How Sponsored Content Can Guide Purchase

👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry!

Championship locker room celebrations are fun to watch. But what happens after the champagne dries?

Just two weeks ago, we talked about the top brand and product integration during winning moments and celebrations—and now a new idea has surfaced that I’ve never even considered.

Check out this clip from Spittin’ Chiclets.

In an interview with Teddy Richards, the Florida Panthers’ Head Equipment Manager, the hosts asked if last year’s Stanley Cup celebration changed how they approached things this year—after the locker room got absolutely wrecked.

Teddy said that in 2024, everything had to be replaced exactly—from the ceiling tiles to the stalls. But that wasn’t even the wildest part.

He explained that the smell from all the leftover food and beer was so bad, it was like there was a dead body in the room. It lingered overnight, and the team tried to clean it themselves—for four days.

This year, they called in the pros: ServPro. By 10 a.m. the next morning, the locker room was spotless.

To me, this is fascinating—and a perfect opportunity for sponsored content in this category. Note: ServPro is actively involved in sports sponsorship.

I’d love to see what a locked room looks like after a championship celebration. Give me photos. Give me a walkthrough of the chaos.

Now picture this:

• A timelapse of the setup through the celebration

• A second one from post-celebration to full cleanup

• A long-form video (plus a Reddit AMA) from the restoration crew’s POV, walking fans through exactly how they cleaned up the locker room.

• Before-and-after photos

• Equipment staff reacting to the transformation

Package those assets and share them directly with the sponsor. Let them use it across social (organic and paid) and on their website to generate leads from other teams and businesses.

This kind of content works from both a fan and B2B perspective.

For fans, it’s a rare peek at the aftermath of a championship celebration—something they never see. For the restoration brand, it’s a visual case study showing their speed and impact in a place they rarely get visibility.

Winning moments don’t end at the buzzer. From the locker room to the Championship parade, there’s untapped potential in the mess after the celebration—especially for the right brand to clean it up.

In Today’s Edition:

• Sponcon That Sells 💸 

• Mets Flip The Script 🥤

• Media Day Beauty Banter 💄

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Turning Sponcon Into Conversion Opportunities

Let’s be honest—“awareness” often isn’t enough anymore.

More and more, sponsored content is being asked to do the heavy lifting: get products in front of fans and move them closer to purchase.

This week, I’m breaking down three smart campaigns—from golf to Formula 1—that show how sponcon can drive real results when it's built for discovery, not just impressions.

🍫 Bryson DeChambeau x ONE Protein Bars

Last summer, Bryson DeChambeau launched a YouTube series called Course Record, where he attempts to break a public course’s record in a single round.

The series has been a hit—averaging 3.05M views and 57.4K engagements per episode.

To date, he’s released six episodes (about two months apart), each running roughly 35 minutes—tailor-made for TV-style viewing.

ONE Protein Bars capitalized on that momentum in his latest episode at Waterhouse Golf Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Let’s start with the “easy win”.

Each episode is titled: “Can I break the course record in one try?” That phrase—one try—shows up every time. One Bar. One try. The brand fit was effortless.

But this sponcon was much better than some clever wordplay.

At the 43-second mark, Bryson is handed a bag labeled the “ONE Bar Protein Station,” featuring the new Hershey’s Double Chocolate flavor. For nearly a full minute, he:

• Reminisces about what Hershey’s meant to him growing up

• Hits key nutrition messaging

• Tells viewers the flavor is brand new and available via the link in the description

That link? It took fans straight to ONE Bar’s Amazon storefront, where they could preorder the new flavor—scheduled to drop eight days after the video went live.

That Amazon piece is a big deal.

Instead of spending big just to build awareness and hope fans convert later, this activation let fans act in the moment. Plus, the preorder window (nearly a two-week wait) actually became a signal of demand—and of Bryson’s influence.

You may not have the option to offer preorders. But you can still borrow the strategy.

Take a page from the MrBeast x Yahoo Sports Daily Draw campaign we covered in December: they built an incentive-based reminder system that encouraged fans to opt in ahead of a product launch.

Even without preorders, there’s value in building anticipation. Create a reason for fans to mark their calendars—and be ready when the product drops.

🏎️ F1: The Movie x Fandango

Speaking of preorders—Fandango gave fans a little extra incentive to buy F1: The Movie tickets through their platform.

Using Fandango’s online card generator, fans could upload a photo and receive a Standard Edition digital card branded with the movie’s artwork.

But if you actually bought a ticket, the perks got better. By entering the code from your confirmation email, you could unlock a Premium Edition card.

And that code also entered you into two sweepstakes:

• A trip to the F1: The Movie premiere in New York City

• Tickets to the Las Vegas Grand Prix (airfare and hotel included)

At its core, this campaign taps into identity. It’s fun for fans of all ages to create and share a digital card—but more importantly, it reinforces how they see themselves as an F1 fan.

That framing matters. When fans see themselves as part of something, they’re more likely to act on it.

It’s a smart tactic—low-lift digital swag that builds hype, captures data, and drives conversion through identity.

🧼 Red Bull Racing x Armor All

Staying in F1, Red Bull Racing and Armor All have used the collab tool to drive product discovery for the Armor All Podium Series—a premium line of automotive appearance and air freshener products developed in partnership with Oracle Red Bull Racing and released last November.

As part of the launch, Armor All created a dedicated Instagram account for the Podium Series line.

Once the new F1 season began in 2025, Red Bull kicked off a content series featuring the pit crew to spotlight the products.

But they didn’t lead with product messaging. Instead, they focused on capturing attention by letting the crew’s personality shine.

• Episode 1: Favorite part of the car to clean?

• Episode 2: If you had to fight a crocodile, would you win?

• Episode 3: Beavers, Maple Syrup, and Car Care

That strategy is working. The series is averaging 1.7M views and 36.3K engagements per post.

And Armor All’s presence is still clear:

• The product is front and center

• The crew answers questions while cleaning the car

• The collab tool makes it easy for fans to visit Armor All’s account to learn more

I want to see this series continue—and here are two tactics I’d use to bring fans further down the funnel:

1. Create a long-form YouTube video titled something like: “Why It Takes X Hours to Clean a World Drivers’ Champion F1 Car”— a step-by-step breakdown of what it takes to detail an F1 car after a race. Pair it with a Reddit AMA featuring the pit crew lead answering fan questions about F1 car maintenance, hosted in the r/RedBullRacing, r/Formula1, or r/cars subreddits. Sponsored by Armor All, of course.

2. Retarget viewers with middle- or lower-funnel objectives. Use paid media to drive deeper education or conversions—whether that’s learning more about the Podium Series or buying the product directly.

When personality leads and product follows, fans stick around—and they remember who brought them there.

The Takeaway

Great content can entertain fan and guide them toward action.

Whether it's a preorder, a product trial, or a pit stop at checkout, the best sponcon makes it easy for fans to say: “I want that. Right now.”

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Just days after a clip of Juan Soto went viral for hitting a bottle flip during a game, the New York Mets recreated the moment with a team-wide bottle flip challenge—powered by Smartwater.

FC Barcelona cleverly integrated an Philips Ambilight TV into a season highlight reel—spotlighting their best photos with the glowing screen subtly framing the action.

The Golden State Valkyries’ Beauty Banter is a really smart way to maximize media day—and creates the perfect connection to Sephora, the content’s sponsor.

I really liked how Manchester United integrated a Snapdragon phone into their Matheus Cunha arrival edit—from the quick cuts to the “Shot on Snapdragon” logo at the beginning and end, to the seamless product placement during his photo shoot.

Some great sponcon series names dropped this week in the airline category: FIFA Club World Cup’s Let It Fly presented by Qatar Airways, and the New York Jets’ Meet The Fleet presented by JetBlue.

Telstra’s “Touch and Track” technology—which translates on-field ball movement to a handheld tablet—will now be available for blind and vision-impaired patrons at AFL matches at Marvel Stadium for the rest of the season.

Can an F1 car score a penalty? Red Bull and Leeds United teamed up to find out.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Stat of the Week: According to a survey from independent ad agency PMG, 51% of respondents connect specific brands with their favorite sports teams or players—and 25% consider an athlete’s values when evaluating brands. Just one of many smart takeaways in this story about generational fandom [via Alyssa Meyers, Marketing Brew].

Fans Beyond Seats: Leanne Bats caught up with Tareq Nazlawy, Co-Founder and CEO of Trace, to talk about how to recognize and engage the 99% of fans who never step foot in a stadium [via Sports Pundit Innovation Podcast].

Pit Stop Glow: Sarah Beakey breaks down how ELEMIS entered F1 with intention—building a partnership with Aston Martin that champions women, leans into creator-led storytelling, and redefines what brand integration can look like on race day [via Sunday’s Sponsors Newsletter].

Hustle To Homeplate: Bill Rom, Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Baseball Lifestyle 101, joined Jordan Rogers, Oren John, and Ashwinn Krishnaswamy to share how the brand evolved from a side hustle into a $100M+ business [via Brandfathers Podcast].

Buzzer Beater Club: NBA players who hit a buzzer beater during the 2024–25 season will receive a gift from Tissot—the brand behind the league’s official shot clocks [via Derryl Royce, Front Office Sports].

Bullish On Content: Brice Clinton spoke with Luka Dukich, the Chicago Bulls' VP of Content, about the rise of their award-winning content team (now nearly 30 strong), how to use storytelling to authentically engage fans, and what it takes to manage a global brand [via Revenue Above Replacement Podcast].