Announcements

MLB Marketing Comes Out Swinging For The 2018 Season
MediaPost, March 27, 2018
This weekend may be the culmination of March Madness with the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Div. I Final Four and National Championship games, but that won’t keep MLB in the dugout... More

Naming-Rights Deal Could Boost Pacers’ Income
Indianapolis Business Journal, March 23, 2018
Pacers Sports & Entertainment should have little problem securing a new naming-rights sponsor for its downtown home that will pay at least double the current rate of $2 million a year, experts say... More

Nissan And Nike Foster NCAA Sponsorship Funding To Hit The $1.24Bn Mark This Season
The Drum, March 17, 2018
Bolstered by brands like Nissan, Nike and Coca Cola, the sponsorship spending on NCAA college athletic departments, conferences, tournaments, bowl games and related properties is expected to total $1.24bn in the 2017/2018 season... More

Inside SoFi’s Sports Sponsorship Strategy
Tearsheet, March 07, 2018
The Big Ten men’s college basketball championship final last weekend at Madison Square Garden had a new type of brand sponsor: SoFi... More

Stars of the Olympics Are Changing the Sponsorship Game
The Washington Post, February 16, 2018
NEW YORK — A gold medal used to be the golden ticket for lucrative endorsements — think Mary Lou Retton on a Wheaties box. But in the age of social media, athletes are making a name for themselves well ahead of time... More

Big Media, Silicon Valley Battle for Multibillion-Dollar Sports TV Rights
Variety, January 30, 2018
The year is 2034. The Olympics that have been a fixture on channels owned by NBCUniversal since 2002 have disappeared from TV altogether. Instead, the Winter Games stream live to your phone courtesy of Amazon, which bid the rights away from all of the biggest media companies. The downhill skiing competition has never looked better in 16K screen resolution, with not a hint of buffering... More

Inside U.S. Bank’s Super Bowl Strategy
Tearsheet, January 25, 2018
For a company with some money, there’s no better opportunity for exposure than the Super Bowl. Just ask U.S. Bank, whose hometown of Minneapolis will host 125,000 visitors coming for the big game next week... More

AT&T Cuts Ties with USA Gymnastics after Sexual Abuse
The Dallas Morning News, January 24, 2018
AT&T announced that it is cutting ties with USA Gymnastics, after more than 160 women said they were sexually abused by Dr. Larry Nassar and some questioned whether the governing body did enough to stop him... More

Sponsorship Spending Expected To Rise In 2018
MediaPost, January 16, 2018
Brands are likely to amp up their sponsorship spends this year in the U.S. after a tighter-than-expected market in 2017, according to ESP Properties... More

The NFL Playoffs, Presented by (Insert Your Company Name Here)
Bloomberg, January 12, 2018
The National Football League is courting a presenting sponsor for postseason games, a package that one person with knowledge of the matter said could fetch up to $15 million a year... More

Is it Inevitable that the TV Industry Will Lose Major Sports Rights to the Digital Giants?
VideoAdNews, December 12, 2017
Speculation about the US digital giants moving into sports streaming has been commonplace for years now and in recent years we’ve started to see them dipping their toes in the water... More

As NFL Falters, MLB Sponsors Spent Record-high $892 Million
Yahoo Finance, November 08, 2017
Major League Baseball’s corporate sponsors spent a record $892 million this season, a 7.9% increase from last season, according to a new report from ESP Properties, which is owned by British ad giant WPP... More

Discover Partners With Big Ten Conference, Big Ten Network
MediaPost, November 07, 2017
Discover Financial Services, the Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Network have signed a multi-year agreement... More

Shocking End for U.S. World Cup Bid a Blow to Fox, Sponsors
Bloomberg, October 11, 2017
The U.S. men’s soccer team was eliminated from World Cup qualifiers Tuesday, a shocking result that could leave sponsors and media partners in the lurch for millions of dollars... More

Dow Reaps Benefits from Marketing Partnerships
WARC, October 02, 2017
Partnerships with organizations like the International Olympic Committee (IOC), NASCAR and the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) are helping the Dow Chemical Co. gain fresh knowledge of customer preferences... More

NFL’s Top Sponsors Stay Quiet After Trump’s Call for Boycott
bloomberg.com, September 25, 2017
As NFL owners and players rushed to defend their right to protest in the wake of President Donald Trump’s criticism, one group of stakeholders has remained largely silent — the league’s corporate partners... More

Anheuser-Busch, Uber Top Music Sponsors
MediaPost, August 14, 2017
Anheuser-Busch InBev continues as the most active sponsor of music, while Uber replaces Pepsi in the number two spot... More

As Arts Funding Shifts, Twin Cities Groups Get Creative To Woo Sponsors
Star Tribune, July 24, 2017
Yo-Yo Ma was available for just one night... More

Salesforce Buys Naming Rights To Transbay Transit Center
San Francisco Chronicle, July 07, 2017
San Francisco’s new downtown transit center will have something in common with AT&T Park and Oracle Arena — a corporate name... More

Serena Williams Pregnancy Likely To Boost Sponsorship
Reuters, April 19, 2017
A pregnant Serena Williams makes the tennis superstar even more attractive to corporate sponsors, allowing her to extend her reach into maternity wear and motherhood products, sponsorship industry executives said... More

Northwestern Could Cash in on First NCAA Tournament Bid, 'Reawaken' Alumni
Chicago Tribune, March 16, 2017
The first appearance by Northwestern University's men's basketball team in the NCAA Tournament could mean a boost for everything from enrollment applications to sponsorships, sports industry experts say... More

What the NBA's G-League Deal Means for Sports Marketing
Ad Age, February 15, 2017
With the National Basketball Association on Tuesday officially announcing it will rename its minor D-League the G-League after Gatorade, could the "Nike NBA" or "State Farm NBA" be next? Don't count on it, say sports marketing experts... More

Global Sponsorship Spending To Total $62.8B In '17, IEG's Annual Study Predicts
SportsBusiness Daily, January 31, 2017
Chicago-based research firm IEG's 32nd annual year-end industry review and forecast sees steady sponsorship spending growth in '17, with the caveat that caution on the part of brand and corporate marketers could grow into concern as the year progresses... More

Why College Bowl Sponsorships Are a Touchdown for Chick-fil-A and Allstate
Adweek, January 16, 2017
As marketers suit up for Super Bowl LI, some brands were already busy capitalizing on another rabid football audience: college bowl fans... More

Awards Shows Sponsorship Up 4.3% to $139M
Broadcasting & Cable, November 16, 2016
Sponsorship spending on awards shows is expected to rise 4.3% to $139.2 million in 2016, according to new figures from IEG research... More