Sponsorship M.D. – July 2022
Welcome to the first edition of Sponsorship M.D. with Matt and Dane. Matt Amerlan and Dane Vanderkaay are both with the sports marketing agency, The CG Sports Co. (Matt is the VP and Partner and focuses on property sponsorships, Dane is the Director of Athlete Partnerships). Sponsorship M.D. looks to be an efficient read highlighting the happenings and connecting the dots within the dynamic sports sponsorship landscape.
When you think about it, in its simplest form the concept of sponsorship is when one individual, entity or brand supports another individual, entity or brand in exchange for some form of value that this relationship will provide. In short, there is reciprocal support between the two parties in the form of value.
Sometimes this value is very direct (i.e., if I sponsor X it likely will result in Y amount of increased sales). Sometimes this value is more indirect. For example, X individual, entity or brand has a loyal market/audience built on trust. If I sponsor X my brand is associated with this trusted brand. This potentially gives me a foot in the door to be considered by this market/audience as a brand to trust.
When it comes down to it we all consume based on trust. Where do I decide to get information that I seek, where do I get my groceries, what team/s do I cheer for, what athlete/s do I enjoy following? There is a reason this trust develops. A lot of times this is based on your experiences and this experience reinforces your trust for a brand or entity. Maybe you were introduced to a sport, an athlete, a team by a family member you trust. Or you likely live in a city or community that you know and trust; this might result in you cheering for the team in that city or community.
It is completely possible that no one knows why you consume a brand. Chicago Cubs anybody? While the Cubs finally broke through with a World Series title in 2016, they endured over 100 years without an elusive World Series title. Why did Cubs fans put themselves through this? Because there is a familiarity, a trust in this association, even if this association (pre World Series win) was as the “Lovable Losers”.
Let’s take a look at what is happening in the world of sports sponsorships.
Getting by with a little help from your friends …
It was an amazing run for the Golden State Warriors to get back on top of the NBA world. An important resource we partner with at CG Sports is the platform Sponsor United. It was very interesting to look at the sponsorship insight that Sponsor United put together for the NBA Finals matchup between the Warriors and the Boston Celtics. You’ll see below that the Warriors won the head to head matchup in the sponsorship category as well.
It is not a profound take in the sponsorship world to understand that a partnership needs to cut both ways with the value it adds. With that, looking at the sponsorship stats for the Warriors vs. Celtics made us dig into this thought much more. It’s kind of like the chicken and egg concept. What needs to come first?
Obviously the better a team is and the more stars they have, their location, the bigger their market is, it puts them in a more competitive position to gain lucrative sponsorship deals. It’s also interesting and important to think about the other direction in the relationship - the impact the sponsorships have on helping put the team in a position to win and be successful. There is a huge impact that sponsorships have on keeping a sports organization financially healthy, how this impacts the team, grows the market and the correlation this has on success on the court, field, rink, pitch, pool, track, etc.
As we discussed this concept internally at CG Sports, our colleague Beth Bailey astutely referenced the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and this article in The Sports Business Journal. According to the SBJ article, in the lead-up to the inaugural season for the league’s Angel CIty FC, the team was able to put together a robust portfolio of sponsorships. These sponsorships have deep alignment with the Angle City FC and the fan base. Before the Angle City FC played a minute on the pitch, they had partners that believed in them, which helps grow their market and team interest which no doubt helped lead to the wildly successful opener in front of 22,000 fans at Banc of California Stadium.
We can all be in a better place to succeed when we invest in and support each other. This is the case whether it's in our personal life or in the sports business world. Just ask Joe Cocker as he poetically articulated this concept in his iconic song, “With A Little Help From My Friends”.
As Erik Johnson of the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche said in his interview after the Stanley Cup Final, “It’s just about believing in yourself and surrounding yourself with people that believe in you and special things can happen”.
