In Defense Of The Logo Slap

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

As rights holders, we should always be looking for moments to bring our brand partners into celebrations worth sharing.

The Philadelphia 76ers do a great job of this. It seems like every time a player hits a milestone, they have a partner there to help take the celebration to the next level.

• November 2023: Chick-fil-A delivered 50 Nuggets to Tyrese Maxey after he scored a career-high 50 points against the Indiana Pacers (281.6K views, 21.5K engagements, 7.6% engagement rate).

• January 2024: Crypto.com celebrated Joel Embiid’s franchise-record 70-point game by giving out 70 tickets to Sixers fans (119.4K views, 11.9K engagements, 10.0% engagement rate).

• January 2025: Dunkin’ surprised rookie Jared McCain with custom donuts to celebrate his Rookie of the Month honor (63.6K engagements).

In each piece of content, the brand was front and center, and the strong engagement—especially in terms of interaction—shows that fans didn’t mind the integration. These posts achieved what they would have without a sponsor—celebrating player success—with the added bonus of brand visibility.

Why This Works: These partnerships succeed because they seamlessly align brands with authentic, fan-centric moments. By tying into a player’s milestone, the brand becomes part of the celebration rather than interrupting it. This natural integration leads to greater fan engagement and stronger brand connections, as it enhances the experience without feeling forced.

In Today’s Edition:

• Why & When Logo Slaps Matter 🖐️

• PSG’s High-Flying Livestream 🛫

• Jim Harbaugh Lookalike Contest 🪞

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Rethinking The Logo Slap Stigma

“Logo Slap” is a dirty word in digital partnerships.

When pitching to brand partners, I often hear: “We don’t want a logo slap” or “Anything but a logo slap.” It surprises me because I respond, “What if I told you that logo slap generates 10M+ impressions and six figures of engagement per season?”

That said, I understand the hesitation. Brands want something more dynamic because digital channels offer so much more potential. But dismissing logo slaps entirely? That’s a mistake.

What Is a Logo Slap? And Why Do We Sell Them?

A logo slap is when a brand’s logo appears on content with no clear connection to that content from the audience’s perspective.

These logos often appear in content series rights holders publish without a sponsor. While requiring minimal effort to produce, they can generate significant reach due to high post frequency or fan demand (e.g., starting lineups, final scores, game-day graphics, stats, etc.).

In-venue signage is a familiar example. Brands are comfortable buying it, yet there’s rarely an inherent connection between the logo and its placement. Think logos on outfield walls or basketball courts. Ultimately, it’s about visibility for game attendees, TV viewers, and earned media.

Digital logo slaps can offer the same visibility and association but with a few added benefits:

• They reach fans beyond the venue every game, globally.

• Fans can engage with the content, turning it into signage you can touch.

• They can be customized to better connect the brand to the content.

So why does the digital logo slap get a bad rap? With a few tweaks, these assets can drive meaningful engagement.

How to Improve a Logo Slap

• Rebrand Existing Content: Instead of simply labeling it “4th Quarter Score presented by Toyota,” the Philadelphia Eagles made it “Entering The Toyota Rav4th Quarter.”

• Align Attribution with the Brand: For example, “Islanders Win Fired Up by SoloStove.”

In-venue signage doesn’t drive much engagement, which is why digital assets are held to a higher standard. Plus, the stronger engagement on digital complements in-venue sponsorships.

Who Should Buy Logo Slaps?

Logo slaps still have their place in digital partnerships, but they need to be pitched thoughtfully.

1. New or Challenger Brands

   • Goal: Awareness

   • Why: A logo slap is a great way to drive awareness among a highly engaged digital audience. Fans need to recognize your logo if you’re new to the industry or market.

2. Established Brands

   • Goal: Association

   • Why: For established brands, logo slaps serve as a complementary piece to other assets. They help maintain visibility in the digital space, complementing in-venue presence.

Logo slaps also help build associations with moments and emotions. For example, Michelob Ultra’s #ULTRADrip series in the NBA links the brand to the luxury lifestyle space, even though beer and fashion don’t seem related at first glance. The brand has established that connection by scaling this series at the league and team levels of its portfolio.

Logo slaps also set a reliable reach or engagement floor for digital partnerships. As we discussed in a previous edition of the newsletter, the more customized the content, the lower its chances of strong performance. Highly-customized content also has much lower post frequency (1-6 times per year). A tried-and-true logo slap ensures consistent visibility throughout the season.

How to Pitch Logo Slaps

Given the stigma, you must provide more context when pitching logo slaps. Here’s how:

• Include Results: Share past or estimated results.

• Level The Playing Field: Brands are used to in-venue signage. Show how digital assets perform compared to these placements to highlight the value of digital logo slaps. For example, “Our starting lineup series generates 20% more impressions than your branded on-deck circle and has a 10% higher engagement rate than other digital game-day assets.”

• Connect to Business Goals: Demonstrate how the logo slap complements other assets in the partnership and supports the brand’s objectives.

By explaining the value and purpose behind logo slaps, you can help brands see their potential instead of dismissing them outright.

The Takeaway:

Logo slaps are often dismissed too quickly, but with the right approach, they can be a powerful tool in digital partnerships.

A few small tweaks can elevate these simple assets to drive awareness, build associations, and ensure consistent engagement. To pitch them successfully, provide context, estimated results, and tie them to business goals.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Paris Saint-Germain made history by hosting their first-ever live show at 35,000 feet onboard the flight to Qatar for the Trophée des Champions Visit Qatar. This was a smart move by PSG to showcase Qatar Airways’ product feature, Starlink’s Wi-Fi, while powering fan-focused content, a game preview live stream.

Follow-up from last week: The Jerry After Dark Hole-In-One Challenge livestream, sponsored by TGL, lasted over 10 hours. Despite 1,000+ swings, Jerry didn’t hit a hole-in-one. However, the livestream pulled in over 450K views, making it his top-performing challenge since his first successful hole-in-one attempt last January (2.73M views across four videos). Note: BODYARMOR and ONE Protein Bars also sponsored the video with integrations in the livestream and social content.

Sticking with TGL creator partnerships, the league and Best Buy teamed up with MKBHD to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at how their cutting-edge tech is transforming golf.

Shoutout to the Los Angeles Chargers! They’re hosting a Jim Harbaugh lookalike contest presented by Bud Light as the last of four local events leading up to their Wild Card Weekend Game. It’s impressive how quickly they turned a social trend into an event that drives revenue. Excited to see the social content (owned and earned) from this activation.

When the team’s plane is delayed for hours but finally arrives, the arrival photos hit different! United Airlines is getting great exposure through these cold photos from the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaking of how partnerships position brands to benefit from big moments: HP’s title sponsorship of Ferrari’s F1 team placed their logo at the heart of this Lewis Hamilton teaser post.

This video from @br_betting and DraftKings Sportsbook is a cool format rights holders could use with sportsbook partners at their games (at very least for sportsbooks’ owned channels).

I’m bookmarking this name from the Dallas Cowboys’ collab with Tyson Foods for future sponsored content in the chicken or QSR categories.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Glam Slam Partnership: SEPHORA is now the Official and Exclusive Beauty Partner of Unrivaled Basketball, launching its partnership at media day. Players got the full SEPHORA Glam Room experience before each team’s content shoot (Vinyl, Phantom, Mist, Laces, Lunar Owls, and Rose). Beauty brands like SEPHORA are a great category for any rights holder looking for a media day presenting sponsor.

FanFest Goes Nationwide: Verizon is turning stadiums and venues across all 30 NFL markets into a nationwide FanFest for 2025’s Super Bowl Sunday. Fans can also unlock VIP experiences through the brand’s 30 Days of Drops on the My Verizon app.

Taste Of Victory: Domino’s is now Southampton F.C.’s first-ever Saints App Partner, sponsoring the club’s free Predict the Score game. Each match’s winner gets a £50 Domino’s voucher, and every participant receives an exclusive Domino’s offer.

Fansville’s Winning Formula: Glynn Hill spoke with Ryan Lehr, co-chief creative officer at Deutsch LA, to explore how Dr. Pepper’s Fansville series has stood out in the crowded sports marketing space and connected with fans [via The Washington Post].

Powering Fan Connections: Stewart Wolfenson, Director of Partnerships & Alliances at Real Madrid Los Angeles, shared four ways technology can deepen fan connections and unlock new revenue streams.