Pro Sports | Dec 18, 2017
The four major sports leagues meet or exceed the projected 4.3 percent increase in overall 2017 U.S. sports spending.
Major League Baseball is finishing the year with a win in terms of sponsorship revenue growth, with the NBA following in a close second.
Sponsorship spending on MLB and the league’s 30 teams grew 7.9 percent in the 2017 season, outpacing the NBA (7.8 percent), the NHL (5.9 percent) and the NFL (4.3 percent), according to ESP estimates.
Much of MLB’s success can be attributed to new post-season sponsorship inventory. That includes replay reviews (W.B. Mason), League Championship Series (presented by Camping World) and the American League Division Series (presented by Doosan).
Other new MLB league sponsors include The Coca-Cola Co., Nathan’s Famous, Old Dominion Freight Line and 5-Hour Energy.
While MLB beats its peers in terms of sponsorship revenue growth, the NFL maintains its status as the league with the most revenue. Sponsors spent an estimated $1.25 billion on the NFL and it’s 32 teams in the 2016-2017 season followed by MLB ($892 million), the NBA ($861 million) and the NHL ($505 million).
Major League Baseball 2017 Spending: $892M 2016 Spending: $827M Year-over-year increase: 7.9%
New League Sponsors (2017 Season)
National Basketball Association 2016-2017 Spending: $861M 2015-2016 Spending: $799M Year-over-year increase: 7.8%
New League Sponsors (2016/2017 & 2017/2018 seasons)
National Football League 2016-2017 Spending: $1.25B 2015-2016 Spending: $1.2B Year-over-year increase: 4.3%
National Hockey League 2016-2017 Spending: $505M 2015-2016 Spending: $477M Year-over-year increase: 5.9%
New League Sponsors (2016-2017 Season)
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