.jpg)
As the NRL grand final approaches, Consumer Pulse, Agile Market Intelligence's monthly consumer tracker, reveals stark differences in sponsorship effectiveness between Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm's financial services partners.
The analysis of 2,965 consumer responses shows Melbourne Storm (18.1% of NRL supporters) and Brisbane Broncos (21.6% of NRL supporters) represent nearly 40% of all NRL fans, making their sponsorship performance crucial for understanding brand uplift in Australian sports marketing. Melbourne Storm's major partner RedZed achieves 5.1x brand awareness uplift among Storm fans, while Brisbane Broncos' Premier Partner Firstmac shows 3.4x uplift among Broncos supporters. The data provides a case study in how geographic markets and sponsorship strategies impact brand awareness outcomes.
Key stats you need to know
- Melbourne Storm: RedZed achieves 5.1x brand awareness multiplier among Storm supporters.
- Brisbane Broncos: Dual sponsorship strategy delivers 3.4x awareness multiplier for Firstmac and 1.2x for Suncorp Stadium naming rights.
- NRL Market: All NRL fans show 1.2-1.8x higher financial brand awareness than the general population across all brands.
Melbourne Storm: RedZed partnership leads sponsorship effectiveness
RedZed, a major partner of Melbourne Storm, achieved the highest brand awareness uplift among all NRL sponsors we analysed. Storm fans showed 5.1 times more likely to recognise the brand than the general public. Data suggests that Melbourne’s financial services market may either be particularly responsive to sports sponsorship, or that RedZed's marketing approach simply works well with Storm fans. Either way, the findings show that Storm supporters show 16.67% awareness of RedZed compared to just 3.27% in the general population, a full 13.4 percentage point uplift. The analysis indicates that market characteristics and fan demographics strongly influences sponsorship outcomes, with Melbourne showing superior effectiveness.
"The 5.1x uplift achieved by RedZed among Storm fans demonstrates how sponsorship strategies can align effectively with market characteristics," said Michael Johnson, Director of Agile Market Intelligence)
Brisbane Broncos: Dual sponsorship strategy delivers strong results
Firstmac, a premier partner of Brisbane Broncos, achieved a 3.4x brand awareness boost among Broncos supporters (10.00% awareness). Suncorp’s stadium naming rights delivered a smaller 1.2x boost, but from a much higher baseline (72.0% of Broncos fans recognised Suncorp Bank vs 61.92% of the general population). This highlights an important distinction where direct team sponsorship like Firstmac’s can deliver strong relative gains for smaller brands, while established players like Suncorp can benefit from the constant visibility of stadium naming rights. Also interesting to note, Queensland audiences appear to be more broadly receptive to financial services marketing, as Broncos supporters showed higher awareness of most financial brands compared to Storm supporters.
"The 3.4x multiplier for Firstmac's team sponsorship shows strong effectiveness, while Suncorp's stadium naming rights deliver a more modest 1.2x uplift. This demonstrates that direct team sponsorship can be more effective than stadium naming rights for brand awareness building," said Michael Johnson.
NRL fans show higher financial brand awareness
NRL supporters consistently demonstrate 1.2-1.8x higher awareness of financial brands compared to the general population across all measured providers. Aussie Home Loans achieves 65.9% awareness among NRL fans versus 55.85% in the general population, a 10.05 percentage point increase. Latitude Financial shows 48.2% awareness among NRL fans compared to 38.28% in the general population, a 9.92 percentage point uplift. The data suggests NRL fans are more engaged with financial services marketing, making them a valuable demographic for financial brands. Non-sponsored brands continue to dominate overall awareness levels, indicating traditional marketing channels remain more effective for broad brand building. The consistent uplift pattern across all financial brands suggests NRL fans represent a distinct and valuable market segment.
"The consistent 1.2-1.8x uplift across all financial brands among NRL fans indicates this demographic is highly engaged with financial services marketing. This makes NRL sponsorship particularly valuable for financial services brands looking to reach an active, financially-aware audience," said Michael Johnson, Director of Agile Market Intelligence.
About the research
This article is based on findings from Agile Market Intelligence's Consumer Pulse survey, conducted from August to September 2025. The survey collected responses from 2,965 Australian consumers for this analysis. Results were weighted to reflect national population profiles by age, gender, and state.
The Consumer Pulse is a monthly tracker of over 1,500 Australian consumers developed by Agile Market Intelligence to monitor consumer sentiment, financial stress, and behavioural shifts across key household segments. The survey provides a real-time view of financial well-being in Australia, segmented by debt status and home ownership. This analysis focuses on NRL team support and financial brand awareness among 695 NRL supporters (23.4% of the sample).
