The NFL has tackled one of the giants of the tech sector, signing IBM to a comprehensive three-year technology sponsorship.
Sources said the deal, which was first reported in sister publication The Sports Business Daily, makes IBM the league's "official information
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| IBM Corp. |
 Headquarters: Armonk, N.Y. |
2002 sales (change from 2001): $81.2 billion
(-5.5 percent) |
| Market capitalization: $142.2 billion |
| Top executives: Samuel J. Palmisano, chairman, president, CEO |
| John R. Joyce, senior vice president, CFO |
| Employees: 355,400 |
| NYSE listing: IBM |
| Stock price (closing) as of July 23: $82.30 |
| 52-week range: $54.01 (Oct. 10)-$90.40 (May 14) |
| Lead ad agency: Ogilvy & Mather, a division of WPP Group |
| Sports sponsorship agency: Velocity Sports & Entertainment |
| 2002 sports ad spending (rank): $75.1 million (No. 13) |
| 1Q 2003 sports ad spending (rank): $28.1 million (No. 6) |
Major sports sponsorships:
Tennis: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open |
| Golf: PGA Tour, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour, World Golf Village |
| Research by David Broughton |
| Sources: IBM, Hoovers.com |
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technology partner" for around $6 million a year in rights fees. The deal includes a minimum annual spend of $25 million in NFL advertising, although since IBM is already a large buyer of NFL media, that should not represent much incremental spending.
As of yet, IBM ad agency Ogilvy & Mather has no football-themed ads in production or in the concept stage.
The deal also makes IBM a charter advertiser on the fledgling NFL Network. Rick Singer, IBM's director of worldwide sponsorship marketing, admitted he's not quite sure yet what that means because "many of the digital media applications we're creating will be directly for the NFL channel."
There are also ads included on the NFL's "Sunday Ticket" package on DirecTV.
The deal, more than 18 months in the making, grants IBM comprehensive tech category rights within the NFL, virtually every tech right that the league had not already sold in prior deals with AOL, the league's official ISP; SportsLine, the NFL's "Internet sports partner"; or Motorola, the league's official wireless communications sponsor.
The NFL has been pursuing the computer category for seven years, since its last computer sponsorship with the now-defunct Zenith Data Systems expired.
IBM sponsored the league's superbowl.com Web site in the late 1990s, and the NFL had a brief flirtation with Dell Computer, as the direct PC seller was the official computer systems provider at Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002.
One consequence of the IBM deal is a new and larger ad presence by IBM on the SportsLine-produced nfl.com site. One source said the category descriptions within the contract include more than five pages defining the hardware, software and broad-based information services and technology consulting rights granted to IBM.
While there will be some consumer marketing for IBM, it is principally a business-to-business effort. As such, the company will use the NFL as a platform to demonstrate how it can help businesses capitalize on their digital assets.
IBM will craft a searchable database of the enormous NFL Films archive, initially for league and club use, but likely for sale to consumers down the line. IBM also will look to showcase its capabilities in online retailing via the NFL's online store, NFLShop.
Those projects, and others like them, would then be used as demonstration platforms for potential IBM customers.
"What we try to do with sponsorship is pair up with properties that have very specific business needs we can deliver on and use them to attract more business," Singer said.
Team deals also are anticipated, since hospitality is another integral part of IBM's activation.
The NFL deal represents another big investment in sports sponsorship for IBM, which ended its 10-year NBA corporate sponsorship prior to last season. Other IBM sports sponsorships are the PGA Tour and World Golf Village, along with all four of tennis's Grand Slams.
Velocity Sports & Entertainment, Wilton, Conn., is IBM's longtime sponsorship marketing agency.
