SponsorUnited, a flagship international sports and entertainment intelligence platform responsible for following 1,1 million sponsorships and endorsements of over 250.000 brands and assets, has released its 2022 NFL Marketing Partnerships Report, which states that sports betting is the most important contributor to profits for NFL teams, with revenue in this category growing 40% in 2022 compared to the 2021.

NFL 2022 Marketing Partnerships Report description:

The NFL 2022 Marketing Partnerships Report provides insight into the sponsorship and landscape within the NFL in 2022. The report features analyzes of NFL sponsorships across the league, teams and individual athlets.

Commenting on the Report, Bob Lynch, Founder and CEO of SponsorUnited, said: “Rather than relying on a handful of household brands to grow revenues, NFL teams are driving exponential growth by diversifying their brand partners.

“Ticketing, Insurance, and Healthcare were the leading brand categories in terms of revenue growth this season. The NFL’s sponsor portfolio isn’t slowing down anytime soon, as emergent categories like Sports Betting and Wine & Spirits are expected to increase their spend in the years ahead.” 

A partnership between an NFL team and sports betting operators:

The Report also shows that sports betting and gaming agreements quadrupled between 2019, when there were 8 brands, and 2022, when there were 32 brands, with sponsorship profits of $2.05 billion for the 2022-23 which is a new league record and 14% annual growth.

When this profit is combined with the league as a whole, the total income was $2.7 billion.

Moreover, more than 25 NFL teams now possess minimum 1 sportsbook or daily fantasy sports sponsor and gambling firms have increased their ad spending in the past year.

Sponsors are mainly Apple Music Halftime Show and new ones like Socios and Healthcare brands.

However, a small number of sports betting and iGaming operators have long-term contracts with NFL teams, involving FanDuel, Betfred, Bet365 and Bally’s.

The legalization of sports betting in America as an incentive for partnerships:

Looking at the data that the NFL entered into the most sports betting and iGaming agreements between 2019-2022, the logical conclusion is that the official legalization of sports betting in several US states was the impetus for the conclusion of the agreements.

As more US states legalize sports betting, more deals between NFL teams and sports betting operators will be possible throughout the year.

Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos as the most famous athlete on social media:

Russel Wilson, one of the players of the Denver Broncos, was named the NFL athlete with the most endorsements on social networks with 22 deals, followed by Austin Ekeler with 21 deals.

These two are the only NFL players with more than 20 deals. Besides them, the most favorable players are JuJu Smith-Schuster from the Kansas City (15 approvals) and Travis Kelce (14 approvals), and Tyler Lockett from the Seattle Seahawks (13 approvals).

However, the scope of Ekeler’s contract shows his appeal, aka his game on the field and the capacity to attract new audiences as an influencer in the esports space.

Alcohol as the top brand consumption category:

Alcohol is again at the top of the brand consumption category. It posses 333 sponsorships across NFL teams and the league as a whole.

The second place is occupied by technology brands (218 sponsorships) and Food Products brands (177 sponsorships).

However, the Alcohol category ranked second in profits for NFL team agreements, behind the Finance category which took the top spot with $210 million in revenue and ahead of the Healthcare category at $145 million in revenue.

The NFL improves its global reach:

The main goal of the NFL is to grow globally and increase the fan base by 26% to 240 million fans across the world, with the main focus on Germany and the UK.

They achieved this by presenting the international home marketing areas (IHMA) plan in January 2022, which gave NFL teams access to global regions to market and attract fan interest by organizing games and sponsored events and investing money in youth football programs abroad.

Right now, 19 teams have access to 30 IMHA’s in 10 countries including the Los Angeles Rams (4), Miami Dolphins (3), and the Philadelphia Eagles (3).