Swissquote has become the top spender among online trading brands that offer contracts for differences (CFDs) and other instruments, spending $15 million since 1 July 2024, according to a report by Sportquake. eToro and Plus500 followed, spending $10.7 million and $10.5 million, respectively.

When it comes to the highest spender among all retail trading brands, including those that do not offer CFDs, Robinhood tops the list, having spent $25.9 million during the period. Most of Robinhood’s spending is in basketball, as it sponsors the Washington Mystics, Memphis Grizzlies, and Miami Heat.

CFD Brokers Prefer Football

For CFD brokers, the most popular sport to promote their brand is football, which received $86 million in sponsorship deals in the 2024–2025 season. Formula One is also popular, receiving $20 million. Football deals accounted for 50 per cent of all sector spending last season, the majority of which went to European football leagues. The English Premier League alone received 44 per cent of total football spending from trading brands in the 2024–25 season.

Read more: How Much Fancy Sport Sponsorships Actually Cost?

The report further outlined that the retail trading industry spent $183 million on sports sponsorship deals in the 2024–25 season, tripling its spending since the 2019–20 season. There are 66 brands active across 122 deals, while 23 new brands became first-time sports sponsors.

[#table#]

Among the top ten sports sponsorship spenders in retail trading, eight offer CFDs. eToro, however, has positioned itself as a multi-asset broker beyond CFDs and is about to go public, seeking a valuation between $3.7 billion and $4 billion.

sports sponsorships

The Race to Close Sports Deals

“Robinhood, Libertex, AvaTrade, Vantage, and CFI have pursued growth through high-profile sponsorships in platforms such as Formula 1 and the NBA,” the report noted. “In contrast, Swissquote, eToro, Plus500, and Angel One have focused on maintaining portfolio stability.”

Indeed, AvaTrade signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with Oracle Red Bull Racing, for which Max Verstappen is a driver, last December. Vantage has a deal with Scuderia Ferrari, while Libertex is sponsoring the KICK Sauber F1 Team. Pepperstone is another broker with an F1 sponsorship deal; however, its sports spending did not place it in the top ten.

“Formula 1 is increasingly becoming a go-to sponsorship platform for trading brands looking to engage global audiences,” the report added, “and 2025 marks a tipping point with a record seven online trading brands sponsoring Formula 1 teams.”

Another area where trading brands are allocating their marketing budgets is ambassador deals. Some of the key brand ambassador deals include NAGA signing Mike Tyson, Lewis Hamilton promoting CFI, and Zlatan Ibrahimović becoming the face of XTB. According to the Sportquake report, there were a record 30 active ambassador deals in the 2024–25 season, which overtook uniform sponsorships as the second most common sponsorship format after official partner agreements.

Source: Finance Magnates