Future of Sponsorships: Raising the Bar in Sport

Brands want to know that they are getting the biggest possible bang for their buck when it comes to sports sponsorships. What measures can be put in place to protect downside portfolio investment risk and foster greater predictability of results throughout the entire sponsor life cycle? In order for these brands to understand what that looks like, as well as for sports teams to understand how that’s possible, it first takes a proper understanding of what the most valuable sponsorship metrics are in today’s landscape.

In this webinar, Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of Scout Sports and Entertainment Michael Neuman, VP Strategy & Strategic Partnerships at GumGum Jeff Katz, and Head of Global Revenue at GumGum Ian Partilla join FOS CEO Adam White to discuss the ever-growing importance of big data, computer vision and proper KPIs as they relate to the sports sponsorship space.

Edited highlights appear below:

On recent changes when it comes to big data and sponsorship (4:03)

Neuman: “The biggest change that we’re seeing with measurement and accountability is the ability to really focus on strategy with clients and convey that strategy across to the IP rights holders and then make sure that we are working closely with media experts and buyers across many different verticals that are responsible for executing across integrated sponsorship. We were talking a little bit before about the importance of sports today and the role that sponsorship plays in the media mix. If you are a student of our industry and you’ve been following what sophisticated brands are doing, it’s very easy to see how sponsorships and associations with tent pole events and how sports properties become primary marketing platforms for brands that are looking to engage with consumers in a very relevant way.”

What are the challenges that exist in buying, managing and renewing sponsorships? (20:52)

Neuman: “The biggest challenge we have is, is how do we establish the appropriate strategy in a timeframe that allows us to go to market quickly so we can put deals together. We don’t wanna we don’t want to miss any opportunities. And then how do we express that in a partnership format? How do we do that with properties? Like I said earlier, we have so many responsibilities to different sponsors and brands, how do I get them to buy into what our clients need? How do I get them to understand? How do I get them to partner with me on driving success? So we’re in the game together and when it comes time to renew a sponsorship, it’s not a concern because it’s an investment that’s working. And I think the biggest challenge is really getting the properties onboard and understanding what our clients; needs are and then working with us to execute.”

On the increasing globalization of sports and how it affects sponsorship (46:59)

Katz: “I think one of the really exciting things that’s happened over the last five to ten years is how even the most regional team now has a global platform… I think you look at a regional broadcast, it’s no longer regional. Yes, the broadcast itself airs in a certain region, but anything newsworthy or any highlights that come from that game are fair play…How do you position them to potential global brands to invest in you as a rights holder? You can look at things like what is the percentage of your social audience coming from different countries…I think that that’s a lens that we apply when we’re looking at social media as well as global TV broadcasts and even digital piracy that happens in all the different corners of the globe.”

On the rise of programmatic advertising (58:56)

Katz: “Programmatic is such a big buzz word and has been for such a long time in digital. I’m not saying that sports will just become exactly like digital, but there are certainly elements of digital that should be a piece of the sports ecosystem and being able to essentially better allocate inventory around LEDs, around other kinds of signage based on the likelihood of that LED having value. So bidding on potential moments in sport that could live on forever. If I’m a brand I might want to put a little bit more of my money towards one of those moments, like the last two minutes of a close game. If we ever got to that point in programmatic, it’s going to be a massive shift in the ecosystem because there are brands today that won’t touch sponsorship cause it’s not performance-based.”