Responsible sponsorship: 92% of sports actors consider sustainability criteria essential within 5 years

Fair Play For Planet and KPMG France have published the results of their survey on responsible sponsorship, conducted with sports actors, business partners, and experts.

The results show a growing awareness. 83% of sports ecosystem actors believe that the responsible nature of sponsorship influences the perception of the partner brand. 80% of sponsors state that they integrate responsible sponsorship into their corporate strategy, with 70% incorporating CSR criteria into their project choices. 9 out of 10 actors report paying attention to the CSR commitments made by sponsors, with 44% doing so systematically.

Persistent Barriers

75% of sponsors admit to not having specific criteria to evaluate the responsible nature of a project. “Sports sponsorship must now meet increased requirements for responsibility, transparency, and results. The lack of common frameworks to measure commitments still limits its potential,” says Gauthier Acket, Head of Global ESG at KPMG International. “Defining clear, measurable, and auditable criteria is essential to ensure credibility and trust from stakeholders.” A task made even more urgent as 92% of actors believe that sustainability criteria will be important, if not essential, within the next 3 to 5 years.