Hosted at Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium, the two-day summit, organised by SponsorshipX and 17 Sport, will focus on ‘The Business Case for Purpose’, examining how sponsorship can generate measurable commercial, social and environmental returns.

Global Sustainable Sport, the summit’s Media Partner, spoke with Mike Geddes, Vice President of 17 Sport, about the commercial evidence supporting purpose-led partnerships and what needs to change if sport is to move from ambition to measurable impact.

Building the business case for purpose

For Geddes, who heads 17 Sport’s US practice, the strongest evidence comes not from corporate commitments but from where organisations invest their money.

He points to Barclays doubling its investment in women’s football in 2024, Ally Financial’s commitment to women’s sport and UEFA’s strategic partnership with Schwarz Group, incorporating Lidl and PreZero.

Ally, for example, committed to directing 50% of its sports media advertising expenditure towards women’s sport within five years, achieving that target a year early. The company reports that its brand value has increased by 40% since making the commitment.

Geddes believes these developments demonstrate a significant commercial opportunity, although measurement remains inconsistent.

“Whilst the evidence is getting stronger in sports, it isn’t yet as standardised as it needs to be.”

Geddes cites research from Nielsen and the Sport Industry Group’s 2025 Sports Industry Report which suggests that 68% of sports fans view brands more positively when they work with sport to support social change.

The challenge is translating that positive sentiment into measurable business performance.

Making purpose measurable and investable

One of the summit’s central themes will be developing more credible ways to assess the value generated by purpose-led partnerships.

Geddes argues that impact should be measured with the same discipline traditionally applied to sponsorship media value.

“‘Measurable’ means that a partnership’s impact should be tracked with the same discipline as its media value: baselined, targeted and reported. ‘Investable’ means that data should be credible enough for a CFO or investor to put capital behind it and expect a return.”

He identifies three essential dimensions: commercial performance, including customer acquisition and brand preference; social outcomes, including participation, health and community benefits; and environmental performance, including emissions, waste and travel.

Crucially, these measurements should be agreed before partnerships begin.

“The key is to agree on these metrics at the start of the partnership and write them into the contract, rather than trying to retrofit an impact story after the fact.”

UEFA provides an example. Its social return on investment methodology has helped quantify football’s contribution to society, while EURO 2024’s environmental reporting informed almost €8 million of investment in sustainable infrastructure for grassroots clubs.

Bringing finance into the conversation

A distinguishing feature of the summit is its ambition to connect sustainability and sponsorship professionals with financial decision-makers.

Geddes believes this is essential if purpose is to become embedded in sport’s business model.

“Purpose will stay at the margins as long as it’s paid for out of discretionary budget. It becomes core business when the people who allocate capital see it as a driver of value rather than a cost.”

With research from the World Economic Forum and Oliver Wyman suggesting that physical inactivity and environmental pressures could threaten up to $1.6 trillion in annual sports revenue by 2050, sustainability increasingly represents a financial consideration rather than simply a reputational concern.

Celebrating the Purpose League 17

The summit will also celebrate the inaugural Purpose League 17: Class of ’26, recognising individuals and organisations helping transform sport through commercially viable, purpose-driven initiatives.

The list includes representatives from UEFA, the International Olympic Committee, Formula E, Google, Bank of America and Ally, alongside athletes including Sir Lewis Hamilton, Allyson Felix and Ezra Frech.

Neill Duffy, Founder and CEO of 17 Sport, explained:

“The inaugural Purpose League 17: Class of ’26 celebrates the individuals who prove that purpose is not just an ideal, but a core driver of commercial and societal success.”

Mark Harrison, Founder of SponsorshipX, added:

“Recognizing the Purpose League 17 is about spotlighting the pioneers who are actively shifting sponsorship from legacy transactions to meaningful, long-term impact.”

Turning discussion into action

Beyond presentations, the summit will feature practical workshops, community challenges and sessions exploring leadership, fandom and social impact.

For Geddes, success means delegates leaving with practical tools rather than simply inspiration:

“We want people to leave with three things: a practical way to build the business case for a purpose-led partnership; a shared language and set of metrics that marketing, sustainability and finance teams can all sign up to; and the experience of applying them to a live brief.”

The longer-term ambition is for impact objectives to become standard elements of sponsorship agreements, supported by consistent reporting and shared accountability.

For sport, this reflects a wider challenge facing the industry: moving beyond awareness and activity to demonstrating genuine impact.

Sport has considerable potential to deliver commercial, social and environmental value. The opportunity now is to establish the evidence, investment and accountability needed to make that potential sustainable.

The SPX Purpose League Summit offers an important opportunity to advance that conversation – and demonstrate why purpose should sit at the heart of sport’s future business model.

Further information: SPX Purpose League Summit | Purpose League 17: Class of ’26