An Interesting Approach to Jersey Sponsorship
Posted: 11/4/2009 9:39:54 AM by
Rob Campbell | with 0 comments
The Darlington Quakers, a British soccer club in the Coca-Cola Football League 2, is taking a different tack in selling sponsorship rights to the team’s jersey.
The club announced last week that it will raffle off the right to affix a corporate logo to its jersey in a £5,000-per-entry lottery.
Although the low entrance fee promises to be a boon for the winner, those who do not come out the shirt sponsor do not leave empty-handed. According to the Northern Echo, all bidders will receive stadium signage and one match sponsorship, among other recognition.
As a third-tier Football League club, Darlington stands to gain much more revenue by raffling off jersey sponsorship than by selling it outright. However, this seemingly win-win situation is not without potential drawbacks.
Although this arrangement provides more revenue in the short term, it prevents a longer-term, more financially stable sponsorship agreement from germinating. Also, any unsuccessful bidder could potentially become a jaded and unsatisfied sponsor providing no hope of renewal.
Another distant possibility is that the lottery system could somehow be rigged to award jersey sponsorship to one of the owner’s cronies. (Remember, I’m based in Chicago where these things are commonplace.)
Sponsor loyalty questions and conspiracy theories aside, it stands to reason that the type of sponsor that would engage in such a lottery would not be in a position to make the commitment necessary to secure jersey sponsorship outright. Even if that sponsor did have the means to pay the normal fee required of such sponsorship and was still competing in the lottery, it would not be the type of long-term sponsor the property would like to attract.
Given the situation and relative lack of prestige of the team, the lottery approach is a good example of doing more with less, yet for the sake of stability it should always be trumped by a long-term sponsorship deal.
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Filed under: packaging, pro sports, selling, trends, assets