Helping brands to partner with athletes in their influencer marketing and sponsorship marketing campaigns

The Cost of Partnering with MLB Players

Major League Baseball players are some of the biggest athletes in the world. They're idolized by millions of fans and have a huge influence on popular culture. Working with that level of stardom generally comes with a high price tag, and if you're a brand or company looking to partner with an MLB player, especially smaller early-stage companies, this might be a dream that is out of reach. But is it REALLY? Over the years, the game has evolved and changed, but one thing has remained constant: the importance of sponsorships. Sponsorships are a vital part of the MLB, providing much-needed revenue for teams and players alike. It has also gotten much easier and cheaper through platforms like OpenSponsorship. So how much does it cost to sponsor an MLB player? Let's take a look.

Factors Affecting the Cost of Sponsoring an MLB Player

The cost of sponsoring an MLB player can vary widely depending on a number of factors. The most important factor is undoubtedly the popularity of the player. A superstar like Mike Trout or Felix Hernandez is going to command a much higher sponsorship fee than a fringe player who spends most of his time in the minor leagues.

Other factors that can affect the cost of sponsoring an MLB player include the size and marketability of the player's team, the length of the sponsorship contract, and any special clauses or stipulations that may be included in the contract.

Sponsorship fees also tend to be higher for players who are considered to be "good guys." Players who are known for their community involvement or charitable work are more attractive to potential sponsors than those with checkered pasts or off-field issues. In general, companies are looking for players who will be positive ambassadors for their brands.

How to Find an MLB Player that Fits your Budget

Generally, the standard rate of A-list MLB Players starts at $12,000, however, there are many great ways to find a wider range of athletes that are a better fit for your brand, more affordable, and also have stellar ROI.

You can utilize the Search Feature on OpenSponsorship to search MLB players!

LOW COST (under $2,500):

• Average followers: 200k
• Example: Austin Riley, Atlanta Braves

MID-COST ($2,500 - $10,000):

• Average followers: 1 Million
• Example: Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins

HIGH-COST (over $10,000):

• Average followers: 2.5 Million
• Example: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

Final Thoughts on The Cost of Sponsoring an MLB Player

As explained above, the cost of sponsoring an MLB player can vary widely depending on a number of factors, but it doesn't always have to cost a fortune. It's more about finding athletes that are the right fit for various marketing objectives of the campaigns that companies are looking to run. Companies looking to sponsor an MLB player should consult with experienced professionals like OpenSponsorship to ensure they get the best bang for their buck and athletes who are the right fit for the marketing campaign you are looking to run. Get started and sign up to OpenSponsorship for free!

How to find the right athletes to sponsor for your marketing

Finding the right athlete to sponsor for your marketing campaign can seem daunting, but with the right knowledge and tools (like OpenSponsorship), it can be easy and fun!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for the perfect athletes to partner with

1. Look for an athlete who is relevant to your brand.

Make sure that the athlete you choose is relevant to your brand and what you are trying to promote. For example, if you are a supplements company, sponsoring a gymnast that regularly consumes supplements would be a great fit.

2. Consider the audience you want to reach.

When selecting an athlete, think about the audience you want to reach. If you are looking for younger consumers, sponsorship of an up-and-coming athlete may be a better option than an older, more established one.

3. Consider the image you want your brand to have.

Think about the image you want your brand to have and find an athlete that will help you achieve that goal. For example, if you want your brand to come across as youthful and energetic, sponsoring an athlete with a more upbeat personality might be a good option.

4. Make sure the athlete is credible and relatable.

Sponsoring an athlete who is not credible or relatable can do more harm than good for your brand. Make sure that the athletes you consider are not only good at what they do, but that they are also aligned with your brand's values.

5. Have a clear goal in mind for your marketing campaign.

Before starting your search for an athlete, make sure to have a clear objective in mind for your marketing campaign. This will help make the decision process much easier and ensure that both you and the athlete are on the same page.

Case Study

We recently helped one of our brands, Trago work with one of our athletes, Amanda Ruller for an amazing social media post.

Amanda is a professional football player, Olympic weight-lifting competitor, CrossFit fanatic, personal trainer & the winner of a Hyundai Sonata on The Price is Right TV show! For these reasons, she has a very loyal following of over 90k social media followers and is always looking on OpenSponsorship for the next best brand to promote.

Recently, she applied and was accepted to Trago's campaign on OpenSponsorship. They were looking to give a free bottle ($79 value) in exchange for exposure via social media. Even with her large following, Amanda agreed to post in exchange for free product because of how much she loved the brand!

Trago used OpenSponsorship to drive sales, increase brand recognition, and add a "coolness" factor by partnering with a professional athlete. And this is just one post! They've had more than 20 applications just in the last 2 weeks from more athletes like Amanda.

At OpenSponsorship, we make it easy for brands to find athletes to sponsor for your next marketing campaign. Sign up for free today to get started!

How to Sponsor a 2022 FIFA World Cup Player

As the world’s biggest sporting event, the FIFA World Cup is a coveted opportunity for brands. Every four years, billions of people tune in to watch the best players from all over the world compete for the title of World Champion. And as excitement builds for the next tournament in 2022, brands are starting to wonder how they can get involved.

Sponsoring a player at the FIFA World Cup is a great way to get your brand in front of a massive audience. Not only will your brand be associated with one of the most watched events on TV, but you’ll also be associated with some of the best athletes in the world. But how do you go about sponsoring a player for the 2022 World Cup?

Here are our top tips on how to sponsor a player for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

1. Decide what you want from your sponsorship

Before you start scouting for potential players, take some time to think about what you want from your sponsorship. What are your goals? Do you want to increase awareness of your brand or drive sales? Are you looking for a global ambassador who can represent your company on an international stage? Or are you after a more tactical sponsorship that will directly support your team or individual athletes?

Once you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, you can start tailoring your search accordingly. For example, if you’re looking for a high-profile global ambassador, you’ll need to consider players who are already well-known and have a large following. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a more tactical sponsorship, you could focus on up-and-coming athletes who may not have as big of a following yet but who have the potential to make a big impact in the future.

2. Do your research

The next step is to do your research and find out which players might be available for sponsorship. The best place to start is by looking at the list of national team players who have qualified for the 2022 World Cup. You can find this list on FIFA’s website.

Once you’ve identified some potential candidates, it’s important to do some background research on them. Find out where they play, what their stats are, and what clubs they’re affiliated with. This information will help you decide if they’re a good fit for your brand.

JOIN OUR UPCOMING WEBINAR!

3. Research the players who fit your criteria

Now that you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to do some research on the players who fit your criteria. There are plenty of ways to find information on potential sponsorships –  social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, a simple google search, or good old-fashioned print media! Whichever method you choose, make sure to compile a list of all the relevant information about each player – including their age, nationality, playing position and any major achievements they may have already made.

4. Connect with the right people

Once you’ve compiled your list of potential players, it’s time to start connecting with the right people. This could involve reaching out to agents or PR managers representing the athletes, or getting in touch with the relevant governing body (such as FIFA) for more information on specific players. It’s important that you build positive relationships with these contacts so that they see your brand as reliable and credible – after all, they will be the ones recommending your sponsorship to their clients!

5.Make an offer and negotiate

Finally, it’s time to make an offer and negotiate with the athlete(s) or their representatives. This can be tricky as different athletes will have different price points depending on their level of fame and endorsement deals already in place. However, by using the information from the steps above, you should be able to come up with a figure that is both realistic and fair. Remember to always be prepared to walk away if negotiations get too complicated or expensive!

Sponsoring a player for the 2022 FIFA World Cup can be a daunting task but by following these simple steps, brands can make sure they find the perfect athlete for their needs. Alternatively, OpenSponsorship makes connecting with athletes and running marketing campaigns very easy for brands. We can help you handle the A-Z of sports marketing through our platform and get the most out of your marketing campaigns. Sign up for free here today!

Social Media Deliverables for your Next Marketing Campaign

As a brand, you want to be where your consumers are. And today, more and more of those consumers are spending time on social media. In fact, over two billion people around the world are active on social media platforms. So it's no surprise that social media has become an important channel for brands to reach and engage with their target audiences.

At OpenSponsorship, we understand the importance of social media for brands. That's why we offer social media deliverables as part of our sponsorship opportunities. Some common social media deliverables include Instagram posts, reels, TikToks, YouTube videos, and many more.

Why should brands care about this?

With OpenSponsorship's Social Media Deliverables, you are able to request and obtain exactly what you need for your next marketing campaign. From a simple Instagram post to more complex and specific YouTube videos, brands are able to tailor deliverables that will fit their needs. 

How does it work?

1. Once you create a new social media deliverable, you can select which platforms you'd like this deliverable to be for. From Instagram to Twitch to having no preference of the platform you'd like the deliverable to be for, you can choose your options here.

2. You can further specify the type of posts you'd like to create with the platform you have selected. Some post types will have a follow-up question to better understand your request.

3. You are then able to fill out your desired post details and also edit the deliverable. You can add as many specific details as you'd like to help the content creator have a better and clearer direction of your desired social media post deliverables.

Closing thoughts

At OpenSponsorship, we offer social media deliverables as part of our sponsorship opportunities. This means that brands can get their message in front of fans on their favorite channels, increasing brand awareness and driving traffic to their website or store. To learn more about our social media deliverables and how they can help your brand achieve its marketing goals, book a call with our team today!

The Do's and Don'ts of Working with Professional Athletes

When it comes to marketing your brand, working with professional athletes can be a great way to reach a new and engaged audience. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when planning your campaign. Here are the do’s and don’ts of working with professional athletes:

When Working with Professional Athletes:

Research the athlete: Make sure you know who you’re working with and what they represent. Be sure that their values align with your own and that they have a similar audience to what you’re trying to reach. For example, an athlete who is known for being outspoken and controversial may not be the best fit for a family-friendly brand.Set clear goals: Both you and the athlete should have a good understanding of what you hope to achieve from the sponsorship. What do you want the athlete to do for you? What do you want the audience to take away from the campaign? Create a campaign that is authentic and relevant to the athlete. Don’t just use them as a spokesperson or endorser without thinking about what they stand for.
Work with a sports sponsorship expert: Working with an experienced sports sponsorship expert can help you navigate through this overwhelming process and find the right athlete for your brand. Especially if you’re not familiar with how to work with professional athletes, it can be helpful to work with a company like OpenSponsorship who is. We will be able to help connect you with the right athletes, have transparent rates, and create a plan that will help achieve your goals.

DON’Ts When Working with Professional Athletes:

Set unrealistic expectations: Sponsoring an athlete is not a guaranteed way to sell more products or services. Keep your expectations realistic and remember that it will take time and effort to see real results. 

Work with the wrong athlete: Steer clear of working with an athlete simply because they are popular or have a lot of followers on social media. Make sure their values align with your brand and that they will be able to authentically promote your product or service. Having the right fit is crucially important.

Ambush an athlete: Ambush marketing is where a brand tries to capitalize on the exposure of another brand without their permission or endorsement. This can create negative associations for both brands and can lead to legal troubles.

Give unclear or vague guidelines. Don't expect an athlete to endorse your product or service without any input from you. An endorsement from an athlete is highly valuable, so you should be prepared to give them some input on what you would like them to say or do.

Ignore red flags: If an athlete has a history of bad behavior or if their values don't align with yours, it's best to steer clear. You don't want any negative press associated with your campaign.

Closing Thoughts on Working with Professional Athletes

With all these tips in mind, brands can now work with professional athletes to create successful and authentic marketing campaigns. At OpenSponsorship, we make sports sponsorship easy by allowing brands to post campaigns for athletes to apply to. You can also search our roster of 15,000+ athletes to find the athlete that's the right fit for your campaign. Sign up for free HERE to simplify all your athlete marketing needs!

Athletes are some of the most popular and influential people on social media. It is a given that they generally have a large following of fans who admire and look up to them for their talents in their respective sports. When a brand sponsors an athlete especially on social media, they get access to this massive audience. The athletes can help promote the brand to their followers, which can result in increased awareness and sales for the brand.

Sponsoring an athlete on social media is a great way to connect with their fans and create an authentic relationship with them. The fans will appreciate that the athlete is promoting a brand that they believe in, and they may be more likely to buy products or services from that brand. 

Check out some successful social media campaigns below done by our brands and athletes through OpenSponsorship!

1. Tyson Fury x Raffall

About the brand: SaaS raffle platform allowing you to host raffles and prize competitions online.

Why athletes: Athletes have strong personal connections with their fans, more than a traditional influencer would. Loyal fans create a strong community and will usually get behind and support the athletes’ causes.

Objective/Campaign: We are looking to partner with athletes who would love to create and promote their very own personal and authentic online competition that give their fans the chance to win any kind of prize offered by you.

Results: Fury was able to create an Instagram video to run a raffle for his fans with a chance to win VIP ringside tickets to his sold out fight against Dillian Whyte and a pair of signed gloves.

Success Metrics: Total reach of 5.6 million and 20,000+ likes

2. NFL Athletes x Walmart Fashion

About the brand: Brick & Mortar Retail and Ecommerce.

Why athletes: As the NFL players got ready for the end of the season and their beach breaks, Walmart wanted to showcase their new fashion on these NFL players.

Objective/Campaign: We are looking to partner with NFL athletes who embody the Free Assembly image to create high quality content to position Walmart as a credible fashion destination.

Results: Successfully connected Walmart with professional NBA and NFL athletes such as Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett, Quinn Cook, Jamal Adams, and others for Walmart’s Spring Free Assembly x Summer Campaign.

Success Metrics: 

Received over 110 applications

Myles Garrett: 29,600 likes, 203 comments, $0.52 CPE

Deebo Samuel: 35,200 likes, 391 comments, $0.92 CPE

3. Bryan Brothers x Play Your Court

About the brand: PlayYourCourt is a tech platform to help tennis players of all levels connect with evenly-matched local players.

Why athletes: Athletes understand the struggles of needing to sharpen their skills but having no one to train or practice with.

Objective/Campaign: The "Tinder for Tennis Opponents" is here - and we're looking for a brand ambassador!

Results: Successfully connected Play Your Court with the Bryan Brothers, retired doubles tennis players and most successful duo of all time.

Success Metrics: Generated 88k views and 2,500+ likes

Overall, sponsoring an athlete on social media is a great way to reach a large audience of potential customers. Athletes have some serious influence over their followers, so they can help promote the brand in a positive light. The fans will appreciate the connection with the athlete, and they may be more likely to buy products and services from the sponsor as well. Sign up today HERE to get started!

OpenSponsorship has several tools and features to help users optimize the most of their campaign. These tools can be essential to gain more applications and interest from athletes. Our features will ensure that from start to finish the tools on OpenSponsorship give users the best guidance.

Creating Campaigns 

• Start by drafting your campaign with clear information about your brand and the mission of your campaign: clarity in your campaign will be essential to drive more applications.
• There are multiple types of campaigns to choose from that can help structure a great outline 

Optimizing the Search

•  Our Search feature allows users to optimize the best candidates that align with their campaign 
• This allows users to search for athletes for personal interest, social footprint, lifestyle and more!

Content Search

• This new feature allows users to navigate through content found on social media
• You can find athlete content on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and Tik Tok that can help give your brand ideas
  
  

Social Insights

• This tool gives you the ability to search for athletes who have used a specific keyword, hashtag or tagged a user on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can search for any number of keywords.

Matching

• The Matching section can really help brands identify the right athlete based on location and other demographic specifications

Sending Proposals

• After gaining information about which athletes work best for your campaign, sending proposals is the most critical step to getting to work with an athlete
• Ensure all the correct information is stated and transparent so that the directions are clear
• You can also see the status of the proposal and whether the athlete has accepted or not accepted it, or would even re negotiate the terms

Reporting 

• After a campaign has finished the reporting section is where you can find information regarding the results of the social media deliverables. Here you can connect your brands social media to check the social insight information and the engagement rate. 

Using analytics, actionable insights, AI based matching and proprietary ROI information, brands are now able to search for the perfect influencer, create authentic relationships, manage the entire process and track the marketing results all on one tech-platform.

Did you know that YouTube is the second most organically visited site in the US and ranks first organically worldwide? As a brand, it's important to get your name in front of the masses, especially on a platform like YouTube, where many of our athletes share their content with their following. Check out our rapidly growing list of YouTube athletes.

 1. Have athletes do a product demo on how to use your product or service, including a special            offer or link at the end of the YouTube video.

  2. Have athletes do a product giveaway for your product on their YouTube channel, including starting a custom hashtag for participants to raise awareness for your brand.

  3. Have athletes join your affiliate program in exchange for royalty payments. 

Daria "Sonya Deville" Berenato Wrestling, WWE YouTube subscribers: 58K

Starting at $14,400

Lou Young American Football YouTube subscribers: 30K

Starting at $2,400

Terron Beckham Weight Lifting, Football, Rugby YouTube subscribers: 350K

Starting at $3,600

Paige Hathaway Body Building, Weight Lifting YouTube subscribers: 129K

Starting at $10,800

Sophina DeJesus Gymnastics, UCLA YouTube subscribers: 58K

Starting at $1,000

Derek Lunsford Body Building YouTube subscribers: 31K

Starting at $1,440

With the rise of social media, athlete influencers have become some of the most popular figures on the internet. And while they may make it look easy, running an Instagram giveaway with the athletes can be a bit of a challenge. Here are five things you need to know before you get started:

1. Make sure your goals align

The first and most important step to successfully running an instagram giveaway with athlete influencers is to make sure that your goals are aligned. What are you hoping to achieve with the giveaway? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or boost sales? Once you know what your ultimate goal is, you can start planning how to best use athlete influencers to help you reach it.

2. Choose the right athletes

Not all athlete influencers are created equal! When choosing who to partner with for your instagram giveaway, be strategic about which athletes will best align with your brand and help you achieve your desired outcome. Consider things like their social media following, their engagement rate, their location, and their interests. For example, if your brand is running a campaign that is more localized, then you would want to pick an athlete that is a home-town hero for that area. 

3. Set clear guidelines

Before you start working with any athlete influencers, it's important to set some clear guidelines. What type of content are you looking for? How often should they post about the giveaway? What are the rules for entering the giveaway? By setting these expectations upfront, you'll avoid any confusion or miscommunication down the road.

4. Provide quality prizes

If you want athletes to be excited about promoting your instagram giveaway, you need to offer up some quality prizes! Think about what would appeal to your target audience and try to choose prizes that are unique and valuable. According to Hootsuite, it is important to provide a prize that is related to your brand. If your prize is unrelated to your brand like an amazon gift card, it will just attract more random followers. Giving away prizes that are relevant towards your page is more successful because it ensures that the contestants entering the giveaway will be more likely to engage with your brand. 

5. Promote, promote, promote!

Last but not least, don't forget to promote your instagram giveaway once it's live. Make sure to post about it on your own social media channels and encourage athletes to do the same. You can also use paid advertising to reach a wider audience. According to Gleam, a way to promote your giveaway is by using the winner of your first giveaway to announce the next giveaway. This is a very productive idea because this way the contestants who have entered in the previous giveaway already are paying close attention to your page and will re enter in the next giveaway hoping that they will be the lucky winner! 

By following these tips, you can run a successful Instagram giveaway with athlete influencers that meets your objectives and builds your brand.