Covered in this article

Hot Categories
Brands To Watch
The Hidden Market (new)

Hot Categories

A weekly rank of the sectors most active in sponsorship, based on Scout’s Category Temperature.

Payment Providers is the hottest category, with more recent activity this week:

American Express x NFL (Melbourne game)
Ria Money Transfers x Lakapi Samoa (Rugby Union)

This is in addition to other activity so far in 2026:

Airwallex x Essendon, Blues
Corpay x Rugby Australia, LIV Golf
Revolut x Hawks
Ebury x Adelaide United

Solar continues to shine bright, with more new deals including:

1Komma 5 x Geelong (renewal)
Powerbay x Melbourne Mavericks (new, not yet announced)
Anker Solix x Hawthorn (new in 2026)

Outside of the top 10, there has been significant recent growth for Homebuilding:

Allam Property Group x Panthers (renewal this week)
Nostra Homes x Western Bulldogs (new in 2026)
Maple Living x Victory (renewal in 2026)
Friday Homes x Hurricanes (NZ) (new in 2026)

About Hot Categories: Scout’s Category Temperature Score is an index based on recent growth and activity (accounting for changes in both number of deals and approx. spend/term).

See the full rankings in the Scout Pro Dashboard.

Brands To Watch

A weekly list of 5-10 Brands primed for future sponsorship activity, based on recent activity and changes to the competitive landscape.

Why: Taubmans key competitor Dulux renewed with Geelong this week to 2028, after recent renewal with North (to 2028) and Victory partnership to 2027.
Context: Major paint brand in Australia under-invested in sponsorship, having previously held Tier 2 partnerships with Brisbane Lions and Parramatta Eels.
So What: May review sponsorship strategy in wake of Dulux recent activity. NSW/QLD represent relatively clean air for the category, with all three Dulux partnerships in Victoria.

Why: Renewed with Geelong Cats this week after signing a new front of shirt (away games) deal with Adelaide United in late 2025 - signalling a renewed commitment to sponsorship.
Context: 1KOMMA5° officially entered the Australian market in 2022 after acquiring a series of local solar companies such as Natural Solar, Solaray Energy, Kozco and Arkana, giving them a presence across all major states except WA.
So What: Look for 1KOMMA5° to expand their sponsorship presence into NSW and QLD, perhaps targeting an NRL Club to compliment their current activity in AFL and A League.

Why: SIP Energy was mentioned as a brand to watch in late February after re-signing with Sydney FC. They have since had their deal with the Sharks expire opening up potential budget for redeployment.
Context: Momentum in the category has continued to grow, with 7 new partnerships and 3 expiries in the last 3 months alone.
So what: SIP Energy’s current partnerships include major infrastructure components having installed major solar arrays at Sky Park (Sydney FC) and USANA Rabbitohs Centre. Look for future activity to have a similar precinct installation.

Why: Virgin Australia has been active recently with AFL (5-year renewal), Carlton (3-year renewal) and Sydney Swans (3-year new deal), while its deal with Gold Coast Suns (from 2011) has expired. There has also been recent activity from Fiji Airways (Suns) and Air New Zealand (NZ Warriors).
Context: With the expiry of the Suns deal, and 3 x major AFL partnerships, Virgin now has a relative weakness in Queensland, despite being its HQ State.
So what: While Virgin is well-invested in sponsorship overall, it may look to a Brisbane-based deal to bolster its national footprint, especially as global flight disruptions could spell increased demand for domestic travel.

Note previous Brands To Watch have been active this week:

Sports Direct (18th March article)
Guzman y Gomez (12th March article)

The Hidden Market

Scout now tracks all Club websites on a weekly basis, giving Pro users first-mover advantage with intel from the hidden sponsorship market:

New Entrants (brands new to sponsorship this week)