👋 Hey, it’s Alex. Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, my weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry!

I'm still in love with the trend of teams bringing athletes to watch a sporting event they don't play or compete in and mic’ing them up for content.

Clemson Athletics raised the bar on the trend earlier this month when they brought Peter Woods and Tomarrion Parker from the football team to a gymnastics meet.

It was so cool how they utilized a split screen.

You could see Trinity Brown’s performance from the broadcast at the bottom of the split screen, but then she would enter the top half of the split screen via Wood’s and Parker’s view.

Double points for including text in the video and using the post to tease the return of The Vlog.

In Today’s Edition:

• How The Panthers Grew Digital Revenue 💸 

• A Clever Channel Strategy from Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team and WhatsApp 🔒️ 

• The First Team To Monetize The Roof Cam 🏉 

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
How The Carolina Panthers Grew Digital Revenue By 50%

When I got started in digital partnerships for the Chicago White Sox back in 2021, the Carolina Panthers were often a source of inspiration.

Their partnership platforms always felt like so much thought was put into how they would come to life across channels.

• There was, Building The Team with Lowe’s, a clever way to tie the brand to team transactions year-round.

• Their Coca-Cola Consolidated player arrivals were where I learned you could include a partner in an arrival space.

• I loved how the Lenovo Empowering The Carolinas Small Business contest rewarded fans for nominating winning businesses.

The architect behind those campaigns was Sam Baier, the Panthers’ first digital partnerships manager. From 2019 to 2022 she led company-wide digital monetization efforts including sales strategy, client management, and cross-departmental execution resulting in 50% digital partnerships revenue growth.

In addition to her work with the Panthers, she led marketing initiatives for the record-breaking inaugural season of Charlotte FC, developed PR and digital campaigns at Taylor leveraging top sporting events (Super Bowl, NFL Draft, The Masters and Ryder Cup) for brands like Tide, Olay, and Mercedes-Benz. She is currently a consultant at Elevate working with clients to spark innovation and drive performance.

Sam and I had an insightful conversation where she dove into the processes and strategies it takes to build a successful digital partnerships program from the ground up.

Note: Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

ALEX: What was it like being brought in to start the digital partnerships program with the Panthers?

SAM: They've never had a role like that before. They didn't really know how to define it. They just knew that the digital team was drowning, the content team was drowning, and the partnerships team was selling things that they couldn't do or didn't want to do.

It was a really interesting situation that I walked into. New ownership, new everything, as well as trying to be a change-maker within that organization. Because mind shifts had to change, processes had to change, pricing, sales strategy, how we all worked together, the collaboration all had to change.

ALEX: As you got settled what did you need to put in place?

SAM: The first couple things that I really did was institute a weekly meeting. I originally sat on the content team and bridged to partnerships, but I quickly realized that I needed to move, be where the partnerships were, and then just report back and forth with the content team because I needed to be in the trenches with the partnerships team. It’s really what had to happen so that I can have my finger on the pulse of what they were selling, how they were selling it, what new brands were coming down the pike, and what their brand objectives were.

I could then institute this weekly meeting with the content team and say, ‘we're pitching this brand next week here's what their campaign is, here's their brand objectives, what available assets do we have, what could we create’, et cetera. I created these meetings that were half brainstorming, and half execution. ‘We owe Coca Cola this, Bojangles this, where are we all with with this content series?’ So first things first was to set up a collaboration process.

Number two was, a woman from the Buffalo Bills I chatted with and gave me this idea to create an available asset deck for digital - everything that we knew that they were going to post, but then also some ideas that they [Panthers content team] would love to be able to do. I created that available asset deck and then also created the sold asset deck so as things got sold, it got moved. I realized that those decks had to be something that could be shared in a resource that anyone could use.

The information on there like exactly how many posts it was, what's the potential reach, the cost, and the price had to be consistent.

ALEX: What is the importance of having all the details laid out from the pitch phase?

SAM: So the brand knows exactly what they’re going to buy. 

Those are the things that get everyone tripped up internally. Oh, you promised a logo bug throughout the whole video? We're not going to do that. It's going to be at the beginning and on an end slate.

I learned it wasn't the ideas [that tripped brands up]. It wasn't the actual content. It was the exact details about how the brand was going to come to life.

If you weren't on the same page, that's where the problems, tension, and frustration grew internally.

ALEX: How did COVID change things?

SAM: We realized everything had to move to digital.

I can't remember the exact percentage, but our sponsored content percentage versus organic content was really through the roof. We didn't see a decline in engagement, which was great to see.

It was already a trend that sponsored content was going to be a bigger and bigger thing that brands wanted, and the pandemic, it just sped up when that hit.

I went from working with the director of social to our chief revenue officer and having that exposure to senior leadership because of how important the platforms were to maintaining and building revenue.

ALEX: What learnings from COVID stuck around once things went back to normal?

SAM: I feel like the lessons that we learned, the desire to use digital, and to use the first-party data that the teams have via digital that we're able to create.

The proprietary data based on the ticketing information we have, the information we have about our specific email information, all that stuff. I think that raised the importance of that piece of it as well because that's when we really started using it.  And just the power of that has been something that continues to build interest and build value for the teams.

ALEX: What’s the best way to use that first-party data?

SAM: It's all about targeting and getting the right message to the right audience at the right time.

The more data you have, the more accurate you can get, and the more effective your campaign can be. We just got to be smarter marketers and using the data that we had and monetizing it for ourselves and for our partners. 

Usually sports, you're all top-of-funnel awareness and engagement, but we were able to start using our data to get more of that down-funnel activity for our partners.

What we really pushed is one piece of content isn't going to achieve everything you want it to. One piece of content is not going to get awareness, engagement, consideration, and purchase so stop trying to get one piece of content to do everything. Let's develop a campaign that includes all those different touchpoints and moves people down the funnel.

In a lot of ways, digital is the way that sports teams can do that now. They can get specific about those brand objectives, about those business objectives to address and measure them. 

ALEX: Any advice for teams who want to focus on digital partnerships or add a position focused on that part of the business?

SAM: If COVID taught us anything is that digital is not the future, digital is the now. So, if you're not investing in monetizing these huge digital channels, then you're missing the boat.

I think a lot of teams are missing out on revenue opportunities by not having that role, and also, I think it's causing a lot of burnout with people on the team side. The sales team is frustrated. The partnership activation team is frustrated. The content team is frustrated. So, then they can't do their jobs to the best of their ability.

It's all about resources, and on the team side, they all operate like small businesses. We don't realize that until you're in it, but, I truly believe that it's an investment that is worth it.

We fought really hard for the position. We also fought for not just having an intern or a coordinator do it, but to have a real senior person be able to stand up to the head salesperson or the head of partnerships and say, ‘no, we need to do it this way’. Or, ‘Hey, content team, no, you have to listen. This is important.’

That was also a big piece too. Not just having the position, but having it be senior enough and have someone who has that experience that can speak to executives and influence executives.

ALEX: Is there anything I missed you want to speak to?

SAM: One thing that I'm finding just being on the other side of the table now is that it’s hard to quantify the value of customized content. 

The way that it's being measured by media value is just one side of the story. I think there needs to be more of an emphasis on the qualitative measurement of that impact.

Something that I always try to do is look at comments that fans were making on content. Those mean something, right? It's not just the likes, the eyeballs, etcetera. But if people are responding, if people are sharing, that's even more important than the eyeballs.

The more that we can keep pushing on the measurement of the impact of content in general, but specifically custom content because that comes at such a premium and defending the cost and the value of that to partners.

💼 CASE STUDY
Sponsored Content of the Week

This campaign activation was so good that I audibly said “woah” to myself in my apartment.

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team teased their W15 livery reveal by posting a picture of the new car, except the car was covered by a tarp that said, “Built Privately” above a WhatsApp logo.

It’s one of those things you see where the simplicity makes it incredibly smart.

WhatsApp is all about simple and reliable private messaging. What better way to make a connection to the brand than to connect it to a moment authentic to Formula 1 where teams build and design their cars privately?!

It’s also the point in the offseason when fan excitement is at its highest, so you know the performance on social channels had good odds of being strong (and they were). As that excitement continued to build, Mercedes shared another image of the covered car on the morning of the launch.

What a cool opportunity for WhatsApp to be “on the car” without actually being on the car (their logo is not part of the livery).

Those posts were great on their own, but the cherry on top was the initial call to action.

Fans could get a first look at the W15, exclusively via the Mercedes F1 WhatsApp Channel (which has 1.1M Followers since launching back in October).

This tactic not only helps motivate users to join the WhatsApp channel but also, it’s a great way to reinforce that space as the source for real-time team news.

Additional storytelling around the livery reveal was showcased in a video that lived on WhatsApp channels as well as within the Mercedes WhatsApp Channel. It spoke to the connection between the brands, focusing on privacy, communication, and trust.

It’s good to see that this video wasn’t shared widely across Mercedes F1 social channels as it doesn’t quite fit the content for their audience.

The Takeaway
Partnership activations that make authentic connections between the team and their partner are the gold standard of the industry. Layer in a tactic to increase a partner’s user base in a way that serves your fans, now you’ve got something that’s best in class.

🔍 SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

The Scottish Rugby team is the first sports organization I’ve seen monetize roof-cam footage! You have to check out “The Ultimate View” presented by Skyscanner.

Charlotte FC and adidas launched a new primary kit, the “Carolina Kit: Explore”. I love how the club used the four-image layout, allowing fans to get a closer look at the design by tapping each image.

The San Francisco 49ers flew out over 800 full-time staff, interns, family, and friends to the Super Bowl via their partner, United Airlines - what a great way to build brand affinity for a partner by sharing that moment on social media!

Have a hotel partner or another brand that offers spa services? McLaren’s F1 team has a concept for you, “Let Off Some Steam” presented by Hilton.

A great creator collab in partnership with the NFL. Visual artist Devon Rodriguez drew Cam Heyward’s portrait as he interviewed the league’s newest Walter Payton Man of the Year Award recipient.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Big Game Offer: The New York Mets launched a Score More, Save More Big Game Offer. Fans who purchased a single game received a voucher in their digital wallet worth the exact number of points scored in the first half ($13) and the second half ($34) with a $10 minimum. The offer was valid until Monday at 1 pm ET.

Here Comes The BOOMi: The Vancouver Canucks celebrated Lunar New Year, by partnering with Trevor Lai's Up Studios to create a mini-episode of the globally-syndicated cartoon, Super BOOMi, which has amassed over 6 billion views [via Kelsey Phillpot].

Blockchain is Back: The St. Louis Blues launched a blockchain-enabled contest on their Bluenatics platform for the first time. The contest coincided with the announcement that our St. Louis Blues will be playing in the 2025 Discover NHL Winter Classic [via Matt Gardner].

Link In Bio: The San Francisco 49ers Instagram link in bio may be the best landing page experience I’ve seen in the industry [h/t Neil Horowitz].

Killer Collab: RTR Sports Marketing LTD’s Silvia Schweiger broke down the success behind the Supreme x Ducati collab - a growing trend of fashion showing up in motorsport.