Marketers to Continue Sports Event Advertising
For some marketers, reaching specific demographic groups means sponsoring televised sporting events. The most recent analysis of sports advertisers, done annually by Sports Business Journal, shows that 
Anheuser-Busch was king in 2009 when it came to televised events. The company spent over $300 million last year on TV sporting events, which accounted for 75% of its total ad spending.
It turns out that beer companies aren’t the only big spenders who chase sports fans. The other companies in the top 5 include:
2. Verizon Communications $228 million
3. Sprint Nextel $205 million
4. Ford $197 million
5. AT&T Wireless $180.9 million
These companies all spent 1/3rd or less of their total ad budgets on televised sports events. However, there are several other companies who allocate more than 50% of their total ad spend to televised sports. Among these companies are:
- Southwest Airlines $136.5 million (64.3%)
- MillerCoors $116.8 million (67.5%)
- Coors Brewing $115.2 million (80.5%)
- FedEx $51 million (92%)
It seems that well-established companies that target a broad cross-section of consumers are not afraid to focus a significant portion of their ad spending on one medium. It’s even more interesting to consider the companies, in 2009, that recorded the biggest percent increases in added TV sports advertising – Adaptive Marketing (a customer loyalty firm), Microsoft and consumer products giant Unilever.
The shifts in spending by these marketers show that there’s no substitute for advertising products and services during live programming that fully engages its audience.
[Source: Broughton, David. A-B again leads list of top sports advertisers. SportsBusinessJournal. 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 Apr. 2010]
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