Money Still Rolls In To Top Sports, by Lisa Pryor - 21st May 2002
( Credit: Sydney Morning Herald )

There may be a worldwide slump in advertising and marketing expenditure, but sports sponsorship in Australia has been remarkably resilient, according to figures released by the Commercial Economic Advisory Service of Australia.

Sponsorship of Australian sporting events in 2001 compared with 2002 was down only 0.3 per cent to just less than $1.25 billion, despite the post-Olympic slump and the economic downturn. And while last year's figures are $4 million lower than 2000, they are $91 million higher than 1999.

"The whole of marketing worldwide has gone down and Australia is no different," said CEASA's Bernard Holt. "In fact, we are slightly higher than some other countries."

Sports sponsorship has declined less than advertising expenditure generally, which dropped 6.2 per cent in 2001.

But the full effect of the corporate collapses of Ansett, HIH and OneTel is still to be felt by the sporting world. Rugby league, rugby union, AFL, cricket, basketball and athletics are just some of the sports that have lost sponsorship due to corporate collapses in the last year.

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