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

“In his/her bag” needs to be the name of a sponsored content series for your team. I can’t count the number of times I scrolled past posts like this using that phrase, but this time something clicked.

It could be the name for a player of the game stat graphic, player highlight reels or even in-game highlights within the travel bag category.

Many teams may be tempted to do “what’s in his/her bag” content, similar to GQ Sports’ “10 Things You Can’t Live Without” series, but that becomes a tough path due to partner competitors potentially being featured, or simply, implied endorsement from a player.

In Today’s Edition:

• Are Sponsored Final Score Graphics Risky 😬 

• Raising The Stakes With A Partnership Announcement 🎲 

• The ‘24 Winter Classic’s Iconic Collab 🐟️ 

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
What We Can Learn From The Detroit Pistons Historic Losing Streak

This season Wingstop partnered with the Detroit Pistons for a trigger promotion, giving fans five free boneless wings to customers who ordered with the promo code “PISTONS” following a victory by the team.

Flashback to the night of October 28th. The Pistons had just taken down the Chicago Bulls for their second win in as many nights and held a 2-1 record.

It was good times in the 313. Free Winstop wings on back-to-back nights!

[record scratch]

Then things took a turn for the worse. Twenty-eight straight losses to be exact.

Along the way, something strange happened. The day of every Pistons game, Wingstop was trending on X.

Not only did Wingstop have the active Trigger promotion, but they were added to Pistons’ final score graphics on November 24th - amidst a then, 12-game losing streak.

This got my attention and made me think through my position on having a partner sponsor final score graphics after losses.

I prefer to offer sponsorship of final score graphics only after wins.

• Sponsoring final score graphics after losses tie your partner to negative moments in time.

• They also tie your partner to even worse conversation and sentiment in the comments.

• While the sponcon can succeed in terms of impressions and engagement, it comes at the expense of the team.

The thing is, it’s not uncommon to see sponsored final score graphics after losses in the NBA. Twenty-three teams have final score graphics sponsored. Fifty-two percent of those teams (12) have the asset sponsored after losses.

Plus, the results on the Pistons’ final score graphics, make it tempting to offer partners.

After 15 consecutive losses and their first win on December 30th, the content series reeled in 49.1M impressions and 372.3K engagements.

The exposure was great for Wingstop. Conditions were “overwhelming” at Detroit-area locations following the streak being snapped.

That said, I still don’t think partners should be on loss graphics. Wins get you enough by way of impressions and engagements given they’re posted to the Facebook and Instagram Feeds in addition to X and Instagram Stories.

But what about trigger promotions? If you had a partner on a win-trigger, is it ever worth exploring leaning into a loss?

Should You Lean Into Losses?
I spoke with Nick Lawson, CEO at SQWAD - who runs trigger offers for over 25 teams across the industry, to further explore if there’s a case to activate a losing trigger promotion.

“When we sell sponsorship we always sell the passion and emotion”, Lawson said. “We shouldn’t just focus on winning. More brands should actually lean into losing.”

I see Nick’s point here. There’s a lot of discussion about being more authentic through our social media channels. The feeling of your team losing is a real part of being a fan.

Some of the best teams in the content space don’t shy away from that, like the Toronto Raptors with their all-access show, Open Gym. They tell the whole story.

That being said, neither Nick nor I are suggesting you launch a “when we lose, you win” campaign.

“Tone is everything. You don’t want to celebrate the loss. You want to have empathy like, ‘Hey we’re going through a tough stretch here. We get it. We’re also fans of this team. Here’s a free coffee tomorrow to help make tomorrow better.’”

Not only is this an opportunity for a brand to build affinity with your fans, but It also is a chance to help the brand stand out.

“One thing that we’re really circling around and that I think is a vital problem right now is oversaturation. An activation like this is the perfect thing to help a sponsor break away from the clutter.”

I can’t count the number of times prospects and partners have brought up the Bricken for Chicken campaign between the Philadelphia 76ers and Chick-Fil-A. It broke the mold and created an exciting moment in the arena.

In an industry full of sameness across teams, a losing trigger promotion is an out-of-the-box idea worth testing.

When and How Should I Test a Losing Trigger?
At the end of the day, the goal of a trigger promotion is to sell more product.

Propose this losing trigger alongside a winning trigger promotion as something that can be (but not required) activated during the season at mutually agreed-upon moments.

It’s more of a surprise and delight opportunity than a trigger promotion.

“You almost have to pitch it as, ‘this is going to be so beneficial to you because at a fan’s moment when they’re really really passionate - it’s not happy passion, it’s sad passion - you’re coming in and helping them.”

Note - promotion of the losing trigger can be owned primarily by the brand rather than the team.

• Quote post the final score graphic with an empathetic tone and let fans know how and when to access the losing offer. The offer should be smaller than when the team wins (e.g. free drink with purchase vs six free wings with purchase).

• Send news about the losing trigger offer directly to fans via email using the CRM of people who opted in for the winning trigger promotion.

Looking back at the Wingstop example. Since the 2019-2020 campaign, the Pistons have averaged 20 wins per season. Once you notice the winning trigger promotion is pacing well behind expectations, you can restart talks around the losing trigger to drive more sales.

This could be a great make-good option that aligns with the KPI at hand: in-store sales. Plus it has the potential, at least at first, to drive earned media as well.

I know many of you are reading this are likely saying, my team would never go for this, my partner would never go for this, or even, our fans would never go for this.

It’s not for everyone. But if your team and your partner are already activating assets tied to losing (which we know is happening), it’s certainly worth discussing this attention-grabbing strategy.

💼 CASE STUDY
Sponsored Content of the Week

2023 was filled with excellent partnership announcement content.

• Wrexham AFC x United Airlines - Front of Shirt Sponsorship

• Premier Lacrosse League x DUDE Wipes - New Partner Announcement

• Liverpool FC x Carlsberg - Partnership Renewal

2024 wasted no time.

On New Year’s Day, Sauber revealed it will be rebranded as Stake F1 Team for the 2024 Formula 1 season, following the departure of their title sponsor Alfa Romeo.

The twist, they let Drake break the news. The move was partnership at its finest.

Drake is one of Stake’s celebrity partners, allowing Sauber to utilize the five-time Grammy award-winning rapper as part of the announcement.

Even if Drake was open to it, I appreciate how they kept his integration simple rather than blowing the budget with a highly-produced video.

His avatar was shown and in his voiceover, he said, “Guess who just took the wheel? We did. The Stake F1 Team era is here. Buckle Up.”

What took this over the top was that Sauber was able to use the collab tool with Drake for this post.

Talk about getting exposure to a new audience! Drake (144M followers) has 65 times more followers than Stake F1 Team (2.2M followers).

The collab post resulted in a whopping 15.9M views and 288.4K engagements. The video was also posted to YouTube and Facebook but neither saw anything close to the same success.

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber is the team’s official, full identity for the next two seasons but they will use the short version on a day-to-day basis.

The new livery will be unveiled on February 5th. I’m curious to see if Drake will make an appearance at this event or any races (Canadian GP?) in the 2024 season.

🔍 SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

The Seattle Kraken worked with their partner Filson for some iconic Winter Classic arrival fits.

West Ham United’s Unscripted series featuring fans’ first-hand view of a match has so much sponsorship potential! The travel, phone, and credit card categories immediately come to mind.

Speaking of first-hand POV, the Arizona Cardinals have been giving a behind-the-scenes look at staff members’ jobs in their Day in the Life series sponsored by Cigna.

Great design work by the Denver Nuggets, who placed the Ticketmaster logo perfectly on their press conference lower third graphics.

Play Clock Trivia presented by Unify Financial Credit Union is averaging 142.2K views per post on Instagram Reels for the Los Angeles Rams this season. Could see this working in other sports with Shot Clock, Pitch Clock, or even Pit Stop Trivia.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

QR Code Jersey Patch: The Indiana Pacers debuted a new jersey patch partner last night - Spokenote. It’s the first pro sports uniform advertising to carry a QR code - which currently takes users to a Spokenote section within Pacers.com, featuring Pacer players touting their new “smart” jerseys.

Future of Sports Partnerships & Data: John Rodriguez, Director of Business Intelligence at the Cleveland Cavaliers wrote a great article about the evolving landscape of sports partnerships, emphasizing the growing role of data in shaping the future.

Stat of the Week: According to a new Business Insider-YouGov survey, more Gen Zers trust YouTube vs. other social platforms. Fifty-nine percent of Gen Zers called it somewhat or very trustworthy. That was 48% higher than the next highest platform (Instagram - 40%).

YouTube Optimization: Rich Johnson, Founder of Sports 3.0, studied the YouTube output from all 20 of the Premier League clubs and found a surprising opportunity no team is utilizing on the platform.

Bowl Season Spotlight: Learn more about the social, digital, marketing, and comms efforts behind the Duke’s Mayo Bowl (and more!) as Miller Yoho, Director of Communications and Marketing at the Charlotte Sports Foundation, spoke with Neil Horowitz on the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast.