his is a debate that comes up constantly if you are in the sports sponsorship industry.
Sports teams will share how sponsorship is more than advertising. They will push the fanatical fans that the brand should want to get in front of...
When you’ve made money the same way for years and years, it is of course hard to shift to something new.
A great quote I heard recently on change went something like this:
“In order for change to happen, the pain of the...
As most of us have heard in sports there are rumors of a pretty large contraction of affiliation in Minor League Baseball. There are talks that the smaller teams would be cut from MiLB’s affiliation and coverage.
The Arena Football League folded...
It’s something I hear a lot and drives me mad in the sports world.
Like really insane, because it is a misunderstanding of where attention is at all age levels.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the reason a team...
Whoever is closest to the customer wins in business.
Or as Rich Franklin puts it: “If you want to see how a lion hunts, you don’t go to the zoo.”
We all know that the way fans are consuming is changing rapidly. Our...
(BONUS: An active worksheet your team can use to game plan your outreach…but first you have to read the article to understand & use it. It will be worth it…I promise)
I’m a fanatic about how to thrive in economic downturns. And...
Digital scratch-off games in sports are becoming more popular. It's not surprising, because we are entering the participation age of sports sponsorships. Sponsors no longer want to just “Be Seen” by your fans.
The odd inventory that included stadium signs and scoreboard...
In the infamous words of acclaimed Chicago Poet Chance the Rapper:
“The people’s champ must be everything the people can’t be.”
These words have always rung out to me whenever hearing them when the song would come onto my playlist. What does it...
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...
