LAST WEEK TODAY: GROWING THE SPONSORSHIP INDUSTRY
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 February 25-March 3, 2019.
Welcome to March - can you believe its here already? PSA: Daylight Saving Time starts this Sunday - get ready to be confused on the time. Also this month is Women's History Month, with International Women's Day coming up this Friday, March 8. We look forward to going over the exciting activations and partnerships related to IWD with you next week. In the meantime, we do have a little bit of a hodgepodge of sponsorship information for you today. Two in particular, though are very interesting: the change in athlete sponsorship and rise in women's sport sponsorship (fitting, wouldn't you say?).
- We'll start on the athlete side: "Realising where the attraction to consumers is, brands are starting to orientate their sponsorships around individual athletes, rather than teams or competitions." - Broadcast Sport.
- Sports betting continues to change the industry, we have two examples for you this week:
- Caesar's Entertainment and DraftKings partnered last week to increase DraftKings' ease of access to mobile and online betting rights across the country.
- This may make a difference on the PGA Tour, which announced a relaxation of restrictions related to gambling sponsorship for all tours, tournaments, and players under its umbrella.
- A sport synonymous with Vegas also made moves last week: UFC signed two Kraft brands to sponsorship deals: Devour and Oscar Meyer P3.
- Garmin added to its cycling portfolio. The brand signed on with 11 professional cycling teams last week, including Team Sky (who we've mentioned recently). Many of these were existing relationships, as Garmin continues to have a large interest in the segment.
- Two baseball deals made headlines over the past week (and no, we're not talking about Machado, Arenado, or Harper).
- The Houston Astros have signed Perry Homes to be the team's Official Homebuilder and presenting sponsor of the team's Foundation's Share2Care program.
- In the minors, MiLB team Memphis Redbirds (as well as their stadium and roommates, Memphis 901 FC) have signed a deal with Terminix. Their stadium, AutoZone Park, will now be the home of the Terminix Terrace, and fans attending games will have access to a couple special programs put on by the sponsor.
- Surfing will be debuting as an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2020, and it's started to get more attention from sponsors as well. The World Surfing League signed Red Bull (great fit!) to a deal that includes the title sponsorship of the 'Red Bull Airborne Series.'
- We mentioned Memphis 901 FC's new deal above, but we have more in the world of soccer:
- Xylem and Manchester United have teamed up to help educate people on the "risks posed by water complacency." The campaign is titled "Closer Than You Think," was filmed in United's locker room, and features players like David Silva and Sergio Agüero.
- Also in England, The FA has teamed up with PayPal on its grassroots football program. Players across the country can now use PayPal on their Matchday apps to decrease admin time spent running a grassroots football operation, and more time playing the game.
- Finally, the story we promised above: Logograb's 'The Rise of Women's Sport Sponsorship.' Love it. Evidence can also be found in last week's Category Analysis: Credit Cards - check out Visa & UEFA's new deal for women's football in Europe.
Did we miss any? Tweet @be_tandem to let us know - we hate being behind the times just as much as you do.
Look out next Monday for the usual round-up on sponsorship news.