Getting into the Game: Sports sponsors want more than tickets to the ballpark.

Sports sponsorships are not privileges bestowed upon suppliant brands by benevolent leagues and franchises. They are marketing strategies that must be negotiated and planned efficiently. Otherwise, don’t bother suiting up.

Such was the overriding message at the recent Sports Marketing & Sponsorship Forum, an annual conference hosted by New York City-based Strategic Research Institute. Executives from such leading companies as Coca-Cola Co., MasterCard International, and General Motors advised marketers to research carefully how they can leverage a sport’s equity before wasting millions acquiring rights fees.

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

Coke spent decades operating under a “trademark ubiquity” philosophy that saw the company aggressively push its products into as many sports stadiums and arenas as possible, says Jennifer Dorian, manager of consumer insight and strategy. While the effort was hugely successful, it cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and by the early 1990s had Coke executives wondering if it was money well spent.

The nature of sponsorships changed in the ’90s, Dorian explains. At the same time rising ticket prices were narrowing ballpark demographics and stadium upgrades were sending sponsorship levels through the retractable dome, fans were becoming indifferent to corporate sponsors, she says. Ticket buyers viewed in-venue advertising as meaningless “wallpaper” and didn’t see sponsorships as supporting their teams.

Compounding the problem was the fact that most fans (70 percent, according to a 1997 study) found soda prices at the park too high, and many of them blamed Coke directly. “We would pay $2 million [for concession and signage rights] and have people walk out with a worse feeling about Coke,” Dorian says.

The company changed its strategy in the mid-’90s from trademark ubiquity to brand-building, and began forgoing pervasive concession rights for broader, integrated partnerships. (A week after the September conference, rival Pepsi-Cola announced that it had taken over pouring and sponsorship rights at Oakland’s Network Associates Coliseum.) “We want brand activation. We won’t just hang signs anymore,” says Dorian.

The new strategy was laid out to epic proportions at Turner Field, which became home to baseball’s Atlanta Braves in 1997. The stadium’s many attractions include Coca-Cola Sky Field, a 23,000-square-foot theme park on the roof in left field. The section lets as many as 750 fans listen to radio broadcasts of the game and cool off in misting tents while sipping beverages that cost only $1.50. The brand gets involved in the game via a huge Coke bottle that shoots fireworks when a Brave hits a homerun.

“We used to think that if we served the drinks and hung our signs, our job was done,” says Dorian. “But you have to use [the sponsorship] more effectively.”

A TOE IN THE RING

Coke’s Surge energy-drink brand launched a World Championship Wrestling (WCW) sponsorship in September with an action-can series featuring images of top wrestlers including Goldberg, Sting, and Kevin Nash; one can is being released each month through February. Other plans call for an instant-win game launching in November, graphics on vending machines, ad buys on WCW broadcasts, and possible product placement at events. “Maybe the wrestlers can bash each other with Surge coolers, or maybe they’ll come up with a new move,” Dorian suggests.

The soda maker hasn’t signed a long-term deal, although it does expect to have a tie-in program next summer, says Dorian, in response to a question about the expected longevity of wrestling’s popularity. “We’re going to take it one year at a time.”

Coke was cautious about aligning with the sport. Although wrestling’s total fan penetration is “not very high,” 69 percent of 12- to 17-year-old boys are tuning in, according to data from the ESPN/Chilton Sports Poll. That made it a good match for Surge, Dorian says. The sport is also year-round, hosts more than 200 local events annually, and offers both broadcast and pay-per-view TV opportunities, she notes.

Still, Coke wanted to test wrestling’s potential before it committed, so it hired some of the WCW’s marquee names for retail appearances. Huge turnouts and sizable sales increases during the events suggested sponsorship was worth a try, Dorian says.

MASTERS OF THEIR DOMAIN

Marketers should fully understand the potential value a sports property can give to their brands, but also determine “the willingness of the property to look at the value the brand can bring,” says Jeff Price, MasterCard’s vp of U.S. sponsorships and events. “If it’s just about rights [fees], we’re not going to play. It has to be a partnership that’s going to drive our business.”

Major League Baseball offered just that in 1997, agreeing to “a fair rights fee and a strong platform” from which MasterCard could launch marketing efforts, says Price.

“We don’t just bring cash, we bring a lot of assets,” says Matthew Pace, executive vp-general counsel of GM Eventworks, a division which handles all of the car maker’s sponsorships. GM is “trying to change the paradigm” by replacing the word “sponsorship” with “partnership,” Pace says. The company recently signed a deal to co-own a “major” traveling tour launching next year. While a professional sports league isn’t exactly going to give partners an equity stake, “how about creating [ancillary] properties you can own jointly?” he suggests.

Pace advises marketers to look for properties that provide vertical integration: GM’s involvement with women’s basketball runs across the WNBA, the U.S. national women’s team, the NCAA Women’s Final Four, and a grassroots effort in middle and high schools. He also suggests seeking cross-promotional opportunities with other sponsors. “There are very similar [marketing] players in all sports, so there’s a lot of opportunity to work together.”

GM recently signed a five-year deal to become the official automotive sponsor of the NFL Dallas Cowboys that includes the installation of 65,000 GM-branded seat cushions in Texas Stadium. The cushions contain a pouch that will be filled with information and promotional items for every home game. In addition to signage and public address announcements, the agreement calls for GM cars to be displayed outside entrance gates and a special Cowboys-branded trim package offered on some car models.

“The promoters are beginning to understand,” says Pace. “There’s a new sheriff in town.”

The ESPN/Chilton Sports Poll surveys 500 people aged 12 and older each week to gauge consumer interest in sports. Here are some thoughts on current trends offered at SRI’s conference by the poll’s executive director, Rich Luker:

Basketball: The NBA “will definitely recover” from last year’s labor hassles (March promo). Interest in the WNBA women’s league is running “considerably below” last year.

Wrestling: Its current intense popularity has the potential to burn out. But right now, it’s second only to the NFL in number of fans who consider themselves “avid,” according to data from the poll.

Football: Interest in the NFL has been flat. But the sport is still the most popular in the U.S., with 67.9 million fans.

Motorsports: There has been “a significant decline” in popularity recently. “But the strength of NASCAR is not in the numbers [of fans], but how ardent they are” about the sport.

Soccer: “We don’t think women’s soccer is viable as a league,” says Luker, offering caution to those who may think otherwise. He likened this summer’s World Cup-inspired frenzy to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey victory, which did little to spark long-term interest in the NHL.

Overall, 86.3 percent of the U.S. population actively follows at least one sport. But the average American has an interest in about six. “We’re now in a very strategic time,” says Luker. “There are far too many opportunities for fans.”