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Editor's Note
Last chance! Hashtag Sports 2022 takes Las Vegas next week (July 12-14) at The Cosmopolitan. We'll be on hiatus during the event. Want to join us? Access a discount exclusive to our newsletter subscribers here.
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There are scores of marketers looking for sports fans willing to take a risk on a less-than-sure thing. For the brands that thrive on that demographic, there’s plenty of room on the course to play through.
What's the deal?
In addition to watching some of the biggest names in professional golf, the roughly 4,000 fans who came to see LIV Golf’s version of the sport on July 1 took photos with outsized LIV Golf logos, letters, and golf umbrellas. They stacked $10 cans of Rogue cocktails two at a time while waiting in line for $15 bowls from local food trucks. They went right up to the rope on the sixth hole and yelled “Yeah, Phil!” as LIV Golf’s reported $200 million man, Phil Mickelson, sank a short putt.
“I don’t think anybody here agrees with the backing or what they’re doing but, on the other token, you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place because you want to see pro golf,” David Laguatan told Willamette Week. “It’s like, ‘Screw it, I’m still gonna go watch the golf.’”
The bottom line:
LIV Golf representatives note that despite the league’s deep pockets—it’s backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—it’s eventually going to have to turn a profit if it wants to move forward. Jane MacNellie, LIV Golf’s vp and head of communications, said the company views itself as a startup and sees this season as “a beta test.”
Read: Adweek
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Perhaps the most prescient call in recent months was made in January by Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who predicted Apple was gearing up to spend billions on sports content to build up its streaming offerings.
Just two months later, Apple cut a streaming deal with MLB, and last month it agreed to a new partnership with MLS. But those deals are peanuts compared with what Apple might soon use its $28 billion cash hoard to nab.
Read: Forbes
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Women’s soccer has come a long way in a short space of time and ambitions for this year’s Women’s Euro have naturally evolved to reflect that. But even with high expectations to deliver another record-breaking occasion, the overwhelming feeling at the FA is one of excitement above anything else.
Most interesting is the presence of brands that are less prevalent in soccer and sports marketing, such as Euronics and Grifols. That is a testament to Uefa’s decision to unbundle the sponsorship rights to its women’s properties from the men’s, which has perhaps lowered the cost of entry for new partners who may previously have been priced out of spending money with the governing body.
Read: SportsPro
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Fans today love consuming content in snackable digital bites. Sports organizations are responding by collecting and sharing short-form digital content — on and off the field.
Read our latest playbook to learn how top sports teams and challenger leagues around the world are making new revenue plays like:
- Increasing sponsor value with 20x digital distribution
- Activating sponsorships authentically with athletes
- Selling digital media rights to partners and broadcasters
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Live sports are the glue keeping the pay-TV bundle intact. It’s a refrain that’s become so common over the last decade, that it is easy to take it for granted. Even as consumers increasingly turned to streaming services for their entertainment needs, sports and news have remained stubbornly tied to legacy bundles, with executives dismissing any push to break them out.
RSN owners are also betting that a streaming option could deliver new revenue streams, such as more advanced advertising offerings, and, of course, sports betting integration. On the advertising side, RSNs have actually underperformed compared to national sports, which are among the most highly-sought after programs for ad buyers. A streaming service has the potential to rectify some of the problems baked into its current product.
Read: The Hollywood Reporter
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Chipotle Mexican Grill last month launched a campaign that relied on a mobile technology that predates the smartphone: text messaging. The effort coincided with the NBA Finals, though the restaurant chain wasn’t an official sponsor like rival Taco Bell.
During the first four games of the championship series between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics, Chipotle hid a unique keyword in its television ads to unlock a buy-one, get-one-free (BOGO) offer available to the first 10,000 members of its Chipotle Rewards loyalty program who texted the keyword to an SMS short code to claim their chance to win. During the first game of the finals, Chipotle customers claimed all the offers in two minutes.
Read: Marketing Dive
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- MEDIA: NBCUniversal will unplug The Olympic Channel after a five-year run on linear TV as it reevaluates its programming distribution strategy.
- GAMING: Michael Jordan is the cover athlete for NBA 2K23 and the game's limited edition "Championship Edition."
- CONTENT: Copa90 has formed a studio production business with Race to the Center of the Earth creator Dan Lewis and U.S. filmmaker Evan Rosenfeld to build a slate of premium docs.
- RATINGS: The USFL championship game saw its best ratings since the league's opening weekend.
- PEOPLE: Peter Chernin is going all-in on building an independent content studio with global reach backed with up to $800 million in financing.
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Dunkin' joins new 3ICE Hockey as a top sponsor
The Details
For Dunkin’ the marketing relationship was a natural extension of its long-term sponsorship deal with the NHL. Dunkin’ joined companies such as Bitcasino, Verbero, OFX and Heart Water as founding mid-range 3ICE sponsors. The new league, which opened June 18, is a 3-on-3 extravaganza, played in a six-team, every-weekend tournament format. Each game is 16 minutes split into two eight-minute periods, and teams are coached by former National Hockey League players Grant Fuhr, Brian Trottier, Joe Mullen, Guy Carbonneau, John LeClair and Larry Murphy. The teams are all named after the coaches.
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Emily Black
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4 min read