Snapback Sports Drops $100K Bounty

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Steph Curry went 7-for-11 from deep on a branded TravisMathew hoop—and 3.8M people watched it happen.

Welcome to the American Century Championship.

Held every summer at Edgewood Tahoe, the tournament is essentially the celebrity version of the Waste Management Open—viral moments around every corner, with fans lining the 17th green to 18th tee like it’s a red carpet.

Right in the middle of it all, TravisMathew built out a basketball hoop activation—cheers for every swish, and some even louder ones for the airballs.

The result? A content machine for the golf apparel brand. Steph Curry alone generated over 10M views in earned social posts.

• Curry goes ice cold (1M views), but in legendary fashion (7.5M views)

• Curry hits an underhand shot (3.5M views)

• Steph connects from Steph range (944.7K views)

But it wasn’t just a win on social—it was a perfect brand fit.

The American Century Championship isn’t your typical golf tournament—and that’s exactly why it’s such a great fit for TravisMathew. The whole weekend feels more like a summer hangout than a serious competition, and TravisMathew was built for that kind of energy. Their laid-back, SoCal style fits right in—casual but sharp, fun but elevated. It’s what you wear when you want to play a round, sink a three, and grab a drink without ever needing to change.

This activation didn’t just reach the right audience—it reflected the brand’s identity in action.

It’s the latest example of what I wrote about just over a year ago: The best in-venue partner activations are now built for two audiences—those in the building, and the millions watching from afar.

The point isn't to post every activation. It's to build the right ones—with content teams involved from the jump, designed to entertain both in-venue and online, and integrated in a way that’s natural and valuable.

Because when it’s done right? That branded basketball hoop in Lake Tahoe becomes brand storytelling at scale.

In Today’s Edition:

• Snapback Bounty Breakdown 💰

• A Seahawks PB&J Power Play 🥜 

• Scottish Rugby’s Rooftop Strength Test 💪 

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Baylor Answers Snapback’s $100K Call

At the start of July, LSU announced it would begin selling jersey sponsorships.

One day later, Jack Settleman—Founder and CEO of Snapback Sports—put out a $100K bounty via social media. Snapback would pay that amount to sponsor a jersey at any school in the country.

For those unfamiliar, Snapback is a sports media company and agency built for the next generation of fans. With over 1.4M followers across platforms, they’ve built a stronghold on Gen Z attention with content focused on sports trivia, betting, and experience reviews.

So why does this matter?

Because we’re watching a sports media brand enter the NIL space through a team partnership powered by founder-led content—an approach that quickly caught the attention of several athletic programs. After all, athletes can now be paid legally and directly, with schools able to spend up to $20.5 million per year.

A few weeks later, Jack revealed the first proposal Snapback received: a pitch from Baylor University.

No, it wasn’t a jersey patch. As Jack later shared, that’s well above the $100K price point at a Power Four school. But Baylor still came back with four smart options tailored to Snapback’s brand and budget.

Let’s take a look at what they offered—and which option makes the most sense if Snapback decides to move forward.

Option 1: Videoboard Trivia Feature

A live “Snapback Sports Baylor Trivia” segment during games. Fans answer questions via a QR code on the videoboard, while pre-recorded videos show Snapback asking Baylor athletes the same questions. The segment could run during football and men’s basketball games, with a prize awarded to the winning fan and a call to action to download the Snapback Sports Trivia App.

Pros: This is a strong brand fit. It puts Snapback’s core content format—trivia—front and center, while driving downloads of their mobile app (a key KPI). Plus it gets fans engaged in the content.

Cons: The reach is limited to in-venue fans (~60K+ across football and basketball), which is solid for mid- to lower-funnel goals but lacks the upper-funnel scale Snapback likely wants from this spend.

Option 2: Player of the Game

Introduce a “Snapback Sports Player of the Game” award. The selected player poses in co-branded Baylor/Snapback merch for a photo shared across both the player’s and Baylor Athletics’ social channels. Posts would use Instagram’s collab tool.

Pros: Puts Snapback branding in high-performing content across player and team channels. It also builds positive brand association by linking Snapback to on-field excellence.

Cons: If limited to wins, volume could be low. More importantly, this doesn't highlight Snapback’s core offering—content—or drive to their platform.

Option 3: Gameday Show

Think College Gameday/Big Noon Kickoff with the set outside the main entrance before kickoff.

Pros: This would be a highly ownable platform for Snapback, tailored to their strengths. It also opens the door for scalable content distribution beyond the venue.

Cons: As a net-new concept, it comes with performance risk. Without additional media support or a proven format, it could take time to catch on. Ideally, this would be paired with a more consistent asset.

Option 4: Media Room Product Placement

Branding on the mic flags and podium inside the media room for football and men’s basketball press conferences.

Pros: This gives Snapback a consistent, high-visibility presence across Baylor’s channels and earned media coverage—game in, game out.

Cons: If the branded step-and-repeat backdrop isn’t included, there’s a risk of diluted exposure. While it’s a solid awareness play, it doesn’t communicate what Snapback actually does. Best paired with a content-forward activation.

What Should Snapback Choose?

The Videoboard Trivia Feature is the strongest fit. It aligns directly with Snapback’s core competency—creating interactive trivia content—and supports a key business goal: growing their app’s user base.

That said, a few strategic tweaks could make this asset even more valuable.

First, capture first-party data. Any fan who scans the QR code to play should be required to enter their email to participate. Add a simple opt-in box and have Baylor pass along those emails to Snapback. This creates a remarketing pool for driving app downloads or growing social followers through targeted paid campaigns.

Next, let’s address the awareness gap.

The current concept is limited to in-venue fans. To expand reach, I’d recommend adding a social component: Snapback should film trivia segments during a Baylor practice—something like this—that Baylor posts to Instagram and TikTok using the collab tool during game weeks. Ideally, we’d see one episode every other week throughout the football and/or basketball seasons.

This addition turns a stadium-only activation into a scalable piece of content with global reach. Using the collab tool also boosts discoverability and has the potential to drive new followers for both brands.

If the budget allows, I’d also pair this with the media room product placement. It’s a reliable awareness driver and complements the trivia activation by ensuring Snapback has both performance and presence.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

According to a 2024 New York Times report, the Seattle Seahawks eat more Uncrustables than nearly any other NFL team. All that PB&J made its way into Seahawks sponcon with a clever Intuition Test integration.

Coach Rick Pitino in an adidas tracksuit was the perfect way to unveil the brand as the official footwear, uniform, apparel, and accessory partner of Red Storm Athletics.

Nottingham Forest launched their new home kit for the ’25–’26 season with help from @FallingSand, taking a creative approach not typically seen from artist James Sun.

Staying on the creator front, adidas partnered with @ExpiredFilmClub to shoot Manchester United’s new away kit entirely on 35mm film.

If you’ve got a casino sponsor, this player challenge from Manchester United is worth stealing.

Scottish Rugby took YETI to the roof of Scottish Gas Murrayfield for the ultimate strength test. This video needs to be repurposed for paid social.

Bryson DeChambeau dropped a new episode of The Duels on his YouTube channel—racking up over 2M views. It’s another strong example of LIV Golf producing creator-led events in a creator’s style.

Michelob ULTRA’s “Superior Player of the Match” campaign paid off in a big way—its trophy appeared in a Chelsea post that racked up a wild 75M+ views.

Back in October, Oregon Athletics produced a concept that was just begging for a sunglasses sponsor. Nine months later, it happened—with McLaren Shadow and SunGod jumping in.

MLB on FOX had a flippin’ good time with Papa Johns.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Giant All Access Summer: The Giants are launching their first-ever Training Camp Creator Series, sponsored by Starter. Select creators will get all-access passes to every public practice, with chances to co-create content alongside players and engage directly with fans. Content will be shared across both Giants and creator channels.

X Marks The Spot: Burnley and X have teamed up in a first-of-its-kind deal, naming the platform as the club’s Strategic Digital Platform Partner. Together, they’ll produce the UK’s first X Originals series—giving fans exclusive behind-the-scenes access to players, coaches, and execs across the training ground, Turf Moor, and the locker room.

B2B With BRFC: Bristol Rovers just launched a new monthly B2B newsletter for sponsors, partners, and the local business community. Expect networking invites, commercial opportunities, and a spotlight on a featured business each month.

It’s A Walk Off: The Open’s app featured a “walk to win” sweepstakes that tracked how many steps fans took during the event. It's a smart fit for a fitness, health, or apparel brand looking for a turnkey activation [h/t Eric Nichols].

Free Burger Play: If you work with a league, don’t sleep on Grill’d’s “Mad Bunday” promo. Fans pick their team (AFL or NRL), and if that team wins over the weekend, they get a free burger the following Monday. It's a clever way to blend national scale with personalized fan outcomes [h/t Dr. Georgie Carroll].