It doesn’t take an expert in market research to know that most sports fans, if given the choice, would prefer the events they watch and participate in to be free of advertising and branding. The plain truth is none of us, even those who make our living as marketers,...
When you think about Las Vegas, the first thing that comes to mind may be gambling, parties, or just excessive indulgence. But in less than a decade, the city of Las Vegas has made real and continuous efforts to change that. Sin City is on its way to becoming the...
Over the course of my career, I have had the opportunity to participate in, present to and host many sponsor summits and have become a big proponent of what they can accomplish for both rights holders and their brand partners when the conditions are right. Bill Burke,...
When short-term rental leader Airbnb announced it would become a worldwide partner of the IOC and the Olympic Games in 2019, it was a bold statement by the then 11-year-old company about how fast it had grown and the strength of its business. While the brand has...
Netflix’s first foray into live sports programming, The Netflix Cup, had both elements to love and elements to hate, and unfortunately its sponsorship component falls into the second bucket. Although the event was full of fun twists on match play golf and showcased...
Earlier this year, the NBA decided to make a major change to the regular season: the addition of the NBA In-Season Tournament. Fans are questioning the need for the tournament, and many are confused about how the tournament works. But advertisers, media companies, and...
Last week’s announcement that the NWSL had secured the largest media rights deal in women’s sports history sparked an idea that may be far-fetched but is nonetheless intriguing and worth exploring, at least theoretically. In advance of its championship game—which put...
Two major brands announced new partnership programs this week and both deserve credit for expanding their use of the medium in strategic ways that other marketers would be wise to emulate. T-Mobile announced it was becoming the “official 5G innovation partner” of the...
Sponsor identification, whether through signage placement, digital branding, logos on uniforms and other types of advertising-like inventory often gets a bad rap. In truth, I have often been dismissive of these types of partner benefits, referring to them as the...
In a recent interview with Yahoo Sports, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the decline of linear TV has disproportionately impacted the league’s reach. “We recognize that, in some ways, the decline of cable has disproportionately impacted the NBA,” Silver said....
