Sports sponsorships can be your company's winning play
By Jenny C. McCune • Bankrate.com

Sponsoring a team or sporting event can give your company a championship marketing season.

Whether it's backing a local Little League team or your community's big 10k race, a sports sponsorship can help build brand awareness, attract new consumers to your product or service, and instill loyalty among your current patrons.

The biggest benefit of sports sponsorship is that it combines a number of advertising and marketing tools.

"What's neat is that it's a medium unto itself that's composed of promotion, advertising, signage and sampling all rolled into one," says Mark D. Berman, director of account service for Willman & Company, a Jacksonville, Fla., advertising firm that does work in the sports-sponsorship arena.

Multiple sponsorship benefits
By sponsoring a local bicycle team, your company's logo appears on the jerseys worn by the team's racers. Your company's name also will be on banners posted at races, as well as in promotional material about upcoming races or team events.

Depending on what your company sponsors, you may also be eligible for free tickets to events, which in turn can be used to reward customers or your employees.

And if your company is supporting a nonprofit group like a youth basketball team or a run that benefits charity, your business may get a tax break for making a charitable donation. That's on top of earning the goodwill of your community.

Then there are the advertising intangibles connected to sports fans. Sporting events tend to open people up and make them more receptive to companies that sponsor teams or games.

"Typically, consumers are bombarded with advertising and tune it out," Berman explains. Sports spectators, however, are more likely to pay attention to your company when your logo appears on a race car or on the Little League bleachers.

"Individuals let their hair down and are more receptive [to marketing and advertising messages] during sports events," says Ross Yanco, vice president of corporate consulting for General Sports and Entertainment, a national sports and entertainment marketing agency based in Rochester, Mich.

That's one good reason why companies sponsor autos in the NASCAR circuit. Corporations have found that NASCAR fans reward team sponsors by buying products.

"They realize that if they don't support your company by buying your product, your sponsorship will go away and there may not be a NASCAR season for that driver next year," Berman says.

Losing sports marketing yardage
Of course, it can't be all gain, no pain. There are downsides to sports sponsorship.

For one thing, with so many athletic superstars becoming ensnared in scandals, it can be easy for a sponsorship to backfire. An athlete who originally personified hard work, determination and excellence can quickly be representative of greed, breaking the law or substance abuse, hardly things you want customers to think about when they see your logo.

The other big problem with sports sponsorship is that it can be difficult -- and expensive -- to measure its return on investment.

Big companies can afford to hire consulting firms like Harris Interactive of Rochester, N.Y., to conduct ROI studies. If your company doesn't have the bucks, it may have to rely on ad hoc study of the sponsorship or perhaps even your gut feeling that it is or isn't paying off.

Picking the proper game
If sports sponsorship sounds appealing, the first thing a small-business owner should do is figure out what he or she wants to get out of sponsoring an event or team and what type of sponsorship would deliver on that goal.

J. Nadine Gelberg, executive director of Harris Interactive's Sports and Entertainment Practice, gives the hypothetical example of a bank that wants to promote its online services. "It might make more sense to sponsor the Dallas Mavericks than the Orlando Magic if the Maverick fans are online and the Magic fans are not," Gelberg says.

Or if you are a local ski shop, it may be logical to sponsor your town's downhill ski team since its members (and their parents) are representative of the type of consumers who buy equipment at your store.

Many times though, there will be a less-direct connection between your company and its sports sponsorship. Your CPA firm, for instance, may sponsor a running event because it shows you care about the local community, not because the runners and race spectators necessarily fit the demographic profile of your customers or are heavier users of accounting services than nonparticipants.

Although most companies can find a team or event to sponsor that fits their marketing goals and is affordable, small businesses should also consider offering services in lieu of monetary support. For example, a printing company that can't afford a cash sponsorship may be able to print race posters and other print materials for a local mountain bike race.

Get in the game
Once you've decided what you want to sponsor, it's important to "work" your sponsorship as much as you can.

"The biggest mistake that companies make is to write a check and then turn their back on the team," Berman says.

Instead of merely handing over money, try to work as much as you can with event officials or the team's coach. Find out how you can help the team you are sponsoring and how they can help you market your product and services.

"Companies can't just put up a sign in a stadium and think that will do the job," General Sports' Yanco says. Have the members of the team you are sponsoring come to your retail store and make an appearance. Or get the spectator list from a recent game and do a promotional mailing about a new service you are offering.

Sports sponsorship is a game that many companies, large and small, can play to their advantage, provided they follow the rules needed to win.

Jenny C. McCune is a contributing editor based in Montana.

-- Posted: Dec. 14, 2001