Bundesliga sponsorship data

According to ONE8Y's Fan Buying Power Report Professional Football 2026 (n=3,030, May 2026), 63 percent of football fans in Germany have already knowingly bought a product or service because a brand sponsors their favourite sport. 71 percent actively prefer the club sponsor when value for money is equal. 55 percent are willing to pay a premium for sponsor brands. These figures are based on representative primary interviews and reflect proven, already activated purchasing behaviour — not theoretical potential.

According to the ONE8Y Database, physical sponsorship touchpoints achieve the highest recognition rates: naming rights (stadium name) at 70 percent, perimeter advertising at 68 percent and shirt sponsorship at 68 percent. Social media is well behind at 48 percent and acts mainly as an amplification channel. For sponsor brands this means: permanent physical presence generates the strongest brand contact — social content amplifies, but cannot replace physical touchpoints.

Yes — and disproportionately so for purchasing behaviour. Of fans who follow only the 2. Bundesliga, 65.7 percent buy because of sponsorship, compared with just 52.4 percent of fans who follow only the Bundesliga. At 81.4 percent, multi-league fans (who follow both the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga) are the strongest-buying consumer group in German professional football. 2. Bundesliga sponsorship therefore often offers a much better cost-benefit ratio than top-flight deals — with higher fan intensity and lower investment.

41.8 percent of professional football fans actively avoid products from sponsors of rival clubs. Sponsoring only one club wins its fans — and at the same time triggers active purchase refusal among a relevant share of the league's total reach. In addition, 65.1 percent of fans follow more than one club — the supposedly exclusive club audience is in reality a league audience. And 53.6 percent would cancel an existing contract or subscription if their favourite club lost its sponsor. League-wide or multi-club sponsorship maximises sales impact with a lower risk of rejection.

77 percent of German football fans find sports sponsorship more acceptable than classic advertising, and 66 percent find it more credible. Conversely, almost one in three sees classic advertising as negative, and 65 percent as dishonest or exaggerated. Sports sponsorship reaches target groups with a head start in trust that no media budget can buy — and through image transfer (66% find club sponsors more likeable, 59% trust them more) creates a brand effect that goes beyond mere contact. The prerequisite: the sponsor must be perceived as authentic and value-compatible — 81% of fans expect genuinely shared values.

The ONE8Y Database collects primary data every week on fan purchasing behaviour, sponsorship perception and brand fit for all three German professional leagues. Specifically, it measures: willingness to buy and actual purchasing behaviour towards sponsor brands, price premium tolerance, image transfer (likeability, trust), touchpoint recognition rates, brand fit between club and potential sponsors, and acceptance by industry. The database comprises 5 million primary data points from our own surveys, is updated weekly and covers up to 70 markets internationally.