The Washington Commanders have closed 12 sponsorship deals since Josh Harris’ group bought the team in July, and President Jason Wright thinks the team is just beginning to see what’s possible in the post-Dan Snyder era.
“Next year I’m really focused on the white space categories,” Wright said. “We’ve got good white space in auto, defense, security, tech, cyber. … There’s a ton that we just hadn’t been able to do previously where now we have opportunities.”
The recent deals include new official partner status in: beer (with Anheuser-Busch); construction (Clark Construction); credit union (Northwest Federal Credit Union); 5G network (Verizon); and women’s health (VHC Health). There are also deals with Air National Guard (jersey patch for defensive players’ practice jerseys and as the presenting sponsor of the USO Club at FedEx Field; Children’s National Hospital (a pediatric partner); Capital City Mambo Sauce; Sire Spirits (for the Branson Cognac brand to title a premium bar and lounge in the stadium); Rita’s Italian Ice; the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority; and Bank of America as the official bank, financial services and wealth management sponsor.
With the prior ownership issue resolved, Wright said the club will make aggressive sales pitches to national brands, highlighting the diversity and wealth of the D.C. region residents, proximity to the federal government, and the abundance of high-quality nonprofits in the region that might get involved with community activations.
There’s also still space available for new brands on gates, tunnel covers, scoreboards and elsewhere in the stadium.
“One of our advantages is having assets that are available,” he said. “We have a lot of premium assets that sponsors are clamoring for in other stadiums, as a consequence of our business not being able to grow the way we wanted it to.”
Sponsorship cash fees are critical to Harris’ goal of making Washington a top-five NFL club business again. But at this point, the long-struggling franchise needs the brand extension sponsors give too. Take the WMATA deal for instance — the Commanders are working with WMATA to make the metro a better option for fans and increase ridership, but they’ll also have team colors across the region’s 98 metro stations.
“Next thing you know, we’re everywhere that everybody is, and that’s how we want to be, that’s how it once was,” Wright said.
