LAST WEEK TODAY: SPONSORSHIP VALUE

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 March 11-17, 2019.

This week's most popular news really covers all bases. We touch on music festivals, fan reports, naming rights, new deals, extended deals, and successful partnerships. But what we really think this demonstrates is the ability of brands and rights holders to find the best partner is at an all-time high. Rights holders aren't signing with any brand that offers them money, and brands are looking for partners that can truly help them reach the goals they have - not just the most glamorous or winningest property (though that doesn't seem to hurt). Why? Both sides are getting smarter about valuing sponsorship accurately. That's something we can help you with, if you feel you're not there yet - it will make your program stronger, and your partners (likely) happier. Win-win.

1. It's not every week we hear about naming rights. These types of deals are usually a long time coming, given the need for often protracted negotiations. (Putting your name on something isn't cheap, as it turns out). This week, we heard about two upcoming naming rights opportunities.
   • You may have heard Tottenham's building a new stadium. SportBusiness has reported Nike won't be taking the naming rights, though we don't yet know who will. The new stadium is supposed to open next month, but...it's had opening dates come and go, so we can't really guarantee such an event.
   • Also looking for a naming rights sponsor is St. Louis' (potential) MLS stadium - and also its jersey sponsorship. MLS Commissioner has said both need to be sold for St. Louis to get a team.  #MLS4TheLou
2. Speaking of jersey sponsorship, the LA Lakers and jersey partner Wish have a flourishing relationship, as reported by Adweek.
3. MarkLives discussed Nielsen Sports' new South African "Fan DNA" report commissioned by Cricket South Africa. It's full of great tidbits about the South African cricket fan, including, apparently, that they're "difficult to understand" - doesn't that sound like fun - but also makes us wish we could see one for every fan segment worldwide ever. Sigh.
4. Eventbrite also released a report of their own touching on the rise and fall of major music festivals. While it may seem luxe fests like Coachella or Governors Ball have taken over the industry since 2014, Eventbrite is saying the "curated mini-festival" is on the rise. Not quite so overwhelming crowd-wise as a Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo, these shows are smaller and meant to feel like you're listening to your favorite playlist with friends - but IRL.
5. Sam Adams sister brand (also under The Boston Beer Company umbrella) the Marathon Brewing Company and its 26.2 Brew have signed on to sponsor the Pittsburgh Marathon. According to their reply on our tweet, we'll be seeing 26.2 Brew around a lot more.
6. What are the next big properties in sports sponsorship? We have a couple of options for you:
   • Okay...this one is more of a theorem than a theory. (For those of you who haven't taken geometry in a while: theorems are proven, while theories...not quite). But bigger and bigger brands are stepping into esports prominence. We've reported on Mastercard and Visa's partnerships recently, and here's a new one: AT&T is becoming the founding partner of the ESL Mobile Open, beginning its season today.
   • Now what about...gymnastics? Sure, we know you typically only pay attention to this sport every four years here in the US (though the Larry Nassar and ensuing USA Gymnastics and USOC overhauls have changed that a bit), this sport is growing elsewhere. Namely, the United Kingdom, where their men's and women's team have been on the upswing over the last quad or two. Should that correlate to more sponsors? And can USAG get its act together in time for a sponsorship comeback for Tokyo 2020?
7. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway - and perhaps more visibly, the Indy 500 - have a new sponsor in Cummins.
8. You know it's Women's History Month - we've mentioned it a few times. We've got some stories to share, as per usual.
   • Did you also notice International Women's Day? Budweiser did, and retooled old advertisements to give them a new message.
   • The UCI Women's WorldTour is keeping sponsor Santini around a bit longer as the brand extended its agreement until 2020.

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.