The Sports Tie-In PR & Marketing Strategy: A Home Run or Gold Medal? Not Necessarily

Soon it will be time for PR account teams to begin thinking about their 2019 programs.

Almost certainly, agencies will offer up a sports tie-in. It’s almost as certain as the Buffalo Bills not winning this year’s Super Bowl. Too often, the result of a sports tie-in program ends up being a fumble instead of a last-second winning touchdown.

While many account teams are bedazzled at the thought of a sports tie-in, those with extensive experience in sports marketing and PR know there are many traps in sports promotions.

Reasons to Think Twice about Sports Marketing

1-Recommending sports tie-ins exposes an account team’s lack of creativity to the client and agency higher-ups. It’s easy to partner with a sports organization if you can get the client to pony up the money. But wait. There are other reasons to reconsider a sports marketing tie-in:

2-There are so many athletes hawking products that it’s time to revive the old baseball vendor’s cry of, “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard.”

3-Sports marketing tie-ins have a short shelf life, limited to a few weeks prior to an event and a few weeks after. During the actual event, coverage is devoted to what’s happening on the playing fields.

4-History shows that sports tie-ins produce only passing mentions in stories featuring the athlete, usually without any talking points.  

5-Unlike a few decades or so ago, today’s athletes make enough money so they are not afraid to speak out about political and social issues, despite corporations wishing they wouldn’t. The protests by some National Football League players who kneeled and raised fists during the “Star Spangled Banner” are now part of NFL media coverage. And now that Nike has featured Colin Kaepernick in its most recent ad campaign, seemingly without any negative sales effect, football sponsors who would rather not be involved in political disputes have to be prepared for media inquiries about the subject, especially when President Trump increases his denunciations of the protesters as mid-term elections approach.

Because of the Nike campaign, sponsors of all sports should prepare for questions about players’ protests. It’s certain that many sports sponsors will closely follow Nike’s path, which might determine their responses to the media and, perhaps, also advertising messages. For the aggressive sponsor, whose products appeal to younger consumers, the Nike campaign might be seen as a template.

6-During an interview, reporters will try to get an athlete to respond to issues like concussions, standing for the National Anthem, performance-enhancing substances, and whatever other issues might be in the news.

The Case for Being Different

Don’t get me wrong. I am not against sports or sports marketing tie-ins. It’s just that so many are copy cats of previous ones that clients and reporters might say “been there, done that.” Sports marketing programs can differentiate themselves from the run-of-the-mill variety by adding new twists that appeal to the entire media spectrum, not just the sports or marketing media.

My first assignment as a journalist was covering sports. I spent a good portion of my PR career in national and international sports marketing. Both my journalistic and PR experience shows that the way to gain meaningful publicity for a sports marketing program is to think out of the box. A savvy media-oriented account team should be able to do so.

Here are a few examples of programs that resulted in major publicity including client talking points. None broke the client’s bank.

After searching the product catalogue of the client, St. Regis Paper Co., we zeroed in on “Math Baseball,” a flash card game consisting of simple math problems. By answering correctly, the “batter” was awarded a single, double, triple or home run, depending on the difficulty of the questions. Monte Irvin, the baseball Hall of Famer, who then worked in the baseball commissioner’s office, agreed to be the “Math Baseball Commissioner.” He gave interviews on the subject of adding fun to youngsters’ learning experiences. We initially partnered with the New York City Police Athletic League to arrange the first “Math Baseball” game. Irvin was the media draw. The “ballgame” achieved its objective: substantial TV and print coverage on and off the sports pages. We also rolled-out the game to other cities, partnering with major league ball clubs who provided local players as commissioners.

For another client that wanted to promote its television series of sporting events, the gimmick was “how to watch an event on TV.” Because it was sports, it was covered by sports media. However, because of its emphasis about what to look for on TV, it was also covered extensively on TV pages, the prime client target media.

For a distributor of sports programming, the CEO of a sports program provider years ago agreed to our suggestion to speak out against parental involvement in youth sports. It resulted in major national publicity in all facets of the media – and it improved the sports experience for the kids.

A Feel-Good Tie-In

With some creative thinking and planning, it’s still possible to achieve big-time PR success with an athlete as spokesperson for a sports tie-in. First, find an athlete who has an immaculate resume and who believes in the client, its products and its PR program. Then, find a feel-good tie-in. The team PR director is often the entry point for access.

In 1988, the New York Yankees granted the “Make-a-Wish” Foundation request of Jay Handy, a 9-year-old boy suffering from lymphoma. The team allowed the boy to sit in the Yankee dugout and meet Yankee great Don Mattingly. Mattingly gave the boy an autographed ball and took pictures with his family.

The boy was given a 50-50 chance of surviving. He did survive and lived to marry and have children, including a 9-year-old daughter named “Mattingly” in honor of the Yankees player. Handy’s friends arranged a reunion with Mattingly, now manager of the Miami Marlins. They kept the meeting a surprise for Handy until Friday, the anniversary of the Make-a-Wish meeting. For Handy and Mattingly, it was a heart-warming reunion. For Handy’s family, it was a thrill to meet Mattingly.

In national broadcast publicity, Handy sung the praises of “Make a Wish,” Mattingly, the New York Yankees, the Miami Marlins and the cancer centers where he was treated. Now, that’s an unforgettable story and a PR home run for all.

Non-Athlete Spokespersons Can Deliver Benefits

A major mistake made by inexperienced PR account teams is to think that athletes are often the best way to gain publicity for marketing campaigns. That’s not always true. There are many non-athletes who can be productive spokespersons. It all depends on how the PR program is structured. In many cases, a simple tweaking of the program can accommodate varied professionals — psychologists, physicians, historians, trainers, authors or retired journalists — to deliver the client’s message to the sports and non -sports media.

In fact, expert non-athlete spokespersons are often more adapt at delivering client talking points.

I’ve seen more media coverage than I can remember that includes a one-line sentence saying, “Athlete X is a spokesperson for company XYZ.” The PR account executive is proud of the accomplishment. But what good does it do a client to have interviews with athlete spokespersons that are centered on the athlete and do not contain client message points? As far as I’m concerned, those types of stories are worthless.

Tips for Sports Marketing

Here are some pointers to remember when considering a sports marketing program:

• Always consider the audience you’re trying to reach.
• For a commodity product, consider baseball, football and basketball. They appeal to the mass market and are covered year-around.
• Eliminate sports that have limited media converge. These include prize fighting and horse racing. Also avoid newfangled sports that only receive coverage when there are no other sports events to televise.
• If your target audience is the more affluent, consider sports like tennis, polo or golf. These sports are not covered extensively through the year. But they reach an audience that can afford champagne rather than a Coke.
• Before presenting a sports marketing program to a client, make certain that you have positive answers to the following questions:
• How do I know the client is getting its money’s worth?”
• What sports will get the client the most bangs for the bucks?
• Can we develop a program that will have a long shelf life?
• Will the program work without being tied to a mega sporting event?
• Is the program limited only to the sports and trade media?
• Is a sport marketing program the best vehicle for the client?
• Can the program fit into the client’s budget without asking for additional money?
• Will the program reach the client’s desired audience?

And remember: If you have to drag a client into agreeing to a sports marketing program, be prepared for negative feedback if the desired results don’t materialize. If they don’t, your account team and your agency might figure in the “also ran” category, to use a horse racing term.

Bottom Line: Sports tie-ins can work – but hitting a home run is harder than many imagine. So don’t take the easy way out by suggesting a sports program unless it ties-in with the client’s prime marketing objectives. Even if it does, also offer non-sports options to the client. That will show the client and your agency that you can think out of the box.