Turbulent financial markets, fan-less sporting events and a spike in consumer interest in services compatible with social distancing have forced the sports sponsorship industry to rapidly evolve. Nimble, well-positioned companies thrive while those slow to the draw are no longer seeing as much value from the industry. On the most recent episode of “SBJ Unpacks: The Road Ahead,” our Terry Lefton is joined by SponsorUnited Founder and President Bob Lynch to discuss emerging categories in the industry and how brands are getting creative to provide value in a shifting landscape.
On the struggle to find value in the sports sponsorship industry, which once was easy to find:
Lynch: In a typical year you might have one or two new emerging categories that everybody is sort of aware of, like CBD cannabis or daily fantasy. It’s the same with regard to assets. You might have a jersey patch coming out. You might have another TV visible signage, or something like that, that’s being activated. Now what’s happening is you’ve got 5-10 new emerging categories within really the last three or four months that everybody is aware of. You also have several assets that are being developed in real time to serve some of the missed assets within the fan-less environments which are taking place, so you’ve sort of got those two components of new brands, new categories at scale that are starting to enter the space combined with new assets all within a very small period of time. That’s never really been seen before.
On new and emerging categories:
Lynch: Up until about six months ago, we would look at the most searched categories within our platform. We have about 3,500 unique users of our platform across the sports and entertainment space. We work with about 90% of the major pro sports teams, college, esports and media entities as well, so it really gives us a full picture of, in real time, what those categories are that people are interested in right at that moment of search. Up until six months ago you’d see the historical categories like banking, telecom, and food and beverage. Now what you’re seeing is that’s the rarity. The majority of categories that are in the space now that are being searched are cashless, contactless tele-health, tele-dental, on-demand delivery, direct to consumer products, collaborative technology, fintech, facility cleaning. Those were always the tertiary categories. Now they’re in the forefront. Everyone is looking at that.
On how long the buyer's market in sports marketing will continue:
Lynch: It’s more of a chaotic market, so I think there’s going to be winners and losers whenever there’s uncertainty in the space in what’s going on. I think that’s going to last for a while because we really can’t make long-term bets in terms of what’s going to happen. I don’t think anyone can in that space, so what you’re going to find is there’s going to be entities on both sides that are going to be able to pivot quickly, innovate, create new opportunities and hopefully protect what they have. Certainly, they’re going to be impacted negatively because they can’t just deliver on certain benefits. You’re going to see savvy brands that can also capitalize on that space in some cases and enter a space that they normally couldn’t do before.
