On the morning of January 27, 2026, the 18th edition of the Sports Sponsorship Barometer took place — this year under the theme Sports + Entertainment. The study analyzes sponsorship and its evolving trends from three key perspectives: sponsoring brands, sponsored properties, and fan demand.

In addition, the report includes the SAI (Sponsorship Awareness Index) — which measures brand association across different sports — and the PSAI (Property Sponsorship Association Index), which examines brand connections with major sports properties and leading athletes of the moment.

What’s new this year is the evolution from the Sports Sponsorship Barometer to the Sportainment Barometer, reflecting how the industry has progressed toward a model where sport and entertainment are increasingly intertwined.

Following the presentation by Carlos Cantó, CEO of SPSG Consulting, the event featured a panel of prominent experts and leading voices from the Sports Business & Entertainment industry:

The Sport Investor Map offers a non-comprehensive (and focused on elite properties: clubs, leagues, federations, events, etc.) view of the global sports and entertainment investment ecosystem.

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The Map confirms a structural trend: investment in the sports industry has moved beyond the mere purchase of clubs to focus on platforms and portfolios that integrate media, technology, experiences and services, with a focus on scaling, diversifying and gaining business efficiency by creating synergies.

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During 2025, there was a high volume of acquisitions, with an estimated value of between $30 and $45 billion through September. Among the most significant transactions were the acquisition of Dorna Sports by Liberty Media, the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, and KKR's entry into Arctos' capital.

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In total, it summarises 650 connections between 194 investors and 507 properties, in 58 countries and 30 sports, reflecting who controls the assets, who distributes and who captures the value.

In terms of trends, the United States remains the leader, Latin America continues to be dynamic, and capital from the Middle East is growing, with a focus on European football and scalable assets via content and experience. Multi-club models and celebrity investors continue to gain ground as media and commercial accelerators.

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The cases illustrated in the Sport Investor Map by SPSG Consulting, which do not aim to detail the particularities of each agreement and participation, seek to illustrate a structural dynamic common to different business ecosystems (media, banking, investment funds, etc.) and which is also occurring in the sports industry: the development of a network of holdings and relationships where a small number of players with greater financial and management capacity act as a backbone.