After a turbulent 18 months managing the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sports industry is finally rebounding with a greater sense a security. Although no league, team, or event has escaped unscathed, this trying period has demonstrated the resilience of many sport properties, and their partners, across the globe.
In the face of growing uncertainty, properties were forced to manage an incredibly complex sociopolitical environment which saw them adapt schedules daily, create new competition formats, develop new methods of fan engagement, establish new content distribution deals, and add new partners to their portfolios. They were managing this all while also having to ensure the health and safety of the athletes, staff and fans.
In a time where marketers have been asked to ‘sharpen the pencil’ and deliver a positive return on their investments, the need for transparent and unbiased data has never been greater.
When considering the trend of long-term, eight-figure sponsorship deals there are some particularly valid questions that need to be answered:
- How have properties weathered the storm?
- Do fans still care when they cannot attend events live?
- Are they equally as passionate and excited about the field of play?
- How likely are they to convert to purchase or be more favorable toward partners?
The best way start addressing these is through consumer insight.
Consumer insight can guide a property’s growth, as well as highlighting how it is faring next to key competitors within and beyond sport. It can help identify where the biggest opportunities lie geographically and demographically, as well as what sponsorship category or which prospective brand stands to gain the most from a partnership.
Similarly, consumer data can guide brands on what sponsorship properties offer the greatest opportunity based on geographic, demographic and category or brand-based behaviors. It can also help measure and quantify the opportunity to ensure sound investment decisions are being made.
SportsPro’s 2021 Top 50 Most Marketable Properties list highlights the global consumer view of properties that offer brands the greatest sponsorship opportunities. These properties provide global reach with frequency of engagement, high levels of excitement and passion, healthy degrees of momentum and impact, as well as offering brands a unique opportunity to convert consumers into advocate customers.
More than 360,000 people worldwide (aged between 13 and 64) influenced this year’s list. To settle on the final 50, SponsorPulse surveyed consumers on more than 500 major sport leagues, teams and tournaments across 18 countries. The methodology – which is based upon surveys of more than 30,000 new people each month – studies the perception of consumers to accurately determine the population’s behaviours and emotions towards the property, as well as how they react to that property’s sponsors.
SponsorPulse’s Opportunity Score – a universal currency that enables the instant measurement and comparison of sponsorship properties – is based on seven key property health metrics: engagement, intensity, momentum, passion, excitement, consideration, and favourability. The Opportunity Score attributes a different weighting to each metric to provide immediate context on the size and significance of a sponsorship opportunity.
- The behavioral metrics of engagement, intensity and momentum combine for 40 per cent of the overall weighting provided the current reach and frequency (paired with the forward-looking momentum) of the property hit a critical level of consumer access.
- The passion and excitement metrics combine for 30 per cent of the overall weighting as they are critical in establishing a property’s emotional connection among consumers.
- The potential for sponsor impact is measured through purchase consideration and favourability, which combine for the final 30 per cent of the Opportunity Score to reflect the likelihood of conversion toward a sponsor.
The 2021 Top 50 Most Marketable Properties list is based on a weighted Opportunity Score that accounts for the population size of the 18 countries where these properties are measured. These countries include: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, South Africa, India, China, Indonesia, Japan and Australia.
