Integrating sponsorships with amateur sports is what allowed team owners and promoters to begin turning their passion into big business nearly a century ago. Now, sponsorships are everything in pro sports. And with the digital transformation, new team sponsorship engagement tools are making sponsorships more valuable than ever before.
Sponsorships provide the funding necessary to keep pro sports teams alive. Professional sports is an expensive proposition, and without sponsorship funding, teams and leagues wouldn’t survive. That’s why so many startup leagues fail after the first season or two. Without sponsorship funding, financial success is fleeting.
Even with solid sponsorship deals and place, professional sports needs to keep up with the rest of the world. Enter the digital transformation. As industries across the business world began embracing the digital transformation, professional sports and entertainment had no choice but to do the same.
It Has Been Good All Around
One would be hard pressed to find anyone in professional sports who believes that embracing the digital transformation has been a bad thing. Quite to the contrary, it has been a good thing all the way around. Replacing legacy systems with their modern digital counterparts has completely changed how sports teams and leagues operate.
In the marketing department, digital technologies have completely revolutionized sponsorships. Earlier you read about team sponsorship engagement tools. To illustrate the point being made here, let’s look at some of those tools.
Tools for Managing Sponsorships
Effective sponsorships require effective management. Even with the most comprehensive sports sponsorship tools, a team can fail to maximize revenue if they don’t manage existing sponsorships well. That being the case, a number of companies have developed sponsorship and management platforms containing a selection of tools presented all in one place.
KORE is one such company. Their sponsorship management platform offers teams and sponsors access to:
- Real-time data analytics
- Contract management and performance tracking
- Prospecting and lead generation tools
- Fully customizable sponsorship packages
- Customizable workflows for better proposals and assent delivery
- Fully integrated reporting capabilities
The KORE platform is a cloud-based platform that brings all stakeholders together in a centralized environment. Everyone is kept on the same page with real time data, analytics, and reporting. You might consider contacting KORE if you’re interested in learning more about their platform.
Tools for Fan Engagement
Successful sponsorships rely on happy fans. Fans are kept happy when teams and promoters engage with them. The digital transformation has made it happen with a whole host of tools that draw in fans in ways that were never possible. Examples include:
- Gamification elements
- Real-time updates
- Exclusive superfan content
- Tiered membership options
- Smart segmentation capabilities
- Integrated ticketing systems
The digital transformation has made it possible to engage with fans before, during, and after events in exciting new ways. An example is the combination of in-stadium beacons and computer systems to target fans with real-time information based on where they are seated.
Data and Analytics Tools
It’s impossible to discuss comprehensive sports sponsorship tools without talking about data and analytics. If nothing else, the digital transformation is driven by data. With the right tools and analytics, teams and promoters can provide all of the information sponsors need to evaluate their success.
Thanks to the digital transformation, team sponsorship engagement tools offer both teams and sponsors improved opportunities to make the most of their sponsorship deals. Data drives decisions that increase fan engagement, streamline sales and marketing, improve fan segmentation, and so much more. The result is increased sponsorship revenue that makes it possible for teams to do even more for their fans.
