Sports Marketing Success

It was the Roman philosopher Seneca who defined luck as ‘preparation meets opportunity.’ This pre-Ted Talk gold is applicable to many aspects of life and business but it’s especially applicable to your sports marketing investment.

Let me explain and in doing so, let’s start at the beginning.

In the past decade, we’ve seen sports become a much more preeminent component of the overall marketing landscape. An exhaustive search of the internet didn’t produce the exact infographic I needed to support that assertion but this one pretty much reinforces the foundation of what I’m saying:

Expressed in billions of dollars … the global sports market is fast approaching $750B in value, up from $300b in 2012. That’s impressive growth and one that would take a lot of blogs and infographics to unpack. In summary, this growth has been fueled by increased consumer interest, platform expansion, ancillary products (like fantasy/betting), and technology advancements that have moved sports to a much more advantageous position than other genres of video programming.

All this means more growth, more money, and a higher barrier to entry for sponsors looking to invest in sports marketing.

So … what is new, but not new, is a driving desire on the part of brands to find the next ‘thing’ before it is the next ‘thing’ in sports. This lowers the barrier to entry and maximizes one’s return on investment.

Let me use some examples to clarify my point. Two years ago Caitlin Clark wasn’t the dynamic force she is today in women’s basketball… I’m pretty sure pickleball wasn’t even a sport in 2020 … in 2021, Jayden Daniels did a NIL deal for what amounted to a pizza trade for his offensive linemen.

Things change, yesterday’s last man selected in the NFL draft is now marketing gold and if you can tap into him when he’s just a kid from Scottsdale you get a significant return on your investment. The trick is to find that needle in what is a haystack of opportunity in the vast US sports market. Opportunity does exist across the board. It can be an athlete, a team, a sport, or even an event that explodes in popularity and therefore value.

A good sports marketing company can help to identify that opportunity when they do the homework (preparation) that is necessary to forge success with the identified opportunity. What I’m not saying is that luck is a component of a sound marketing strategy but I am saying that if you define luck as preparation meeting opportunity then you should start preparing.

Feel me?

If you’re a player, team, sport, or an event then your job is to position yourself as that next best thing. Doing so will be advantageous for you in the long run. One source has Caitlin Clark’s estimated net worth at $3.8m even though her WNBA salary is only something like $76K. Pickleball has exploded and now boasts a talented staff of sports executives that oversee a professional league called Pickleball USA, which is local to Arizona by the way … and that QB that did a pizza deal just signed a contract that guarantees him $13.4M from the Washington Commanders.

Success doesn’t have to be that pronounced or difficult. When you endeavor to find it in an individual it’s more challenging than banking on a league or team’s success. Last month we looked at local Arizona sports teams to identify where there might be opportunities. Getting ahead of a team that might not be having success today but trending toward success in the future is a less volatile way of finding the next ‘thing before it’s a thing’ in sports.

The key is the preparation. This means doing your homework before you reach for the checkbook. A good sports agency is a must-have when looking to identify and then pursue an opportunity that’s really not an obvious play for everyone else at the moment. The agency should then maximize that opportunity as it develops. You don’t have to be a Roman philosopher but you do need to give yourself the best opportunity for luck when it comes to preparing for your successful sports marketing investment.

If you’re looking to prepare for your next sports marketing opportunity and want to ensure you maximize your return, contact me at ed.olsen@linedrivesportsmarketing.com or call my cell at 602.284.6722