There's money to be made in sports. It doesn't matter if we're talking football, American football, basketball, tennis, Formula 1, water polo or snooker. Major companies understood this long ago. The first sponsorship deals are more than a few decades old, and maybe are approaching a century mark. While usually, profit is seen as the end goal for major companies investing into sport or athletes there's more to it.
As we said, companies have been dealing with sports sponsorships for a long time. In this article we're going to try and put the focus on other reasons, besides money, why many companies are looking to invest not only in teams and players, but in sports themselves.
By now, you ought to know that brands outside of sports can have major benefits from associating themselves to an athlete, a sports team, sports league, or a single event. What makes these sponsorship opportunities so valuable is the visibility. When you have a chance to get exposed to millions of customers in a positive light you take it. Brands drive their marketing this way, showing off their brand name, logo, and by doing that their mission to engage fans in both sports and their products and service is accomplished.
A good example of this is the most recent sponsorship deal between the Sportsbet.io and World Snooker Tour. Not only is this online casino and sportsbook going to sponsor some of the biggest snooker events in the next two years, but they'll also get the fans' attention to snooker betting, as well as having exclusive rights to photos, merchandise, videos and tickets. The sport will benefit from the influx of money from this sponsor, and the bookies brand will benefit by showcasing themselves as one of the leaders in sports betting on snooker.
People who consume sports are known as a rowdy bunch. They get excited even around the smallest things regarding their favourite team. So, when a new sponsor associates themselves with a sports team, a prominent athlete, or simply by sponsoring a team event, people get excited. By sponsoring any of them a sponsor can position itself in the centre of every conversation revolving around a fan base. The best part about this is that brand excitement doesn't need to be a short-term benefit. When a good sponsorship deal is penned that will benefit both sides in the long term, the fan base can rest assured that one part of their team finances is secured, and the named sponsor will be in conversation for years.
At the end of the day, sponsors are also companies that sell goods or services. They want profit, and the best way to get it is by increasing the sales. By now, if you're even remotely into sports, you know that athletes, sports teams, and even stadiums drive sales. The sales can be increased by the simplest of moves - allow your sponsor to have a concession stand in the stadium. The more advanced technique is to have athletes advertising the service or a product. Fans love to buy whet their favourite athletes promote from lifestyle to sneakers.
For local brands it is not easy to expand to another territory. No brand started as a global name. That's impossible to do. Starting small and aiming high is the route every brand needs to walk. Many brands manage to expand themselves by aiming to be sponsors to sports teams, athletes, or events. Brands that take a steady route generate buzz by getting deals with local developing, or ambitious teams, with a local event, or with a local athlete. For example, a brand that wants to expand its name from the state of Arizona would be wise to partner with a team or an athlete from another state in order to expand its geographical presence. On a bigger scale, a brand can become a sponsor to an athlete such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba and share their influence through Seattle and the entire state of Washington.
Most brands work on developing and launching a new product or a service and whenthey're in the process of launching it the best way for instant success is an exposure to a broader audience. The more attention a product receives the more sales become a possibility. Brands that want exposure, excitement, and awareness among the customers have plenty of channels to do so. Some of the most notable include athletes, sports teams, and stadiums. But, for an established brand with an established service the strike needs to cover a greater area. A good example of this is Allianz, an insurance and asset management company from Munich, Germany. Their marketing strategy revolves around buying stadium naming rights. They've expanded from Germany, where Allianz Arena is the home to the biggest German club Bayern Munich. From there, they took the naming of the stadium in Turin, Allianz Stadium where Juventus plays, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Allianz Field, St. Paul, MN, Allianz Riviera, Nice, Allianz Parque, São Paulo, Allianz Stadion, Vienna, and Allianz Stadium, London. Now, that's how a serious sponsor behaves. Associating itself with some of the biggest names in sports and their battling arenas.
Now, this is an interesting benefit, and for some brands it is an amazing window to the world. When a brand sponsors a sports team and gets the honour to be represented on their kit they will be seen by both home and away fans. While most people, and even those who are not into sports have heard of Barcelona and Spotify, many sponsors are first heard off outside their local area of operation once they start sponsoring a sports team. A good example of this is Eintracht Frankfurt and their sponsor Indeed, a job search aggregator that was put on the map of Europe after featuring on kits of the Frankfurt club that won Europa League despite being an American company.
As you can see, there's plenty of reason why, and many of them get explained by the influx of $$$, and at the end of the day in the world of business that's all that matters.