We’re back in the Green Room with Alex Kopilow, who spent years building digital partnerships for the Chicago White Sox and Madison Square Garden properties. Kopilow publishes the weekly Sponcon Sports newsletter, and shares examples and insights, including packaging sponsored content in sports, on his LinkedIn.
With his expert take on the sports business, he was happy to share his many insights on sponsorship trends and best practices that organizations should consider when crafting effective and lucrative partnerships.
The following Q&A is part two of our two-part conversation. It’s lightly edited for brevity and clarity and full of insights for marketers and commercial teams across sports.
“The misconception is that sponsored content is different from non-sponsored content, and it’s all the same. You should be trying to match the expectations of your audience, and you should be trying to create great content for your fans. Because, ultimately, that’s going to lead to better results.”
Alex Kopilow, Creator, Sponcon Sports
GF: How are organizations accounting for the often significant incremental increase in reach and engagement of logos and sponsored content from third-party shares, especially players?
AK: I don’t know for sure how many teams are measuring that. My assumption would be yes, but it is absolutely something that teams can invest more time in.
We saw a great example of that this summer with the Minnesota Vikings in the launch of their Winter Warrior uniforms. They rolled out content on their own channels, launching this year’s edition of those uniforms. And then they built custom videos that their players were posting. Justin Jefferson and Aaron Jones had custom assets to post on their own channels. That’s really important because we’ve now seen the data where younger fans are following players more than they’re following teams, right? That’s how they express their fandom.
It gives you the ability to reach new audiences and reach the athlete’s audiences, and you’re giving them that content.
That’s another one when I’m thinking through all the channels that you want to go through. Player-focused content and assets should definitely be a piece of that and also be a focus when you have player deals within sponsorship deals. There are occasions when you have a partnership with the team, and then that team partner has a partnership with a player on the team, too. So, you can really start to get creative with the distribution of content as that comes into the fold.
GF: Talk about the added value when athletes decide to share sponsored content pieces. How can teams maximize the opportunity to have players amplify posts, and what could a more collaborative future look like?
AK: When a player shares it, it’s such a great moment. You’re literally typing an email in that second to your partner [saying], ‘Look, our players shared this. I didn’t even ask them to do it.’ That’s such a huge win.
That goes back to the importance of the content team’s relationship with players and the team’s relationship with players. Content teams work so hard to build relationships and trust with players and coaches. And when they do that, they’re going to take notice of all the good stuff that you’re doing. And they’re going to be more interested in sharing it, even if they’re not paid.
Of course, you want to look for opportunities to support players. Everybody’s getting more business-savvy, and they should get paid as well. So, being able to create those partnership opportunities for them is great. Being able to tap into the team’s audience as well helps them get more exposure. And being able to use a collab tool is mutually beneficial as they start to build their brand and build opportunities.
So, it’s definitely something that — if you’re doing the work and giving them the content to post, who doesn’t want that? ‘If you’re telling me all I have to do is post and you’re just doing this for me,’ that helps so much as well.
GF: What is the process like to create sponsored content opportunities and turn good existing content into sponsored content? How do you balance partner objectives with fan experience?
AK: The misconception is that sponsored content is different from non-sponsored content, and it’s all the same. You should be trying to match the expectations of your audience, and you should be trying to create great content for your fans. Because, ultimately, that’s going to lead to better results. The creativity comes into how you integrate a partner.
In terms of how partnerships and sponsored content is built, you definitely need to take in the partner’s objectives. It’ll just give you clarity and save you time. What’s the goal? What’s the budget? Who’s the target audience? Because knowing the goals is going to help you identify the KPI and the right fit. Knowing the target audience is going to help you identify what channels are the biggest priorities.
For example, if you’re really trying to target Gen Z, you might go after TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Whereas, if you’re trying to go after more middle-aged fans or your standard fan base, as you would see from viewership, Facebook and Twitter might be really helpful in terms of target audience. Then, budget — every partner can’t have everything. It depends on how much they can spend.
Then, once you have figured out what are your favorite assets, from the content team’s point of view — you want to sell the things that are easy to execute. In an ideal world, it’s something you’re already doing. And then you can make it feel custom by finding a way to integrate the product or giving it the right name. A great punny name takes something from a logo slap and turns it into something that feels completely custom.
If you’re looking to create something from scratch, that’s when you go to your content team and [ask] What are the ideas we’ve always wanted to do? Are there opportunities to integrate the partner? Timing matters, too, because typically for those bigger custom opportunities, you either are going to have to outsource because you’re in the middle of the season, or you have to wait for your media day prior to the season and kind of plan for that.
“The best part about gameday moments is this is coverage you’re already providing. …Why not drive revenue off it in a way that you know your fans like already?”
Alex Kopilow, Creator, Sponcon Sports
GF: What are some of the emerging methods for creating sponsor opportunities within content? Some organizations are packaging gameday stories for a title sponsor; some have interstitial ads. What sort of things are you seeing or want to see?
AK: The interstitial ads, that’s something that has been done. The Clippers do that a bunch on their Instagram Stories. I think the 76ers used to do it in their in-feed carousels. I know BYU athletics also employs that strategy.
It’s all about balance. It’s okay to put those placements in there as long as they’re not really egregious; they’re kind of in the middle. It’s really balanced against how large the story or the carousel is. You now can put 20 cards in a carousel; there might be some opportunities for some interstitial points within those, so that’s definitely something that can be explored.
To your point about new takes on things, that also goes back to my answer about building bigger platforms, bundling assets together to build a larger piece. The example I go to often is the Carolina Panthers [and what] they did a few years ago, ‘Building the Team’ with Lowe’s. That’s everything from the draft, free agent acquisitions, and contract extensions. It groups a bunch of different moments together into a larger platform that also has a really great tie to the brand.
In terms of building newer assets and in terms of game day, there are definitely two approaches.
One is you break up every moment and try to sell every moment, and I’m a big advocate for that. The approach that I like to take is to think of every touchpoint that you have within game day and then make that available inventory. That’s a game day graphic, game preview, a tale-of-the-tape stat graphic heading into the game, arrivals, warm-ups, starting lineup, in-game highlights, score updates, final score, player of the game — all that stuff. There’s just so much that you can do on a game day. And those are highly requested because that’s when your audience is engaged and tapped in.
When it comes down to it, do you sell all the gameday assets versus splitting them up? Leagues — like the NFL — do that, right? The NFL lets a brand own a day on Instagram Stories, and I think they do it on their Snapchat story as well. They’ll give you an intro card that’s branded and has your logo. And then in every frame of that day’s Instagram story, they’re tagged via the paid partnership tool, and then they have a closing frame that’s branded as well.
I think it’s a great approach from a league perspective because there’s so much that you have to cover, and there’s not necessarily the flow of one game.
The best part about gameday moments is this is coverage you’re already providing. You’re just putting a sponsor on stuff you’re already capturing. That’s why I really like to build as many assets as possible for game days because you know you’re covering it. Non game day moments are likelier to be added work, net new. But this is work you’re already doing. Why not drive revenue off it in a way that you know your fans like already?
GF: How does sponcon strategy vary by sport — where some may have a lot of game days while others are more infrequent, and you have more dedicated training days, for example?
AK: There’s definitely a flow to the week for each sport that you can tap into. Each one is different, but it certainly brings its advantages.
[For example], if you’re on a starting lineup with a Major League Baseball team that gets posted to Twitter and Instagram Stories, that’s, what, 324 posts a year that you’re on? So that’s incredible. That’s a ton of frequency. While that might be closer to what people would say is just a logo slap, it’s like 324 posts — pretty great exposure if that’s the goal that you’re looking for. So, it definitely gives advantages to teams that play more.
But I mean, NFL teams and Premier League teams have had no trouble filling the lead-up to a game on the off days. It’s practices, it’s press conference coverage, it’s on this day in history, you’re looking into the past of a matchup. There are still plenty of opportunities, even if there are fewer games.
But if you’re linking someone to a gameday post, you really need to look at what the total results are. Those results will determine how much worse or better it is. And given the fact that Premier League teams and NFL teams probably are doing better on social, they have bigger followings, it probably evens out to an extent. So it’s fewer, bigger, better versus higher frequency, almost.
GF: Let’s end with some quick hitters. First, what is your favorite pun-based sponsored content you’ve seen?
AK: Pub subs. Publix substitutions. A brilliant freaking idea. I mean, they’re called subs in the sport. A Pub Sub is something that people know Publix for. So, having pub subs come up with soccer teams, Inter Miami does it, and a bunch of others too. Pub Subs is just so perfect.
Tell us the sponcon format or concept that you want to see happen. Speak it into existence.
AK: I think I’ve been not so subtly hinting within the newsletter that I really want to see what the Detroit Lions did with their post-game reactions from players. They had players looking at phones, reacting to a big play after a win that they were a part of. I think that’s just perfect for Verizon, T-Mobile, a Snapdragon or what have you. That is just like this great moment after wins, where the phone is already in hand — like Motorola is perfect for this, where it’s great content and products are already built in. I would love to see more teams doing that.
GF: That’s a great one. Next, the sneaky good team or league when it comes to sponsored content.
AK: I hope by calling them a sneaky good team, they’re not upset about it. But I think a team that just didn’t get enough play last year was the Seattle Seahawks. They had an incredible season.
They had the ‘Season of Boom’ docuseries prior to last season, which was sponsored by Microsoft. And they used that ‘The Last Dance’ kind of tactic by using the Microsoft Surface tablet and letting their alumni from that season rewatch plays and react to them within that docuseries, so that was really good. Their throwback jersey campaign was also Microsoft and many others as they activated in season, was one of the best of the year.
Then their Instagram Stories just leveled up. I think I would have thought going in that the number of stories they post on game day might be too much. Is everybody going to watch them? But the engagement tactics, the interactivity — just they are incredible and beautiful and they’re really fun for a fan to follow along with. I wrote about it, it was so good.
Between those things and many more content series that they have, the Seattle Seahawks need to be getting more praise in the content space.
GF: Last question — what is one lasting piece of advice you’d give to our readers trying to monetize their short-form content?
AK: One, sponsored content and unsponsored content — they’re one and the same. I said it before, but I’ll say it again: They should be treated with the same approach — how do you match the expectations of your fans? And just building the best possible content that’s going to drive the best results and then finding the creative ways to add in a partner after the fact.
So, having that flexibility, I think, is important in what you name it and how you integrate a partner. It’s really nice, but it’s all about creating great content and just finding ways to bring partners along for the ride.
Then, I would say my other piece of advice for content teams is that you really need to be embracing sponsored content.
Sponsored content doesn’t suck; bad content sucks. And if you’re creating great content, sponsored content is going to be good, and it’s also going to benefit your own career. You’re going to be able to hire more people and get more equipment. You’re going to be able to push for a promotion or a raise because you have something that’s measurable, that impacts the organization on their bottom line. And it’s a way that your senior leaders understand.
So, embrace that because you’ll personally get more; you can be selfish about it. And embrace it because ultimately it’s going to help not only the whole organization, but it can help you directly.
Thanks again to Alex for sharing his time and insight with us! You can subscribe to Sponcon Sports and read through the archive here.
If you want to learn more about how Greenfly is helping some of the biggest sports organizations in the world produce, manage and monetize their short-form content, check out our Sports Solutions page and reach out for a free demo and consultation.
