Sporting events create natural, high profile opportunities for media exposure and sponsors leverage this to get their core marketing messages to potential customers. But sports marketing also allows a company to target a specific geography and customer segment. Fan demographics vary across sports and sports teams. A b2b company targeting corporate executives across their customer base in a particular country or region can sponsor a sport or team with a high correlation to that audience.
They can do this because sports are universally understood. They don't rely on language and are an easy way to reach international markets. The explosive popularity of basketball in China is a great example. In addition to reaching its target customer base, sports sponsorships provide a vehicle to build employee pride and corporate citizenship. A company's sponsorship of a local venue or team is a tangible way to participate in the community or one it’s trying to influence. These are the fundamental reasons why sports marketing has grown over the past 20+ years. But the category is continuing to evolve and the benefits for both sponsors and properties are moving in new and exciting directions.
Globally, sponsorship marketing is over $30 billion and growing. In North America alone, sports sponsorship is estimated to grow to over $13B in the next 3 years.
And the growth is a mix of organic and new. 75% of existing sponsors expect to increase their sponsorship investment over the next 5 years. At the same time, new money is flowing into emerging and less traditional sports that deliver precise fan demographics. Part of the organic growth is being driven by the evolution of the category itself. Companies are seeing expanded opportunities and are capitalizing on them.
Sports marketing is evolving in several ways but they all converge around the fact that sponsor companies want broader and more integrated partnerships. While brand visibility and image are still important elements of a sponsorship agreement, they aren't sufficient to optimize the sponsorship investment. Companies are recognizing they have more than money to bring to the table and are looking for sponsorships that represent a mutual partnership. The willingness of a sports property to consider the value a company's brand and products can bring to the relationship is becoming increasingly important. This has been a strong catalyst for more b2b companies to add sports sponsorships to their marketing portfolio. Many technology companies, in particular, have products and services sports teams can leverage to improve their performance, enhance the fan experience, or build and manage their franchise or business. Integrating a company's products or technology into the sport provides the sponsor with a powerful platform to showcase their offerings to their b2b customers and build a more tangible and credible association with the sport or team.
Another aspect of the broader partnership approach is to cross-promote with other sponsors. Companies are looking to their sponsored properties to facilitate and promote cooperative efforts within their sponsor communities. Joint ventures are also becoming part of the mix. Properties and corporate sponsors can often create ancillary businesses or interests that are relevant and beneficial to both.
Morris and I founded Mojo Sports specifically to focus on b2b companies and the opportunity to integrate their products and services into the sport and the sponsorship activation. We believe a successful sponsorship is about two brands partnering in a meaningful way. There’s a natural intersection of sports, business and marketing that drives genuine relationships between product and technology brands and sports properties and allows them to affect, influence and elevate each other.
But I think the best demonstration of our value is in the work we’ve done with b2b customers to date. I encourage everyone to explore this website and contact us to learn more about our customers and their successes.