The Partnership Announcements Already Winning 2026

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

Should creators at pre-season media day be table stakes in 2026?

I’m leaning toward yes. Professional basketball shows that media day + creators = high-performing content that reaches multiple audiences, and it’s a huge opportunity for sponsored content.

• Brooklyn Nets x Subway Takes: Ahead of the 2023 season, the Nets teamed up with Kareem Rahma for seven episodes of Subway Takes, averaging 306.6K views per video (pre-collab tool era).

• Philadelphia 76ers x Highland Bros: The 76ers brought in the four-person creator group to media day, challenging players to games like Wavelength, Guess the Word, and Stop the Timer. The five-part series averaged 892.2K Instagram views per video.

• Cleveland Cavaliers & New York Liberty x Letterboxd: In 2025, both teams joined the “Four Favorites Challenge,” a Letterboxd staple. The Cavs pulled 1M views, and the Liberty 236K.

Why this works for sponsors:

• Creator-first posting: Content lives on creator accounts (shared to team accounts via collab tools), reaching new audiences with flexible timing.

• Native formats: Content fits the creator’s style, giving it the best chance to perform.

• Star access: Top players participate, and media day timing means potential in-season scrutiny hasn’t happened yet.

• Evergreen: As the All-Star examples show, media day content can be leveraged long after it’s created, extending campaign ROI for sponsors.

Who to target: Endemic brands that feel natural in the format, brands that align with the team and creators’ audiences, or brands seeking high awareness are the ideal fits for this type of content.

Execution tip: If you want to make this work, secure the creators early in the offseason. This gives your partnerships team the longest possible sales cycle to bring a brand on board and locks down the creators’ schedules to ensure what’s sold is actually happening. When integrating a brand, you’ll likely need to compensate creators, so discuss costs up front.

In Today’s Edition:

• Partner Announcements Done Right 🗣️

• YFK Debuts 2v2 Baseball ⚾️

• DSG Retail, Real Talk 🎙️

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
2026’s Best Partnership Announcements, So Far

We’re only 15 days into 2026, and already we’re seeing best-in-class examples of partnership announcement content—proof that you don’t need a hype video to make an impact.

Last year, I argued we should leave overproduced partnership hype videos behind. They rarely perform, often miss the audience, and waste valuable resources. This year’s early standout announcements show there’s a smarter, more fan-first way: lean into storytelling, cultural relevance, and content that works across formats.

Liverpool FC x Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger made its first-ever global football club partnership announcement with Liverpool FC in spectacular fashion, a massive flag unfurled across the Anfield pitch, revealing the co-branded LFC x Tommy logo.

Measuring over 100 meters long by 65 meters wide, the flag took more than 100 hours and 30 people to perfectly position, creating a visual moment that seamlessly married the brands’ color palettes and identities.

The hero video led on Tommy’s account and was shared to Liverpool’s followers via the collab tool. The clip generated 3.4M Instagram views, making it Tommy Hilfiger’s top-performing Reel since May 2025, when a partnership with Damson Idris, heading to the Met Gala to promote the F1 movie, drove similarly strong results.

The rollout didn’t stop there. A hero image featuring every player in the campaign, shot in a co-branded trophy room, followed the video and doubled its engagement. That same shoot also produced four behind-the-scenes posts (1 | 2 | 3 | 4) shared across LFC social, an on-the-nose example of one of the defining sponsored content trends of 2025: squeezing maximum value out of athlete shoot days.

Rather than relying on a single moment, Liverpool and Tommy treated the announcement as a content system. One high-impact visual unlocked multiple formats, sustained attention, and kept fans engaged across channels, without asking for additional player time.

LOVB x Togethxr

LOVB’s media partnership announcement with Togethxr was merch-led by design, and it was a smart one. Leading with product played directly into what Togethxr is known for, while reinforcing the shared belief both brands have in growing the game through culture, not just coverage.

The centerpiece was the co-branded “Everyone Watches Women’s Volleyball” tee, a sport-specific evolution of Togethxr’s iconic “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” slogan. It marked the first time the trademarked line was adapted for a single sport, giving volleyball its own rallying cry. The response validated the approach immediately: the shirt sold out in just two hours.

Execution mattered here. The tee debuted on players during LOVB’s First Serve, went on sale the same day across LOVB and Togethxr’s shops, and functioned as the first tangible expression of the partnership. Rather than explaining the relationship, the product proved it.

Strategically, the shirt does more than generate revenue. It gives LOVB a clean, ownable identity asset while positioning Togethxr as both a media and commerce partner. Just as importantly, it creates first-party data value: purchases and preorders help both brands better understand their audiences, share high-intent customer segments, and fuel smarter paid media strategies, from excluding purchasers to learn more about current followers, to building lookalike audiences to reach new fans.

When a partnership is grounded in shared values and cultural relevance, merch can be more than a monetization play. It can be the announcement itself, one fans are proud to wear, share, and buy into.

LOVB x YETI

Sticking with League One Volleyball, I was thrilled to see how LOVB adapted this challenge concept for their YETI partnership announcement.

Back in November, I came across a video from LOTTO Chemik Police, a professional women’s volleyball club in Poland. The concept naturally keeps you watching until the end, and the Orlen-sponsored post pulled in 16x more views (1.1M) than the club has followers (67.4K).

LOVB took that idea and elevated it. Instead of aiming to put a volleyball into a bag, they swapped the bag for a YETI Cooler. And rather than spotlighting just one team, they expanded it league-wide, challenging every team to complete it in the fewest attempts.

The product placement was front and center while still fitting seamlessly into the concept. The post finished with 591K views, making it the account’s best-performing Reel since mid-November.

Taylor Townsend x Mielle Organics

When Taylor Townsend announced her partnership with Mielle Organics, it was more than a brand deal, it was a celebration of her journey.

The post opened with a clip from her 106 & Sports podcast appearance, where she discussed struggling to secure endorsement deals and betting on herself. That moment was followed by visuals of Taylor holding Mielle product and wearing the brand on her uniform.

That vulnerability resonated deeply with fans who’ve followed her career.

What made the partnership feel especially authentic was the brand fit. Mielle Organics was founded by Monique Rodriguez, a Black woman, and built by centering the needs and experiences of Black women with textured hair, context Taylor explicitly tied to why the partnership mattered to her personally.

The caption reinforced that alignment, turning the announcement into a shared milestone rather than a transactional deal. The result: over 235K views on the Reel, marking one of her strongest performances since mid-November.

When athletes invite fans into moments they already understand and care about, partnerships feel earned. The brand doesn’t interrupt the story, it becomes part of it.

Mack Hollins x Vivobarefoot

Authenticity was also at the core of Mack Hollins’ partnership with Vivobarefoot. The New England Patriots wide receiver, known for going viral for arriving at games barefoot, partnered with a footwear brand that aligns directly with how he trains and competes.

In his caption, Mack explained how barefoot training helped him build foot strength and feel more connected to the ground, making Vivobarefoot a natural solution for the moments when he can’t be barefoot. The product wasn’t positioned as fashion, but as function, with sustainability layered in naturally.

The story resonated. He does wear a red hoodie that says “Ho👣ins -Free The Feet”, after all.

The Reel generated over 1.3M views, making it Mack’s best-performing post since September 2025. This is what happens when a brand fits the athlete’s behavior so naturally that the content feels inevitable.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Baseball creator @YourFriendKyle launched a new Underdog Fantasy–sponsored series built around a 2v2 baseball league. In a world where alternative sports pop up constantly, this one’s worth watching. It blends the competitiveness of baseball with the chaos and creativity of YouTube wiffle ball.

Dick’s Sporting Goods continues to lean into creators as long-form hosts.
After Speed Goes Pro, DSG is now the presenting sponsor of @VicBlends’ DeepCut Podcast, filmed inside a Dick’s store. Episode one featured Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith. Giants QB Jackson Dart was up next, with promotion including vlog-style BTS content on Vic’s TikTok and Instagram.

The Premier League’s “calm before the storm” carousel, capturing the sounds of Emirates Stadium ahead of Arsenal vs. Liverpool, would be a perfect fit for a mental-health–focused brand like Calm or Headspace. You could highlight the stress around such a big matchup by placing a branded graphic in the middle of the carousel with a simple mental health tip—like breathing in for 10 seconds, then out for 10 seconds.

Staying in soccer, this is a smart play for front-of-shirt sponsors. FC Red Bull Salzburg brought fans into the huddle from a low angle, perfectly framing the Red Bull logo while tying the brand to an intense, high-energy moment.

Google Pixel teamed up with Bryson DeChambeau to show off its new Quick Share feature, Android’s answer to AirDrop, now compatible with iPhones. The twist: Bryson surprises a golfer and invites them to play a hole together. The execution is obvious, but the sequencing works: hook first, product second, emotional payoff last to hold attention.

Ahead of the PGA Tour’s new season, Dow partnered with @sportsball_ on a data viz breakdown of the science behind driving distance. It’s a fitting concept given Dow’s materials help drive high performance in sports like golf.

🚨 ICYMI
What To Watch For

Sports Sponsorship Predictions: Alyssa Meyers shared six predictions for where sports sponsorship is headed next, straight from marketers on the front lines [via Marketing Brew].

Meta’s Sports Playbook: Nick Meacham sat down with Rob Pilgrim, Meta’s Head of Sport for EMEA, to unpack how digital platforms are reshaping sports media, plus a practical breakdown of what each Meta platform does best [via StreamTime Sports Podcast].

TikTok Takes FIFA: FIFA named TikTok its first-ever Preferred Platform (for the 2026 World Cup). The deal unlocks live match streams, more curated highlights, and access to FIFA-produced content, all housed in a TikTok GamePlan–powered hub featuring behind-the-scenes access, on-the-ground creators, and fan participation through stickers, filters, and gamified features.

Access Granted: Getty Images launched Access, a new product built with Greenfly that gives talent and industry pros real-time, licensed access to premium entertainment imagery, making it easier to share high-quality, compliant visuals from major moments as they happen.

Creator Measurement Evolution: Comscore, in partnership with Spotter, is bringing TV-style, program-level measurement to creator-led content, offering daily, deduplicated audience insights across linear TV, CTV streaming platforms, and major digital video channels like YouTube.

Unaided Recall Mistake: Wakefield broke down 10 reasons why unaided recall falls short in sponsorship measurement, making the case for category-based aided recall as a more reliable signal of how brands actually compete for consideration.