How bad will the recession hit sponsorship in sport? Some extreme examples, but will Heineken remain part of the Heineken Cup, will Etihad continue their bizarre love affair with hurling? The answer with the big brands is yes. Certainly the growth in the area that has existed over the last number of years will slow but sport is a sector that should avoid severe hits.

The fundamental behind all of this is the consumer and brands are asking where they would like to see their money being spent. We did a survey and the consumer chooses sponsorship over advertising so while we will see a drop off in the latter, the former won't be hit as badly. Marketeers are very sensitive to what the consumer wants and brands want to say we are giving what they want. And consumers still want sport.

Basically marketeers look at efficiencies and say to themselves would it be more efficient for me to make a 30-second television advert, sponsor a sporting event or do a piece of promotion. And sports sponsorship seems to be very efficient, especially rugby, soccer and GAA given the interest levels that surround them and as long as the interest remains so will valuable sponsorship. And if rights holders actually readjust their pricing strategies and come up with a sensible formula, they can go to marketeers and say what they can offer has held its own while other areas have fallen down.

The unique nature of sponsorship is that sponsors are tied into short-, medium- and long-term deals with sporting organisations and even though times might be getting tough, there is no sense in them walking away from an arrangement that's already in place. It's not like turning off advertising as we will see in the coming years. Equally, what is unique about sponsorship is that companies build up an association with a sporting brand or event over time and it gives them the opportunity to send a message of stability to customers, particularly with financial institutions. They seem to have made a decision that sponsorship is the best tool to do that and sport ranks very highly in their plans. Therefore sponsorship will prove to be a little more recession-proof than some of the other tools.

That's not to say the current climate won't take its toll. At the moment we are seeing some clever sponsors going back into their deals midway through and renegotiating now with a view to getting better deals after the current deal is up. In terms of deals over the next two years, the pricing that will be paid for them will be significantly lower. Of course it will be more of a challenge for smaller teams and smaller sporting organisations to secure deals. There will be a much greater requirement for creativity on their part.

There are certain sectors that will face some big challenges. They will be looking at where to cut back and sponsorship will be on the radar. In terms of most sports though, it should prove relatively safe.

John Trainor is managing director of Onside Sponsorship