Sports sponsorship in Poland: the fuel and state sectors dominate. Private capital in retreat
Analyzes conducted at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism show that in Poland 80 percent expenditure on sports sponsorship comes from public funds, and only 20 percent from private business – says Robert Korzeniowski, Olympic champion and strategy advisor to the Minister of Sport. As he emphasizes, these are the opposite proportions to those in many Western European countries. Without greater business involvement and a new, attractive offer from sports, it may be difficult to change this model.
– According to research that is part of the diagnosis we are conducting at the Ministry of Sport and Tourism for the Sports Development Strategy until 2040, only 20 percent sports sponsorship is a commercial field, the rest is the public sphere. Today we are dealing with a certain institutional sponsorship of sports, based on state or local government programs and procedures. This is a proportion that is far from the European average, because in the EU it is 60%, and looking at Great Britain, it is 90%. private and 10 percent public involvement in sport – emphasizes Robert Korzeniowski, advisor to the Minister of Sport and Tourism for sports strategy, in an interview with the Newseria agency.
The sponsorship market is growing
Market data confirm that the sponsorship market is growing. According to the Sponsoring Insights analysis, in 2024, expenditure on sports sponsorship in Poland exceeded PLN 1.45 billion, and this year it is expected to reach PLN 1.5 billion. The top disciplines in terms of revenues from the sale of sponsorship rights are football (34.4%) and volleyball (almost 19%). The industry that spends the most on the purchase of sponsoring rights is the energy and fuel sector (34.2%), mainly State Treasury companies. This is followed by FMCG (7.6%) and betting/games of chance (7.2%).
The report of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) “Physical culture in 2023 and 2024” indicates that public expenditure according to the budget classification of expenses in section 926 Physical culture (of the state budget and local government units) in 2024 they amounted to almost PLN 12.7 billion. The expenditure of the state budget is PLN 1.68 billion, and that of local governments – PLN 11 billion. The total amount is 5.5 percent. higher than in 2023 and by 46.8%. compared to 2022.
– On the one hand, sport expects greater support, involvement of private entities or commercial support for sport in general, but on the other hand, it is probably not entirely ready and re-told as an attractive product – says Robert Korzeniowski.
Business comes into action when there are already successes
It is certainly attractive for brands to cooperate with recognizable athletes who already have an established position and achieve success.
– Actually, a commercial sponsor gets involved when we are dealing with an already established brand, with an athlete who is the so-called certain. There are huge needs in the area of CSR, i.e. social involvement, where we have talented, outstanding young people. We should establish a sponsorship dialogue with society, saying: we focus on those who are our representatives, who are close to us and who can potentially achieve success, but we do not say that we will benefit from this success in terms of image – explains the four-time Olympic champion in race walking. – These are dilemmas that need to be answered: how much state and private business should be involved in sports sponsorship.
This is one of the areas to be included in the Sports Development Strategy. The government document, which is being worked on, is intended to set long-term directions for the development of sports in Poland (until 2040). The strategy focuses on three main directions: sport for all – as the foundation of a healthy and active society, competitive sport – as a tool for building Poland's international image, and identification and development of talents – as a key pillar of the future of Polish sport, with the support of youth, coaches and the entire sports education system.
– Strategic work is underway, we are at the diagnostic stage, and soon there will be a stage of extensive public consultations. This will be a government strategy, not a departmental one. The discussions help us collect new threads that help us think about sport, activity and the place of sport in the world of social business as broadly as possible – emphasizes the athlete.
In the first mentioned area, the document is intended to indicate ways of increasing access to sport and physical activity in various age and social groups.
In Poland, family budgets spend six times less on sports than on alcohol and stimulants
– According to Eurostat, family budgets in Poland spend six times less on sports than on alcohol and stimulants. This is something we really need to think deeply about. If we are talking about money well spent, if we are talking about supporting proactive processes, let's take into account that we need to reverse these trends. The strategy we are working on should take all of this into account, emphasizes Robert Korzeniowski.
According to the announcement, the strategy is to help develop a sports financing model to make it more effective, and to take into account demographic changes and the growing role of physical activity in the health economy.
– If we invest in sports activities, we will treat people less. And these are very specific elements that make it profitable to invest more – argues the advisor to the minister for sports strategy. – Business says this: if we do not have a healthy employee, if we cannot recruit him, if we do not have people using sick leave to a lesser extent, then, in short, the economy will at some point stop developing so dynamically. Sport is a business for the entire society, it is simply profitable for us.
According to research on the level of physical activity of Poles, conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, 23 percent people over 15 years of age meet WHO recommendations regarding the minimum amount of physical activity in free time. The report “Benefits of physical activity among Poles – assessment of the impact on health, the economy and the labor market”, prepared by the Institute for Structural Research on behalf of Benefit Systems, indicates that if every second physically inactive resident of Poland started exercising, the number of deaths per year could drop by 13.7%. (by approx. 55 thousand people). The number of hospitalization days would also decrease (by 1.7 million to 31 million). Experts estimate the possible savings due to sickness absence at PLN 1.9 billion.
