For the last two seasons, I’ve written a review of the Premier League kits for the good folks at UP Towers. Good old fashioned Top 10s. So for the tricky third album, I’ve looked to inject some freshness into the format. Like Noel Gallagher trying to write Be Here Now, I’ve shameless stolen for successful predecessors and lifted the ‘World Cup of...’ format wholesale. Here's the way it works. I’ve played out each fixture of the World Cup based on who would win in a battle of kits. The teams are ranked based on the actual groups, with the top two advancing to the knock out stage. To add a degree of jeopardy, the teams will wear their home kit unless there is a clash when they will be judged based on their away kit. So there is a danger that a team with a great home shirt is knocked out by a honking away number. No fancy scoring metrics, just the gut feeling of a Wales fan far too old for all of this. To avoid getting too granular, we pick up the action in the second round. Netherlands v England Here’s a question for you. Does the ‘it’ in ‘It’s Coming Home’ refer to a trophy or the concept of football itself? I was always under the impression it was the latter. Rendering all the memes /general hysteria from the past five years completely incorrect. Either way, it’s the England home kit that is coming home in the second round. Knocked out by a stylish Dutch classic. If only the Three Lions got to unleash their early 90’s inspired red kit. RESULT: Netherlands win easily Argentina v Australia Both sides progressed from tough groups to find themselves in the second round, with two great shirts on display. A last minute call from officials to allow the Australians to wear their home kit and not the uninspiring away one proved crucial. The Socceroos edging this one. A classic but safe Argentina number falling foul of it’s more contemporary opponent. RESULT: Australia sneak through Wales v Ecuador Here we go! I’ll be honest, the Wales kit grew on me. As it will do literally as I spend the next month watching football and drinking bitter rather than exercising. Ecuador’s solid yellow effort and much more ambitious away kit was enough to get them through the groups but their journey ends here as Gareth Bale’s men ease through. RESULT: Cymru at a canter ​ Denmark v Mexico Wow, what a tie this is. Denmark’s stripped back and toned down jerseys saw them top their pool and send an au revoir to the stylish French in the process. Mexico’s home effort is an absolute gem but in a highly controversial clash against the Danes, it’s not enough beat the men in red. Had it included the Jorge Campos inspired goalkeeper’s kitthen it may have been a different story. RESULT: Denmark by the barest of margins Japan v Belgium The Belgian kit has caused quite a stir, with its flame patten on the sleeves it’s safe to say it’s divided fans. It hasn’t done a huge amount for me, but it proved solid enough to earn them a place in the knockouts. But could they compete with the Japanese origami pattern in this all-adidas clash? Not for me, and it’s goodbye to the Red Devils. RESULT: Japan stroll through as the Belgians are unfolded Cameroon v Ghana This is a chance to write about some genuine sports business issues. The Lions have been involved in a legal drama with Le Coq Sportif. A court ruled in favour of the French sportswear company who claimed to have a legally binding contract to make their shirts until the end of next year. Cameroonian FA chief Samual Eto’o (who wore a classic, sleeveless number in 2002) claims this is the shirt they’ll wear at the tournament. It’s truly awful and I only put it through so we could talk about the legal drama. Turns out corruption allegations spread to this World Cup too. RESULT: Ghana through as the Cameroonian drama ends here Croatia v Spain Croatia usually sport at least one classic at a World Cup. Albeit a familiar design of checkerboard red and white at home, and a blue change strip. They have the same format this time, but the checkers have an asymmetric pattern looks like it hasn’t loaded properly. Due to multiple clashes, the officials ordered them to wear their blue kit and Spain to wear their home which puts the 2010 champions through. RESULT: Spain progress as the Croatian luck runs out Portugal v Brazil Some bold designs on display from Nike for both teams here. Criminally though, the designers have messed with the shade of yellow for Brazil. What should be an iconic kit looks as though it’s been through the wash with 11 pairs of ink blue Levis. Portugal’s potential uniform for a Ronaldo swansong is slightly crackers but that’s enough to get through. Portugal beat a tired looking Brazil Quarter Finals Netherlands v Australia The Australian’s got lucky in the previous round to edge past Argentina. But here’s where their fortune ends. The officials demand they wear their change strip of dark blue and mint green. If that sounds dull it certainly is in comparison to the Dutch’s flaming orange that sees them heading to the semi-finals. RESULT: Netherlands outshines the Aussies Japan v Ghana The Ghanaian home shirt is one of Puma’s better efforts at this World Cup. Which includes a massive black star which I’m fond of, plus an injection of colour on the sleeve trim. However, more late drama as the referee orders them to wear their ludicrous red away kit. All Puma’s away shirts feature a huge motive for the number to be housed in and to a team they all look bloody awful. Japan march on with ease Wales v Denmark The prospect of a rematch with Denmark who sent us packing from the Euros is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, it features AEROTECH technology to counter sweats both cold and hot. However, after much deliberation, Denmark’s all-white shirt gets through. If you look closely, you can see the outline of their EURO 92 shirt, which has been faded out to create a classic capable of dislodging my partisan bias. Denmark say ‘nos da’ to Wales. Spain v Portugal An all-Iberian affair for the final quarter final. Spain sporting their traditional red, whilst Portugal takes to the field in an ecru kit. The fact that it’s ecru tells you everything you need to know and its home time for the Portuguese. Spain sail through ​ Semi Finals Netherlands v Japan Nike v Adidas. The clash of the titans. Japan have stunned this tournament with their beautiful blue and white origami inspired design. Whilst the Netherlands have arguably the brightest shirt in their history. Can the flames of Holland set fire to the paper of Japan? Not this time, the Japanese head into the final. The cool blue Japanese douse Dutch hopes. Denmark v Spain Spain head into the semi-final wearing a shirt that appears to resemble a jay-cloth. Now, I’m not opposed to a jay-cloth shirt, see Man United’s retro number from 2021/22 or indeed the original Rumbelow’s Cup final shirt from 1992. However, the pattern on this one is just too wavy and generic and completely misses the mark for me. Great Danes into the final The Final Japan v Denmark If you’ve read this far. Well done. Or if you skipped to this point, shame on you. Either way, the wait is over. Japan head to the field in the blue that has served them well. Denmark are asked to wear their third strip of black. And with this it’s to the serious point. Hummel released deliberately low-key shirts to make a statement against the human rights record of Qatar. Let’s face it, it’s the elephant in the room. Even in a knockabout, bit of fun article such as this, there’s no ignoring the fact that this World Cup is set against a back drop of, at best scandal and at worse human misery. It could be easy to see Denmark/Hummel’s kits as some opportunistic PR, but even so, it beats the easy option of taking Qatari state money to be a cheerleader. I’m looking at you Becks. Denmark and Hummel take the crown If you want to read our serious thoughts on Qatar you can do so here. Third Place Playoff Who cares? Ged Colleypriest is the founder of Underdog Sports Marketing

Earlier this month I left the warm confines and storied halls of Wimbledon to start a new creative agency - Doppelgänger - alongside developer studio, The Gang, focused on helping brands enter the metaverse. But what is ‘the metaverse’? Where is it? And more relevantly for this readership, can it really help rights holders and sports brands connect with new audiences? It’s easy to get lost in the slew of jargon that accompanies conversations around ‘the metaverse’. It often feels like a never ending game of lingo bingo. web3, interoperability, VR, AR, XR, crypto, blockchain, NFTs, Roblox, Sandbox etc. Even the pre-eminent thinker on the space, Matthew Ball, who dedicated the first 70 pages of his book attempting to define the term, came up with the rather meandering: “A massively scaled and interoperable network of real-time rendered 3D virtual worlds that can be experienced synchronously and persistently by an effectively unlimited number of users with an individual sense of presence and with continuity of data, such as identity, history, entitlements, objects, communications and payments” Clear? Boiled down to its basics, ‘the metaverse’ can be described as a collection of virtual spaces and experiences supercharged by new technology. In these virtual worlds people do exactly what they do in the real world (and on the current internet): connect with others, play, learn, buy stuff and express themselves. In the not-too-distant future this will manifest in the form of rich, immersive, 3D experiences that are enjoyed by thousands of people concurrently, although the consensus is that we’re a few years from that point. However, in the same way that the internet did not simply appear one day complete with all of the apps we now know and rely upon, so too will the metaverse and its opportunities creep up on us. In fact in many ways it is already here. There are already a number of ‘proto-metaverse’ platforms that are being visited by tens of millions of users each day and herein lies the immediate opportunities for brands. Roblox - a platform where users create their own mini worlds, games and experiences - has over 250 million monthly active users who spend an average of over 2.5 hours a day on the platform - jumping from experience to experience. Fortnite meanwhile has just under 100 million monthly active users. And while these titles are typically labelled as ‘games’ that doesn’t do justice to the richness of experience. This is where friends meet, chat and play after work and school. Beyond gaming and social meet-ups, they are also entertainment platforms. 27 million people experienced Travis Scott’s performance live within Fortnite for his album launch while 33 million joined Lil Nas X in Roblox for a motion captured performance. Replay views of Scott’s event alone have reached over 120 million. No wonder then that there’s been a rush from the largest brands in the world to get their slice of those eyeballs. From Nike to Gucci, O2 to NFL, it seems like the biggest names from every category are setting up roots in the ‘verse. The Gang themselves have already built more branded experiences on Roblox than any other studio - with many more in the pipeline. But as with all new technologies and media channels, there is a risk that marketing departments will clamour to jump on the bandwagon while losing sight of what it is they’re actually trying to achieve for their businesses. For Wimbledon, one thing we were always cognisant of was trying to remain relevant for younger audiences and also expanding our global footprint. As we’re constantly (and unfairly) reminded by all marketing theorists, Gen Z and Gen Alpha have the attention spans of a goldfish with ADHD and aren’t interested in sitting down for an entire 4 hour tennis match. Similarly, you were unlikely to get most fans in Thailand or Brazil tuning in at Silly O’Clock for a live match. While short form, localised content can go some way to keep those fans updated on events at SW19, it would often lack any real depth of engagement. Cue a Roblox activation. For this year’s Championships we recreated Wimbledon on the platform. Users visited a virtual All England Lawn Tennis Club where they could play on the hallowed turf of Centre Court, watch that day’s highlights from the real life tournament, meet with a virtual Andy Murray, and buy merch for their avatars. We saw over 11 million visitors over the fortnight - over 20x more than those able to attend SW19 in person. And each of those visitors hung around for an average of 8 minutes per visit. Not quite the same as a 4 hour match but far better than passively consuming 6 seconds of TikTok or Instagram content. What’s more, coming back to the business problem, the people we reached were bullseye target market. 80% of the visitors to WimbleWorld were under 24 and the top 3 markets were USA, SE Asia and LATAM. And while doing innovative things in the new media channel du jour has always been effective for boosting brand scores and reaching younger audiences, metaverse activations also offer more immediate commercial benefits. Firstly, brands can sell in-game branded items - essentially merchandise for avatars - and make a direct return. But perhaps more interestingly for sports brands, the creation of these new virtual spaces increase the inventory available to sell or pass on to sponsors as added value - which should in theory increase the valuation of those sponsorships. At Wimbledon, AmEx had the exclusive presenting rights to the Virtual Hill - a proprietary virtual platform that we created from scratch - while Ralph Lauren were able to sell digital versions of their Wimbledon collection in the WimbleWorld Roblox store. The next realm to be disrupted by the metaverse is likely to be broadcast. Other than the ability to pause/rewind, the format of live sports broadcasting hasn’t significantly changed since its inception back in the early 20th century. With the emerging technology of volumetric 3D being developed by the likes of Unity, non-stadium-going-fans will be able to position themselves wherever they please within the action in real time: courtside, centre circle, wicket keeper, wherever. Man City are already exploring this approach via their partnership with Sony although a lot will be dependent on pre-existing broadcast deals. More than just observing from these perspectives, fans will be able to participate as well. The familiar groan of “my nan could have made that shot” will now be put to the test as we’ll be able to recreate the matchplay situation in VR. “Hand your nan the Quest headset and give her a go then.” Clearly none of these things will be equal replacements for attending a live event. There is after all no better feeling than standing at a gig arm-in-arm with a stranger as you both butcher your favourite song. Or enjoying a shower of beer in celebration after Mitrovic scores yet another winner. However, as the rationale for the ill-conceived European Super League showed, there are tens of millions of fans around the world who crave a substitute for IRL attendance. Therefore any ways which make those experiences richer for the remote fans can only be a good (read: lucrative) thing for rights holders. With the technology developing at such a rapid rate and so many new opportunities presenting themselves, we at Doppelgänger are very excited to be part of helping brands enter into the space. If you’d like to explore the ways your brand could have a presence in the metaverse or Web3, please get in touch with me at max@thegang.io

If you’d have told me 6 months ago that I would be working within one of the top Sports Marketing agencies in the UK, I would have probably laughed in disbelief. Not disbelief in my ability, but disbelief that as a graduate in this current climate I’d have landed on my feet. Now don’t get me wrong, this was no close your eyes, make a wish and watch it come true moment (wouldn’t that be nice). It was a process of trying to balance completing a degree, working part-time, and searching tirelessly for my chance to break into the sports industry (not to mention still being fully immersed in the university lifestyle). For three years I have – just about – found the balance of managing Uni life, while also being slightly naïve to the realities of exiting university life and being catapulted into the world of full-time employment. So, what would I tell Annie 6 months ago as she completes her degree in Sports Business Management? Firstly, well done. Simple I know, but as one of the many cohorts that have had to navigate university through a global pandemic, I feel a pat on the back is due for all of us. Secondly, not to panic. Easier said than done, I agree, but I would remind myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is your career. ​ With that said, here are my actionable tips that I would give to other graduates looking to break into the sports industry. 1: Get as much experience under your belt as possible  I did by turning my hobby of photography into a side hustle while completing my degree. I made it my aim to cover as many styles of photography as possible., from sport through to maternity sessions and equine shoots I really covered it all; this taught me how to position myself in multiple markets and adapt to selling to different demographics.  Take every opportunity to add as many strings to your bow as possible, any opportunity where you can draw experience that will add value to your dream role is worth your time. 2: Find your drive.  Why do you want to enter the sports industry?  Where do you see yourself being able to contribute the most?  What are the qualities in your ‘dream role’ that are going to inspire you to get up every day and give 100%?  For me, that comes from working with brands to create meaningful partnerships that deliver tangible results; not to mention being able to work across multiple sports at a time. 3: Build your network and learn how to market yourself.  While to an extent employers buy into your experience and qualifications, they also buy into who you are as a person and how this is reflected in the people around you. Get connecting to people in the industry, follow them on LinkedIn and start to learn how people in the industry interact and the content they engage with the most.  Network, network, network, get yourself to any relevant event or online group you can gain access to; start to build relationships without the pretence of capitalising on them immediately. Play the long game.  Be yourself, people connect with people not robots. You are your personal brand, make sure to optimise the way you market yourself by being consistent and accountable in showing up and delivering on your promises. An insight into working within a top sports marketing agency. The Role: As Brand Partnerships and Marketing Executive, my role is to build relationships with brands and place them into sports partnerships while also assisting the Sporting Group International marketing functions. The Best Bit’s: Undoubtedly my favourite bits have been getting out on the road to meet with clients and rights holders. It’s been so insightful being part of the process from both the side of the brand and the rights holder; I feel like being in an agency environment has already given me potential scope to grow in my position further than I ever imagined. A highlight has got to have been visiting Bolton Wanderers FC and seeing our active stadium naming rights campaign come to life; it has been so rewarding to follow the brand side process so far. The Reality’s: Boy did I under-estimate the reality of adjusting to a new routine. University life is a whole different ball game, getting used to finding the balance between giving my all to my job while balancing my social life, personal life and 8 hours sleep has been a learning curve to say the least. A learning curve that has allowed me to grow as a person and feel proud of putting in the effort to maintaining each aspect of my life. Top tip: caffeine. The Goals: To continue to be a student, just in a new environment, and learn as much as I possibly can so that I can give the most back to my role and continue to work with incredible brands in finding their ideal sport partnership. The Main Take-away’s: Never stop being a student, learn from every opportunity you can. Find your passion and follow it. Network, Network, Network. Coffee. Annie Taplin is a Brand Partnerships and Marketing Executive at Sporting Group International

As COVID restrictions have all but gone and confidence rises in the viability of major sports events, we have seen a lot of major sponsorship announcements. Gambling (in the US), crypto, and digital entertainment brands are relative newcomers to the sponsorship world and they are laying down some serious cash... which is obviously hard for rights-holders to resist. Given my background in both sponsorship and research/insight, my natural first thought is “I wonder how they’re going to measure the success of this partnership?” As Crypto.com balks on its UEFA commitment, I’m still struggling with the numbers on how Spotify can justify $60m a year to FC Barcelona, but I digress... The truth is that most sponsorship executives are at least slightly afraid of properly measuring the performance of their sponsorships. They’re usually quite clear on strategic intent, but a bit woolly on the specifics of success measurement. The Hidden Truth Sponsorship Directors often know more about sponsorship than their Brand or Marketing superiors (as they should), so they can often get away with showing some supposedly impressive exposure or engagement metrics and call it success. How many sponsorship execs or agencies assess what they’ve delivered and conclude/report that ‘this isn’t working’? It’s not unusual for a sponsorship (or any marketing initiative) to fall short of its intent, so why is this so rarely reported? I’ve been there, seen it, done it. Post-rationalisation is the norm. The problem with the typical ‘rose-tinted specs’ approach is that it is purely defensive. A performance measurement system is supposed to inform on the success or failure of performance with the intent to improve performance going forward. A defensive approach - especially in sponsorship - achieves the exact opposite. Defensive measurement is designed to make sure things stay the same. “Oh look, that was good. This sponsorship did what it was supposed to do. We were right to do what we did. We should keep doing the same thing with the same people.“ Job secure. Agency retained. Nothing learned. Mediocrity assured. The Better Way As young modern brands and organisations step into the fray, I hope they’re taking a more mature adult approach to sponsorship performance measurement. The childish strategic position would simply state ‘We’re going to use this sponsorship to increase brand awareness and drive engagement with new prospective customers.’ OK, but what are the specific brand strategy-linked metrics that will determine success? Will they be measured along the way, and can those interim measurements be used to demonstrate agility and tweak the activation plan? Sometimes - usually with more established brands - this happens as it should. However, too often there is a fear that the measurement will only be used to expose poor decisions and incompetence. Or worse, to justify budget and headcount cuts. While the sponsorship is being measured, it is the agency and/or sponsorship execs that are being judged. This totally misses the point. Sponsorship measurement must be treated more like a science lab than a courtroom. When a scientist tests the impact of a new drug compound on a lab rat, the scientist doesn’t get fired if the drug isn’t efficacious. Instead, the results are treated as insight to improve the next execution. The knowledge and security of this approach gives the scientist (or the sponsorship exec/agency) the freedom to make changes and put forth a better, improved plan. Framework First The even more mature and evolved approach is when the measurement framework itself is discussed and debated BEFORE the activation plan is set. This debate should occur not only within the sponsorship team, but with the wider marketing team and any involved external agencies. This has several distinct benefits: 1) Buy-In - when all stakeholders are involved in the up-front measurement debate, they are all essentially bought in to the partnership. Any obvious strategic challenges or issues are cleared up early and the investment responsibility is shared. The whole project is now being measured, not just a few individuals. 2) Prioritisation - the early framework discussion assures that the strategic priorities are clear and agreed before the activation plan is set and spend is committed. The last thing you want is an agreed list of 5 objectives but with widely differing views on which are most important. 3) Measurable - this discussion also assures that you are going to judge this sponsorship on things that can actually be measured. I’ve seen plenty of instances where a small-ish brand wants to ‘improve perception’ without a clear idea of how that will be defined. 4) Agility - when this framework discussion happens early, you build in valuable agility that can be employed when the unexpected comes into play. If the board mandates a 10% budget cut, you know exactly what your outcome priorities are as well as where you can and can’t afford to cut. The broad lesson here is to get out in front of the measurement early. The sooner you start the process and the more stakeholders you involve in establishing the measurement framework, the less you have to fear. The measurement and insight become your friend, not your jury. On the other hand, if you wait until the campaign is finished - or even started - this is like giving the students an exam before they’ve had the lectures... and then letting them grade their own papers based on their own opinions. They’re sure to get a passing grade, but they haven’t learned shit. Another related ugly truth is that sponsorship can sometimes be the unwanted stepchild of the marketing plan. It often doesn’t have the budget that advertising does, and the fact is that many Marketing heads don’t really understand or buy into how or if it works. This is partly because few sponsorships lend themselves to clear econometric models that can show a legit ROI. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work! In fact, I’m one of the ones that says sponsorship - done properly - works BETTER than other traditional marketing. It’s just harder to measure. My point here isn’t just to say, “you people need to start measuring your sponsorships better.” That’s been said a million times already. What I’m suggesting is that sponsorship measurement needs a makeover. It should be viewed and approached from a different perspective. To use a buzz word from days gone by, a paradigm shift is in order. ​ So, stop indulging this phobia by lying to yourself about why and how you measure sponsorship performance. Rather, take a step to the side and view your measurement rationale from a different angle. Get started on this early and sell the idea that you will be measuring for the purpose of strategic improvement, not professional judgement. This brings a true win-win approach. It makes the difficult/sensitive questions easier for everyone, and it allows you to focus your fear and anxiety on more rational things... like heights, and snakes, and buttons. Or something more real, like nomophobia. Bruce Cook is a Consultant in Sport Sponsorship, Marketing & Insight

“If you don’t invest 5% of your budget in research, you don’t know what you’re doing” This was the headline that caught my attention from a recent article for Marketing Week by Mark Ritson. He wrote, when he shared the article on LinkedIn; when you invest 5%... “... the remaining 95% will work much better, much harder than a mindless 100% spent on execution without insight.” Yes. Bingo. This is the whole point of measurement & evaluation (M&E). It’s something I’ve been saying for years and even wrote the very same back in May 2019 Good M&E is not to be feared – it should be embraced, because it: Provides confidence, reassurance and direction as it positively informs planning and decision making which all but guarantees improved performance. In other words; Investment in good M&E powers the performance of your sponsorship, making it more effective and efficient. Evidence from running M&E’s for multiple brands shows that the ‘much better, much harder’ that Mark Ritson refers to above, are significant improvements to brand and business outcomes, e.g. brand equity, stakeholder relationships and in some cases sales. These outcomes are achieved because of better insights. Insights that lead directly to more realistic objectives, better strategies and more meaningful and attention-grabbing and engaging communications and activations. Unfortunately, the sponsorship sector has always had, and continues to have, a pretty relaxed attitude to M&E. This does a considerable disservice to the very brands that underpin it. Luckily, achieving a good M&E programme is not difficult. It just requires: 1. The Right Mindset: This is the start point. It’s a choice between wanting to justify your decisions were right or wanting to learn and improve. I highly recommend the mind-set advocated by the Prof. Byron Sharp. When he was asked to identify the best traits of a marketer, he suggested they adopt; ‘an open and sceptical mindset and demand evidence even for things they themselves believe and be willing to change their minds in light of evidence...’’ Sure, it’s much easier and cheaper to find the metrics and methodologies that prove or validate what a wonderful investment you’ve made. However, having the confidence to learn, to be challenged and identify both the good and the less good will ultimately deliver more for you and your business. 2. Objectivity & Independence: Put simply: - Avoid using parties with a vested interest in the outcome of the M&E (e.g. rights owners, sales or activation agencies) – there’s little value in them marking their own homework - Avoid flawed methodologies that have an in built positive bias e.g. assessing brand metrics through the lens of people aware of your sponsorship and comparing them to people not aware. Measuring aware v unaware may seem intuitively correct and enlightening. But, when you unpick how this works, it’s not. Take note of the ‘Rosser Reeves Fallacy’ which I explain in more detail in an earlier UP Yours post Further, to optimise learnings and improvements, your good M&E programme will consist of more than market research. All aspects of your programme should be assessed to provide context and direction. As a starter this will include; your objectives, strategy and messaging as well as activation and amplification programmes and associated outputs. Leave no stone unturned as 80% of performance improvements are derived from more effective strategies and planning! 3. A Proper Budget: If spending 5% of your budget on effective M&E enabled the other 95% to work much better and much harder, why wouldn’t you spend it? But don’t worry because 5% will be at the very top end of requirements. The start point should always be to optimise the data sources available to the brand, before rushing out and buying more. ​ If the brand has a robust tracking study, other customer and stakeholder surveys as well as access to a whole raft of digital data and broadcast data then a large element of the expense is already covered. Utilise what’s available and supplement to add diagnostic capabilities. If there’s a robust brand tracker an additional 2 or 3 questions (asked correctly and in the right place) is a great starting point. By way of example. When British Gas were sponsoring British Swimming between 2009 and 2015 annual expenditure on a continuous M&E programme averaged c.2% of activation spend. 4. Actionable Recommendations Finally, your good M&E programme will provide you with a series of evidenced based strategic and tactical recommendations. Clearly, you can choose to ignore them. However, if you’ve adopted the mindset advocated by Byron Sharp, you will act on the results and improve the performance of your sponsorship. Good M&E is not particularly threatening or expensive and it has the capability to transform outcomes. It should no longer be a discussion avoided or treated as an after-thought. Sponsorship M&E should be treated as an investment and discussed and budgeted at the planning stage. It should be embraced, welcomed and encouraged and it’s high time that brands demanded it and that the sponsorship sector championed it. Ian Thompson is an Independent Sponsorship Auditor & Strategist PS. He has written before for the Unofficial Partner about M&E check out; Sponsorship’s Biggest Challenge & Too Self-interested to Change

Now in its third year, Gary Linke’s (AKA The Missing Linke) list of favourite deals will provide an amusing antidote to the pessimists who believe that sponsorship may have had its day and the market will come crashing down! Despite the tighter regulations on gambling brands, the failure of FTX in Crypto and the difficulties in demonstrating ROI beyond media value, deals do get done. As with 2020 and 2021, The Top 10 does not cover “influencers” eg. Neymar and Mister Potato (EMW Global) or renewals and extensions eg. Standard Chartered and Liverpool FC. These are all great deals, but not for the Top 10. Deals are listed in alphabetical order. 1) Booking.com and Manchester Pride - Not just ticking the box This partnership works on so many levels and is not just a statement or a CSR initiative to display a logo and a website link. Booking.com has opened a new UK HQ in Manchester for up to 3,000 staff and has supported Pride celebrations in Amsterdam which is the home of it’s global HQ. For those that like mission statements, Booking.com “make it easier for everyone to see the world”. They run a “Travel Proud” programme with the aim of making travel a more welcoming and inclusive experience for LGBTQ+ people. The partnership with Manchester Pride included 100 employees based in Manchester walking in the march for peace parade. This partnership is certainly about “walking the walk” and not just “talking the talk”. 2) Coca-Cola and Several Football Clubs – “The European Super League Bundle” I always like a 'football brand' revisiting their former glories and dispelling the myth that sponsoring clubs causes their consumers to take their mouths elsewhere. See a previous UP Yours blog post of mine. In this case, from my perspective, Coca-Cola had 'moved on' after not extending their EFL naming rights deal in 2010 after six seasons. According to feedback, whilst World Cups, Olympics, RWC and UEFA European Championship and pouring rights were retained, the new shiny thing was music and other Gen Y activities in the UK. Examples were Dizzee Rascal and V Festival. Coca-Cola also sponsored the London Eye from 2015 to 2020. Guessing that as it is harder to reach Gen Z through a fragmented music industry from a band/festival partnership, the answer to ROI and brand metrics is to partner with football clubs. Certainly, Octagon with Phil Carling’s view that football is delivering the eyeballs across all media, so 'box clever' and activate wisely and you will engage with more mouths? So, from 2023 Coca-Cola have their own “Super League of Partnerships” consisting of Bayern, Juventus, Liverpool, PSG and Spurs to provide match-day and hospitality experiences, unique moments with players and limited- edition merchandise. I am also sure the Cadbury pivot from also being a Premier League Partner showed the way with on-pack offers, club licensed packs and point of sale generating more shelf space. ​ 3) GOAT and The PSG Sleeve - Sneakers brand finds a wider fitting Premium rights owners are delighted when they unravel a new major partner that is under the radar and not on the “Salesforce” hit-list. When this fashion collaboration in Paris with US based GOAT was announced I had to do some research. Sometimes the press release can be the best source: “GOAT is the leading and most trusted sneaker marketplace in the world, and has expanded to offer apparel and accessories from select emerging, contemporary and iconic brands." Not for the first time, the stylish club PSG have hit the fashion button with their award-winning collaborations with Nike and Air Jordan as well as the Verdy and Nana-Nana brands. Their global following with the fashion creds of Paris and major global stars provides a strong retail marketing and licensing platform that is the envy of many looking to attract a younger audience. In this case, the actual GOAT Lionel Messi certainly offers activation possibilities that most creatives would have no trouble generating strong content from, but does help when you can do this... The PSG Chief Partnerships Officer, Marc Armstrong is known in London for his stints with the FA, NFL and NBA and from a brand perspective, PSG and GOAT is a smart move. 4) Go Puff and The O2 Arena - The Backstage pass Food Delivery is my favourite category and I'm pleased that the new entrants are still “appy” to invest in sports and entertainment partnerships. The O2 may not offer a regular TV audience for live events but attracts 8 million visitors a year and has first party data and access to tickets and experiences for their strong list of brand partners. The idea of a food delivery partnership is to integrate Go Puff into the live event experience through 'click and collect' of food and beverages that helps increase the spend per head on the night. Also, Go Puff provide food and beverages to the performing artists and roadies so potential content and stories might be available dependent on their tastes. Some music buffs may recall the “No brown M & M’s” contractual obligation from Van Halen which was in fact a shrewd move designed to ensure that concert organisers had read the staging agreement! With the intense competition in the football space, Go Puff have resisted the temptation to “Go Football” and have also have partnered with the Accor Arena in Paris. With a younger core audience, music works well for people that want their groceries now and Go Puff have been able to attack London and Paris which are the two key cities for the more food delivery established players. 5) Gtech and the Brentford Stadium - Naming Rights “ Who are You”? As the popular terrace chant goes of 'WhoRYa', Gtech hoovered up Brentford’s Community Stadium to become The Gtech, or the full title of The Gtech Community Stadium. With an extensive hit-list of brands to contact for the naming rights, one can guess that Gtech, who also produce lawnmowers, did not make the first “cut” as sales people “trimmed down” the runners and riders. Nick Grey, founder and inventor of Grey Technology and a West Brom fan told the Athletic that this 10-year commitment was based on Brentford FC being an interesting club that do things differently. With Gtech being a relatively niche UK brand the global reach of the Premier League enables the company to help increase overseas distribution plus the stadium has the added benefit of London Irish Rugby Union team playing there too. Of course, some deals do need an extra twist and it was Peter Wright, who was recruited in-house to sell the naming rights that turned the lights on. Pete had been with the FA and after a stint in NZ had Nick’s number on speed dial. With the Brentford community led credentials and a strong leadership team under CEO Jon “Reg" Varney, Nick has gone on record that his colleagues were very impressed with the way the club uses data and insights and the success of the owner too. I do think that whilst this is not the most logical fit having two entities that respect and care for each other as long- term partners will develop into a fruitful marriage. 6) M & S and the Home Nations – Eat Well and Play Well I know that Richard Ames- Head of Commercial Acquisitions” at the FA after lots of strategic work is especially proud of this purchase by a company who have historically ensured the England Team is “suited and booted” for the big tournaments. Much more meets the eye here as not only has one of Britain’s most famous and successful retailers (we are a nation of shop-keepers) partnered with the Scottish, Welsh and the Irish FA but they have focused on food (and drink) which is a growth business for M & S who also have their Ocado partnership. The launch and subsequent marketing campaigns have encouraged more healthy eating for M & S staff, suppliers and shoppers in the UK across 2,000 products using a seal of approval on-pack. Activation is key in any partnership and with the success of the Lionesses, the M & S ambassador Ian Wright has also now become a big advocate of Women’s Football too. With HFFS regulations beginning to impact on media advertising I feel more food and drink retailers and manufacturers will be considering sports partnerships, especially women’s sport to deliver awareness as well as position their products as healthy and part of a lifestyle that should also include physical activity 7) Robinsons and The Hundred – “New Balls Please” The ECB, in the marketing plan that underpinned The Hundred stated that the new format would lead to new brands investing in cricket. CSM have done a great job and despite covid and a very full cricket calendar of international and T20 have delivered another established and loved fmcg brand in the shape of a bottle of Robinsons. The 8 team sponsors enable KP Snacks to utilise their crisp portfolio and increases awareness for some brands that have relatively smaller budgets e.g. Tyrells, Pom Bear and Popchips to receive coverage on free to air and SKY as well as come together for on-trade and off-trade marketing. Robinsons also offer a great portfolio of soft drinks and whilst Robinsons Barley Water seemed to have had a marriage with the All England Club during Wimbledon fortnight to a global audience the Hundred offers coverage in England and Wales and key cricket markets. Robinsons can utilise the partnership to host competition winners and their trade customers in and around 8 key cities. That said, Wimbledon is an iconic tournament and I am sure some retail customers have great memories of watching Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray on Centre Court as well as the numerous winners of the Ladies Singles over the last 20 years. ​ 8) Starling Bank and Southampton FC Women - Extra Interest to go it alone After their national sponsorship of the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, Starling showed their commitment to women’s football partnering with a Premier League women’s team as a stand-alone property to become their principle partners. Southampton’s women’s team are now full-time and play in the FA Women’s Championship following back-to-back promotions and have seen a 120% increase in season ticket sales. They have shown leadership to grow the women’s game and all games are played at St Mary’s Stadium (capacity of over 32,000). Starling are clearly a “challenger bank” in terms of technology and also have a strong CSR positioning and their ambassador is Jill Scott MBE, former Lioness and recent I'm a Celebrity Winner. Sarah Batters, Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Southampton FC is a leading advocate for more women being employed in the sports business community. . 9) Spotify and Barcelona – Music and Football Set Up Camp A lot has been written on this one as a first of its kind, so I hope to provide my own twist. Only global brands “move the needle”, according to someone at Spotify’s US office, as they look to acquire more subscribers through sport. Barca is certainly that, and the added asset of the rebranded 'Spotify Camp Nou' along with the shirt, training shirts and audio partnership across men’s and women’s teams is a big download. Spotify’s Chief Freemium Business Officer, Alex Norstrom said it is about “connecting fans with artists of every kind”. He added “as we look to grow the Spotify brand worldwide, there are few partners that have the scale and global reach” The financial challenges to Barcelona in terms of debt are well documented and this iconic club have mortgaged their future by selling their future broadcast rights for the next 25 years! Despite an exit from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, Barca sit top of La Liga. Whilst Spotify might be happy with the recent Barcelona signings, it is all quiet at the Spotify Nou Camp with Coldplay and Harry Styles playing several dates at the Olympic Stadium, also in Barcelona, next summer. One to watch - I am an advocate of “form is temporary and class is permanent” . ​ 10) Uber Eats and YCCC - A slow burner to bring the restaurants to the crease You’ve had to wait to number 10 for me to feature one of my own “home-made” deals as I returned to Leeds which is where I lived for my school days (I am a Mancunian by birth). The initial intro took place before some well-documented serious issues at Yorkshire Cricket Club that led to a government enquiry and subsequent reforms. Tom Webster reconnected with the Yorkshire Business unit of Uber Eats and in cricket terms a partnership was developed based on clear ROI objectives of helping Uber Eats encourage restaurants to sign up exclusively to the Uber Eats app/marketplace. Sometimes, as an introducer to deals it is best to let nature take its course between the rights owner and the brand. Keep the scoreboard moving and not look to declare in cricket terms. For those that follow me, 2022 has been a series of five and six figure deals with collaborations featuring a bowling line up of Michael Rocha Keys, Ian Tussie, Nat Coombs, Robin Shelley in a balanced attack taking the wickets of Draft Kings, Footium, Smash Casino and Utilita which shows collaboration is working for me. Onto 2023 with a good pipeline and best of seasonal wishes to everyone in the partnership game and especially all those who follow Unofficial Partner! Gary Linke is the Owner of The Missing Linke

Many of us in the sports industry have been talking about Qatar for years. Now, less than a week away from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, it appears the rest of the world has woken up. A conundrum posed in a recent UP Newsletter - 7 Gifs of a World Cup ambush - made the following point regarding the narratives that media arriving in Qatar may now be looking for: First job is to get some local colour on tape, for use in telling the authentic story of football in the area: Local kids playing footy in back alleys; old players telling tales of their enduring relationship with the host city; a bit of poverty porn. Etc. Problem is, those stories don’t exist in Qatar. Or if they do, they ain’t getting told anytime soon. As someone who has personally unearthed these stories, I would beg to differ. These stories (people!) really do exist. You just have to know where to find them… We rarely hear from those who have been most impacted by Qatar’s hosting of the World Cup (and the country’s laws, culture and politics): the people who actually live and work there. Jasira Sirajudeen from Kerala in India. She was a Fan Support Volunteer during the FIFA Arab Cup at Al Thumama stadium. Credit: Inamul Hasan Najeemm With a few standout exceptions (e.g. hummel), brands in particular seem reluctant to talk in-depth about Qatar, often because there is a lack of deep knowledge and understanding about the country, and the fact it is located in a part of the world with many complicated issues layered on top of one another. Without a clear opinion or message, it is easier to stay silent or just dismiss (or attack) Qatar. The reality, as always, is more complex. But don’t just take my word for it. At Goal Click - a global storytelling platform and network I founded in 2014 and have previously written about for this blog - we aim to inspire understanding of one another through the universal language of football. We do that by finding and telling the authentic human stories that the sports world craves. And we do it all over the world, from refugee camps in Jordan and LGBTQ+ players in England, to women’s football in Iran and grassroots communities in Brazil, Sierra Leone, and Qatar. Reem Al-Haddad’s father teaches her brother the proper traditional way of tying the cultural dress “thobe” in order to allow for more comfortable play at Sealine desert. Credit: Reem Al-Haddad Back in 2019, we first shone a light on Qatari football culture and in 2022, in collaboration with The Sports Creative and Qatar Foundation, we launched GOALS - a series of powerful, unfiltered and diverse stories from people living and working in Qatar. From workers and students to artists and football coaches, people representing more than 20 nationalities - the majority of whom are women - have been documenting their own perspectives on football culture in Qatar, community, and life in the year of the World Cup. All of us have a view on the issues facing Qatar. But without the voices of the people living in the country, the conversation is incomplete. No brand seems to be speaking to them or giving them a platform (yet). When was the last time you heard from a Ghanaian electrician? Much has been said about the treatment of migrant workers - and clearly there have been (and still remain) issues - but if you ask Richmond Etse, an Electrical Technician working at EMCO, he has felt welcome in Qatar and is able to pursue his dream to buy a home for his family in Ghana, while rediscovering his passion for football. Likewise, Sirajul Islam - a Bangladeshi who moved to Doha in 2015 as a construction labourer - found new opportunities to gain a coaching qualification and is now training a team in the Bengali Community League. A pre-match opening prayer of NAAAS Strikers during a workers’ tournament in Asian City. The players come from Ghana and Kenya. Credit: Inamul Hasan Najeem The rights of women and girls rights are another key topic, but if you read Reem Al-Haddad’s story she explains that “Qatar has many laws in favour of women, women do make their own decisions, and many women are taking leadership roles and have high quality education.” Our storytellers like Iranian coach Mahboobeh Razavi tell us that women’s football is thriving in the country and “there is a bright future ahead”. Perhaps we are not too far away from a Qatari bid for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Unusual spectators: Camels in Mesaieed Desert keenly observe a cameleer practicing his football skills. Credit: Mehreen Fazal The fact is, despite never having as many channels for communication, we still live in a world where many voices are overlooked, marginalised or silenced. For that reason, the FIFA World Cup in Qatar has shown why the need for authentic first-person storytelling is greater than ever. Our series explores the perspectives of migrant workers, Qatari and non-Qatari women, and volunteers at the Afghan Compound (after Qatar airlifted 80,000 Afghan evacuees from the country following the Taliban takeover in 2021). The first World Cup in an Arabic country reflects the current direction of football and sport. The complex issues it raises challenges everyone involved in the game. It is only going to continue and it does not stop when the tournament ends in Qatar. Contrary to FIFA attempts to ‘focus on football’, we at Goal Click believe now is exactly the right time to speak about these issues, the progress that has been made, but most importantly the change that still needs to happen (and be maintained). The Palestinian team eagerly watching their counterparts at the 2022 Street Child World Cup. Credit: Marwa Abdalla The World Cup in Qatar has accelerated social change and Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have acknowledged progress. Regardless of whether it has been ‘forced’ or not, change is happening and that is what our storytellers have told us. For example, British-Pakistani Mehreen Fazal, who had negative experiences with racism in football when growing up in the UK during the late 1980s, first visited Qatar in 2007 and moved permanently in 2020. Mehreen, who volunteered at the Afghan Compound, says the tournament has, “enabled the development of an enduring human rights legacy, which should influence positive social reform in the entire region.” A silhouette of my cousin Turki showing off his skills at sunset at Al Gharrafa Park. Credit: Haya Al Thani This really is worth bearing in mind when considering the legacy of this World Cup globally. If post-Qatar, a similar level of scrutiny continues in the world of sport on all events, sponsors, and governing bodies - with human rights as the fundamental prism by which we pass judgement - it may be looked back on as a watershed moment. No brand or person can change the world on their own. But we can all help create a necessary debate about human rights in all countries and in this case, the experiences of people in Qatar. But the best way to understand people is to hear directly from them. And locally, the truth is, the impact and legacy of the World Cup has been far greater than many realise. You just need to speak to the right people to understand how. Matthew Barrett is the Founder of Goal Click. Visit the Goal Click website to view the GOALS series in full and follow @goalclick. The GOALS Exhibition takes place from 16 November to 10 December in Education City at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar.

There is an age-old saying in cricket that “catches win matches”, something that has long been accepted as a universal truth. Certainly, dropping your opponent’s best batter or putting down a chance in a critical moment is a surefire way to sabotage the possibility of your team winning. But whilst we celebrate the best batters and bowlers in the world, the art of fielding is undervalued and often ignored. Not since the late 1990s when Jonty Rhodes patrolled the point region for the South African national team has a player been selected primarily for their fielding above their ability with bat or ball – and specifically, in preference of another player who is known to be superior in either of those other skillsets. For batters and bowlers there are traditional statistical performance indicators including average and strike rate. Players not performing at expected levels are critiqued and their value to the team questioned. The selection narrative is a big driver of clicks for cricket media. No such valuation existed to assess fielding performance – what we refer to as the third discipline of the game. So, in order to drive a greater appreciation of fielders amongst the fans and highlight the contribution they make to a match, Sportradar collaborated with the International Cricket Council (ICC), to develop an objective statistical measure that could be applied to fielding performance. To do this, objective analysis was required to determine what attributes make for a good fielder. Capturing the success rate of catches and run out attempts was obvious, but what of other fielding actions? It was agreed that the skill of throwing, the fielder’s ability to put pressure on the batters and runs saved were worthy of assessment when determining fielding performance. An algorithm was defined giving weighting to specific fielding actions and backtested for matches played during the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the lead up to the 2022 event held in Australia. The algorithm calculates points awarded to players for taking catches, effecting run outs, good throws, saving runs and putting pressure on the batters. Conversely it deducts points from players for dropped catches, missed run out attempts, poor throws and conceding runs for their team. Each of these fielding events are rated on their difficulty – for example, the taking of a simple catch is weighted less than a brilliant catch that had a lower probability of success. During the 2022 Mens ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, Sportradar had an additional data journalist in venue to capture the shape of the field and fielding data points to further inform the algorithm. By the end of the Super 12 phase of the tournament, the points were tallied to determine the most effective fielding teams and individual fielders. Proving that catches do indeed win matches, tournament winner England was found to be the superior fielding team during the Super 12 phase of the tournament amassing twice as many points than 2nd ranked Pakistan. A significant reason for this was, extraordinarily, England did not drop a catch (taking 26 from 26) during this phase of the tournament. England also rated elite for fielding pressure with a tournament high 25 pressure events. So who is the best fielder in the world? From an individual player perspective, Australia’s Glenn Maxwell (44 points) and England’s Liam Livingston (37) gave new meaning to the term ‘all-rounder’ with superior performances in the field. Maxwell took two catches, effected two run outs and performed a tournament-high eight pressure moments during this phase of the tournament. Interestingly, both players mostly fielded at deep mid-wicket for their respective teams – a known hot zone in T20 cricket. Sportradar is excited to be at the forefront of sports analytics innovation in cricket. We expect elite teams to use these insights to inform team selection – especially in the T20 format where a few runs can be the difference between winning and losing – and to inform and assess fielding strategy. And for cricket fans, fielding ranking data will inform debate in pubs, loungerooms and commentary boxes worldwide. Super 12 Rankings Top 5 Team Fielding Ranking: England (215 points), Pakistan (115), South Africa (108), Netherlands (105) & New Zealand (102). Top 5 Player Fielding Ranking: Glenn Maxwell (44), Liam Livingstone (37), Roelof van der Merwe (31), Glenn Phillips (30) and KL Rahul (30). By Jarod Pickering, the Head of Cricket, Sports Solutions at Sportradar. Jarod was formerly of Cricket Austalia, Jarod has nearly a decade of experience leading the development of digital experiences for cricket fans. A participant of the game for over 20 years, he is now the coach of his son’s Under 14 team helping inspire the next generation of cricketers. Sportradar is the official data supplier for the International Cricket Council. Rankings and insights courtesy of Sportradar’s Zac Goodchild, Event Service and Tournament Statistician, and Prateek Patil, Tournament Statistician.

There are a few things that football fans have to get used to this season. An early start date. A mid-season World Cup. Five substitutes becoming the norm. One thing that stays the same is the influx of new kits on the market. Here, Underdog Sports Marketing founder Ged Colleypriest picks his top ten. Based not on commercial potential but simply the musings of someone who clearly thinks far too much about these things. 1. Crystal Palace Third As a Charlton fan, it speaks volumes about how cool this kit is that I’ve put it at the top of the tree. All three Eagles kits have used a brush stroke styling to inject new life into the red and blue stripes. This looks particularly striking on a black shirt with the Palace sash across it. Sponsor and manufacturer logos are in white, which make sure it doesn’t look too busy. All of which has managed to overcome every partisan bone in my body and give this shirt top spot. 2. Manchester United Away United now have to release kits without the help of full-time sports marketeer/part-time midfielder Paul Pogba. But Adidas designers have been working extra hard to counteract United’s ineptitude on the field in recent years, doing a great job of bringing a contemporary edge to retro designs. This one harks back to the 80s. Long before kits were changed on a yearly basis, United wore the same white away kit for close to a decade. How times have changed. Then again they also didn’t win a league title during that time either, a parallel Erik ten Haag will be hoping to avoid this season. 3. West Ham Home This one is inspired by the early nineties. A weird time when the Hammers were in the second tier. But instantly it takes me back to watching The London Match as a kid on a Sunday afternoon, doing everything possible (short of watching Songs of Praise) to avoid doing my homework. Umbro does nostalgia well and this is another fine effort, that gets a great grade...unlike my homework. PS. If anyone at BAC Windows is reading (if indeed they still exist) you would look perfect on this kit. 4. Fulham Home Ah Fulham, everyone’s favourite away day. Something for everyone. A gastro-burger in Putney or a Weatherspoon’s breakfast in Hammersmith. Cottagers fans get to enjoy these experiences throughout the year and they can do so in style this season with another stripped back classic from Adidas. The little wave pattern on the collar is inspired by the Thames (probably) and the white is so bright and pristine, it’ll look perfect...until you spill your pint down it. Neck Oil Session IPA or Ruddles Best depending on which pub you decided on. ​ 5. Crystal Palace Home If including one Palace kit in the top ten was unexpected, putting in a second one has made me question everything about myself. But, fair play, it’s another cracker. When I’m writing this column in 20 years time (presuming UP don’t ban me from doing it) I’m sure the Eagles will be wheeling out an anniversary kit inspired by this one. My only hope is that Charlton are there to rival it. 6. Brighton Home Year after year, Brighton and Nike seem to churn out real hipster classics. This is another one to add to the list. There’s a real deck chair vibe to this one, and that can only be a good thing. The panel around the American Express branding has created a slightly strange ‘H’ shape. But after lots of unnecessary thought on my part, I’ve concluded that it makes it all the more unique. 7. Aston Villa Away Castore’s first foray into Premier League kits ((Wolves and Newcastle last term) left me feeling a bit cold. But their efforts this year are much stronger. Pick of the bunch is this Villa change kit. Thin stripes offer a slight contrast on the sky blue shirt. All the detailing including the club crest and sponsor is in claret, which looks really clean. A slight bugbear is that the shorts are blue as well rather than claret but nonetheless a fine effort. Oh and if you haven’t seen it, the club shop also sells a Hawaiian shirt in club colours. A perfect present for the Villa-loving party animal in your family. Or the unsuspecting Birmingham City supporting stag being forced into fancy dress. 8. Brentford Home There’s lots to love about Brentford. Great new stadium (even if it doesn’t have a pub on each corner), great community ethos and a great relationship with their fans. Something that is reflected in their decision to extend their kit cycles to every two years. Plus they have priced the shirts really competitively. As for the actual jersey, it’s a safe but solid effort. Red and white stripes, black shorts are a classic combo. The aggressively large bookie logo is jarring, as is the crypto branding on the sleeve. The kids version shows how good it could look with more subtle sponsor placement. 9. Manchester City Home Much to love here. The rounded collar. The burgundy trim. The badge in the centre. The fact it’s inspired by the Colin Bell era. A time when players wore heavy cotton or wool shirts. Part of me would love to see Jack Grealish have a game in one of those jerseys, on a wet and windy Wednesday in Wolverhampton (the 2022 equivalent of Tuesday in Stoke, surely). Either way, I’m sure he’d look the part on and off the ball. 10. Spurs Home Daniel Levy will be hoping to sell a load of shirts with Richarlison on the back to offset some of the £60m spent on the Brazilian (putting aside the economics of shirt sale profit margins, for the sake of this crowbarred introduction). To be fair, when it looks this good, there’s every chance that it’ll be a hit in the clubshop. No messing about from Nike, brilliant white with nice detailing on the collar and sleeve trim. As sparkling as Levy would like to see the balance sheet. Ged Colleypriest is the founder of Underdog Sports Marketing

Whilst a day doesn’t seem to go by without seeing or hearing about Cazoo or Cinch at some sports event or festival, I do question the sponsorship heavy strategy of these two new kids in the very competitive used car sector. If you’re not familiar with their investments in sponsorship here’s a quick summary of the last few weeks, we’ve had: The Cazoo Derby festival at Epsom (horse racing) in early June The Cinch Championships at Queen’s Club (tennis) & Isle of Wight Festival (music) More Cinch with the England v NZ test series & England v Indian test match (cricket) Then Cazoo with Wales v South Africa (rugby) For the rest of July there are multiple music festivals, golf, more cricket, more rugby and even fishing. As far as I can ascertain these two new brands are sponsoring at least 20 teams, events or championships and I’d estimate they must be spending in excess of $100m combined on rights fees. On top of this they’re amplifying their investments and spending heavily on broadcast, print, OOH and digital advertising. When I consider the capabilities of sponsorship (i.e. what it can achieve) against the business challenges faced by these two new brands, with their entirely new propositions, I keep asking myself: How on earth can this level of investment in sponsorship be an effective and efficient use of marketing $’s? Sure they’ve got deep pockets and just maybe their sponsorship investments helped to support their recent funding rounds. But beyond this? It’s my view that their scatter gun approach, where they’ve labelled multiple disconnected assets with no obvious connection to their category, is more wishful thinking than strategic. Sponsorship will not deliver the scope of messaging required to catch attention, increase understanding of what they do, how they do it and why theirs is a better alternative to your local car dealer or one of the established used car retail groups. The sheer volume of brand exposure they’ve achieved through their sponsorship investments may have made us more aware of their names when we’re prompted to recall them by a market researcher. ​ This though is not enough. Because this level of expenditure requires significantly more than some prompted recall. Have these investments made us any more familiar with their proposition? Or made the brands more likeable? Or made us feel closer to them? Or more likely to consider them compared to the established market? Whilst I can’t answer all of these questions, as I’ve not run a category focussed tracker, I can report, using You Gov’s most popular brand data for Q1 ’22 data that it appears to be a bit of a mixed picture: In isolation this looks positive. More people have heard of them, as expected, and their likeability, which is a gateway measure for sponsorship, has increased. However, let’s not forget that this is a very competitive market. As such we must consider the competition. Here are two of the established brands whose marketing budgets combined are a fraction of those of either of the new kids on the block. Based on these numbers it seems that the new kids have achieved a higher level of promoted recall and it’s growing at a faster rate. They’re not there with likeability and worryingly likeability is not increasing any faster than the competition. Which suggests the sponsorship is doing little beyond providing visibility. Worse still - the established brands have net likeability scores (people who like v people who dislike the brand) of 14% & 16% - which are significantly higher numbers than the new kids of +5% & -3%! Not a great return from $100,000,000’s of investment! Of course you could argue that I’m being overly harsh. They’re new brands. They’re disruptors. They’ve got to invest big. They need time. Blah blah blah Well yes, I agree. But they have to invest smart and this is where their strategy for sponsorship and therefore marketing appears flawed. ​ Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that these two brands realise that this level of sponsorship investment is not the answer to their particular problems at the moment. More emphasis on sponsorship might be right further down the line – but for these two it might be too late! Ian Thompson Independent Sponsorship Auditor and Strategist

Very few industries impact the economy and society as strongly as sports. As an industry, sport contributes £39 billion to the UK’s economy. It contributes both directly (jobs creation) and indirectly by creating a healthier population and reducing crime. More so, there are studies that highlight the fans’ desire for their teams to champion social causes. When the pandemic started to engulf the world in 2020, I was busy working on my research project at university. My topic? Transformative Services and Value Creation in Sports! Two years and several lockdowns later, it seems a good time to evaluate my research and the framework I proposed against the evidence at hand. The question then arises, have sport organisations been doing enough and have they played their part in positively impacting the society? Firstly, in my opinion, transformative services are rarely created in isolation but are influenced by external factors. I captured this in a ‘value creation’ framework, depicting how societal factors and the capabilities of the service provider have an important influence on the creation and perception of a value proposition. For instance, the role of sports as a vehicle for community welfare was reaffirmed during the Covid pandemic, with clubs up and down the country providing essential support for vulnerable families in their communities. From donating essential supplies and converting their stadia into vaccination centres to video calls from players and virtual engagements, clubs chipped in with whatever they could. Even the ‘Taking the Knee’ movement was reflective of the increased awareness of racial discrimination in the society. Arsenal FC’s ‘No More Red’ campaign is another prime example of the social factors influencing the club’s actions. Similarly, the awareness of the need for equality and the importance of women in society and sport, led to various campaigns and services designed by clubs all over the globe. FC Barcelona have proven to champion this cause with their ‘More than Empowerment’ movement. This aligns with their value of being ‘More than a Club’ and reinforces influence of organisational context and values on the services it designs- an important component of my research driven framework. Yes, the values and vision of the club play their part, but can positive impact be made by collaborating with fans themselves? Academics term this as ‘co-creation’ and it’s a powerful means to create and sustain value. The final game of Real Betis FC saw 19,000 soft toys thrown onto the pitch, as requested by the club, to be donated to kids on Christmas. A perfect example of value co-creation for the benefit of a social cause. However, it does challenge the effect of context in my framework as Real Betis were not champions at that point nor were they winning at HT. They are not the biggest club in Spain either, but it shows how involving fans in the value proposition almost negates the other factors. Clubs tend to collaborate with fans mainly during the delivery of the service or to market it. But, it is highly important to involve them in the design phase as well. This creates a high-quality value and ensures authenticity and trust among the fans. Sports organisations, especially football clubs, tend to ignore that and face delivery challenges and negative feedback. So, the question I ask the clubs is how involved is your fan base in creating the campaigns that ultimately are for their benefit? If not enough, it might be time to change your perception from being a service ‘producer’ to a ‘facilitator’ by acknowledging the co-creative role of your fans. Abhyuday SV works as Help Desk Operator at InCrowd Sports

Over the 30 years that I’ve been involved in sponsorship so much has evolved – yet, at the same time, it’s remarkable that some aspects of sponsorship have hardly changed at all. The digital and social media revolution and the resultant availability of data has significantly improved both how marketers understand audiences and amplify messages to them. Yet, there remains a significant amount of uncertainty around how and why sponsorship works and what success looks like. As a result, assumptions that were made 30 years ago are still being repeated today and even certain myths that should have been consigned to the bin are still in evidence. During a recent Unofficial Partner podcast with Richard Gillis, he asked two eminent sponsorship consultants about one of these myths, and I precis… Do the image or values of the sporting organisation rub off or transfer onto the sponsoring brand? It was with a significant amount of disbelief that both guests said YES. What? Had I misheard or had the last 30 years not actually happened? How could this be possible? Let’s be clear on the implications of what the guests said. It’s vital to understand these, especially as they provided no context or caveats. They implied that when a brand sponsors an event or activity the image or values of that event are magically transferred to the brand! Therefore, for example, if your brand sponsors the Olympics, the values of the Olympics will be transferred to your brand. Let’s get real about this. What impression of the Olympics do you have? Remember, it’s our impressions that matter and not what the IOC may claim. The IOC states the Olympic values are: excellence, friendship & respect. I wonder how these played out at recent Winter Olympics in Beijing? Here are two headlines from The Times newspaper: ‘Winter Olympics: IOC just too comfortable living with communism’ (18th Feb ’22) or ‘The entire Olympic movement is now hopelessly contaminated’ (15th Feb ’22). These negative headlines paint a different story about the Olympics to the one the IOC’s values are intended to reflect. So, in this context, what values get transferred and are they desirable? Are all the values transferred equally to all the partners? Common sense, hopefully, suggests it is not quite as simple as the Unofficial Partner guests suggested. Why? Because this train of thought relies on some significant assumptions, including that we consciously or subconsciously: Apply or attribute values to sports organisations in the first place. Which we may at a macro level (e.g. big, sporting, wasteful, tainted etc…), but are unlikely to articulate them unless prompted to do so. Notice the sponsoring brands and then pay attention to them. Some of these brands may be very familiar to us and we’ll have developed memory structures. Whilst others maybe entirely new to us. Assess the image or values that we may, or may not apply, to the sporting organisation against what we know of these brands / our memories of them Revise or update and refresh or confirm our memories of these brands to reflect the new or updated information resulting from the sponsorship Can we really say that all of the above happens regardless of the brand, its category or the type of sporting organisation or entity the brand is sponsoring? Is this possible? Seeking to imbue brands with special values via communications is questioned by Byron Sharp. In How Brands Grow he says, ‘buyers do not need to perceive a meaningful difference (image) to regularly buy a brand’ and that largely, communications do not imbue brands with special values. He says that specific values or attributes are more likely formed via experience. Evidence from evaluating sponsorship over the last 30 years or so indicates that changes to a brands image / values as a result of sponsorship can happen. But, these changes may be pretty small, usually at a macro level and sometimes they don’t move in the expected direction! When attributes are positively affected by a sponsorship it’s almost always as a result of a connection that the audience can easily understand. For example a technology brand sponsoring a technology-led sport, such as – Oracle sponsoring the Red Bull F1 team. These sponsorships, when supported by an effective amplification programme, have proven far more likely to create a balanced relationship and potentially build the ‘memory associations’ that Sharp also refers to in How Brands Grow. Therefore, planning a sponsorship based on value transference appears flawed. It’s over complicating the communications process and is almost certainly asking the audience to join too many dots. Brand equity outcomes from a sponsorship are achievable and they tend to be driven by increased likeability of the brand. Likeability results from an understandable connection with something the consumer is interested in, and cares about, and not as a result of some mythical image or value transference. So, if you’re looking to boost your brand affinity, consideration and potentially sales from sponsorship my advice would be to: Keep things simple Focus on connection and look for balance to increase likeability Remember that the audience cares about the event or entity being sponsored and not your brand, and Consign thoughts or expectations of image or value transference to the bin. Finally, it usually pays to have an independent audit of your sponsorship. An independent audit will be free from bias and will provide an objective assessment and a fresh perspective. Ian Thompson is an Independent Sponsorship Strategist and a regular contributor to Unofficial Partner