LAST WEEK TODAY: CONSIDER ALL ANGLES

Missing sponsorship news?

Check out the blog every Monday for a weekly roundup of the past week's most exciting and industry-altering news. These stories cover July 16-22, 2018.

There are (at least) two sides to every story - and a sponsorship is definitely a story. (Hopefully a good one!) Consider all angles before jumping into a new partnership, and do the same with every new idea and activation. Change and experimentation is good, but go in educated - how will this new aspect change the way the activation is done? Will it make a difference in the race between you and your nearest competitor?

1. It may be complete, but the FIFA World Cup was in the news plenty over the last week anyway:
   • Any lessons for activation? Media Post suggests "Brands must fully immerse themselves in the sport and consumer experience."
   • Official sponsor Adidas is likely not pleased...it has been reported Nike successfully ambushed the tournament. Ouch.
     • Consider: should they have succeeded? Take a look at our event analysis of the tournament.
2. Did you miss it? The Rugby World Cup Sevens was hosted in San Francisco this past weekend. Already growing in popularity pre-event, how much do you think this will help it expand?
3. And in upcoming events, ESPN announced its partners for the Summer X Games - let us tell you, it's a full lineup!
4. Teams and leagues were working the sponsorship beat last week as well, with a few new exciting deals, including:
   • Almost three seconds (approximately) after nixing Papa John's as its pizza sponsor, the Seattle Seahawks announced new official pizza sponsor Pizza Hut.
   • Texas A&M announced a new deal with StubHub.
   • The LPGA brought on MailChimp as a new marketing partner. We are particularly interested to see if this results in greater awareness, ticket sales, or revenue, etc.
   • In cause marketing this week, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario have signed on with both the Ottawa Senators and the Toronto Maple Leafs Foundation to fund youth sports programming. We can see dairy being a great fit for youth sports.
5. Outside of sports, a couple of new deals made the news:
   • Dippin' Dots dipped a toe into film sponsorship with "Teen Titans GO! to the Movies" - opening this week.
   • Keeping it local, New Belgium Brewing signed a deal to become the official craft beer of the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater. Nice to have that in your backyard!
6. Naming rights can be a lucrative windfall for any team or property owner (as a Wisconsin convention center is hoping), but it can also be an expensive process to undertake (as West Ham United can attest to).

Did we miss any? Tweet @be_tandem - we hate being behind the times just as much as you do.

Look out next Monday for this week's game-changers.