Sponsorship
The State of NBA Sponsorships for the 2024-2025 Season
As the NBA tips off its 2024-2025 season, the sponsorship landscape is buzzing with innovation, digital integrations, and a renewed...
Relationships matter – a phrase that resonated with our team the most at this year’s National Sports Forum in LA. From building relationships with fans to forming strategic partnerships, it was clear that success in the sports industry relies on the connections made human to human.
The team kicked off Day 1 with a display of Winmo’s capabilities in the Brand Activations & Corporate Partnerships Workshop.
Winmo’s Bo Sams and Anneliese Hibbs touched on the ways revenue teams rely on Winmo’s corporate sponsorship database and leads to find unique avenues into marketing budgets. After the session, they were able to connect with clients ranging from GWI and the Warriors to Hudle to hear firsthand the ways in which revenue teams are using Winmo to land and expand sponsorship deals. If your sponsorship team is looking to tap into these sports marketing budgets, check out some of the insights you can access from this exclusive list of 70 brands x MLB Sponsors Planning in Q2 2023.
“This year compared to last year for me felt more of a bonding experience with the people I talked to,” said Senior Sales Director Bo Sams. “‘Relationships matter’ was a phrase I heard a lot. When I met someone, I of course learned about what they did, who they worked for, and what business challenges they face, but I also learned about their background, where they came from, experience in their community and their family life. Connection is high priority for individuals in the sponsorship and sports world.”
Celebrating Excellence
The cherry on top was being able to celebrate excellence in person. Winmo customer Learfield is building on its 50+ year history in the industry to advance sponsorship relationships in new areas like esports, and landing and expanding deals that give brands exposure to some 182M collegiate sports fans.
Winmo awarded Learfield its 2nd Annual Excellence in Sponsorship Sales award, which was received by VP National Sales, Ashley Robbins on Day 2. “We’re honored, and credit to Winmo and WinmoEdge for directing us to qualified opportunities. That makes our job that much easier,” said Robbins. Thanks Ashley, we passed along that praise to the team after the event, as it’s the kind of validation that gets us out of bed in the morning!
Seeing Challenges and Opportunities
The team attended fascinating sessions on a range of topics, from ticketing trends to Esports.
“In terms of seeing opportunity ahead, the most interesting session to me was “The Impact of the 2026 World Cup in North America,’” said Winmo’s VP of Marketing Marilyn Mead.
The session featured Pete Giorgio, Sports Practice Leader for Deloitte, which sponsors the American Federation (US Soccer), 2023 Women’s World Cup and 2026 Men’s World Cup, as well as Fox Sports Broadcaster David Neal and David Cipullo, Principal and Founder of strategic agency Tigertail Advisory.
“The 2026 World Cup is unprecedented for many reasons, from the obvious logistical challenge of hosting across three countries to expansion of sponsorship opportunities. Now that host cities are permitted to sell their own corporate sponsorships, the pool of brand participants grows substantially and sponsorship opportunities are massive.”
Even more intriguing, Cipullo was advising brands to think outside the box. “He was thinking ahead, on how brands can buy OOH ads now along roads that lead into host cities, to capitalize on the exposure. Given how many cities are participating, there’s incredible opportunity for OOH sellers in those markets,” said Mead. “These are ideas you don’t necessarily read about in the trades, but they’re up for discussion at NSF.”
Overall the Winmo team left feeling inspired, motivated, and armed with new insights and connections to help us continue to set our clients up for success in the sports marketing landscape. We look forward to continuing to build on the meaningful connections made and helping these individuals achieve their goals with Winmo’s insights. We hope to see you next year in Pittsburgh!