Sports sponsorships are taking a major hit in 2020. An analysis from sports marketing company Two Circles found global sports sponsorship rights fees will decline 37% this year to $28.9 billion after totaling $46.1 billion in 2019.

The financial services sector – generally the largest investor in sports partnerships globally – was one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, and is expected to drop its spending by an expected 45%. The segment spent $12.58 billion in 2019 but is projected to drop to $6.92 billion this year. Other industries with impending reductions of more than 40% include airlines, energy producers and automotive manufacturers.

The financial services decline alone could have major implications in the U.S. sports market. The industry accounts for 36% of sports sponsorship spend in the U.S., including more than 25% of NBA jersey patch partners and more than a third of NFL stadium naming rights partners.

Top 10 Global Sport Sponsor Segments

• Financial Services: -45% projected decrease
• Automotive: -55%
• Technology: -18%
• Telecoms: -19%
• Retail: -37%
• Soft Drinks: -39%
• Energy: -44%
• Airline: -61%
• Alcohol: -19%
• Gaming: -31%

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has joined the ranks of politicians urging sports to come back to their states. New York has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. with more than 360,000 of the nation’s 1.53 million cases, but Cuomo is tired of watching classic games.

Regions of New York have begun to open up, though New York City remains largely on lockdown. The governor couched his statements with the assumption leagues and teams could financially support games without fans.

“If they can make the numbers work, I say great,” Cuomo said. “They have to make that decision but anyway we can help we would help and then we can be up and running and then when we can fill a stadium again we can fill a stadium.”

Cuomo’s openness to the industry comes on the heels of the first two states to fully open back up to sports: Florida and Arizona. Cuomo’s remarks may have inspired California Gov. and sports skeptic Gavin Newsom, who also said yesterday that sports could return as soon as June in his state.

President Donald Trump again rallied excitement for the return of fans as he called into the NBC broadcast of a charity skins match this weekend between pro golfers Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff. “We want to get it back to where it was, we want big, big stadiums loaded with people,” Trump said.

The coronavirus pandemic is showing a silver lining, at least for the video game industry. Video game sales were up 9% year-over-year in the first quarter to $10.9 billion. Game content powered the sector with an 11% increase, amounting to $9.6 billion in sales.

Hardware improved as well, increasing 2% to $773 million as Nintendo’s Switch helped offset declines in other platforms. High demand has made the Switch a hard-to-find item the past few months as Nintendo tries to keep pace.

The livestreaming industry also exploded, showing 99% year-over-year growth in hours watched in April. The April numbers were themselves a 45% increase over March.

The video game and esports industries have garnered plenty of attention over the past two-plus months as traditional sports have come to a standstill and people remained stuck inside. Experts inside and outside the industry are confident the momentum will continue even as life returns to some semblance of normalcy.

Video Game Stocks

• Activision Blizzard: +23% this year
• Electronic Arts: +8.9%
• Take-Two Interactive: +7.4%

Fascinating Figures

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold 13.5 million copies since its late March release.
• Microsoft’s Game Pass has more than 10 million subscribers with a 130% increase in multiplayer engagement.
• Nintendo Switch sales are up 24% year-over-year.
• Twitch users viewed 1.49 billion hours in April, up 50% from March.

As teams seek new revenue while seasons start without fans, an FOS Exclusive by Danni Santana looks into an MLB proposal to cover those empty seats with sponsored tarps. In 2019, 11% of league revenue came from sponsorships, while this year owners say they’ll lose more than $600,000 for every game played without fans.

Data firm Nielsen confirmed it is working with multiple professional leagues and teams to explore new revenue-generating opportunities. The tarp idea isn’t wholly new, as MLB teams have put brands like Reynolds Wrap, Glad, Bounty and Skittles on their on-field tarps for rain delays.

Still, without fully understanding how empty stadiums will appear on broadcasts, the tarp-over-seat values may be tough to pin down. “It’ll be hard for both the brands and the teams to put a value against those assets until we fully understand the new broadcast landscape,” Steve McNelley, senior vice president of consulting at marketing firm rEvolution, told FOS.