Sponsorship Sector Report – Automotive – APAC 2026

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Automotive brands spent a record $359.5m on sponsorship of Asia-Pacific (APAC) sport in 2025, up 64.7% on 2020, across 382 active deals and 274 brands. This report uses GlobalData Sport Intelligence Center deal data for 2020–2025 to show where automotive sponsorship value sits in APAC: by deal market, brand HQ, sub-industry, sport, property type, partnership status and deal length. It profiles the leading brands, including Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia, Nissan and BKT, tracks the rise of tire brands and Chinese EV makers, and sets out strategic considerations for brands and rights holders, along with what to watch in 2026.

Automotive brands spent a record $359.5m on APAC sport sponsorship in 2025, up 8.3% on 2024 and 64.7% on 2020 (a 10.5% CAGR). Deal volume more than doubled over the same period, from 188 to 382, and the number of active brands rose from 117 to 274. APAC accounts for 13.8% of the $2.6bn that automotive brands spent on sport sponsorship worldwide in 2025, making automotive the seventh-largest sponsor sector globally.

Value is concentrating in Indian cricket and big-ticket rights. Cricket took 34.2% of 2025 value ($122.9m), up from 12.7% in 2020, and accounts for 67.4% of the $141.2m rise in market value since 2020. Just 11 deals worth $5m or more delivered 46.3% of 2025 value, led by Tata Motors' IPL title sponsorship at $60.2m a year (16.7% of the total). Title rights are 9.2% of deals but 44.1% of value.

At the other end of the market, a long tail of small deals keeps growing. The median deal fell from $0.4m in 2020 to $0.2m in 2025, 66.0% of deals are now under $0.5m, and deals of $0.1m or less grew from 25 to 136 as dealer-level, local and digital packages lowered the cost of entry.

India-HQ brands have tripled their spend since 2020 ($39.9m to $132.0m), led by Tata Motors, Apollo Tyres, CEAT and BKT, almost all of it in cricket. Tire brands are the fastest-growing sub-industry, with spend up 3.6x to $64.1m. China-HQ brands rose from six to 24, but their value halved to $12.4m as EV makers test small packages.

Renewals now carry 73.8% of value, so every renewal is a performance review. Brands need a clear role for each tier of deal, while rights holders should price scarce premium inventory accordingly and build entry-level packages that can scale.

Scope

Analysis of 1,959 deal-years active in 2020–2025 in which an automotive brand (carmaker, tire, motorcycle, parts and aftermarket, dealership or other automotive) sponsors a sports property in APAC.

Key metrics for 2025: total annual value, active deals, average and median deal value, active brands and value from renewals.

Market insights: value and deal growth, deal-size bands, partnership type (new, renewal, confirmed), property type, deal market and brand HQ country.

Sector analysis: spend by automotive sub-industry, the ten largest deals, recorded deal length and partnership status (title, shirt, main sponsor and other roles).

Sport analysis: value vs volume, share of value, five-year CAGR and average deal value by sport, plus a case study on automotive sponsorship of cricket in India.

Brand analysis: top 12 brands, five-year trajectories for Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia, Nissan and BKT, brand CAGR, China-HQ brands, entering and exiting brands, and case studies on Audi, BKT, BMW, Kia and Nissan.

Conclusions and outlook: strategic considerations for brands and rights holders and what to watch in 2026.

Glossary, methodology and references.

Key Highlights

Automotive brands spent a record $359.5m on APAC sport sponsorship in 2025, up 64.7% on 2020, across 382 deals and 274 brands.

Cricket took 34.2% of 2025 value ($122.9m), up from 12.7% in 2020, and accounts for 67.4% of the market's growth since 2020.

11 deals of $5m or more delivered 46.3% of 2025 value; Tata Motors' IPL title deal alone is worth $60.2m a year.

The median deal fell from $0.4m in 2020 to $0.2m in 2025, as deals of $0.1m or less grew from 25 to 136.

India-HQ brand spend rose 3.3x since 2020 to $132.0m, and tire-brand spend rose 3.6x to $64.1m.

China-HQ brands rose from six to 24 in 2025, but their combined value halved to $12.4m.

Renewals carried 73.8% of 2025 value ($265.1m), up from 63.8% in 2020.

Reasons to Buy

Size the APAC automotive sport sponsorship market and understand how value and deal volume have changed from 2020 to 2025.

Benchmark spend, deal counts and average deal values by market, brand HQ, sub-industry, sport, property type, partnership status and deal length.

Identify which brands are scaling up, which are pulling back and how leading sponsors such as Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia, Nissan and BKT build their portfolios.

Understand why Indian cricket, tire brands and Chinese EV makers are reshaping the market, and what this means for rights pricing.

Use the strategic considerations for buyers and sellers to plan new partnerships, renewals and sponsorship packages.

Anticipate the trends likely to shape automotive sponsorship in APAC in 2026.

Tata Motors
Toyota
Kia
Nissan
BKT
Apollo Tyres
CEAT
Continental
Toyo Tires
Pirelli
Audi
BMW
Mercedes-Benz
Lexus
Honda
Hyundai
Genesis
Hero MotoCorp
Yamaha
Jayco
Repco
SAIC Motor
Roewe
BYD
Geely
Li Auto
Voyah
Zeekr
Xpeng
AITO

Table of Contents

Contents (p. 2)

How to read this report (p. 2)

01 Key information (p. 3)

Executive summary (p. 4)

Automotive brands spent a record $359.5m on APAC sport in 2025 (p. 5)

Most values are GlobalData estimates of each deal's annual fee (p. 6)

Automotive is the seventh-largest sponsor sector, worth $2.6bn in 2025 (p. 7)

02 Market insights (p. 8)

The market grew

64.7% from 2020 to 2025 as deal volume doubled (p. 9)

66% of deals are under $0.5m; $5m+ deals carry

46.3% of value (p. 10)

Renewals now carry almost three-quarters of the value (p. 11)

Teams win on volume, series on value (p. 12)

India and Australia lead on value; Japan has the most deals (p. 13)

Indian brands have tripled their sponsorship spend since 2020 (p. 14)

03 Sector analysis (p. 15)

Tire brands have grown spend

3.6x since 2020, the fastest sub-industry (p. 16)

Ten deals hold

44.9% of 2025 value, led by Tata Motors' IPL title deal (p. 17)

Deals of

2.5+ years are 15% of volume but 55% of value (p. 18)

Title rights are 9% of deals but 44% of value (p. 19)

04 Sport analysis (p. 20)

Cricket takes

34.2% of value from

8.4% of deals; soccer the reverse (p. 21)

Cricket's share of value has almost tripled since 2020 (p. 22)

Cricket is the only sport that is both large and fast-growing (p. 23)

Cricket's average deal has tripled while soccer's fell 88% (p. 24)

Auto brands use Indian cricket for scale and product visibility (p. 25)

05 Brand analysis (p. 26)

Tata Motors and Toyota lead 2025 spend with opposite playbooks (p. 27)

Five leading brands, five different paths since 2020 (p. 28)

Tata Motors, Apollo Tyres and Nissan are big and growing fast (p. 29)

Chinese challengers go wide, not deep (p. 30)

Exiting brands took $23.8m out of the market, entrants brought $9.4m (p. 31)

Audi more than doubled APAC spend in 2025 by moving into esports (p. 32)

BKT has grown spend every year by going all in on cricket (p. 33)

BMW is rebuilding a golf-led APAC portfolio (p. 34)

Kia holds spend steady through fewer, bigger sponsorships (p. 35)

Nissan concentrates spend on Formula E and Yokohama soccer (p. 36)

06 Conclusions & outlook (p. 37)

Brands need a defined role for every deal they buy (p. 38)

Rights holders should price scarcity and prove sales impact (p. 39)

Cricket, results-based renewals and Chinese EVs will shape 2026 (p. 40)

Glossary and method (p. 41)

References (p. 42)

About GlobalData (p. 43)

Contact us (p. 44)

Table

Table 1: Landmark deals, 2025: Audi (p. 32)

Table 2: Landmark deals, 2025: BKT (p. 33)

Table 3: Landmark deals, 2025: BMW (p. 34)

Table 4: Landmark deals, 2025: Kia (p. 35)

Table 5: Landmark deals, 2025: Nissan (p. 36)

Table 6: Glossary and method (p. 41)

Figures

Figure 1: Global sponsorship annual value by brand industry, 2025, top 15 industries ($m) (p. 7)

Figure 2: Annual sponsorship value ($m) and number of active deals, 2020–2025 (p. 9)

Figure 3: Share of deals and share of annual value by deal-size band, 2025 (%) (p. 10)

Figure 4: Share of annual value by partnership type, 2020–2025 (%) (p. 11)

Figure 5: Share of 2025 deals and share of 2025 annual value by property type (%) (p. 12)

Figure 6: Annual value by deal market, 2020 vs 2025 ($m) (p. 13)

Figure 7: Annual sponsorship value by brand HQ country, 2020 vs 2025 ($m) (p. 14)

Figure 8: Annual sponsorship value by automotive sub-industry, 2020 vs 2025 ($m) (p. 16)

Figure 9: Top tire sponsors by annual value, 2025 ($m) (p. 16)

Figure 10: Ten largest automotive sponsorship deals in APAC sport by annual value, 2025 ($m) (p. 17)

Figure 11: Share of 2025 deals and share of 2025 annual value by recorded deal length (%) (p. 18)

Figure 12: Share of 2025 deals and share of 2025 annual value by partnership status (%) (p. 19)

Figure 13: Number of deals vs average annual value per deal by sport, 2025 (p. 21)

Figure 14: Annual automotive sponsorship value by sport, 2020–2025 ($m) (p. 22)

Figure 15: Five-year CAGR in annual value by sport, 2020–2025 (%) (p. 23)

Figure 16: Average annual value per deal by sport, 2020 vs 2025 ($m) (p. 24)

Figure 17: Automotive sponsorship of cricket in India: annual value by brand, 2025 ($m) (p. 25)

Figure 18: Top 12 brands by 2025 annual value: annual value ($m), deals and average annual value per deal ($m) (p. 27)

Figure 19: Annual sponsorship value ($m) and number of deals, 2020–2025: Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia, Nissan and BKT (p. 28)

Figure 20: Five-year CAGR in annual value by brand, 2020–2025, brands spending $4m+ in 2025 (%) (p. 29)

Figure 21: China-HQ automotive brands sponsoring APAC sport: active brands and deals, 2020–2025 (p. 30)

Figure 22: China-HQ automotive brands sponsoring APAC sport: annual value, 2020–2025 ($m) (p. 30)

Figure 23: Ten largest brands entering APAC automotive sponsorship in 2025, by annual value ($m) (p. 31)

Figure 24: Ten largest brands exiting after 2024, by 2024 annual value ($m) (p. 31)

Figure 25: Audi: annual sponsorship value ($m) and deals by year, 2020–2025 (p. 32)

Figure 26: BKT: annual sponsorship value ($m) and deals by year, 2020–2025 (p. 33)

Figure 27: BMW: annual sponsorship value ($m) and deals by year, 2020–2025 (p. 34)

Figure 28: Kia: annual sponsorship value ($m) and deals by year, 2020–2025 (p. 35)

Figure 29: Nissan: annual sponsorship value ($m) and deals by year, 2020–2025 (p. 36)

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