Sponsoring
How can you sponsor?
Athlete sponsorship can take many forms. The equipment to play a sport (shoes, rackets, skis) are often already (partly) reimbursed by a specialised brand from the sport itself. Because of the commitment to a particular sport, brands like that recognise early on who could be promising talents and are therefore keen to see them succeed in or with their brand. Unfortunately, an athlete won’t get far with a racket alone. Continuously improving requires training, travel, accommodation, and competition entry fees, and in an ideal case even a small team to be maintained and taken along in order for an athlete to deliver the best possible performance. Simply put, a sponsorship agreement in the form of a financial contribution is therefore often the most welcome for an athlete. This gives the athlete with all his or her expertise the freedom to make the best choices. In turn, athletes can add a lot to a company’s brand value and often provide content and direction for multi-year marketing campaigns.
However, there are also creative interpretations, e.g. the sponsorship could also consist of providing a means of transport (and the athlete becomes a driving billboard!). Other common variants are providing food or clothing and accessories. The most important considerations for an athlete when engaging with a sponsor are whether the brand fits his or her personality and whether the contribution actually helps achieve the sporting goals.
Our Approach
1. Introduction
A good match between the athlete and your organisation is key. That is why our first step after you have indicated your interest in a partnership is to set up an introduction with the athlete. If you are interested in sports sponsoring but unsure who, or which disciple, would fit your brand, we can advice you on that.
2. Agreement
While we have pricing tables listed on the athlete pages, they merely provide a transparent starting point for a conversation. Partnerships are not plug&play ‘products’ since we want to provide the most value for both the athlete and your organisation.
3. Feedback
Sponsoring by definition is a two-way street. In line with the agreements made, we make sure there are regular feedback moments to ensure partnership satisfaction for both sides.
Athlete, Sponsor, Sport
As an athlete sponsor you are part of the dynamic of three key elements that every sport needs to be popular and successful. Those elements are; athlete, sponsor, sport.
A professional athlete is dependent on support to afford the basic materials, training, travel, competition entry and general needed to commit fulltime to their sport. That support can consist of sponsoring in the form of financial means, services or goods offered by businesses or people. Apart from that, the infastructure of a sport is a key part. Sufficient prize money is important to drive and sustain a competitive and broad basis of athletes. Also important is the popularity and visibility of a sport; creating incentive for businesses to support athletes or the sport itself because of the podium it offers them.
Individual sponsors often decide to contribute based on their connection to a specific sport or athlete. Companies generally have more reasons for sponsoring. As a commercial organisation it is important to differentiate compared to your competition. Creating a clear identity beyond your primary product or service is essential to reach a broad or target audience and associating with a sport or athlete is a solid tactic to do so. This is because athletes speak to the imagination and inspire by fulfilling dreams that most people have had at some point. They inspire passion and commitment among their fans. Connecting to an athlete or sport that matches your organisational identity thus creates a positive association for your brand among fans of an athlete and sport. Athletes, through their exceptional skills, also spark more imagination and positive feelings for a brand than traditional models or influencers. Some of the most wellknown examples are the daredevils that Red Bull uses in their campaigns or skiing champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who is the latest face of BOSS and draws a new audience.
The success of any sport is not only due to its rules or innate characteristics. It is driven by people in the sport doing exceptional things and having likeable personalities. In turn, people only start playing a sport if they know it exists and, often, if they are inspired as a kid. That visibility and accessibility then is dependent on the sport’s infrastructure but also on sponsors driving its visibility. And having one gifted athlete in a sport is not enough. A sport requires rivalries, emotions, wins, losses and upsets. That is why a sport needs a broad basis of different levels of competition, to allow people to grow into a competition and grow towards a path to the Olympics. And finally, besides the visibility, sponsor investment ensures that competitions can afford prize money, build infrastructure and keep innovating their sports.