponsorship market. For example, cryptocurrency brands have more than doubled their volume of deals with Premier League clubs from six to 14, while increasing their sponsorship investments from $3.4m to $12.7m.

“Fintech brands, such as online trading platforms and mobile payment services, have also increased their investments in the league from $23.2m to $32.5m. There has also been a bounce back of travel and tourism brand deals, with deals from the sector increasing by 23 to 36, owing to a surge in travel agency & operator sponsorship deals ahead of the new season, whilst overall sponsorship investments from the sector have increased $13.2m from $171.9m to $185.1m for the 2021/22 season, namely thanks to Trivago securing the training kit rights at the European champions, Chelsea.”