In an interview in Palco 23, the CEO of SPSG Consulting analyses the effects of Covid-19 on sports sponsorship, anticipating a gradual recovery.
"We are in the era of phygital sponsorship," says Carlos Cantó. Properties and brands must adapt to a constantly evolving market marked by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, and in which sport is moving towards professionalisation, according to the executive. "Those who focus only on activating one place and during the sporting event are making a mistake, you have to do it all year round and everywhere," he says.
Q: How does the decline in TV viewership affect the return of sponsors?
A: There is no such thing as television, but different technologies and different screen sizes. Linear TV, although it is the main platform in Spain to follow sport, is clearly on a downward trend. According to the Sports Sponsorship Barometer, 84% of Spanish fans said in 2017 that linear television was the main platform for following sport. In contrast, in 2020 it has become 62%. There are other screens and other technologies that are increasing, such as social platforms, influencers' channels, OTT, SVOD, pay-per-view or aggregators such as Movistar+.
It is not true that audiences are decreasing, they are increasing, but sport is seen through different screens and content. The core business is the sporting event, but there are many other audiovisual content elements that are increasingly appreciated by the demand. All in all, audiences are growing because the importance of sport is increasing among all fans, including those who are also interested in what happens around sport. The paradigm of television audiences has to be changed