Sponsor-Free No More

Ryan Moore, currently #46 in the Official World Golf Rankings, has made headlines in the past not for his sponsorship deals, but rather because he's one of the few top players on the PGA Tour that has elected to play “sponsor-free." Moore's previous stance has given way to more capitalistic behavior of late, having just announced a sponsorship deal with a company called Switch4 and currently sh...

This Brand Just Spent $1 Million To Sponsor A Beach

Update: The measure passed City Council unanimously so Toyota is now the official vehicle of San Diego's lifeguards. In a separate deal, Sprint could become the "official wireless partner" of the city of San Diego in, if approved, what would be worth $100,000 annually for two years, with three one-year renewal options. The city has budgeted $800K in sponsorship revenue from these type of sponso...

Sponsorship Efficiency Helped MasterCard Trim Marketing Expenditures 20%

MasterCard International CMO, Alfredo Gangotena, made a lengthy presentation last week here in New York. One of the interesting factoids that peaked our interest was this one: between 2008 and 2010, the company reduced marketing by 20%, to which it credits "focusing on greater efficiencies, such as advertising production agency fees or much better use of our sponsorship assets." Of course, it's...

Shopping Mall Developer Aims To Bring More Events To LA With Latest Partnership

Westfield Group, one of the largest shopping mall developers in the world, has signed on as an Official Marketing Partner of the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission (LASEC). As part of Westfield’s marketing partnership, Gary Williams, U.S. Senior Executive Vice President, Westfield Property Group, has been elected to serve on LASEC’s Board of Directors while Larry Green, Senior Vice Pres...

Check Out Valencia's New Twit Kit

Top Spanish soccer club, Valencia, came up with an interesting solution for filling some empty space on the front of their jerseys. The club, which currently has over 35,000 followers, put its Twitter handle, @ValenciaCF, on its kit for their most recent game with Barcelona. Despite being one of the biggest clubs in Spain, Valencia is one of nine La Liga clubs to begin the season without a ...

X-Factor Gets Official Wireless Partner

Verizon will be the official wireless partner of the X Factor, which premiered last night and continues tonight on Fox. The New Jersey-based wireless carrier will becoming the presenting sponsor of The Xtra Factor App for smartphones and other mobile devices including tablets. The free App will give customers access to exclusive content and features available only to Verizon Wireless customers....

Mercedes-Benz Superdome? Saints Pitch Naming Rights With Temp Signage

In an effort to help potential sponsors visualize their brand name on the Superdome, Saints executives have been putting up signs and taking pictures of what the Dome would look like with their name on it. Someone snapped this photo of a banner reading Mercedes-Benz SuperDome, which had apparently been part of the pitch, and submitted it to New Orleans' local CBS affiliate, WWLTV. Yesterday, Sa...

Team Sponsor Will Pick Up $6.7 M Tab If Kobe Plays In Italy

Update: Virtus Bologna president Claudio Sabatini says that Kobe's management and the Italian team have reached an agreement. "It's 95 per cent done," he told Italian media. "We just need the two signatures now. We couldn't allow it to be any longer." A Canadian company may foot the bill for an Italian team to acquire an American player. Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play f...

Valencia's Twit Kit Boosts Followers By 9%

Despite being one of the biggest clubs in Spain, Valencia is one of nine La Liga clubs to begin the season without a shirt sponsorship. Without a sponsor, what's a club to put on the front of its own jersey? In what must be a first in pro sports, Valencia decided to put its own twitter handle on the front of its jersey. The club's twitter account, which was launched on March 24th, pulled in 1...

10 Skills of Successful Sponsorship Sellers

Next week I'll be speaking before a group of senior leaders and board members of nonprofit organizations about corporate sponsorship. Because some of the executives who belong to this organization are in a career transition, including from the for profit to the nonprofit sector, I promised to share with them important skills and characteristics of individuals who are successful in corporate spo...