Sponsorship Sector Report – Retail and Wholesale 2026

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This report provides an overview of the retail & wholesale sector across the globe. It explores all the main active brands in the sector as well as details the movement in the sector over the last few years in the sports sponsorship industry.

Market Overview: Retail & wholesale has become a major force in sports sponsorship, driven by digital transformation and AI, shifting consumer habits, and cost pressure. From 2020–2025, value rose 59% and volume 75%, with 2025 showing higher volume but slightly softer value.
Analysis by Sport: Retail & wholesale sponsorship value is highly concentrated in soccer, with American football and baseball a distant next tier. Soccer’s year-round calendar and global fan base give retailers always-on visibility and repeatable, conversion-driven activations.
Product Category Breakdown: Team rights lead retail & wholesale sponsorship spend but carry modest average values, signaling volume-led approaches. Brands look to teams for frequent, locally relevant, always-on activation. Team deals enable matchday promotions, loyalty offers, and retail tie-ins that move inventory fast.
Key Product Market: North America leads retail and wholesale sponsorships with 914 deals worth $1,000.19 million per year. The breadth of U.S. professional and collegiate sports creates numerous sponsorship opportunities for brands, which drives up the price of rights.
Leading Brands: Ticketmaster is retail and wholesale’s top sports-sponsorship spender at $179.16 million and the most active brand with 123 deals. Its strategy prioritizes premium, long-term exclusives with major leagues, positioning as a tech and data partner.
Spend per brand location: North American brand spend is more than double Europe’s, reflecting a preference for premium, high-visibility partnerships with leagues, franchises, and marquee events. Ticketing leaders Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, and StubHub have contributed heavily to increased average deal values

Scope

This report looks to offer a detailed insight into the retail & wholesale sector across the globe. It explores all the main brands in the sector as well as details the movement in the sector over the last few years across the globe in the sports sponsorship industry.

Reasons to Buy

For those wanting an in-depth analysis of how the retail & wholesale sector across the globe performed in the sports sponsorship industry, in the sense of both business and popularity.

Ticketmaster
SeatGeek
MatchWornShirt
Just Eat
Kroger
Amazon
Uber Eats
Lidl
Decathlon

Table of Contents

1. Key Information and Background

– Executive Summary

2. Market Insights

– Sponsorship market trends

3. Sector Analysis

– Sector Analysis Summary

Sector Analysis Summary

Top 20 Sports by Value and Volume

CAGR Analysis

Top 5 Sports by Deal Volume Since 2020

Top 5 Sports by Deal Value Since 2020

Product Category Breakdown

Brand Industry Comparison by Spend

Brand Industry Comparison by Deal Volume

Key Product Sponsorship Markets

Top 10 Biggest Deals

4. Case Study

– Case Study: German Football Association and Zalando

5. Brand Analysis

Brand Analysis Summary

Brand Spend per Location

Top 10 Most Active Brands and Biggest Spenders

Top 5 Sports by Deal Volume Since 2020

Top 5 Sports by Deal Value Since 2020

CAGR Analysis

Featured Brands

Featured Brands

6. Appendix

– Sources

Sponsorship Sector Report – Retail and Wholesale 2026 standard reports
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