Funding a sports clubby businesses:what the figures show

Corporate funding of sports clubs encompasses sponsorship with benefits in return, hospitality (VIP boxes, hospitality seats), ticket purchases and, in amateur sport, philanthropy. In professional rugby, partnerships account for 45 per cent of Top 14 clubs’ revenue, with hospitality making up nearly half of these partnerships (CCCP 2026 report).

How much do companies contribute to a professional club’s budget?

The leagues publish financial data on their clubs every season. Whilst they do not all measure the same things, the figures are broadly consistent: in team sports other than football, businesses are the primary or secondary source of revenue.

For football, the percentages are calculated based on the consolidated accounts from the 2024/2025 DNCG report (accessed on 23 October 2026): sponsorship and advertising as a proportion of total revenue excluding proceeds from player transfers, i.e. €734 million out of €2,161 million in Ligue 1 and €53.6 million out of €201.7 million in Ligue 2. The DNCG’s ‘sponsors/advertising’ category does not include merchandising, which is classified under ‘other revenue’.

Two caveats before making a comparison. The scope differs: in rugby, the ‘partnerships’ item includes hospitality services sold to businesses and services purchased by local authorities, whilst ticket sales are counted as matchday revenue (CCCP 2026 report). And an average masks significant variations: in Pro D2, partnership revenue ranges from 1 to 6 between the best-funded and least-funded clubs.

The trend is clear in rugby: partnership revenue for Top 14 clubs rose by 7.2 per cent in 2024/2025, and the report attributes this to corporate interest ‘particularly at local and regional level’.

What proportion comes from hospitality and corporate membership?

The appendix to the CCCP 2026 report breaks down sponsorship by type of support. For an average Top 14 club in 2024/2025, hospitality (boxes, VIP services) accounts for around €7.1 million in the league, and €7.5 million including the European Cup, out of a total of €14.8 million in sponsorship: nearly half, well ahead of shirt and shorts sponsorship (around €3.2 million) and signage. In Pro D2, the proportion is the same: around €2.5 million from hospitality out of €5.1 million in sponsorship revenue. This is an estimated breakdown, including local authorities.

In other words, half of the money from businesses does not pay for a logo: it pays for the opportunity to host, be hosted and meet other businesses. This is exactly what a business club sells, whether it is called a partners’ club, business club or corporate club.

Would you like to find out how to organise this funding for your club? Book an appointment with the team, or discover our approach for sports clubs.

Why is the business club at the heart of private funding?

For three reasons, which relate to the nature of the expenditure:

• It is recurring. A business that hosts its clients at the stadium each season will renew its sponsorship if the previous season proved beneficial. A billboard, on the other hand, is compared each year with other advertising media.
• It is local. Most partners are businesses from the club’s catchment area. They know one another, or would benefit from getting to know one another, and the club is one of the few places where their managers regularly cross paths.
• It is justified on business grounds. When two partners sign a contract following a reception, the nature of each party’s contribution changes: it becomes a commercial investment, justifiable to a partner or an accountant.

The corollary is an uncomfortable one: a business club that merely serves cocktails will lose its partners at the first sign of an economic downturn. One that organises networking events between them will retain them.

What sources of private funding should be sought?

A club wishing to increase its private revenue generally combines several options, ranging from the most accessible to the most demanding:

• Business club membership: an annual subscription providing access to events and the network. As a published example, Montpellier Hérault Rugby lists a basic partnership level at €1,000 (excl. VAT) per season for 2025–2026 (the club’s hospitality brochure). Membership fees are generally collected directly by the club.
• Hospitality seats and packages: for individual matches, as a package covering several matches, or for the whole season.
• Box seats: the highest revenue per company, reserved for partners who host a lot of guests.
• Works council allocations: remaining seats, grouped into batches, are sold to the works councils of partner companies and, if the club makes them available, to other businesses.
• Tailored visibility: advertising spaces, sponsorship deals, match sponsorship.
• Philanthropic giving, for eligible organisations: this entitles the donating company to a tax relief of 60 per cent of the donation, up to a limit of €20,000 or 5‰ of turnover excluding VAT if this amount is higher, but excludes professional sport and significant benefits in return (source: Admical, ‘Sponsorship’ factsheet, July 2026).

For a step-by-step guide, membership fee levels, benefits and tax rules, see our guide to setting up a partners’ club for your sports club.

Would you like to estimate this revenue for your own club, based on your partners and your season? Book an appointment with the team.

How can you estimate the potential in your local area?

National figures do not indicate how much a club can raise locally. A four-step method provides a realistic estimate:

1. List the businesses in your catchment area by size and sector, using the INSEE’s Sirene database or your Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) directory.
2. Identify those that receive clients: business services, construction, banking, insurance and business-to-business retail. These are your targets for hospitality.
3. Analyse your current partners: average spend, length of membership, renewal rate, membership package purchased. Your best partners will resemble your best targets.
4. Compare with nearby clubs: published rates, advertised number of partners, capacity. A club that can only accommodate a hundred people per event has a hospitality ceiling, regardless of demand.

This analysis often reveals an overlooked source of potential: companies that are already partners of another club, another sport or a neighbouring business network, and are ready to join a second network if provided with new contacts.

Which indicators should be monitored each season?

The final indicator is the most useful for membership renewal, and the hardest to obtain when communication takes place via emails and scattered spreadsheets. It becomes clear as soon as registrations, meetings and partners’ needs are managed through a single platform.

How can the business club be equipped?

A spreadsheet and a ticketing system are sufficient for a few dozen partners. Beyond that, the club needs a platform where its partners can find one another, meet up and purchase their tickets without being reminded. MisterBridge, for example, provides the club with a bespoke space, both online and via an iOS and Android app: a directory of partners organised by expertise and city; requests for support shared first with partners when posted on the club’s page; meetings organised in advance of each reception and round-table discussions held during the event; online sales of boxes, seats and packages, seats allocated by the purchaser in the name of each guest and tickets scanned on entry, and a shop for works council prizes, advertising and sponsorship offers. Depending on the configuration chosen by the club, its partners can interact exclusively amongst themselves or access other connected clubs. Annual membership fees, however, are collected outside the platform.

League figures show that corporate funding accounts for a significant proportion of professional clubs’ finances, and half of this money goes towards match days rather than brand exposure. To develop this funding, turn your corporate club into a place where partners do business. The simplest way is to start with your current partners: arrange a meeting with the team, or find out more about MisterBridge for sports clubs first.