Featured Articles

More relationships touchpoints, less logo touchpoints in sports sponsorship

In sports sponsorship, and really all sponsorship, we get bogged down in assets. It somewhat makes sense...it is the product we sell. Our mindset sometimes shifts to "How many signs can I get sold?". Many times though, those assets we focus on are...

Here’s the worst thing a brand can be in sports sponsorships.

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...

Your Sponsorship Package Should Be A Story, Not A Menu

Everyone always talks about stories in sales…and rightfully so. As humans, we are physiologically conditioned to accept stories more than any other form of communication. Stories build trust, they build empathy. Neuroscientists found that when listening to a well-told story, the exact...

The two graphs that scare the SH*T out of me in sports sponsorship.

There are two graphs that unequivocally scare the SH*T out of me in sports sponsorship. (Click the image above for the source article — eMarketer.com) The first is the fact that 54% of all advertising dollars in 2019 will be spent on digital campaigns and...

Making 💵 Year Round In Sports Sponsorship 📆

Another week of The Inches podcast brought some amazing insight from Rich Franklin. This week we dove into how you can monetize your off-season to make money year-round for your team. This really was driven from the ENORMOUS success the NFL saw with...

Working through Ghosts in Sports Sponsorship Sales

It's an unfortunate part of sales. Sometimes we think there is a fit, we have the prospect excited, then...GHOSTED. Radio silence, no answer to our emails or calls. In sports sponsorship, it is no different. We get ghosted by prospective brands. So how...

10 Digital Baseball In Game Promotions That Engage Fans

Digital baseball in-game promotions are taking ball games for a turn. Upping the game. A summer day of baseball at the ballpark is one of the most coveted American pastimes. Generations have been raised on hot dogs, peanuts, and home runs. But it’s...

5 Pillars To Any Great Digital Sports Sponsorship Contest

At SQWAD we run a lot of digital contests with some great teams. With running those contests we’ve learned a lot in the process. And a few recurring items have popped up with the digital contests we’ve seen success with. We broke...

Latest Articles

Corona Virus, The Effects On Sports Sponsorship, & How To Prepare.

I held off on writing this because I really didn’t want to incite panic on what might happen and drive clicks if it wouldn’t actually bring value and was all based on the scare. I also...

Close More Deals By Selling Benefits, Not Features In Sports Sponsorship

“People want a 1/4 inch hole, not a quarter-inch drill.” This quote (paraphrased) sits in the office of Rich Franklin as a reminder that our customers want solutions toward their goals…not the features that get them...

How to build a winning culture in your organization with Mike Johnston

Every time I hear Mike Johnston dive into building culture…I’m blown away. For those of you who don’t know who Mike Johnston is, he is the Vice President, General Manager, and Head Coach of the Portland...

The Great Pivot In Sports…What It Looks Like On The Other Side

There is a great quote from a 19th-century banker Nathan Rothschild that I love and keep coming back to. “Great fortunes are made when the cannonballs are falling in the harbor, not when the violins play...

How you should adjust your assets for sponsors when games get started

Ok, we are past citing that it will be a new world when we come out of this. Obviously, things won’t be normal for a long time…especially in sports. It’s time to take action, adjust, and...

Being The People’s Champ For Your Sponsors Is The Most Important Thing Right Now

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...

The 90 Day Plan For Sports Sponsorship.

The first stage was a bit of a shock for most of us when games ended. It seemed like overnight we were game-less, plans in the trash, and now scrambling to still bring value to...

How to populate content on 7 different digital platforms with one video in sports.

I had a friend say she was starting a video show to post onto Instagram TV. It was long-form and meant to help build her brand up through helpful content. I asked, “Why just Instagram TV?” She...

The sponsorship economics behind the last recession & how we can learn from it.

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...