Is Wimbledon Leaving Sponsor Money on the Table?

We all know that at some point the law of diminishing returns applies to sponsorship. Now you can mitigate it to a certain extent with clever activation and added experiential value, but with each new sponsor you always risk diluting the piece of consumer mindshare that your existing sponsors receive. By limiting sponsorship is it possible to enhance the value of (and your pot. revenue from) s...

How Man-U Courted AON

When the deal was announced on June 3rd, many were surprised to hear that little-known Chicago-based insurer, AON, had agreed to pay $130 million for some of the most coveted real estate in sports, Manchester United's jersey. The Atlantic this month has a fascinating look at how the Man-U and AON deal went down. Man-U execs hoped it could raise the profile of AON, which had offices throughout...

Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits: Prospecting Circles

A cause is often the cornerstone of many sports and entertainment sponsorship platforms. Today's "key learning" comes from Joe Waters, who is the Director of Cause Marketing for Boston Medical Center, an avid blogger at Selfishgiving.com and a rabid Boston Red Sox fan. In addition to winning last Friday's caption contest, he has agreed to lend us his insights on cause marketing, which is more ...

Piggybacking, Partnering & Pass-Throughs

Last week, the NY Times looked at the practice of NASCAR sponsors going beyond the track to form lucrative business partnerships with fellow NASCAR sponsors. NASCAR has even formed a business-to-business council to help prospect such partnerships. Yesterday, we wrote about a great example of partners working together cross-promotionally, as Prince a Wimbledon official partner and licensee...

Sponsorship Justification - TARP Style

Sponsor recall studies are nothing new. Sponsor recall studies with TARP-infused financial services companies are. Who wants to see the results of this sponsor recall study, which the Mets organization circulated to fans earlier today? Me too.

ROI, ROO, ROS...RO-Real Biz Outcomes

Whatever acronym you use these days, the mandate is in: sponsorships must be able to be measured in and translated to real business outcomes. Today (via MediaPost) Larry Albus introduces us to the IEG special sauce, "Return on Sponsorship," which should be recommended reading for any sponsorship professional. In his words, "Buyers of sports and other sponsorships must -- and can -- assess the...

Next Stop... Barclays. MTA Sells Naming Rights to Sub Stop

Don't blame NYC straphangers if they start missing their stop - blame the British bank, Barclays. On Wednesday the New York City MTA is expected to approve a $4 million naming rights agreement to add "Barclays" to the Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue subway station nearly five years after announcing their intention to do so. The first deal of its kind, if approved today, is ...

Does Land Shark Stadium Spell Dangerous Waters?

Last month, the Miami Dolphins and Jimmy Buffett announced a venture that rebrands Dolfin Stadium with the Buffett-licensed Anheuser-Busch beer, LandShark Lager's name. The deal is a one year deal for the 2009-2010 season only, which not coincidentally will include the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl at the stadium. Part of the Dolphins compensation involves Jimmy Buffet playing several free concerts...

Sponsorship Marketing's Top 10 II

OK, my 10-6 ideas of the Top 10 issues in sponsorship marketing didn’t illicit many comments on the blog. Fear not. I can report that I did talk to and get direct comments from several people about my list that pretty much validated it. My biggest takeaway: there is great passion for this business. No doubt about it. The good news is I did get some new ideas I wasn’t thinking of necessa...

UFC Zigs as Leagues Zag on Sponsorship Policy

While many sports organizations are relaxing restrictions on in-game sponsor assets and warming up to previously banned categories like casinos, state lotteries and alcohol, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is headed the other direction it appears. According to MMA site, fiveouncesofpain.com, the UFC has started imposing a $100k minimum fee (to UFC) for the right of brands to sponsor ...