Sports sponsorship is booming. Insights from Research and Markets project the global market will more than double to $175.8 billion by 2034, growing nearly 9% annually from the current $76.3 billion valuation.

The deals keep getting bigger. McLaren secured a $100 million annual title sponsorship with Mastercard, while Bayern Munich extended its €65 million shirt partnership with Deutsche Telekom.

And in the U.S., LA28 announced the first venue naming-rights deal in Olympic history. Commercial innovation is accelerating on every front.

Yet amid this growth, the industry is still measuring only half of sponsorship’s potential value.

When CMOs talk about sponsorship ROI, the focus is almost always external: media impressions, brand lift, hospitality, digital reach. The missing half is the internal impact, how sponsorship can energize employees, strengthen culture and drive recruitment and retention.

At its best, sponsorship doesn’t just generate impressions, it builds a stronger “we” inside the organization, turning employees into advocates, innovators and proud carriers of the brand’s story.

This gap matters more than ever. Gallup’s 2025 data shows U.S. employee engagement has dropped to a 10-year low, with only 31% of workers engaged.

Express Employment Professionals found turnover costs businesses an average of $36,723 per year, with one in five absorbing more than $100,000.

Recruitment is equally challenging. SHRM reports 69% of employers report difficulty hiring, while incoming Gen Z workers rank purpose over pay (74%) and half have rejected assignments based on personal ethics.

Measuring sponsorship purely on logo visibility is increasingly outdated.

The........

© Sports Business Journal