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

Imagine a world where global merchandising behemoth Nike ceases to exist. Can’t do it, can you?

Well, that’s good news for Cristiano Ronaldo, as he recently became the third athlete to sign a “lifetime” deal with the Swoosh - meaning as long as both he and Nike are around, he’s getting paid. Already the highest grossing athlete in the world, Ronaldo now joins Michael Jordan and LeBron James as Nike’s only lifetime endorsers.

Ronaldo: One is made of wax. The other is made of money.

While these athletes may only come around once in a lifetime (pardon the cliché), our tools can help you start finding athletes that already align with your brand!

Powered by IBM Watson, every athlete profile includes their most used keywords and the most important topics they mention on social media. Our Social Insights tool also allows you to manually search for key words or phrases used by any of our 2,000+ athletes. If your brand sells vodka and you want to sponsor an athlete who drinks vodka, a simple search will show you all athletes who have mentioned the word "vodka" in a social media post before!

If you're looking for an athlete influencer who is already aligned with your company's core values, speak to an OpenSponsorship rep today or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com.

Examples:

Want to find players who discuss their virtues? Search terms like "trust", "faith", and "charity" to find athletes like Amir Khan.

Looking for father figures? Bet you didn't expect UFC fighter Matt Brown to frequently hashtag #dadlife.

Interested in playing off the #MannequinChallenge craze? 54 of our athletes have talked about it on social media, including Chad Johnson.

If you didn’t know who UFC star Conor McGregor was when we gave his video game appearance a shout out in our blog post last week, chances are that you became aware of him over the weekend. Despite being 5’9”, he has become a giant within the UFC along with the gold standard for sports sponsorship.

 

He is so valuable, in fact, that he recently requested ownership in the multi-billion-dollar-valued UFC to continue performing. He has taken over the UFC scene and his image and following are incredibly valuable- including for brands looking to sponsor.

McGregor, who is known for his dominating record, lavish lifestyle, and unapologetic antics, drew sponsorships from the likes of Reebok, Monster Energy, and Rolls Royce well ahead of his meteoric rise to stardom. Expect to see plenty of Conor, and his endorsements, in 2017.

The UFC has two more mega-events scheduled before the end of the year; UFC 206 in Toronto on December 10th and UFC 207, featuring the hugely-anticipated return of Ronda Rousey, on December 30th in Las Vegas. To get brand exposure in front of these massive audiences, visit opensponsorship.com now to explore hosting a UFC-associated event, receiving logo placement, or even sponsoring the next Conor McGregor.

• **UFC 206 sponsorship availability**: View Matt Brown's OpenSponsorship profile here!

• Joe Warren, who fights for Bellator MMA, also has availability for his huge Title Fight on December 2nd.

To learn more about opportunities with athletes in the UFC or any other sport, reach out to an OpenSponsorship rep today or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com. Don't let this opportunity slip away!