The Irish sponsorship market is set to record growth of 12 per cent in 2015, reaching a new high of €152 million, according to the annual survey of the industry by the agency Onside Sponsorship.

Onside says 2014 delivered significantly better than expected results for the Irish sponsorship industry, with 47 per cent of sponsors increasing their spend last year, and 61 per cent of rights holders in the market reporting an increase in their sponsorship revenues.

The Onside annual review estimates sponsorship spend rose by 9 per cent to €136 million last year, with 73 per cent of sponsors in Ireland now spending more than 10 per cent of their overall marketing and communication budget on sponsorship.

Upbeat

The upbeat outlook for 2015 is driven by the

Rugby World Cup

in

England

, economic growth and an anticipated rise in the sponsorship rights fees paid.

According to Onside, two-thirds of Irish sponsors see the autumn Rugby World Cup, to which TV3 has the television rights, as an opportunity to engage with their consumers.

"2015 will see greater attention invested by rights holders and sponsors on defining winning sponsorship deals for the next five years," says Onside founder John Trainor.

By 2016, sponsorship investment in Ireland could reach a high of €164 million, according to estimates by Onside.