LAST WEEK TODAY: NEW SEASON, NEW SPONSORS

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 October 15-21, 2018.

The beginning of a new season or a special event is always a great way to secure sponsor interest. Calls to action work so much better when time-bound, right? Just in the past few weeks, we've seen the start of the regular seasons for the NHL and NBA, as well as the start (and end) of the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championships. The World Gymnastics Championships start later this week, with countries taking the first step toward 2020 Olympic qualification. The NFL season is less than two months old. We're not sure about you, but this autumn season sure feels like a shiny new penny (or several), and we're not sure where to look.

1. If you missed it, we're not sure how, but the start of the NBA season was last week. And the league featured prominently in sponsorship news as well:
   • At almost any arena or stadium you go to in any sport, you'll find a Kiss Cam. Last year's league champs, the Golden State Warriors, have partnered with HotelTonight to sponsor the team's Kiss Cam. The fans receiving the loudest cheers will be getting a room from the sponsor.
   • NBA sponsorship has a few trends, and our friends at SponsorPitch have put together a quick cheat sheet for you.
   • One of those trends is jersey patches, and the Chicago Bulls just announced the team's partner in that venture: Zenni Optical.
2. Another Big 4 league just started up again as well: the NHL. And over on the ice, the Stanley Cup finalists Vegas Golden Knights have made it super easy for fans to reserve tickets. Just send a text.
3. We hear about popup shops all the time as leading examples of awesome experiential marketing. One company that's found great success with popups (and elsewhere, to be honest) is Google.
4. SponsorSpotlight featured Airbnb last week. Two stories garnered your interest in particular:
   • First was the app's 2014 deal with Basketball Australia - Airbnb reserved title sponsorship of the men's national team.
   • Second was the deal between Airbnb and the Rio Olympics - the app won a bid to provide 20,000 rooms for the Games.
5. Our blog last week featured a sport outside the mainstream - volleyball. In case you weren't aware, the FIVB Women's World Championships finished up yesterday with Serbia coming out on top.

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

Look out next Monday for the usual round-up on sponsorship news.