IS TV SPONSORSHIP IN SPORTS STILL WORTH IT NOW THAT SOCIAL MEDIA ADS ARE SO EFFECTIVE?
- Karl Mokom
With more and more people spending time on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, it’s a fair question: Is it still worth it for brands to spend millions on sponsoring sports events on traditional TV?
Social media ads are cheaper, faster, more targeted, and easy to track. You can reach the exact audience you want, test different messages, and get instant results. In fact, global spending on social media advertising reached $270 billion in 2024 and it’s still growing.
So, is TV sponsorship still a good move? The answer depends on what the brand is really trying to achieve.
What do brands really want?
Not all advertising is about making an immediate sale, some brands aim to be liked, trusted, and remembered. They want to build brand love, that strong emotional connection people have with a brand and sometimes brand perception by shaping how people see and feel about them, which a quick social ad can’t always achieve.
Yes, social media is great for building awareness, especially for newer brands, but once awareness is in place, the goal often shifts to something deeper like becoming part of a culture, being seen as trustworthy, or aligning with certain values.
That’s where sports sponsorship on TV still offers something unique.
Even in the age of streaming and short-form content, live sports remain one of the most- watched TV formats in the world. People don’t just watch games, they gather, cheer, shout, and feel and these moments create a kind of energy that brings fans together.
For example:
- The 2024 Super Bowl drew over 123 million viewers in the U.S. alone.
- The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup had more than 2 billion global viewers, with over 400 million watching through traditional broadcast.
- In South Africa, The Premier league draws in an average of over 1.1 billion ad impressions per season
TV sponsorship during moments like these allows a brand to step into a shared emotional experience and when done well, it’s not just about being seen but about being part of something that people care about deeply. And that kind of emotional link is powerful.
In fact, research from Nielsen shows that TV sports sponsorship boosts brand recall by up to 47% compared to digital ads alone.
Sponsorship isn’t just about putting a logo on screen, it’s about how the brand is presented and involved in the sport. The most effective campaigns go beyond visibility; they use storytelling, tone, and timing to create something memorable. Whether it’s a slogan repeated during key moments, a consistent presence throughout a tournament, or a theme that fans can engage with, creative integration is what makes sponsorship stick in people’s minds. Without that, even a big TV presence can feel flat or forgettable.
There’s no doubt that social media offers value. You can speak directly to a targeted audience, often at a lower cost. According to Hootsuite’s 2024 Digital Report, the average cost per 1,000 impressions on Facebook is about $12, while a similar TV placement could cost three times more.
But social media ads are easy to skip and just as easy to forget. Given the fast-scrolling environments, depth of impact often loses out to speed. If a brand wants to be trusted or associated with strong, lasting emotions, a quick ad between videos might not be enough.
The most successful strategies today don’t treat TV and social media as opposites; they use them together. TV delivers the big cultural moment, while social media allows the brand to stay present in the fan conversation, before and after the game.
Deloitte research shows that multi-channel campaigns are 2.5 times more effective in driving engagement and brand lift than single-platform efforts.
This is where the real power lies, not in choosing between platforms, but in combining their strengths. TV creates the emotional spark, and social media keeps the story going.
If a brand wants fast results, quick clicks, or short-term traffic, then social media may be enough. But if the goal is to be felt, respected, and remembered especially in the world of sports where passion runs high then TV sponsorship still holds serious value.
It’s not about old versus new. It’s about using each channel for what it does best. In a world where attention is everywhere, the brands that win are the ones that don’t just show up, they connect. And in sport, when emotions are at their highest, the brand that’s part of the moment becomes part of the memory.