New Instagram Story Strategies Worth Stealing

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

One of the best ways to connect a brand to content? A great name.

A few standout examples:

• Dallas Stars: Inside The Glass presented by Patrón

• Milwaukee Bucks: Jockey Pre-Game Brief

• Cincinnati Bengals: 2 Cents presented by Fifth Third Bank

The downside? Logo lockups that include both the series name and brand can eat up a lot of vertical space.

The Philadelphia Phillies found a clever fix.

Check out this Stat Blast post sponsored by Citizens Bank.
They placed the series name and brand logo in the top corners of the graphic, separated by a thin horizontal white line that connects them visually.

It’s a smart design move—still clearly links the brand to the content without overwhelming the creative.

In Today’s Edition:

• Must Try IG Story Ideas 🤳

• Man City Sponcon Staying Fresh 😅

• Reds Content Heads East 🛫

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
The Key To Instagram Story-telling That Sells

Instagram Stories are often overlooked in the sports sponsorship playbook—but that’s changing fast. These four activations show how rightsholders are turning IGS into high-engagement, low-friction sponcon gold.

House of Highlights x Coca Cola - Seat Upgrades

I couldn’t write a newsletter about Instagram Story strategy without including House of Highlights. This is the third time they’ve been featured—and for good reason.

• Goosebumps: The Vanishing - Vanishing Leads, Rate The Comeback

• Google Pixel - Game Coverage (See Sponsored Content of the Week)

This time, HoH gets the nod for their clever spin on seat upgrades. By now, we’ve all seen the “admin holds envelope, fan claims tickets” routine. That format needed a refresh—or at least a new angle.

During the opening weekend of the Men’s NCAA Tournament, they gamified the experience, letting fans choose who should get upgraded seats.

A series of polls let followers decide the side of the stadium, the level, section, and finally the row. The tickets were then left in plain sight, and the first fan to find them got the upgrade. The Story wrapped with the lucky winner enjoying their new view.

Two days later, HoH switched it up again—this time showing Duke and UConn fans battling for an upgrade via trivia. Fans could participate using poll, question, and slider stickers, making the experience feel interactive rather than observational.

This second version nailed the product placement. In the final frame, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar was used to transition into the arena as the Huskies fans took their upgraded seats before tipoff.

Note: A Coca-Cola Zero Sugar ad linked to the brand’s site appeared in frame three of both eight-frame Stories. IG Stories’ 24-hour lifespan makes it the perfect format to include a clear ad without annoying followers.

Smart move: Instead of just showing the upgrades, House of Highlights made fans part of it.

Aston Martin F1 x Pepperstone - The Trade Off

I love sponcon that makes fans smarter.

Aston Martin’s The Trade-Off broke down the team’s strategy heading into the Chinese Grand Prix with charts, animation, and on-screen text.

They explained the team’s approach to aerodynamics, suspension, and tire strategy in a way that gave fans a better understanding of what to watch during the race.

It’s a strong content-to-brand alignment. The series name ties directly to Pepperstone, Aston Martin’s global trading partner, and reinforces the brand’s association with smart, informed decision-making.

FC Bayern x Audi - Quartet Quiz

FC Bayern and Audi challenged fans to guess the missing stats in a four-question quiz.

While the Story featured heavy product placement, it felt seamless thanks to smart formatting. Every player card included “distance covered” and “top speed”—a red thread that tied Audi directly into the narrative.

So when the final question focused on the Audi S6 Sportback e-tron, it didn’t feel like a forced pivot. Instead, it felt earned.

This execution extended a prior the Audi x Bayern collab video, and the team tied it back to that campaign in-feed as well with a signed ball giveaway.

Philadelphia Union - Plays of the Month

I really appreciate how the Philadelphia Union showcases their top monthly moments.

Rather than flooding the feed with sponsored highlight content, they split it into three fan-driven Instagram Stories:

• Player of the Month presented by Independence Blue Cross

• Goal of the Month presented by Bimbo Bakeries USA

• Save of the Month presented by The Philadelphia Inquirer

• Assist of the Month presented by Primepoint HR & Payroll

Each category gets its own Story frame where fans can vote using IG poll stickers (which, in my experience, has driven 4x more votes than X polls).

Once the 24-hour voting window ends, winners are posted back to Stories.

This approach boosts engagement and sidesteps the usual in-feed friction—like awkward timing and win/loss sensitivity.

Click here for my go-to “Plays of the Month” strategy (see Timely Tips).

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

[Social Value: $32,431] Not only is Keeping His Cool a great name for this Man City x Sure Deodorant series, but the green screen effect makes it feel perfectly native to social.

[Social Value: $2,518] The Brisbane Broncos welcomed Jim Beam to their partnership stable in style—45,000 fans singing Sweet Caroline, plus bonus points for using digital signage to bake in the logo.

[Social Value: $53,017] As part of the Beckenbauer Cup, Real Madrid and FC Bayern legends faced off in the Paulaner Bayern Challenge—nailing a tree trunk, catching a beer mat, and lifting a beer mug.

[Social Value: $179,803] To celebrate Liverpool’s first-ever summer visit to Japan, the club rolled out a pair of Japan-themed player challenges with Japan Airlines. Wataru Endo and Luis Díaz tried Japanese snacks, then joined Alexis Mac Allister for the chopsticks challenge.

[Social Value: $17,956] Evernorth’s new NBA partnership got a strong kickoff with this spot announcing them as the league’s Official Health Services Partner.

[Social Value: $5,162] Wrexham AFC owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney used the buzz around a potential third-straight promotion to drop a clever message for United Airlines—no change fees, just in case plans go awry.

[Social Value: $48,189] The Los Angeles Lakers went the creator route to hype Drop (the movie), which premieres this weekend.

[Social Value: $1,146] In a special edition of Flight Plan presented by SeatGeek, the Arizona Cardinals take fans behind the scenes of how they pulled off the NFL’s first-ever relocated playoff game—after devastating wildfires in LA forced the change.

*Social value is defined as the full equivalent media value of this social post based on applicable impressions, video views, and engagements.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Leveling Up Gaming Ads: Google is partnering with Roblox to make it easier for advertisers to buy gaming inventory. They also introduced new “immersive” ad formats that blend into video game environments—think 3D billboards. [via Ryan Barwick, Marketing Brew].

Must Listen: On the Sports Pundit Podcast, Andy Marston chats with Emily Heath, Global Brand Director at Rexona, about Unilever’s women’s sports strategy—and with Siobhan Cassidy, Chair of The Boat Race, on how they landed a bold new title partner: CHANEL.

NASCAR Rocket Racing: Fortnite unveiled a new NASCAR racing track that is supposed to mimic the ‘Lady in Black,’ aka Darlington Raceway.

Better Brainstorming For YouTube: YouTube announced 3 new inspiration features: AI-powered Hooks suggestions, Brainstorm tools based on previous videos and comments, and Quick Saves, which lets you save ideas from the idea list in YouTube Studio [h/t Lia Haberman, ICYMI].

Hate Gets Benched: Ajax is launching the Netherlands’ first Social Code of Conduct to combat hate on its social channels—powered by AI and backed by main sponsor Ziggo. It’s the latest move in their ongoing push to make social media a safer space for fans.

NWS-elf: Lindsay Gibbs broke down why e.l.f.—the NWSL’s first beauty sponsor—is going all in on women’s sports.

Likes To Loot: John WallStreet explored how the Brooklyn Nets built the most-liked TikTok account in U.S. pro sports—and how it’s turning views into real revenue.