SPONSORIZZAZIONI SPORTIVE IN ITALIA: NEL 2026 IL MERCATO SUPERERA' € 1,1 MILIARDI
The 2026 Predictive Survey “The Future of Sponsorship,” conducted by StageUp and ChainOn, confirms that the sponsorship market as a whole (sports, culture, entertainment, and social causes) is experiencing a phase of structural expansion both globally and in Italy, with projected investment increases of +15% worldwide and +7% in Italy for the current year.
Sports remain the primary driver of investment worldwide and in Italy, with trends fueled by increasingly integrated business models that create synergy between communication, engagement, loyalty, live experiences, streaming, and social media.
TRENDS IN ITALY AND GLOBALLY. By 2026, the global sponsorship market will reach $129.4 billion in nominal terms (+15%), with sports leading the sector at $91.9 billion (71% of the total). In Italy, the total market will grow from €1.564 billion in nominal terms in 2025 to €1.673 billion in 2026, representing 7% growth.
SPORTS SPONSORSHIPS IN ITALY. In 2026, sports sponsorship in Italy is estimated at €1.127 billion (67% of the total sector) and remains the top driver of national investment, while growth continues in the culture, entertainment, and social sectors, driven by ESG (Environment-Social-Governance) initiatives.
SERIE A AND THE MILAN-CORTINA OLYMPICS. In 2025, Serie A soccer accounted for 47.4% (€517 million) of sports investments, and this figure is projected to rise further to €542 million in 2026. The sector was primarily influenced by the Milan-Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, which served as the main driver of investment during the 2024–26 period and accounted for 17.9% of the total in 2025. Among national leagues, the Serie A basketball league remains the second-largest competition in terms of revenue in 2025, with a value of €70 million (6.4% of the total). The SuperLega volleyball league, the top men’s division, accounts for 3.2% of the overall market, with revenue of €35 million.
“The data emerging from the 2026 Predictive Survey fully confirms what we observe every day on the ChainOn platform,” says ChainOn CEO Giovanni Palazzi. “ The sponsorship market depends and will increasingly depend on the ability to interconnect and measure, in a precise and verifiable manner, the impact that an event, a team, or an athlete has on the behavior of stakeholders and fans, as well as on the local economy. Digital platforms that allow investors to combine purchasing opportunities, engagement, loyalty, and experience represent today’s strategic frontier for extracting maximum value from sponsorships. With ChainOn, we aim to be the bridge connecting the demand for transparency to concrete investment opportunities, helping to make the entire sponsorship system more measurable, efficient, and sustainable.”
StageUp CEO Federico Gaetano adds: “Sponsorship is not a tool for visibility, but first and foremost a reputational investment. Visibility can amplify its effects, but it is no longer its foundation. Milan-Cortina 2026 is a clear example of this: even without brand exposure on the competition venues, numerous companies have chosen to become partners of the event, recognizing Olympic and Paralympic values as the primary driver of value creation and building around them independent, targeted communication and activation plans that have amplified the significance of the partnership and generated concrete results in terms of reputation, relationships, and business.”
