Sponsorship Snacks
Week 3
Paying tribute to the former CNN host Larry King we want to open this week’s snacks by starting with a quote from the legendary host:
“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening. I never learned anything while I was talking.”
Without further ado, let’s jump into the most important sponsorship news of this week.
News
- After being acquired by the VF company for $2.1 billion, the New York streetwear company makes a move into winter sports. As you can see in this Instagram Post, Supreme has designed a branded bob for the American Bobsled & Skeleton Team.
- Puma has been named Top Employer Europe of 2020. The German shoe manufacturer is the only company in the sporting goods sector to receive the award for the whole of Europe in 2020. (Source)
- The German ministry for health is planning to ban jersey and banner advertising for health insurance.
- The world of sports has already taken a huge financial hit due to Covid19. This ban intensifies the financial situation of sport clubs even more. Sponsors have estimated that this means a 5 million euro loss for clubs in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga alone. (Source)
- Top European clubs to lose over €2bn this season as COVID impact deepens. Diversifying revenue streams is one tactic to combat this.
- Manchester City has partnered with Chinese payment platform Alipay to launch a new one-stop eCommerce and digital experience portal for fans in China. Direct to customers with Alipay’s 1 billion users. After being named the most innovative sports club in the world, Man City doesn’t only diversify their revenue stream but it makes them more ‘direct.’ Also, we might not be far away from a day where we can use reward points to buy jerseys. (Source)
- Esports 2021 trends include mobile, diversification, and more non-gaming content. More Esports teams are looking to branch out in pop culture, and mobile gaming is expected to enter the upper echelon of competitive gaming. The report predicts that non-gaming content will become even bigger on streaming platforms. Younger audiences will continue to favor curated viewing experiences found on the likes of Twitch over traditional media.
- DAZN has secured the rights to the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup
- Shimano closes the Tour de France sponsorship agreement (Source).
- That is a good example of an organic sponsorship. Authenticity is a buzzword in sponsorship, and other companies could follow the lead of Shimano and increase their involvement with organic sponsorships too.
Food For Thought
14 of the 16 sleeve sponsorships of the Bundesliga are expiring. That opens up a 8.4€ million of sponsorship money up for grab. The 2nd Bundesliga is in a similar position. 50% of the jersey sponsor contracts end after this season, that are worth 20€ million (Sponsors).
The sleeve position is occupied by a diverse sponsoring group ranging from Kieser training, a personal training specialist, Sonepar, an electrics wholesaler, to Rose bikes, a bike vendor. As we wrote last week, real estate companies also emerged as players in sport sponsoring — it will be interesting to see who fills the sleeves of Bundesliga clubs next year.
Case Study
We have been overrun by digitalization in the recent months — so has the sponsorship landscape. While A.S.I. bridges the link between digital and sponsorship, we want to present three highlights of a report about digital trends. For sponsorship, digitalization may have never been more relevant:
Social Watching
Many social platforms (Facebook, Sky Sports, Amazon, or Housparty) launched features that allow the user to watch content together. Think: “watch-party” but virtually.
The impact on sports is not yet clear, and 2021 will tell whether fans will watch more sports together. The success of social watching depends on three key factors:
- User-friendly design — Users will only switch their behavior if the technology is easy to understand and works without too many technical problems
- Content Quality — Only if the game is a must-see for you and your friends will you co-watch it. It is the responsibility of the sports brands to make every game as exciting as possible.
- Social Network — Needless to say, social watching only works if your friends use it too. Thus, the big sports brands have an advantage in this regard.
E-commerce is rising
Diversifying revenue has never been more important. Sports clubs have gathered millions of social media followers, but so far, those followers did not bring in any value. E-commerce could change that.
Social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok have successfully integrated shops. NBA Champion Milwaukee was the first team to sell a product line on Instagram, and it went well. Bleacher Report, a sports content firm is currently earning 10% from the Instagram shop.
Sports clubs need to figure out what “shoppable content” their followers are interested in. Sponsors could exploit potential brand extensions by offering collaborative products that could generate and diversify additional revenue.
Tailored Broadcasts
2021 will see more live matches become differentiated in the manner in which they are presented and distributed. The NBA created a new broadcast stream that was specifically aimed at bettors, and the Fox Sports MLB app allowed the fans to control the cameras, and the NFL streamed some games on Nickelodeon with a kid-friendly commentator.
The broadcasts are moved from traditional mediums like television to more modern streaming platforms like Twitch, Twitter, or Discord. They allow streamers to present a more relevant version of the game to the respective target group. Sponsors greatly benefit from this increasing market segmentation as they can target their desired audience even more specifically.
For more expert insights into sponsorship data & analytics visit us on Advanced Sponsorship Insights.