Last Week Today: June 7 – June 13, 2021 Sponsorship News

This is part of our "Last Week Today" series that includes a weekly roundup of the past week's most exciting and industry-altering news. Check back on our blog every week for updates!  These stories cover sponsorship news for June 7 – June 13, 2021.

Supply Chain Issues Back-Up Bikes

A perfect storm of factors from anything such as the increased price of shipping containers to gyms being closed has led to record sales, but also record delays on bicycle purchases in the United States. As people continue to return to offices, the lack of full trust in public transportation has caused many cities to reexamine their streets in order to be more accommodating to pedestrians and bikers alike. The popularity of this healthy, alternative commute or workout has surpassed available supply by so much that many bikes are currently delayed as much as two years for delivery. The natural consequence of this shortage has been a huge increase in bike prices on the second-hand market.

PGL to Threaten PGA?

Another day, another upstart golf league is looking to compete with the PGA TOUR. Similar to the recent Super Golf League, the Premier Golf League has recently announced a goal of a competitive, team-based, professional golf league by 2023. The planned 18-tournament league would look to build a narrative around both the players and competition through winner’s purses of up to $4 million. It remains to be seen how the PGA TOUR will handle this latest league but if history is any marker, they will not take this quietly. The PGA TOUR has previously threatened players with lifetime bans at the major tournaments if they were to jump to a new league or tour. For many players (and their sponsors) leaving the known money on the PGA TOUR for an unknown, a new league is too much of a risk.

NFL International Looks at German Return

With an increased regular-season schedule and recent success with other games outside of the United States, the National Football League is looking at Germany as the next country to join their International Series. The return to Germany would mark the first time since 2007 the league had operated in that country with the now-defunct NFL Europe. The combination of Germany’s large economy and previous fanbases for successful NFL Europe teams such as the Berlin Thunder and Rhein Fire make them an obvious target for NFL expansion in the coming years.

Bettors ‘All In’ on Table Tennis

As the pandemic impacted all aspects of the sport, one of the unique ways was how we watch and bet on it. An unexpected rise in regard to sports betting has come from the world of table tennis. Most data coming from Colorado, a state which separates table tennis as an individual sport to bet on, saw table tennis wagers during the pandemic that surpassed bets coming in for Mixed Martial Arts. With the professional table tennis player only making on average $15,000 annually, the sport still has a long way to go in turning this betting craze into long-term viability for the sport.

Be on the lookout next week for the usual round-up of sponsorship news.

tagged: 2021  bicycle industry  golf  highlights  last week today  nfl  nfl europe  PGA  pgl  public transportation  sponsorship  sponsorship news  table tennis 

posted on June 18, 2021