USA sponsorship spending to rise

US companies plan to spend $14.9 billion on sponsorships this year, up 11.7 per cent from $13.4 billion in 2006, according to the IEG Sponsorship Report.

This follows a 10.5 per cent increase in sponsorship spend from 2005 to 2006. The predicted 2007 increase is expected to outpace traditional media growth and IEG expects sports sponsorships to hit $9.9 billion in 2007, up 10.8 per cent from $8.64 billion in 2006.

IEG says that global sponsorship spend is also on the increase, predicting it will reach $37.7 billion in 2007, up 11.9 percent from $33.7 billion in 2006. European companies are expected to increase sponsorship spending by 11.6 percent to $10.6 billion in 2007, up from $9.5 billion in 2006.

Asia Pacific companies are expected to spend 15.6 percent more, from $6.4 billion in 2006 to $7.4 billion in 2007. Central and South American companies combined are expected to spend 11.1 percent more, from $2.7 billion in 2006 to $3 billion in 2007. All other regions are predicted to increase sponsorship spending by 5.9 percent, from $1.7 billion in 2006 to $1.8 billion in 2007.