4 Lessons in Audience Growth from 2025’s Sport Sponsorship Plays

In 2025, we've seen a wave of strategic sponsorships across sports, from Formula 1 to wheelchair rugby, that offer valuable lessons for marketers, brands, and rights-holders looking to grow audiences. Here are five lessons drawn from five distinct sports sponsorship cases.

1. In Formula : Make the sport feel like a lifestyle, not just competition

The resurgence of sponsorship interest in F1 demonstrates how repositioning a sport beyond just racing can draw new, younger, and more diverse audiences. In 2025, F1 attracted major new sponsors, ranging from luxury goods to mainstream consumer brands, a signal that F1 is increasingly seen as a cultural and lifestyle platform. 

Our lesson:

Use sponsorships to repurpose sport as a lifestyle or cultural phenomenon. When brands position themselves not just as advertisers but as part of a broader lifestyle narrative, the sport becomes relevant beyond hardcore fans.

2. In the NBA: Turn sponsorship into immersive, social-first fan experiences

At NBA All-Star 2025, sponsors didn’t just place logos, they created immersive fan zones, interactive activations, and social-first experiences. For example, a major sponsor built a multi-floor “experience” environment where fans could engage with content, get exclusive access, interact with memorabilia, and participate in social activations. 

Our lesson: 

Sponsorship isn't just about visibility anymore. That’s the smallest part of it. Sponsorship is about creating shareable, immersive experiences. Designing for engagement in person and digital helps convert casual viewers into invested fans, and encourages social sharing that expands reach.

3. In Football: Leverage broadcast-partner sponsorships to reach large, diverse audiences

The 2025 renewal by Sky Media of its top-level broadcast sponsorship for Premier League coverage illustrates how media-side sponsorships can help brands ride the wave of an entire sport's popularity. The expanded roster of sponsors reflects a modern model: not every sponsor needs to partner with a club, some leverage the league’s overall reach. 

Our Lesson: 

Think beyond club-by-club or team-by-team deals. Sponsoring broadcast and media partners can deliver scale, especially for global or cross-club/team audiences. For a brand, it’s a way to participate in the sport’s ecosystem without the exclusivity or cost of a top-club shirt deal.

4. In Rugby: Sponsoring across the community and inclusive teams strengthens grassroots and long-term support

In 2025, the law firm Chadwick Lawrence renewed its long-standing partnership with Leeds Rhinos, not for their top-tier men’s team, but also to support multiple local rugby clubs and the club’s physical-disability and learning-disability teams. 

Our lesson: 

Expand sponsorship beyond elite performance. Support community, disability, and grassroots levels whenever possible because consumer care and will call you out. Investing in inclusivity and local clubs builds goodwill, fosters long-term loyalty, and reaches communities that mainstream sport marketing often overlooks.

So what does this mean for those in the industry:

If you are a marketing leader, brand manager, or rights-holder, 2025’s sponsorship case studies should encourage you to expand how you think about sport. Look beyond teams, leagues, and fixtures, and toward community, culture, inclusivity, and immersive experiences. Evaluate sponsorship opportunities not just for reach, but for engagement, values alignment, and long-term growth.

Whether you deal with global brands, local clubs, or adaptive sports, there is huge potential in seeing sport as a platform for story-telling, community building, and cultural resonance.