When looking at sports sponsorships in college it is important to know the difference between basketball and football. The amount of fan engagement, volume of ads, and money spent on sponsorships is quite different between the two.
Overall, football in comparison to basketball has more hype in the college sports realm. Once July hits the discussion about playoff predictions and Heisman winners has already begun.
Since basketball season starts around the end of October, the hype that goes into the beginning of the season is far less. Football tends to dominate the headlines and cameras until around February when basketball really starts to get attention.
Therefore, the approach that we must take when looking at basketball sponsorships is a little different than football. Many schools will promote their basketball program through their football games.
Moreover, the creativity in promoting college basketball is somewhat challenging. However, as Parks and Sickmon reiterate throughout the podcast, the rewards from basketball sponsors can usually be greater than football at most schools.
While basketball varies from football in several ways it also has the upper hand in some cases. Signage and promotions are much more successful in college basketball.
Courtside signage and videos offer the potential for a low-risk, high-reward way for companies to use their sponsor money.
Paul Sickmon states, “You can do some amazing things with courtside signage.”
Also, when looking at the amount of engagement that fans have in-stadium at basketball games there is a higher chance of interaction. Football signage must be very interesting for fans to engage but that isn’t the case for basketball.
Another perk about basketball is the amount of stoppage which allows for several chances to trigger promotions that immediately get the fan's attention. Having a high volume of ads consistently during a game offers a great amount of efficiency for sponsors.
Sickmon states, “Basketball does so well with trigger promotions.”
Basketball games seem to have more engaged fans since there is less of a time commitment compared to football. While football games can take over 4 hours of participation from fans, basketball can only take 2 hours.
Therefore, basketball allows for more family-related interactions through promotions that can be done before, during, or after the game. Organizations tend to use this to digitally promote themselves on social media.
All in all, basketball is one of the more unique sports in the industry to be a sponsor. However, with creativity and consistency companies can flourish in this sport at a lower cost than other sports such as football.
To read more about sponsorship execution in basketball or to hear the podcast version,here.