I covered the WNBA's 1997 MSG debut, which included a number of corporate sponsors in the first year (Anheuser-Busch, GM, Nike, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Sears). Enthusiasm was at the same level, but less exaggerated than earlier in the year.
Words of Wisdom: “Take the shortest route to the puck carrier and arrive with a grumpy attitude” — Fred Shero, longtime NHL player, coach, and GM (member of the Hockey Hall of Fame class of 2013 as a builder).
Topgolf is switching to Pepsi at 90 of its stores nationwide after pouring Coca-Cola for the past five and a half years.
The new eight-year agreement with PepsiCo includes Frito-Lay and other food products, as well as comprehensive beverage rights, including water, Gatorade and Pepsi's traditional sodas. “We are excited to work with the entire Pepsi portfolio and they are aligned with our intent to make the game of golf more accessible to more people,” said Jeff Cottrill, Chief Brand Officer, Topgolf. “I was doing it,” he said.
The deal, which took about a year to put together, includes Topgolf's Inbay Media, the venue's in-house television network. Pepsi will also have a retail promotion.
Oak View Group will be Topgolf's domestic distributor starting in 2022. Since then, we have delivered Honda/Acura and Pepsi as domestic sponsors. “We cleaned things up and moved to less, bigger and better,” Cottrill said. “We now have greater brand value, clarity and visibility within the venue.”
Topgolf is also considering sponsorships in the credit card and mobile phone categories.
The new sponsorship contest will feature eight years of free play on Topgolf as the top prize. In his mobile marketing component, Topgolf/Pepsi-branded ice cream trucks will stop at Topgolf and other locations around the country loaded with Pepsi products.
Pepsi's deal includes only stand-alone Topgolf stores and excludes spots like the Topgolf Swing Suite at Atlanta's State Farm Arena, where Coca-Cola has water rights.
Top Golf stores will switch to Pepsi after 5 and a half years with Coca-Cola
As Playfly's agency/media integration continues its vision, the company has brought on Nick Curtan as head of commercial strategy, a new position within the company. Mr. Cartan will lead all non-media sales, including Premier Partnerships and other sellers working directly with clients.
Curtan will report to PlayFly Sports President Craig Sloan and will remain based in the Los Angeles area.
“We seek to understand, harness, value and monetize fandom more than anyone else, so we wanted new corporate-level talent to be involved in everything we do commercially. . And Nick is that person,” Sloan said. “As an example, we are now [data] The Insights team works better with ideas and creativity for activation. This should help one party convey information to the other. That's how it should be. ”
Since 2020, Kartan has worked for action sports agency Thrill One Sports and Entertainment, most recently serving as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to that, he served as Vice President/Business Development at World Surf League, and before that he worked for five years at Fox Sports. “This will leverage our scale to create new and significant revenue opportunities across our larger platform and create a different and hopefully more strategic way of thinking.” he said.
Playfly was founded in 2020 and currently has over 1,100 employees. The agency handled the search for executives internally.
As this is an Olympic year, NGB is looking to expand its sponsor roster in the lead-up to the Paris Games.
Eric Krasnoux, SVP/Partnerships and Membership for US Sailing, said his organization has added a quartet of new non-indigenous sponsors: Samsonite, Sextant Wines, GoPro and Polar Beverage. for alcoholic seltzer, likely mixed with Gosling's Rum, another US Sailing sponsor).
Samsonite is trying to promote its water-resistant EcoDiver luggage by including the contents and using it by staff and athletes while traveling. San Luis Obispo, California-based vintner Sextant, which certainly seems like the perfect brand name for a nautical tie, is embarking on its first sponsorship voyage. Of course, GoPro is all about content.
With Olympic qualifying now complete, U.S. Sailing has athletes competing in nine of the 10 sailing classes for the Paris Games, including four returning Olympic athletes (the event will take place in Marseille, southern France). held).
“We are focusing on non-endemic diseases,” Krasnoo said, adding that NGB continues to look for sponsors in financial services, automobiles, mobile phones and business services. He added: “For hosting the 2028 Olympics.” [in L.A.], there has already been some discussion. ”
- Fanatics Sportsbook signs golfer Justin Thomas as the first athlete to endorse the brand, rolls out a promotional partnership ahead of the PGA Championship, and launches an expanded menu of golf betting and visualization tools debuting this week. It will begin, SBJ's Bill King reported.
- Eli Lilly has expanded its domestic Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship, becoming an official sponsor of Making Team USA, a marketing and sponsorship platform powered by Xfinity, notes SBJ's Rachel Axon.
- Dick's Sporting Goods and the WNBA are collaborating on the first girls' lifestyle apparel collection, the latest in the company's continued efforts to promote women's sports and encourage youth participation, SBJ's NaAndre said. Emerson points out.
- Although exact numbers have not been released, the PGA of America told my colleague Josh Carpenter that this week's PGA Championship hospitality sales record will surpass the previous record set in 2017 at Charlotte's Quail Hollow Club. He said it was broken. In hospitality sales, his 70% of passes were sold to businesses or individuals within Kentucky. As of May 1, more than 200 companies have purchased hospitality tickets for the event.
- An expensive sponsorship strategy led sports nutrition brand BioSteel to bankruptcy, but its new owner has a different strategy, writes SBJ's Alex Silverman.
- Silverman reported that MLS looked outside the sports industry to find its newest member of the executive team, hiring former financial and healthcare marketer Radhika Dugal as its new CMO. Mr. Dougal joins the League after serving in the same role at Super.com, an early-stage fintech and e-commerce company.
