This is probably one of the TMCs I love to write the most. Each year I get the opportunity to look back and recap for you what we saw over the course of the last 12 months. Then next week I get to pull out my crystal ball and project for you what to expect for 2026. But I get ahead of myself.
Let’s take a look at the past year in the sponsorship world with some highlights
The Year That Was
- Women’s sports continued to dominate the headlines and results. With Caitlin Clark and the WNBA headlines both side of the 49th parallel, the PWHL expansion and the inaugural year of the NSL – Canada’s first professional soccer league women’s sports dominated the discussions and more and more sponsorship dollars flow to women’s sport in Canada and beyond. The greatest achievements though are the number of new categories and brands that have never played in the sponsorship arena before or if they have it has been at a small insignificant level… are now standing front and centre because of women’s sports.
- We have watched some strong large Canadian properties like Curling Canada and several Curling properties, the CHL and their division on the OHL, WHL and Q; the CCMAs the Canadian Olympic Committee, TIFF, and a few others renew and bring on new partners. But likewise, we saw several smaller organizations watch their sponsorship programs grow and thrive over the past year like CAMA (Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators), many small municipalities with facility naming rights and program sponsorships; Canadian Broomball Federation, Indigenous Curatorial Collective, National Accessibility Week, CanSpeak and YMCA Calgary. This shows us that there is growth in the industry at all levels.
- There were losses though. Some of Canada’s largest and highest profile events like the Pride Festivals across several markets in Canada as well as arts festivals have suffered as major partners have pulled their investments to re-aligning and invest their monies where they are gaining better ROI. Though many like to claim the “sponsorship pool of money” is shrinking. It is not. It is re-aligning and those that deliver the best ROI get the dollars. Too often organizations take their brand partners for granted and look at the sponsorship dollars as a “gift” or obligation. Those days are long gone. If you want money you need to provide value. And that value has to be equal to or greater than the cash investment. There is a big learning here for everyone from 2025.
- The CSLS (Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study) clearly showed the growth of our sector with the 2025 report showing a new height for investment in sponsorship marketing in Canada revealed that the sector exceeded the $4B mark of combined rights fees and activation dollars spent.
- Again in 2025 there is an incremental growth in municipalities’ investment in sponsorship as more and more are securing naming rights to facilities and programming. The new sponsorship training event (WSC® Municipal Sponsorship Summit) doubled in number of attendees over the inaugural event in 2024 and host municipalities have been secured for 2026, 2027 and 2028 already. This is truly growing sector year in and out.
- Also, like last year, brands are demanding more data for their ROI measurement and data is becoming king when it relates to projections and measurement metrics—but all is not sales data—there are other metrics in place like employee engagement, lead generation, brand imaging and hosting and hospitality.
- We continue to have seen metric-based outcomes as a critical element in this industry; metric-based big data and data segregation for prospecting and activation engagement as well as more sophisticated valuations of assets beyond eyeballs and “propensity to buy” smoke and mirrors.
- And finally the cry for more professional development has been heard loud and clear. The SMCC continues to lead the way in Toronto while their regional chapter in Calgary has had a terrific year of education based events for their members while Vancouver continues to grow their networking events. All the while the cry continues for more training and professional development and networking opportunities for the sector. SponsorshipYEG was formed in Edmonton and hosted over 80 people to its first social event in October while SponsorshipX continues to operate 3-4 boutique style professional development and social conferences per year to bolster the demand for such events. Through the country’s largest network of dedicated sponsorship marketing events the Western Sponsorship Congress® has secured a three year partner and the inaugural Western Sponsorship Congress® – Saskatchewan Forum will launch in April 2026 while the Western Sponsorship Congress® – Alberta Forum will be back in the fall of 2026 in Edmonton. And there is hopes for two more regional Western Sponsorship Congress® Forum events by 2027. The WSC® Municipal Sponsorship Summit already mentioned is secured for the next three years in Ontario and there are plans for an inaugural event in Western Canada by 2027. The cry for professional development is real, and it is loud and the private sector is delivering to supplement and support what the SMCC is able to deliver. Combined, all these groups are working together to fill the growing need for professional development in our sector.
It has been a banner growth year for our sector and we except that growth to continue in all seven of these identified areas to surge for at least the next three to five years before growth levels become less dramatic.
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