Sports sponsorship set to hit €90m

OVERALL spending by Irish companies on sports sponsorship is to grow by over 15% to almost €90m this year, according to forecasts Dublin consultancy Onside Sponsorship.

Europe will lead the wider global double-digit growth forecast by American Sponsorship experts IEG, which forecast that this year sponsorship spending worldwide will rise at a rate of 11% from €25 billion in 2005.

European forecasts are up 13%, spurred by events including the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.