I said it before, but the value I get when chatting with Rich Franklin on sponsorship is always unrivaled. I’m blessed to have him as a resource and knowledge base for all things sponsorship.
When I am struggling with something in sponsorship…he...
Bonus, there is an editable spreadsheet at the end to help you create your own checklist. Read through to the bottom).
Look, it’s been overstated…but you can’t operate the same way you did before the crisis.
For one thing, with the lost inventory...
There is a misconception that I hear a lot from teams I speak with as far as why digital is not for them.
I hear it constantly “I want my fans focused on the game, not on their phones.”
Well first off I’d...
As I’ve written about before, I was in college during the 08 recession. I wasn’t yet in the professional world & not yet selling sponsorship.
By the time I got into the game, the economy was pretty well recovered and I rode...
I’ve said it here time & time again that our biggest “competitor” for sponsorship dollars are digital ads.
The efficiency and traceability of these ad platforms really make them attractive to brands to dump their money into.
Most valuable though is these platform’s...
I was reading about sponsorship (because well…I’m a bit obsessed with it if you couldn’t tell) and something slapped me in the face,
I know, I’ve said things slap me in the face in the past…unfortunately, it is happening a lot more...
Many times, we focus on the tactic TO do to keep our sponsors as opposed to NOT to do.
But understanding the landmines, we can avoid them early before there is a problem. Mostly though…we need a map in order to navigate...
Ghosting, Friend Zone, whatever you want to call it…sometimes after a great pitch and initial interest from a partner, we get radio silence.
This is not specific to sports & event sponsorship…this happens in ALL of sales. You will get ghosted in...
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...
