This week on The Inches Podcast I got to sit down with Rich Franklin, VP of sponsorship for the Portland Winterhawks, to chat on sports sponsorship.
Quick back story, Rich & I work together on digital activations for the Portland Winterhawks and...
In sponsorship, we are constantly competing for advertising dollars. Every day not only do we go head to head with other sponsorship advertising options, but we battle against other forms of advertising.
Digital ads are a big part of this competition. Brands...
Last week on The Inches we dove into a topic that I think doesn’t get enough love in the sponsorship world but is vital to the success of our partnerships with brands.
Many times we look at brands and think “What asset...
We've all been there in sales. We have a prospect that we KNEW was a lock. We gave the pitch, asked for the business, and now are waiting on their answer.
But the more we wait, the more we lose our sales...
It’s a part of sales…unfortunately.
We pitched, we got the head nods, we got the plan, we thought this one was game over and we had them closed…
Then we got a nice "NO" 4 weeks before the season starts.
This week on The...
Whether you are a brand sponsoring a team...or a team selling inventory, we can't let our sponsors become J.A.S.
Just. Another. Sign.
We see this too much in sponsorship. Logo slap. Logo placement on every nook and cranny in the stadium.
We have absolutely...
The consumption of sports is changing every month. We’ve chatted about it before and even had it come first hand from our chat with Tyler on The Inches podcast.
In sports, we tell stories. stories of players, games, teams, and the great...
More inventory doesn’t mean more value. It usually means less.
For years, sports sponsorship has operated under a quiet assumption: if revenue is the goal, inventory is the answer.
Add more signage. Create more assets. Open more placements. Fill more space.
On the surface,...
In the modern sports landscape, fan attention is the ultimate currency. We’ve seen a massive shift toward "playing along" in real-time, highlighted by major leagues leaning into predictive markets and interactive second-screen experiences. Fans don’t...
More inventory doesn’t mean more value. It usually means less.
For years, sports sponsorship has operated under a quiet assumption: if revenue is the goal, inventory is the answer.
Add more signage. Create more assets. Open more...
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what sponsorships in sports have become...and what they were always meant to be.
Not from the perspective of inventory or impressions. Not CPMs, logo counts, or “media...
There’s a temptation in business—especially in sports sponsorships—to believe that reach is everything. The bigger the audience, the bigger the impact. The more logos, the better. The wider the net, the more fish you’ll catch.
But...
“The goal is not to fit in. The goal is to resonate.”— Rick Rubin
The Misconception of Attention
Most sponsorships start from the wrong place.
We assume the audience will care.We assume the logo is enough.We assume that...
In the world of sports sponsorships, creativity is often boxed into a role: something that belongs to the agency, the graphic designer, or the "creative team."
But what if creativity wasn’t a department—it was a mindset?
What...
In sports, perfection is often the illusion.
A perfect record. A flawless play. A pristine image on the jumbotron.
But in the realm of sponsorship, where connection matters more than control, perfection can be a liability. It...
In the high-stakes world of sports sponsorships, where millions are spent on visibility, impressions, and association, a powerful truth often gets lost: fans don't show up for brands.
They show up for the love of the...
I'm always interested in the exact definitions of the words we use. Sometimes, they can be powerful in understanding the meaning behind the everyday language we use.
The definition of the word Resolution is "a firm...
