On Today’s Agenda:
$400M Kit Sponsorship
The Beard x The City of Brotherly Love
How Athlete Branding Can Become The Great Equalizer
Barcelona x Spotify
$400M for a Kit Sponsorship
FC Barcelona has had some pretty iconic kits over the past several decades including and not limited to the special UNICEF kits at the beginning of the Leo Messi Era, and the Qatar Airways logo during the Messi Suarez and Neymar domination of Europe. But now, Barcelona is close to agreeing on a new deal for their main shirt sponsor: Spotify.
That’s right, the club is expected to announce a €280 million ($404.5 million CAD) deal with global music streaming platform Spotify. The whopping deal is set to last over three years for both the Men and Women’s Barcelona side and will include both the Spotify logo on the front of the kit, but Spotify would also become the first holders of the title rights for the stadium.
Barcelona has played at the Camp Nou since 1957, but now it appears that the FCB stadium will be renamed and rebranded the Spotify Camp Nou. This will be the first time that the stadium has had its name change since its initial construction over 65 years ago.
Now, this deal on the surface seems a bit odd, but here at white whale mktg, we like to dig a little deeper.
Barcelona is a super traditional and iconic club in world football. The first question about this deal that comes into play is whether or not this change will be accepted well or negatively by the footballing community, and more importantly, the Barcelona fans. Camp Nou has such rich history. This is the largest stadium in European football, and it has been since 1957, but now they’re just renaming the stadium to make a few dollars. It’ll definitely be interesting to see how the Barcelona fandom will react.
Even the CEO of Barcelona decided to step down after disagreeing with this new deal, stating that offering publicity in the front of the jerseys and stadium naming rights was too high of a price to pay for the club, a place with so much history to tell is being sold to the highest bidder and nobody is batting an eye.
Secondly, this deal can also be seen as a massive spark in Barcelona’s troubling few years. The global pandemic, failure of managers, the departure of Messi, all have had Barca in some difficult times. Finances haven’t been optimal, resulting in some massive pay cuts, resignations, and the inability to sign top talent that Barcelona has historically done; Henry, Eto’o, Fabregas, Suarez, Neymar, the list goes on and on. This deal will give Barcelona the opportunity to get the income they need in order to attract new transfers in the summer.
Either way, this is a massive deal in the sponsorship world. A massive brand, a familiar logo, an ICONIC team, all seem too good to be true…. I guess we’ll find out.
The Beard x The City of Brotherly Love
The NBA Trade Deadline
clutch points
Months of drama, rumours, and tweets in the leadup to the NBA trade deadline came to a close yesterday afternoon. NBA twitter’s favourite rivalry of Woj vs. Shams was in full force yesterday, as fans were glued to their screens, refreshing every second to see the latest trade updates. The biggest deal of the day? The bearded dragon himself – James Harden – moving a few states down to join Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
You can stick to Twitter to see analysis of the move for both teams, but going beyond the value on the court – what does this trade mean for everyone involved?
For Harden and the 76ers, the time is now to capitalize both on and off the court. On the court, you have 2 of the NBA’s biggest superstars. Off the court? The 76ers now have access to over 23 million social media followers, and the most famous beard in the league. It is no secret that Ben Simmons being out of action has diminished the star power the 76ers marketing team has to work with – and Harden’s name, image, and likeness will be a welcomed addition to their content. As the 76ers look to make a big playoff run, be prepared to see Harden’s face (and beard) side-by-side with Joel Embiid on billboards and social media posts in the greater Philadelphia area.
On the Brooklyn Nets side – the plan is not so straightforward. Ben Simmons was one of the brightest young stars before his injuries and the drama surrounding his absence from action this season. Prior to that, Simmons’ social value was on the rise, with more brand endorsements and a higher engagement than Harden – but a slower follower growth and smaller follower count. The Brooklyn Nets on-court performance are also not trending in the right direction, but we’ll save that discussion for a different newsletter.
Finally, on the topic of the NBA Trade Deadline and its marketability potential. Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania are arguably the biggest stars of the deadline, even when James Harden was dominating headlines. With Woj and Shams on opposite media teams (ESPN and The Athletic, respectively), there is a bigger rivalry to look at here. In a recent edition of the Sport Marketeer, we discussed the recent acquisition of The Athletic by the New York Times – and the NYT’s push to grow their digital subscriber base. The NHL Trade Deadline has been sponsored every year on TSN, which might be an example that The Athletic would want to follow to expand and grow their platform in this David vs. Goliath matchup.
Creating A Level Playing Field
How Athlete Branding Can Become The Great Equalizer
owen sound attack
It is of no surprise to hear that, not all sports are made up the same. Some leagues such as the NFL are compromised of 32 corporations rather than teams, that’s a given. However, many leagues, especially in Canada, are significantly smaller than these large organizations we see in the states. For example, depending on what market you’re in for the CHL, the corporate team can vary from 10-20 employees to upwards of 50+.
That’s a huge gap, and still nowhere close to the size of NFL organizations.
This is why you’ll see some smaller league teams only post the generic gameday graphics, while others, while others within the same league, will post the same but then also offer highlights or partnership activations. This not only furthers the gap from these major organizations but potentially between their on-ice rivals. All of which goes back to the size of your team which is why it’s all about money in, money out, and that’s the name of the game.
But what if there was a way to even the playing field within your league?
No, we aren't suggesting a restructuring or a complete overhaul in how business is conducted, but a tweak. Let’s call it an investment into your team’s future. I have your attention, don’t I?
Athlete Branding Workshop.
A what? An athlete branding workshop. I’ll ask a few yes, or no questions and you answer them in your head. Let’s begin. Does your team have athletes? Are they on social media? Does content featuring players do the best? Are you still reading this? Are you leveraging them as the valuable assets they are to get into collaborative partnerships? Now that you’ve presumably answered 4 yes’s and 1 no. Let me dive into a little more detail.
Over the last 4 years, there’s only been one medium in global ad spend that has trended upwards and has now surpassed 50%, digital assets. However, you’ll see top teams, like the Toronto Raptors obtain an engagement rate of 0.003% with 10.8K likes on a post but you’ll then see fan favourites, like Scottie Barnes, earn upwards of 8% engagement with 60K+ likes. See where we’re going with this? These are metrics that are present in all leagues, from the very top like the NBA to Junior Hockey (CHL is far worse as hockey players in Canada achieve 20-30% engagement which is nuts).
This is why at white whale mktg, in 2022, we’re playing on working with clubs across Canada to maximize their potential. Ensuring athletes are developing their brand and are compensated fairly, while also helping their teams leverage them in a mutually beneficial manner.