Business spending on sports sponsorship is set to grow by 4% to £35bN, but rights holders such as leagues, teams and tournaments, are under-exploiting sponsorship deals, according to research from agency Two Circles.
There could be an extra £14bn in revenue being unrealised because of outdated rights packaging. The research also indicates sport has moved beyond backers such as carmakers, financial services, airlines and gambling.
By embracing the power of digital and data to create sponsorship assets that better satisfy the objectives of brands, rights-holders will realise the true value of their sponsorship businesses [1].
More than $32 billion is projected to be spent on social platforms in 2019 globally. The New York Times published an article “Don’t Scoff at Influencers. They’re Taking Over The World”, in which it states, “..as social media expands its cultural dominance, the people who can steer the online conversation will have an upper hand in whatever niche they occupy – whether that’s media, politics, business or some other field. [2]
Why would a brand undertake a sponsorship?
Essentially, sports sponsorship has traditionally been exclusive to the major Industry players with exponential resources, committing to long term fixed contracts, that requires the Infrastructure of an in-house team or assigned dedicated agency. This means that deals were failing to complete for a ton of athletes, minor league teams and numerous brands that considered sponsorship too expensive or complicated.
The answer to this is open sports sponsorship
As part of the captivating sports industry, we are fortunate sports connects a company or brand to it’s ‘cult’ custom audience like no other, for instance, Soul Cycle have a core audience that are health conscious, follow at least one other sport and admire a sporting Icon. Ironman possesses a hardcore audience of endurance-based fanatic’s, with an athletic background and interests in complementary extreme sports.
Why not use athletes to promote your vision in a more interesting and engaging manner as a one-off, as a test with a limited budget and assess the returns. This is the value proposition presented in this new collaborative era of open sports sponsorship and you don’t need mega budgets or household sporting superstars to start.
Sponsorship is for everyone and offers brands unparalleled exposure, as in this case, an athlete such as Neymar Jr and Beats headphones who pay the star a reported 5-8m per year to serve as an official ambassador. [3]
Beats were able to leverage Neymar’s global reach, status, and influence, using the sponsorship to transcend their brand across audiences worldwide. With meaningful interactions instead of unrelated advertising.
Don’t put the horse before the cart
Before cherry-picking the ideal athlete for your brand, Digital Playmakers strongly suggest clearly defining your marketing goals from the outset, and let this vision become the playmaker piece when selecting professional talent. This will set you up for success and prevent any ‘own goals’.
This is a new era and SPORTS SELLS. The flexibility of open sports sponsorship enables brands to capitalise and integrate the latest trends and appropriate sporting Influencers Into their marketing strategy, taking advantage of current trends. Like retailers do with fast-fashion to cater for ever-changing demand.
Execution
This is so much more than simple Influencer marketing. This is pairing a brands essence, vision and journey with an established social presence to deliver and amplify its core message across wider connected audiences. AND IT IS HAPPENING NOW!
References
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48103067
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/technology/vidcon-social-media-influencers.html
[3] https://www.verdict.co.uk/neymar-net-worth-sponsorships/
