Sponsorships That Soar—Just Ask PSG

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

Everyone wants to produce player-led content—but getting that time and access is easier said than done. In most cases, especially when a brand is involved, you have to pay for it.

And if you’re paying for that time, you need to maximize every minute of your shoot day.

EA Sports did exactly that when they revealed Saquon Barkley as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 26.

Several moments from the launch campaign told the story from different angles.

First came the announcement that the Philadelphia Eagles running back was joining the 99 Club (the game’s highest rating). That rollout included a hype graphic, an unboxing video of Saquon’s reaction, and a carousel spotlighting the 99 necklace from high-end jeweler Leo Khusro.

Behind-the-scenes content is table stakes for any shoot now, and EA delivered two versions: one high-production cut that felt made for TV, and another shot on a phone that showed the team recreating Barkley’s iconic reverse leap from the 2024 season. That clip alone did 45M views on Instagram—5x more than any other piece from the campaign.

The next-best performing content used a similar format—juxtaposing in-game animations with the real-life celebrations of NFL stars Amon-Ra St. Brown, Justin Jefferson, and DK Metcalf. Those videos averaged 7.2M views.

Even the creator content followed a multi-angle strategy. EA partnered with fan-trivia creator @bebida.tailgate for two different videos: the day after launch, he quizzed Barkley on increasingly tough Madden trivia. Four days later, he challenged him with a Madden-themed Immaculate Grid.

The surprise? The trivia video—with no collab tool—did 12x the views of the Immaculate Grid post, which did use the collab tool. Could be that trivia content resonated more. Could also be that Saquon shared the trivia post to his audience.

The takeaway: Use your shoot days to diversify content and strategy. It increases your odds of going viral—and gives your team more insight into what actually works.

In Today’s Edition:

• Post-Game Sponcon Playbook 🥳 

• Bucked Up Bryson DITL 🏌️ 

• Red Bull’s Pitch Perfect Competitions 🐂

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Winning Moments, Powered By Sponsors

In 2025, it’s not a celebration without a sponsor.

When it comes to product integration during championship celebrations, Europe is miles ahead.

And this year has already delivered some of the best examples we’ve seen—where rights holders bring brands into the moment and make it matter.

🛫 PSG x Qatar Airways

After Paris Saint-Germain claimed its first Champions League title with a dominant 5–0 win over Inter Milan, the flight home became part of the celebration.

Qatar Airways—PSG’s jersey sponsor—was fully embedded in the content:

• Marcos Aoás Corrêa buckled the trophy in for the flight: $711,134 social value

• A CGI video turned the sky red and blue: $43,257 social value

• The trophy deplaned first upon arrival in Paris: $927,749 social value

• The team posed in front of the plane: $56,078 social value

• Players and flight crew celebrated together: $128,084 social value

• A carousel showed off the plane’s new Champions League livery: $106,270 social value

Fans didn’t just engage because PSG won—they engaged because the celebration was elevated.

Qatar Airways didn’t just slap a logo on the moment:

✅ It fit the story
✅ The players clearly had fun with it
✅ The branding was integrated, not imposed—from the jerseys to the jet

This is the formula behind so many successful sponsor activations this year.

📸 Mo Salah x Google Pixel

Six weeks ago, Mo Salah celebrated Liverpool’s Premier League win with a branded on-field selfie (Before, After).

It wasn’t the first time Pixel stole the spotlight.

In March, Liverpool edged Nottingham Forest 1–0 in the 99th minute—and their content team was ready, Pixel phone in hand. The moment: electric. The footage: flawless.

Then came the real cherry on top—Virgil van Dijk grabbed the phone, recorded the celebration, and passed it off to Darin Núñez and teammates mid-scrum.

👓️ Wrexham AFC x Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses

Wrexham secured promotion for the third straight year—and captured the moment from the players’ POV using Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. A perfect mix of product placement and player perspective.

🍺 FC Bayern x Paulaner

FC Bayern’s traditional Bierdusche (beer shower) felt bigger this year thanks to Paulaner’s central role. The brand brought fans into a full-blown, beer-soaked celebration after another Bundesliga win.

⛓️ Eagles x Bud Light

Back in the States, the Eagles turned their Super Bowl parade into a Bud Light showcase—branded bottles, goggles, and chains included.

🏆️ Trophy Sponsorship

As explored last week, because trophies are symbols of ultimate success, they’re the perfect canvas for brand storytelling for many categories from luxury apparel to shipping and even appliances.

It’s just one slice of a bigger tentpole, but a smart trophy activation can deliver major brand exposure and a powerful association with excellence.

But sponsored celebrations aren’t limited to trophy lifts. Some of the best integrations have come from all kinds of emotional highs.

More Celebrations Worth Toasting

🥤 Beverage Brands

Drinks are the ultimate celebration prop.

• Formula 1 x Ferrari Trento: A POV celebration video made fans feel like they were on the podium

• Kansas City Royals x QuikTrip: The “Salvy Splash” uses a massive branded cup

• Philadelphia Phillies x Smartwater: Their post-win splash content does the same

📱 Consumer Electronics

Google Pixel shows up once again, this time with McLaren.

• McLaren x Google Pixel: Lando Norris’s first F1 win turned into a double Pixel play, with team members capturing celebrations on their sponsor’s phone—earning 275K Instagram engagements

• San Francisco 49ers x Microsoft Surface: Celebrated their NFC Championship with Surface in hand—147K+ likes on Instagram

And while some teams haven’t yet locked in sponsors, the opportunity is clear:

• Detroit Lions: Players film instant reactions post-win—great fit for a phone or tablet brand

• BYU Football: The team filmed Darius Lassiter watching his game-winning touchdown for the first time—on a laptop, no less. This concept is perfect for a laptop or software brand.

🧊 Consumer Products & QSR

YETI Coolers are included in celebrations in F1 and MLS.

• Red Bull Racing x YETI: After every race, a sticker gets added to a branded YETI cooler stocked with Red Bull and champagne. It’s become a thing fans wait for.

• Austin FC x YETI: The “Man of the Match” honor lives on a YETI cooler—but fan voting could make it even better. Great examples: Rams x Verizon (Instagram Stories) and Dodgers x Toyo Tires (X/Twitter)

• Detroit Tigers x Little Caesars: In 2024, Detroit players carried the iconic Little Caesars spear through the dugout after homers—turning a goofy prop into a brand moment

The Takeaway

The best sponsored celebrations don’t feel like ads—they feel like part of the story.

When brands show up with intention, fit the moment, and elevate the emotion, they don’t just sponsor the win—they become part of the memory.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

[Social Value: $43,488] Bryson DeChambeau showed off his social chops with a "day in the life" video. The quick cuts, seamless Bucked Up integration, and over-the-top vibe perfectly matched his personality.

[Social Value: $100,800] A perfect pairing on the hardwood. Getty Images sponsored On This Day in NBA History and seamlessly wove its product—photos—throughout the NBA’s Instagram carousel.

[Social Value: $13,267] Speaking of great photography, shoutout to Duncan Boone and Grand Slam Track for capturing behind-the-scenes magic (yes, even lying under a chair for the shot). The Houston Astros nailed a similar concept, using a carousel to swipe between the before and after of a photo. Stellar formats for camera brands.

[Social Value: $145,495] Red Bull stayed busy driving hype for their partners on the pitch. At Elland Road, Leeds United players raced the RB7 from Red Bull Racing. Meanwhile, in Australia, NRL’s Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs squared off against a Red Bull V8 Supercar in tug of war.

[Social Value: $26,132] The Eagles and First Trust Bank gave fans an all-access look at everything rookies do on their first day with the team.

[Social Value: $74,935] The Dear Liverpool series, sponsored by Nivea Men, does not miss. This is how you build attention and affinity—by telling emotionally-driven stories that resonate.

[Social Value: $49,179] The FIFA Club World Cup nailed its creator strategy during LAFC’s play-in match against Club América. Brenda Song and The Pointer Brothers showed—rather than told—their followers why this event matters.

[Social Value: $43,922] Still with the FCWC: Juventus cleverly used a meme-inspired post to remind fans to watch live on DAZN.

*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

r/COYS: Scott Goodacre shared insights from Tottenham Hotspur’s first year on Reddit [via The Online Rule].

Merch To Go: The Indiana Pacers hosted an NBA Finals Drive-Thru Gear Grab—and now all I can think about is how rights holders should be activating through their QSR partners. Merch as a gift-with-purchase is a no-brainer.

On-Track To On Screen: More F1 sponsors are riding the sport’s Netflix boom. Learn how American Express is leveraging the new F1 Academy docuseries [via Alyssa Meyers, Marketing Brew].

Boards And Buckets: If the New York Liberty’s partnership with Pinterest got you wondering what the sports world is doing on the platform, Neil Horowitz has a great breakdown of the current pin game.

FCWC TikTok Hub: TikTok has partnered with DAZN to launch a curated FIFA Club World Cup Hub—a go-to spot for content, updates, and fan engagement around the 2025 tournament.

Cooper’s Cub Collab: The Chicago Cubs teamed up with Alex Cooper for “Big Al’s Takeover”—a special ticket offer that includes a co-branded Unwell jersey and a 7th-inning stretch serenade from Cooper herself.

Gaming Gets Real: Nirupam Singh explained how landing Fernando Alonso created new pressures and early roadblocks that Parallel—a gaming startup—had to solve [via The Commercial Table].

Fashion Grand Slam: Daniel-Yaw Miller explored how New Balance and Coco Gauff are rewriting the playbook for sports-fashion collabs in tennis [via SportsVerse].