Report finds that oil and gas sponsorship of global sports hits $5.6 billion, but this scale of “sportswashing” is likely to be an underestimate, authors say

Here is the report (pdf): Dirty Money: How Fossil Fuel Sponsors Are Polluting Sports

Report finds that oil and gas sponsorship of global sports hits $5.6 billion, but this scale of “sportswashing” likely to be an underestimate, authors says

Top sports sponsors include Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company ($1.3 billion); British oil major Shell ($469 million); petrochemicals giant Ineos ($776 million); and French oil company TotalEnergies ($327 million), the study by the New Weather Institute found.

“Taking money from fossil fuel sponsors is sport signing a deal for more devastating impacts on floods, bush fires and heatwaves,” said Australian former rugby captain, now Senator, Dave Pocock. “If we are going to transition we need to stop fossil fuel companies trying to extend their social license through sponsoring sport.”

The authors said the report represented the first attempt to quantify the value of fossil fuel sports sponsorships globally, and warned that a lack of transparency over the deals meant the figures were likely to be an underestimate.

“Oil companies who are delaying climate action and pouring more fuel on the fire of global heating, are using Big Tobacco’s old playbook and trying to pass themselves off as patrons of sport,” said Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute. He added that if sport is to have a future, “It needs to clean itself of dirty money from big polluters and stop promoting its own destruction.”