Sports Marketing Tactics

I've been asked a lot recently on podcasts how to evaluate and think about large sponsorships. At ClickUp, we had a strategic partnership with the San Diego Padres that was extremely beneficial from an activation perspective. Here are some key points on how it worked/ was structured: 1. Embedded Partnership: It was important for us to be as integrated into their ecosystem as they were in ours. Our agreement included them using ClickUp as their primary work management tool across several departments. This integration was beneficial in many ways, helping them to speak our language when building out assets and discussing different aspects of our sponsorship. 2. High-Quality Content: We brought our team on board and ensured we had almost unlimited access to tell their story alongside ours. Baseball has a rich history and underwent significant transformations during the pandemic and when everything reopened. We were alongside them for that journey and wanted to tell that story through high-quality content. 3. Fluidity: I dislike rigid agreements. Life and business are dynamic, and our agreements should reflect that. We structured our partnership to be as fluid as possible, allowing us to add assets ad-hoc and make real-time changes. This created a true two-way partnership where both parties were continually thinking about how to further utilize each other. In many ways, it was one of the best partnerships/sponsorships I've done in my career (and I've done a lot). When evaluating potential sponsorships, beyond market fit and target demographics, consider the type of relationship you want with your partners. Look for organizations that align with that vision—it will pay dividends.

Are creators the next celebrities at the Super Bowl? The NFL is actively using influencers like Alix Earle and Jake Shane to draw in Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. These influencers are featured in big Super Bowl ads for brands like Carl’s Jr. and Poppi, showing a major shift in advertising tactics. While advertising budgets are shifting from traditional TV commercials to influencer campaigns, the NFL is targeting younger audiences who are showing to be less interested in sports broadcasts. The NFL’s strategy also includes collaborating with digital platforms like YouTube and Snapchat. Brands are also paying creators up to six figures to attend the game and share content. Since the NFL adopted its creator strategy in 2019, it has seen record-high engagement and viewership from these younger generations. This trend is visible not only at the Super Bowl but also at major events like the Olympics and Coachella.

Celsius' NIL strategy is a masterclass on how to effectively engage with Gen-Z and college students. CELSIUS Holdings, Inc. takes a multi-faceted approach - activating both macro and micro-level ambassadors to tap into culture on college campuses across the country. Starting with macro, Celsius announced partnerships with the biggest names in college sports, at the perfect time. Right when football season kicked off, they launched partnerships with college football stars Bo Nix, Michael Pennix and Blake Corum. And with March Madness right around the corner, they just announced partnerships with college basketball stars JuJu Watkins, Jared McCain, Cody Williams and Kwame Evans. These macro-level names not only create buzz on social, but also organically generate incredible amounts of free PR. No matter how much money a brand spends on Facebook ads, no reporter will cover it (obviously). But teaming up with Heisman candidates and 5 star recruits absolutely will get you covered by Forbes, Sports Illustrated, and On3 - picking up hundreds of thousands of extra impressions to build awareness around the brand. While Celsius uses the biggest names in college sports to drive hype and brand awareness, they layer in micro-level ambassador marketing to hyper-target their Gen-Z fanbase. They know that taking a macro-influencer only approach by itself doesn’t always work - just look at BioSteel going bankrupt after partnering with star athletes like Pat Mahomes, Luka Doncic and Connor McDavid. Celsius has 170 college ambassadors nationwide and "seeds the sh*t" out of their product - placing an average of 67,000 cans of its product on college campuses each month. Launching their own "Celsius University" ambassador program helps them leverage word-of-mouth marketing and activate its fans as faces for the brand across college campuses. Their college ambassadors humanize the brand and bring authenticity and trust to the forefront - which is incredibly important as authenticity and relatability are two of the most important factors that influence what companies Gen-Z supports. Overall, the brand’s partnership with the biggest names in college sports amplifies its presence and awareness, while their ambassador program fosters deep connections and authenticity. #nil #celsius #sportsmarketing

Why are sports leagues betting big on influencer marketing? This was a fun one I worked on with Forbes, which was informed by conversations I had with leagues like the National Football League (NFL) and NASCAR. If you haven't been paying attention, sports leagues might be the best at social and influencer partnerships out there. They understand the power of social and the importance of reaching audiences that are not their own. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has publicly stated that last season, creator collaborators helped generate more than 650 million video views across the NBA’s social and digital channels. And they are going even bigger this season (you couldn't avoid creators on opening night of the NBA). Be sure to read the full Forbes article on findings, but here are a few highlights... ➡ Connecting with younger audiences is a consistent theme across all leagues, and why they are doubling down on influencer partnerships ➡ League are prioritizing multicultural influencers and reaching multicultural fans to expand their core audiences (inside the US and outside) ➡ Some of the most engaged content is non play content. Fans don't necessarily want to watch highlights and analysis - behind the scenes content, funny player interviews, etc are some of the highest performing. ➡ Creators are becoming the players. What the PGA TOUR did with the Creator Classic is absolutely brilliant and I anticipate most leagues will follow suit. There's a lot to learn from the sports leagues when it comes to influencer marketing. I tip my hat to them all, they truly understand the assignment. #influencermarketing #socialmedia #creatoreconomy

Our last MBA student group presentation for the semester in my sports management course at The Wharton School was last week and centered on the National Football League (NFL)’s global expansion strategy.  🏈   Alberto Gil Ibanez, Claudia Haimovici, Edison Jeffrey Chow, CPA, Fardi Rahimli, Jessica Vallejo and Xiren Huang — examined why international expansion is essential for the NFL’s long-term growth.   Key strengths today: ✅ Massive success in live event tentpoles ✅ Impressive digital localization with partners like YouTube, TikTok, and DAZN ✅ The Global Markets Program (GMP - introduced in 2021) where team focus on marketing, sponsorship and driving fandom in league awarded markets is off to a good start.     But challenges remain: ⚡ By definition, the GMP is crowded and fragmented ⚡ Over-reliance on live events for monetization ⚡ Limited international player presence — making it harder to build true local fandom   💡 The group recommends: 🔹 Invest in global talent pipelines (development leagues and expanded player pathways) 🔹 Reform the GMP structure to strengthen rights coordination 🔹 Drive year-round digital engagement (fantasy football, mobile games, localized streaming) 🔹 Scale flag football programs worldwide, leveraging the LA28 Olympic & Paralympic Games   The NFL has proven it can “export games.” And must now focus on building lasting cultural ties if it wants to become the world’s global sports powerhouse.   With this introduction, the other 72 students in class and I are looking forward to seeing how the NFL embraces the challenge! 🌎🏈 #sportsbiz #sportsbusiness #NFLInternational #sportsmedia #profootball

NFL teams generated $2.5B in sponsorship revenue from over 2,000 brands—here are some of the things I unpacked that helped lead to this historic growth: 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨-𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 🏈 The Construction & Industrial sector has historically been a highly active internationally (especially the EPL) but relatively quiet in U.S. sports—until now. This year, we saw a significant jump within this sector. 🏈 Ready-to-drink (RTD) alcohol brands have surged, with 1/3rd of teams with deals working with more than one brand. 🏈 The NFL’s vast fan base means some brands can’t always afford to reach everyone—so the league has been smart in designing segmented audience strategies that allow brands to optimally engage specific audiences. 2️⃣ 𝐀𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 NFL Players have more endorsements than any other sport, acting as a gateway for brands entering the league. This lowers the barrier to entry, allowing brands to A/B test content, iterate quickly, and refine messaging before committing to larger team deals. The result is a thriving ecosystem where athlete partnerships fuel more sponsorship opportunities. 3️⃣ 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐔𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 With international expansion, teams now offer a broader marketing platform for brands, opening the door to entirely new deals. This year alone, we saw 68 brands activate internationally, proving the model out. 4️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 & 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 Sponsorships are no longer just about logos on a stadium wall—they’re about embedding brands into the fan experience. Teams and brands are working together to create meaningful, culturally relevant activations, including: ✔ Player arrivals as branded moments ✔ Sustainability and causes ✔ Second-chance sweepstakes and games ✔ Social content and product integrations 5️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 The entire sponsorship industry is expanding, and the NFL benefited from the influx of new marketing dollars. In 4 years, the volume of teams, events and athlete deals has more than doubled. This means more sellers in the market, more conversations with brands, and more dollars reallocated into sponsorship as a critical marketing channel—benefiting not just the NFL, but the entire industry. I’ve spoken with multiple brand partners who feel that teams are treating them as true collaborators, rather than just sponsors—taking a first-principles approach to partnership design that is redefining the space. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐅𝐋 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐚 365-𝐃𝐚𝐲, 360-𝐃𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 Over time, the NFL has evolved into a year-round, multi-dimensional commercial powerhouse, where brands engage fans across multiple platforms, markets, and moments—both in and out of the stadium.

My 5 top takeaways from the Sports Business Journal live chat with Greenfly, Sports Trader and the National Football League (NFL) on how they are using AI in Marketing ⬇️ #1 AI is Solving the Sports Content Bottleneck AI helps leagues like the NFL process thousands of pieces of weekly content and make sure the most relevant clips reach the right fans, partners, and platforms, at speed. For sponsors, it means smarter integration into moments that matter most to fans. Getting the right content to the right people is ideal. #2 Game Footage Is Now a Marketable Asset From jersey patches to post game hugs, AI can identify, clip, and package video segments into assets ready for distribution, complete with sponsor integrations. It also opens doors to resale to streaming partners and digital platforms. #3 Personalization Is the New Playmaker Using AI, leagues are building fan profiles from fragmented data to personalize content, even during live games. Whether it’s arrivals, celebrations, or side by side content streams, AI lets brands tailor messages that actually resonate. #4 AI Makes Real Time Reactions Possible AI can tag, categorize, and trigger creative assets in real time, reacting to what’s happening on the field as it happens. The result? Fans feel heard, and sponsors get content that’s contextually relevant in the moment. #5 AI Can Unlock More Valuable Sponsorships AI is helping rights holders like the NFL connect sponsor priorities with the most relevant content moments, whether it's team arrivals or post game clips. It’s not just about exposure anymore; it’s about improving ROI, understanding what partners care about, and delivering creative that’s hyper relevant, in real time. Smarter partnerships start with smarter data Thanks Randy Sollenberger, Hampus Lofkvist, Daniel Kirschner and Dan Kaufman for the time and information. #ai #sportsai #

The Savannah Bananas are not a baseball team. They are a masterclass in disruption, attention economics, and emotional connection. And the hospitality industry should be studying every damn move they make. This team took one of the most tradition-bound, slowest-evolving sports in the world and turned it on its head. They said, what if baseball was fun? What if it made people laugh, dance, cry, and want to come back before they even left? What if we prioritized the experience over the game? And guess what? It worked. They’re selling out every stadium. They have a waitlist of hundreds of thousands. They’ve gone viral without begging for attention. That is brand power. That is marketing psychology. That is the future. Meanwhile, the hospitality industry is out here still obsessing over room upgrades, check-in times, and loyalty programs no one cares about. You think adding another rooftop bar is going to fix your guest experience problem? You think putting some AI chatbot on your website is going to make people feel something? Wake up. The Savannah Bananas understand something most hotels, cruise lines, and resorts have completely forgotten — people remember how you make them feel, not what you sell them. Their strategy is built on: ✅ Surprise and delight ✅ Consistency of voice and vision ✅ Entertainment as core business, not an add-on ✅ Making the audience the hero ✅ Turning boring into viral ✅ Creating an emotional story around every moment Now here’s what you need to do if you’re in hospitality: 1. Audit your experience from the guest’s perspective. Not the GM. Not the investor. The actual guest. Where’s the moment that makes them smile? Where’s the photo they can’t wait to post? 2. Design for shareability. Every inch of your experience should beg to be shared. From your lobby scent to your hallway music to your beach towel color. If it’s forgettable, it’s useless. 3. Build characters and stories, not just rooms and menus. The Bananas have dancing umpires, mic’d-up players, and banana-shaped merch. Who are the characters in your brand story? Where’s the heartbeat? 4. Be radically different or get ignored. Vanilla is dead. Stop trying to be “premium” or “elevated” or “Instagram-worthy.” Be memorable. Be weird. Be alive. 5. Turn employees into the show. People follow people. Your team should be your influencers, your culture carriers, your content creators. Train them. Empower them. Feature them. The Savannah Bananas are not winning because they’re playing better baseball. They’re winning because they understand attention is currency, and brand is everything. You’re not just in the business of hospitality anymore. You’re in the business of entertainment, storytelling, and emotional impact. If you’re not willing to disrupt yourself, someone else will do it for you. And it won’t be gentle. --- I'm Scott Eddy, if the way I look at the world of hospitality works for you, let’s chat: scott@mrscotteddy.com

“We’re just not sure what we’d do with a sports partnership.” That’s one of the most common things I hear from marketing and brand leaders—and honestly? It’s a totally valid concern. Because a lot of partnerships fall flat when they’re approached the wrong way. Here’s the mistake I see far too often: A brand signs a deal… puts their logo on the LED board… maybe runs a generic co-branded spot… and then expects magic to happen. 🛑 That’s not strategy. 🟢 That’s visibility. And in today’s market, visibility alone doesn’t cut it. Here’s what smart brands are doing instead: They start with their business objective—and build the partnership around it. 🎯 Want to increase consideration with a Gen Z demo? Use social and influencer integrations with players and fan creators. 🎯 Want to create content that actually performs? Co-create behind-the-scenes, access-driven pieces that fans want to watch and share. 🎯 Want to reward loyal customers or drive high-end B2B deals? Use courtside hospitality and VIP experiences as a conversion lever. 🎯 Want to drive sales? Tie an in-arena or digital campaign to a trackable redemption offer or product launch. It’s not about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things that map directly to your brand strategy. Here are a few other concerns I hear often—and how I respond: 💭 “We don’t want to just sponsor something. We want it to feel intentional.” → Yes! That’s why I work collaboratively with brands to design fully custom, insight-backed partnerships. No cookie-cutter stuff. 💭 “How do we measure ROI on this?” → We build in metrics from day one—whether that’s awareness lift, audience engagement, lead generation, or direct sales impact. 💭 “We’re interested… but we don’t know what’s even possible.” → Totally fair. Most brands don’t see the full menu of creative, scalable options available until we sit down and explore it together. A sports partnership done right is not a billboard. It’s an emotional, multi-channel, full-funnel brand engine—if you design it that way. If you're spending half a million or more on marketing each year and looking for ways to create real, measurable, human-centered brand impact… Let’s start the conversation. No pitch. No pressure. Just ideas. ➡ DM me if you want to explore what this could look like for your brand. #MarketingLeadership #BrandStrategy #SportsMarketing #MarketingROI #FanEngagement #BrandExperience #CMOInsights #IntegratedMarketing #CustomerConnection

I had a conversation with a brand executive the other day, and it went exactly how I expected. “We want to get into NIL, but we’re only looking at top D1 athletes. That’s where the real value is, right?” I hear this all the time. So I asked, “What if I told you that a high school athlete with 5,000 followers could drive more sales than a D1 athlete with 500,000?” He laughed at first. Then I showed him the data. • High school and small-college athletes often have higher engagement rates than big-name athletes. • Gen Z trusts micro-influencers and niche athletes over polished celebrity endorsements. • Athletes at smaller schools have deeply connected audiences that actually take action. By the end of the conversation, he wasn’t laughing anymore. He was listening. The brands that are winning in NIL aren’t just throwing money at the biggest names. They’re working with athletes who actually move the needle, athletes who know how to engage their audience and influence buying decisions. But most brands are missing this opportunity. They’re still stuck in the old way of thinking, betting big on professional athletes and overlooking the marketing goldmine that is high school and college sports. Here’s the reality: NIL isn’t just a trend. It’s the future of sports marketing. • The college sports audience is bigger than most pro leagues. • High school sports drive massive local influence. • Athletes are more trusted than traditional influencers. And yet, most brands still aren’t paying attention. Right now, NIL deals are still massively undervalued. But that won’t last forever. The companies that understand this now will dominate the next wave of sports marketing. The ones that wait? They’ll be competing for overpriced deals while their competitors have already built strong relationships with the next generation of influential athletes. So my question is, what’s holding your company back from investing in NIL? Let’s talk.