The ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms understand the importance of sport as a vehicle for creating powerful personal connections, writes Rob Hartnett.

Last year Sport Ireland published a survey into the value of sport in Ireland, which estimated we spend €3.3bn a year on sports-related goods and services.

Due to its size, sport attracts the interest and engages the services of major professional services companies. The big players have carved out a niche in terms not only of being service providers to sporting bodies, but also significant contributors in terms of sponsorship and partnerships.

PwC was the first to actively engage, and its partnership with the Irish Rugby Football Union will be in place for almost 20 years when it comes up for renewal at the end of 2023. The pandemic affected how the PwC brand could activate its development and team title rights, but when the Ireland U20 side returned to action this spring they beat all before them to land a Grand Slam in front of a packed Musgrave Park in Cork.

The company entertained the team at an event looking at development of character and employability in between the Six Nations win and a tournament taking place in Italy in June, and managing partner Feargal O’Rourke has been a long-time member of the IRFU committee.

PwC is also embedded within Gaelic Games as the naming partner of the GAA/GPA All Stars as well as, more recently, the Camogie Association All Stars. The firm is also the workplace of Gaelic Players Association president Maria Kinsella, Dublin footballer Cian O’Callaghan and Sevens rugby star Gavin Mullins.

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KPMG has traditionally held a strong position within the world of golf, with a specific business unit based in Italy dedicated to the sport. At a global level, KPMG was a backer of Phil Mickelson but ended that partnership as his stock plummeted in the past 12 months. In Ireland, KPMG has been a long-time backer of Leona Maguire, supporting her rise to the very top of the women’s game, and also backs the Irish Kids Golf Tour. 

KPMG was also a partner of the 20x20 initiative that helped elevate women’s sport in the three years leading up to the pandemic, and doubled down on its commitment with a deal to back horse racing superstar Rachael Blackmore earlier this year. KPMG’s flat racing link is through a race sponsorship at the Champion Stakes weekend in Leopardstown.

KPMG is also a supporter of the Dublin ladies football team, and four-time All Ireland winning captain Sinéad Aherne works as a director in the tax practice. PwC and KPMG are also main partners of Sport for Business, supporting our work identifying 30 Under 30 future leaders each year and in the sustainability sector. 

Among accountancy’s other ‘Big Four’, Deloitte is an official partner of the Olympic Federation of Ireland and will be until 2024. The firm has also been involved in a number of bid teams for major sporting events, including as an advisor to the IRFU on its bid to stage the Rugby World Cup.

EY, meanwhile, has been the title sponsor of Hockey Ireland’s national leagues since 2015, a period in which the sport climbed to new highs in terms of public awareness.

The language of sport and business are intertwined, and reaching out to support the passion of those with whom business relationships can then be formed is a key pillar of successful sponsorship. In the world of professional services, where one-to-one relationships can be worth substantial fee income, it is more important than ever to forge personal connections that matter in support of service offerings that can often be more difficult to differentiate. Sport allows for that kind of powerful relationship-building.

Rob Hartnett is the founder of Sport for Business, a publishing, events and networking business at the heart of the commercial world of Irish sport.