• by Wayne Friedman , June 22, 2016

Nielsen says the purchase expands its sports analytics and data business as it looks to capitalize on what it says is a rapidly growing global sports sponsorship business -- one that has doubled since 2010, increasing to $60 billion from $35 billion.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But one sports marketing publication valued the deal at $100 million.

Sports branding in many areas has been growing. For example, the NBA has approved plans to allow brands to display small logos on team jerseys.

In addition, live TV programming -- especially sports programming -- is an increasing priority for TV advertisers looking to get messaging seen in real-time.

Nielsen says Repucom’s ‘QI Media Value’ technology is of particular importance, as it measures the quality of brand exposure considering size, duration, location and number of concurrent brands seen.

Repucom’s logo recognition and media-monitoring technologies measure more than 5.3 million hours of content and 1.1 million sports interviews per year. Its clients include some 1,700 sports rights holders, brands, agencies and broadcasters.

Nielsen believes matching sponsorship data with its buyer intent and purchase data can provide clients with new solutions to make better business decisions.