Hockey club sponsorship in the UK reaches a genuinely engaged community. England Hockey has more than 800 affiliated clubs and around 140,000 people playing regularly within the club system. This guide covers what a grassroots hockey club sponsorship looks like, what businesses get from backing hockey, and how Kit Funder handles the match with local, regional, or national sponsors.
UK hockey by the numbers
England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport in England, and its own membership figures put the club network at more than 800 clubs plus 45 counties and 8 regional areas, with around 140,000 individuals playing regularly in the club system and an estimated 15,000 more at university and college level. More than 15,000 coaches, umpires and officials are supported and developed by England Hockey, to support the sport alongside the players.
Hockey also runs a Women's Hockey League at England Hockey level, its own competition structure rather than a secondary division bolted onto the men's game. Great Britain's women's team has delivered some of the country's most watched Olympic hockey moments, including bronze at London 2012 and gold at Rio 2016. A sponsor backing hockey is backing a sport where women's competition sits at the centre of the structure.
What hockey club sponsorship looks like at grassroots level
Hockey sponsorship covers much the same ground as other team sports, adapted to how the game is played and funded at club level. Kit sponsorship is the most visible route, where a sponsor's logo is located on match shirts across a club's senior and junior teams. Pitch time sponsorship also helps a club cover the cost of the artificial pitch hire hockey specifically requires, since the sport cannot be played on a standard grass pitch at competitive level. Tour and festival support covers the cost of junior or senior teams travelling to tournaments. Finally, equipment sponsorship, covering goalkeeping kit or match balls, is a smaller but genuinely useful entry point for a business with a tighter budget.
Why hockey is a strong sponsorship fit
Hockey clubs tend to run mixed sections, junior pathways and a strong social club culture around match day. This gives a sponsor visibility across a genuinely wide age range within one club. For a business specifically wanting visibility with women's sport, hockey's standalone women's league structure and prominent GB women's team make the case directly, without needing to argue women's sport deserves equal billing.
The three sponsor tiers
Kit Funder matches sponsors to hockey clubs at three scales. A local independent business backs a single club, gaining visibility with players, parents and the club's social membership. A regional brand spreads a budget across several clubs in one area. A national business can run a sponsorship programme across multiple hockey clubs in one go, using the same registration and matching process as a single-club sponsor.
What businesses get from sponsoring a hockey club
A hockey club's membership tends to include a strong, engaged mix of current and former players who stay involved with the sport well into adulthood, both playing and volunteering. This gives a sponsor a loyal, repeat-contact audience rather than a one-off crowd, alongside the wider community association coming with backing any local club. A business specifically targeting women's sport sponsorship or CSR objectives around gender equity in sport has a strong, evidenced case to make with hockey specifically.
How much hockey sponsorship costs
Hockey sponsorship pricing at grassroots level varies by club size, the number of teams covered and whether the sponsorship includes kit, pitch time or tour support. Kit Funder builds a bespoke match around what a specific club needs, in the same way it does for football, cricket, netball, rugby and padel, rather than working from one fixed national price list.
How to sponsor a hockey club through Kit Funder
Register as a business at https://kitfunder.ai/, set a budget, location and sport, and the platform finds hockey clubs fitting the criteria. Kit Funder runs across football, cricket, netball, rugby, padel and hockey from the same not-for-profit structure, with 5% of every invoice added on top and donated to a local mental health charity, at no extra cost to the club or the sponsor. My Club Group handles any kit or apparel production the sponsorship includes.
Ready to sponsor a hockey club? Register your business free at kitfunder.ai. Whether you want visibility with women's or girls' teams, a university hockey club, or a full multi-team club, the AI matches you. For the wider picture of how grassroots sponsorship works across every sport, read the complete UK guide to sports sponsorship, and see is sports sponsorship tax deductible for how the spend is treated by HMRC.
Common questions about hockey club sponsorship
How many hockey clubs are there in the UK?
England Hockey, the sport's governing body in England, has more than 800 affiliated clubs, with around 140,000 people playing regularly within the club system. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own separate governing bodies and club networks outside this figure.
How much does it cost to sponsor a grassroots hockey club?
Pricing varies by club size and by what the sponsorship covers, kit, pitch time or tour support. Kit Funder builds a bespoke match for each business, in the same way it does for football, cricket, netball, rugby and padel sponsorship.
Is hockey a good sport for a business to sponsor?
Hockey offers a genuinely engaged, multi-generational membership and a standalone women's competition structure at both club and international level, which makes it a strong fit for a business wanting broad community visibility or a credible women's sport sponsorship.
How do I find a hockey club to sponsor near me?
Kit Funder matches businesses with hockey clubs by budget, location and sponsorship type, in the same way it matches sponsors across football, cricket, netball, rugby and padel. Registering at kitfunder.ai is free and takes a few minutes.
Does women's hockey have separate sponsorship arrangements?
Women's hockey runs as its own competition structure within England Hockey rather than as a secondary tier of the men's game, so a business sponsors a women's or girls' hockey team directly with the same visibility and terms as any other Kit Funder sponsorship.
Sources
England Hockey, About England Hockey, englandhockey.co.uk.
England Hockey, Women's Hockey League, englandhockey.co.uk.
Sport England, Active Lives Adult Survey, sportengland.org.
