September 2023 Newsletter

One of the best series since 2005, sellout crowds for all days, record TV audiences and a brand of Cricket played by England that will inspire not only the next generation but also the 40-year-old playing club cricket who is now practising ramp shots in the nets. For brands, being a partner of a standout series like this creates powerful associations with not only the engaged cricket audience but transcends into the “Big Eventer” fan. Brands activations get more traction. reach is boosted on social media by trending tailwinds. Is it luck or should this be part of every brands evaluation of the intangible value? Effective utilisation of the intangible value of every sponsorship is vital to maximise the value of any partnership. 

FIFA Women’s World Cup and the Lionesses. Successful but headroom for growth?

Congratulations to the Lionesses on an incredibly successful FIFA World Cup and showing the England men how it’s done these past few years! It was interesting to see the late flurry of new partners announced for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in different capacities in its first cycle of selling the Women’s game as an entity rather than bundling as part of the Men’s package.

-       Booking.com – Official Online Travel Sponsor

-       Hublot – Official Timekeeper

-       China Mengniu Dairy Company – Official Sponsor

-       Jacob’s Creek – Official Supporter

-       Yadea (Electric Vehicles Manufacturer) – Official Supporter in Asia-Pacific

-       Itau – Official Bank Supporter in Brazil

-       EstrelaBet – Official Supporter in Brazil

-       Geico – Official Supporter in North America

-       Tik Tok collaboration

With players that are more relatable for fans, in person audiences that are more family friendly, record TV audiences and digital audiences in the billions more brands will be attracted to women’s football and the rights fees will grow.  Estee Lauder just signed a new partnership with Manchester United to target their extensive fanbase in China and the Asia Pacific, maybe the FIFA Women’s World Cup was a missed opportunity with a more relevant audience and 53.9 million Chinese viewers for the match against England alone. Chinese brands Yadea and Mengniu saw the value. 

The Rugby Football League, a client of ours, hosted the Women’s Challenge Cup Final at Wembley for the first time as a double header with the Men’s final and it drew a peak audience of 300,000 on BBC, despite being on at the same time as the Women’s England vs. Colombia football quarter final. Who would have imagined, even five years ago, a broadcast scheduling clash of two major women’s events? 

Whilst the broadcast coverage of Women’s sports is growing, there is also evidence that fans of Women’s sport are 25% more likely to purchase products of sponsors than fans of men’s fans and there’s better brand recall and engagement too. We’ve seen FIFA sell Women’s rights separately, we’re sure more sports will follow suit as they realise the increasing demand from brands for women’s sport.

One Bad Apple? 

Whilst the FIFA Women’s World Cup was rightly regarded to be a great success with entertaining and competitive games and record TV and stadium audiences, the Final was marred by the appalling behaviour of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales who kissed the Spanish midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the trophy and medals presentation. The repercussions of this rumble on.

Spain won the Women's World Cup in Australia on 20 August, but the team's success has been overshadowed ever since by Mr Rubiales's actions during the celebrations after the final whistle.

A boycott of the national team still has not been resolved, a week ahead of their next game, and 39 players have signed a letter saying that changes made by the football federation "are not enough for the players to feel in a safe place".

This has clearly caused reputational damage to the RFEF and, by implication, to its sponsors. Although it doesn’t change what has happened, if the sponsors contracts have been correctly drafted there should be a clause that takes care of the reputational damage to the sponsor to either terminate the agreement or seek damages.

Sadly, this is not an isolated situation in sport, people can behave badly, so its important sponsors take all reasonable steps to mitigate the impact of this kind of behaviour on their brand in their sponsorship contracts.  

English Premier League- The sports betting dilemma 

Eight Premier League clubs have betting brands on their front of shirt and there was almost a ninth until Chelsea Supporters Trust got their way abandoning the negotiations with Stake.com. There are only three more seasons where the front of shirt will be available for betting companies before it is banned so these eight clubs (and Chelsea who have no sponsor) need to start planning and executing how they are going to wean themselves off the gambling companies’ milk. It’s the most valuable sponsorship asset for any football club so it should demand their attention to clearly articulate the value of this incredibly powerful asset which drives global brand awareness better than other sponsorship asset in the world. 

Clearly the likes of American Express, Emirate and Standard Chartered Bank see the value of their football shirt deals as they have renewed their longstanding deals in the last couple of years. And, of course, there is the legacy awareness that brands still enjoy. What team do you think of when you see AON, Crown Paints, Samsung and Newcastle Brown Ale? Okay, the last one was a little too easy. 

The Value Xchange Update

A New Starter 

Oliver Rockett has joined us in the last three months as Business Development Executive working principally with our rights owner clients.

He has an extensive sports background with previous roles at Footprint Sports & Entertainment and Herbalife Nutrition.

With a degree in Sports Management, he held several roles during his time at university including VP of Enactus Cardiff Met, School of Sport and Health Sciences Representative, Sport Cardiff Sport Development Officer and recipient of the Dean’s Award.

Welcome to the team Oliver! 

New clients

We have been appointed exclusively by UK Deaf Sport and DeaflympicsGB to support the national federation to secure commercial sponsors and partners to provide much needed funding for UK Deaf Sport and DeaflympicGB Team.

There is a common misconception that deaf athletes compete as part of the Paralympic Games, however, this is not the case. Deaf athletes are not included in any of the Paralympic classifications and so consequently cannot compete unless they have another Paralympic disability. Deaf athletes compete in the Deaflympics, an event started in 1924 that precedes the Paralympics and is an entirely separate event recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as part of the Olympic family alongside the Olympics, Paralympics and Special Olympics.

Unlike other disabilities, there is currently no Government funding, support, or sporting talent pathway for talented deaf athletes training for and attending the Deaflympics and other elite European and World deaf sport competitions. UK Deaf Sport therefore currently relies on commercial partnerships and sponsorship.

Get in touch with us if you want support UK Deaf Sport and Deaflympics GB.  

New sizzle reel

We have finally got round to putting together a video with some of the work we have undertaken for our clients in the last year or so. We are very proud of the work we do for our clients and this video really brings it to life.  Click the link below.   

Alanis Morissette Award

Most Ironic sports sponsorship moment of the summer goes to the unvaccinated Novak Djokovic being awarded “Shot of the Day” sponsored by the drug company Moderna at the US Open. The American broadcaster sighed in disbelief before he had to deliver the credit on air. “We'll take you to the Moderna Shot of the Day,” he said. Activation agency might be looking for a new client!

I hope you have enjoyed our update and wishing you all the best.

Kind regards

David, Jamie, Jeremy and Oliver