Data Shows FedEx-PGA Tour Is Most Recognized Brand-Property Deal In Sports

The FedEx-PGA Tour partnership was the most recognized brand-property alliance in sports, according to surveys conducted last year for SBJ/SBD by Turnkey Sports & Entertainment. Across the eight sponsor loyalty surveys conducted in '17, which measured fans’ awareness of 83 official league-brand relationships and included nearly 600 brands (official and non-sponsor), it was the PGA Tour’s long-standing relationship with FedEx that stood out. Some 59% of the 400 PGA Tour fans surveyed during last season’s FedExCup Playoffs correctly identified FedEx as the property’s official shipping partner when presented with a list of competing companies in that field. The partnership is in its 12th season. The sponsor loyalty series, which debuted in '07, includes annual studies of MLB, MLS, NASCAR, NBA, NFL, NHL, PGA Tour and NCAA fans. Overall, NASCAR had three partners ranked in the top 10 of the most recognized partnerships -- Goodyear, Monster and Coca-Cola -- the most of any property. Among avid fans across last year’s surveys, the NFL’s partnerships with Papa John’s (since '10) and Gatorade ('83) were the most recognized. Additionally, 52% of the NHL’s casual fans knew that Gatorade was the league’s official sports drink, a status it has held since '06. NASCAR’s longtime Goodyear partnership ('97) and the NCAA’s Capital One deal ('10) were the only other relationships to top the 50% threshold among that fan segment.

NOTES/METHODOLOGY: Surveys were conducted during each property’s most recent postseason. Response rates indicate the percentage of people polled who thought that the particular brand was the property’s official sponsor in that category. Not all categories were tracked across every league.