MLB Team Sponsorship Revenue Soars To Nearly $1.9 Billion In 2024

Revenues in Major League Baseball continue to climb, with sponsorships providing a significant portion of them. A report released today highlighting the 30 clubs in the league show revenues approaching $2 billion.

The report by SponsorUnited, shows that team sponsorship revenue has grown to nearly $1.9 billion in 2024, an increase of +23% over 2023 at this time. Even more remarkable, team sponsorship revenues have increased +55% since 2022.

The report details that across the 30 clubs, 325 new sponsorship deals were reached across 30 categories. Of those, key growth was in Construction & Industrial, Automotive, and Insurance. The Construction & Industrial channel saw the largest increase of +45% year-over-year from 2023 for a total of $76 million.

Dodgers And The Shohei Ohtani Effect

Ohtani had a season for the ages becoming the first 50 home runs, 50 stolen bases player in MLB history. While he was drawing interest from Japanese brands looking to capitalize on his star power before arriving with the Dodgers, it has since taken off. All told, in two years Japanese sponsor brands have gone from rom 11 brands across 10 stadiums in 2022 to 35 brands across 15 stadiums in 2024.

While not in the report, Bob Lynch, CEO and Co-Founder of SponsorUnited said to me that while the total number of sponsorship deals the Dodgers have ranks them 25th of out the 30 clubs, they represent a staggering amount of the team total for sponsorships. Combined with the Yankees, at close to $300 million for 2024, the sponsorship revenue total exceeds many clubs in the NFL.

Areas Of Sponsorship Growth: Digital Signage, Continued Jersey Patch Deals

MLB and its associated clubs continue to creatively work to place sponsor activation in a number of areas, growing inventory and creating flexibility. Digital signage is now seen regularly on the Batter’s Eye, back of the pitching mound, and more. One growth areas has been digital dugout ads. SeatGeek, Toyota, and Delta Air Lines are just some of the brands that have engaged in ad inventory with this placement. Since the league adopted digital advertising around the dugout in 2022 there has been 118% increase in placement. And according to the report, there is still room for growth with 77% of clubs still unsold.

In 2023, 53% of the league had seen jersey patch deals. That grew to 73% in 2024 with the addition of the Orioles, Cubs, Phillies, Giants, Rangers, Royals, and Pirates. That grew sponsor patch revenues by 59% for 2024 over last season.

Making The Postseason Correlates To Sponsorship Growth

In a clear indicator that clubs that invest in winning and reach the postseason reap rewards, teams that miss the postseason for three consecutive season see one-third the number of sponsorship growth. That three year gap is important as most sponsor deals are of the multi-year variety. So, while a team may miss the playoffs the year after making them, many of the deals from the prior season continue to garner success. With this data, it’s clear that successful clubs that invest in winning reap the long term rewards.

The report goes deeper, looking at player endorsements and social media growth. Other findings show:

• Justin Turner, who was traded midseason to the Seattle Mariners, leads the league in total active sponsorship deals at 20.
• With over 200 total, the club with the largest total number of sponsorship deals were the Cincinnati Reds.
• The most active brands in Major League Baseball are Budweiser at #1, followed by Toyota, T-Mobile, and Coca-Cola.
• In terms of social media growth in 2024, the Dodgers added nearly 1 million due to the Ohtani signing, smashing the rest of the league where the Yankees at #2 grew by just under 600,000. While Ohtani leads all players, rookie pitching sensation Paul Skenes of the Pirates burst into the ranking him third in social media growth for players. Skenes increased his followers by a higher volume than the next six rookies combined

The SponsorUnited report is based on analysis of brand sponsorships, endorsements, and social engagement across the MLB and its athletes for the 2024 season, encompassing more than 3,300 brands, 5,400 deals, and 12,300 social posts. Data was captured from data from February 15, 2024 to October 9, 2024.