Sports sponsorship is a topic of great interest, both economically and socially.
Through sponsorship, a brand can become known to the public through sports, events, and entertainment.
In particular, sports, through fan involvement and the positive values it conveys, are able to characterize brands that choose to invest in sports sponsorship with a sense of vitality, strength, and collaboration.
There are two main actors involved in collaboration: the sponsor and the sponsee.
Sponsor and sponsee
The sponsee is the party responsible for circulating and publicizing the brand name through events, branding of uniforms, distribution of gadgets, etc.
On the other side, the sponsor is the brand that requires its name to be circulated through monetary remuneration or the provision of goods essential to the holding of the event.
The sponsorship contract, from a legal point of view, is defined as atypical: in fact, there are no laws on the subject to regulate the behavior of the two parties, who can self-define the manner in which the relationship is executed. The object of exchange differs between the two parties: cash emoluments from the sponsor are matched by counter-performances from the sponsee, aimed at ensuring the agreed visibility.
The choice of many companies falls on sporting events, not only because of the great visibility that can be obtained, but also because of the value identity that can accumulate between the sponsor and sport.
Individual and group sponsorship
Sponsorship of a product or brand can occur either through an individual athlete or through a group, team, or sports entity.
This choice is made based on several factors, which can be economic, value-based, and strategic.
Choosing to sponsor a team means, from a values perspective, wanting to convey sentiments such as cooperation and respect among athletes. Sponsorships of this type are usually long-lasting and very beneficial to the sponsor in terms of ROI.
In contrast, choosing an individual athlete as a sponsee means focusing communication on the person and his corollary of human and sporting values. In this case, it is crucial to select testimonials that have great communication skills and, clearly, that are to the public’s liking.
The continuity over time of the relationship between brand and team or athlete is essential to create a strong connection, in the mind of the consumer, between sponsor and sponsee. A connection that is not necessarily related to the sports result, but rather to the continuity of exposure and expression of the aforementioned values.
Sponsorship, the benefits of technology
Blockchain in this landscape can be a game changer and can facilitate counterparty search, as it is a distributed ledger open to all. On a platform such as Chainon, present sponsor and sponsee companies have the advantage of having an overview of partners with whom to collaborate.
The structural features of blockchain are transparency and incorruptibility of data, but above all, the possibility of eliminating intermediaries, which, in addition to being rather expensive, greatly lengthen the process of making agreements. In this case, contracts between sponsors and sponsees can be concluded through smart contracts in a much shorter time and with low costs. It can even be imagined that unsold space (e.g., LEDs on the sidelines of soccer, basketball, volleyball games) can be sold at the last minute through the use of databases and the rapid conclusion of contracts.
In addition, smart contracts for sponsorship are extremely advantageous because they allow contract clauses to be agreed upon before the event. For example, the amount of money paid by the sponsor to the sponsee can be determined and agreed upon based on the visibility achieved during the event and the amount of audience present.
ChainOn provides businesses with databases on blockchain that aim, through complex algorithms, to show each sponsor or sponsee the ideal partner for a collaboration, from a logistical, economic and value perspective.
Often the success of sponsorships, particularly for medium and small businesses, is closely linked to the proximity of the event or team to the place of product distribution.
With these algorithms used by experts, sponsors and sponsees are advised and accompanied from the moment of choosing a partner until the contract is signed. Expert guidance during these delicate stages of the agreement is essential to lay the right foundation for a partnership that is long-lasting, of quality, and satisfactory to both parties.
Organizing the data provided by companies and sports clubs or events into databases increases the visibility of even small provincial entities that can take advantage of sponsorships to self-finance themselves.
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