This article was originally published in the Brand Finance Football 50 2025 report
Analyst,
Brand Finance
What are the objectives of sponsorship?
The underlying objectives of sponsorship is to create positive perceptions and behaviours among stakeholders in a more effective and efficient way than would be possible with normal marketing tools. Generally, this is achieved by accessing a targeted audience and aligning with the existing attributes of the rights-holder. Exactly how this functions varies considerably depending on the brand, industry, sport/category, rights-holder, and activations. Ultimately, any partnership should deliver a return on investment, which is usually considered in terms of short-term sales boost and long-term brand building benefits.
In a market where product offerings are commoditised, brands turn to strategic partnerships, like sponsorships, to stand out. These types of partnerships serve not only to boost brand visibility but also to elevate brand perception, offer premium experiences to audiences, and remain front-of-mind.
The telecoms industry showcases the difficulties of differentiating in such environments, as core product offerings have become interchangeable to the regular consumer. Leading brands in such sectors use partnerships to retain market share, create emotional relevance and validate a premium positioning through sponsorships.
The effect of Deutsche Telekom’s partnership activations
When measuring partnerships, it's important to remember that the focus leans towards brand building and delivering long-term benefits. Deutsche Telekom, the world’s most valuable telecommunications brand has a brand value of EUR76.5 billion, and through sponsorship has become deeply rooted in German football culture.
Deutsche Telekom is tapping into Germany’s most followed sports market through its football sponsorships, with Brand Finance’s Global Brand Equity Monitor (GBEM) study showing that 49% of Germans follow the sport. The brand is the main sponsor of Bayern Munich (EUR1.3 billion brand value), a premium partner for the German Football Association, and held the title of Official National Partner to UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany. It also has a broadcasting deal with German 3rd division league and Frauen-Bundesliga under their sub brand MagentaTV.
Deutsche Telekom’s communicative brand, T, has partnered with Bayern Munich since 2002 and is extended through to at least 2027. It is one of the longest standing partnerships and most-valuable in Europe, worth a reported EUR50 million per year.
The first objective of the partnership will be to use Bayern Munich’s massive exposure to boost awareness and familiarity of the T brand in the German market. Brand Finance’s 2025 Global Brand Equity Monitor reveals a marked difference in awareness and familiarity with Deutsche Telekom’s T brand between football-following and non-football German consumers. Football fans show significantly higher awareness and familiarity of the T brand. Compared to data from two years ago, familiarity among football fans has grown notably, indicating a deepening connection between the brand and the football audience (Figure 1).
This deeper understanding has worked to strengthen emotional and functional brand attributes among football followers. Respondents rating the brand a 9 or 10 out of 10 make up 32% of football fans, and only 24% of non-fans, an uplift of 8%.
This market research does not exclusively target respondents who have reported being exposed to or engaged with specific partnerships. Instead, it assumes exposure among followers of the sport in general. While this approach provides a conservative view of the impact, it is evident that the partnerships are delivering benefits to the brand.
The Brand Finance research covers 42 markets, over 175,000 respondents and 5,000 brands, and so is unique in its breadth of coverage, allowing a unique view into brand strength, and by extension sponsorships, around the world.
In addition to strengthening the sponsor’s brand funnel and brand perceptions, German football fans are more inclined to perceive the brand as delivering value for its premium pricing (Figure 2).
Brand Finance data indicates that, compared to non-football fans, football fans are more quickly increasing awareness and positive brand attributes, but they also represent a strategic audience segment. Their heightened responsiveness to the partnership makes them a valuable group to retain and nurture. Maintaining this momentum is key to deepening long-term brand equity and ensuring sustained impact from the association, as has been seen over the course of two years.
T has established strong brand equity with German football fans, leading to improved brand perceptions. As a result, T is regarded as a premium brand with a stronger reputation and a closer following. This is further strengthened through the brand funnel of the two audiences, where awareness and familiarity with Deutsche Telekom are high across the board. This also translates further down with significantly higher consideration and preference compared to German non-fans [Figure 3].
In fact, according to Brand Finance’s data, each percentage point of increased brand consideration is expected to deliver 0.6% in market share. All of this would translate to an 8% contribution to revenue for T in Germany – an uplift of EUR1.9 billion on 2024’s EUR26 billion revenue in the country. This is a massive number and validates the significant outlay made by the business on its sports sponsorship strategy.
To make the most effective use of a partnership, it is crucial to understand engagement by analysing the channels used to connect with the league or sport. Combining this with an analysis of the channels which sports fans use to engage with the sport can also allow tactical recommendations on how to optimise effectiveness.
For example, Brand Finance’s research shows how German fans are engaging with their league and how targeting these interactions can lead to a broader and more segmented audience.
