The Smarter Way To Sponsor Emails

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

Is it annoying…or genius?

That’s what I thought when I spotted a new trend during the NBA Playoffs.

Home teams are putting pressure on fans to actually wear their free playoff t-shirts.

At Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers, a TikTok showed the video board calling out fans who weren’t wearing their shirts—booing them until they finally gave in.

Then I saw it again—this time at Paycom Center, where the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Memphis Grizzlies. But this one had a twist.

The feature was sponsored by MidFirst Bank, who also sponsored the Thunder’s Game One t-shirt. And that’s when it clicked: this went from annoying… to genius.

Getting a sponsor to cover the cost of a giveaway (like a towel or t-shirt) is a key piece of playoff inventory. But pairing that sponsorship with an in-game moment like this? That guarantees fans will notice the brand on the shirt.

Even better: the peer-pressure clips are perfect for TikTok. And they give you a fun, fresh complement to the standard “The Stage Is Set” post showing neatly arranged shirts on every seat.

This is definitely a strategy I’d try in the playoffs with wearable giveaway items.

The fans might groan—but the sponsors? They’re grinning.

In Today’s Edition:

• Fantasy Life’s Email Playbook 📩

• Sizing Up Converse Sponcon 👟

• Free Jacks Wipe Out Tradition 🩳

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
Inside Fantasy Life’s Winning Email Strategy

What if your welcome email actually drove revenue?

Email sponsorships are a hidden gem in the sports industry.

It’s one of the few digital channels where a rights holder truly owns their audience. For brand partners, it’s also one of the best ways to drive mid-to-lower funnel results—think website traffic, lead gen, and sign-ups.

Here are a few common sponsorship formats, each with pros and cons:

• Dedicated Emails: Brands get 100% share of voice. It’s the most valuable placement—but also the riskiest. If the message doesn’t align with the rights holder’s brand, it could lead to unsubscribes.

• Inclusions: The brand is just one of many CTAs in the email. It’s a lighter touch, but also easier for fans to scroll past.

• Title Sponsorship: A clickable logo at the top (“Presented by”), with a banner or inclusion further down. This drives frequency for the brand—but those lower placements don’t always lead to action.

Lately, I’ve seen a new spin on this from the Fantasy Life Newsletter—designed to grow their audience on other channels and serve as a valuable, fan-first sponsorship asset.

One week after I subscribed, I got an email:

Subject Line: “One week with Fantasy Life…”
It encouraged me to subscribe to their YouTube channel, saying I was “missing out on a ton of free value.”

A week later, another email:

Subject Line: “Our way of saying thank you…”
It celebrated my second week with a reward: a $1,000 first-bet offer from BetMGM.

Including brand partners in automated email flows? Super smart.

1. It’s low lift

2. It rewards fans

3. It gives them a reason to stay subscribed (and tell their friends)

These offers don’t just drive action for your partners—they build goodwill through gifted rewards. Even something simple like this could:

• Increase CTR by 2–3x compared to static ad placements

• Boost email open rates on follow-up flows

• Create a higher perception of value for both fan and sponsor

And this doesn’t have to stop at Week 1 or 2. Rights holders could expand this strategy into:

• Birthday offers

• Loyalty rewards for open streaks

• Re-engagement emails for lapsed readers

• Triggered offers after wins/losses

Pro tip: Make sure these offers are actually useful to your fans. A 10% discount on luxury goods or free shipping won’t move the needle if it doesn’t match their interests. Stick to rewards that are relevant, accessible, and easy to redeem.

The Takeaway

Don’t sleep on automated email flows. When you bake brand partnerships into those moments, you’re not just checking the sponsorship box—you’re creating something fans actually want to open.

Email isn’t just a delivery channel, it’s a relationship builder.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

[Social Value: $7,356] AT&T got great value from this Dallas Wings post, counting down the hours until Paige Bueckers officially joined the team—using her jersey number to do it. Simple, clever, effective.

[Social Value: $3,603] Loved this concept from Converse. They use the guest’s shoe size—in this case, Celtics guard Payton Pritchard—to decide how many questions get asked. And the series name? Sizing Up. Perfect for a shoe brand.

[Social Value: $30,142] SLAM and Toyota teamed up for a behind-the-scenes series on NBA prospect Dylan Harper, aptly titled Road to the Draft. The auto tie-ins didn’t stop at the name—the premiere played with driving language (title + caption), and the interview itself was filmed during a ride-along in a Toyota Land Cruiser.

[Social Value: $12,854] Revlon tapped Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger for a GRWM-style video before game day. Smart move by a beauty brand—especially with a team famous for its grooming rules, even if those rules have loosened this season.

[Social Value: $500] You’ve heard of the jersey swap—but the New England Free Jacks are doing a shorts swap. And of course, the brand behind it is DUDE Wipes. No surprises there.

[Social Value: $97,747] Liverpool used an Instagram carousel to turn a Cadbury Creme Egg scavenger hunt into a gamified, engaging experience. Fun, creative way to do sponcon right.

*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

Postgame Power Play: Dan Marrazza explained why NHL teams should tweet immediately after a win—because the algorithm favors engagement in the first 10 minutes, then drops off a cliff.

Sponsorship Survival Guide: Dan Kozlak, IEG’s VP of Strategy, shared how brands can proactively reduce sponsorship risk in his series, The 9 Steps to Successfully Execute a Sponsorship.

Fore The Laughs: LIV Golf teamed up with comedian and golf nut Andrew Santino to launch No Bad Lies, a video podcast mixing walk-and-talks with golf pros, coaches, celebs, and friends—while tossing tricky course situations their way.

Burritos Go Bougie: Jeff Chen broke down a sharp Chipotle case study featuring a luxury-style collab with Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Utopia—seamlessly integrated into team travel content.

Cavs Cash In: The Cavs Rewards program is raising the bar on loyalty by letting fans earn real-world rewards anywhere they shop—just by linking their credit card—and it's already boosting fan data, sponsor value, and team revenue [via Bret McCormick, Sports Business Journal].