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

2020 is almost upon us and it is time once again to get excited about Super Bowl Sunday and Super Bowl marketing strategies! For most fans (if you couldn't get Super Bowl Tickets) that means getting out your lucky Super Bowl jersey that you haven’t washed since last year, getting together with friends and family, and probably eating just a bit too much. For most brands however, this means that a huge opportunity for Super Bowl marketing through sponsorship is on the horizon.

In many brand’s eyes The Super Bowl is seen as one of the most expensive marketing opportunities of the year, but this is not always the case. At OpenSponsorship we are all about finding cost effective ways for brands to increase ROI without breaking the bank through athlete sponsorship. That’s why we’ve decided to list this year's best and most effective Super Bowl marketing strategies right here to make it extra easy for you.

1. Sponsor an event at Super Bowl LIV

Sponsoring a Super Bowl weekend event in Miami is an easy way to gain brand recognition through exposure to the hundreds of thousands of fans that will pass through Miami during this week long convention.

Some other benefits include:

• Having your CEO or another leader being able to be on a panel and/or positioned as a thought leader
• Getting access to the event and its high profile guests
• Being able to produce awesome content with famous athletes and influencers that will also be in attendance

Here are some of the great events that you could be a part of during this highly anticipated weekend are listed below:

1. The Laces Out  Golf Classic on Thursday, January 30th 2020
2. The Century Celebration 100 with Hall of Famer Ray Lewis on Friday January 31st 2020
3. The 1st & Goal Comedy Goal on Friday January 31st 2020
4. The Saturday Night Lights on Febraury 1st 2020
5. The Miami SB LIVExperience throughout the weekend
6. The Bootleg Tailgate Party on February 2nd 2020 
7. EA Sports Bowl on January 30th 2020
8. Bud Light Super Bowl Fest on January 31st 2020
9. Maxim Havana Nights on February 1st 2020
10. Gronk Beach on February 1st 2020
11. Sports Power Brunch on January 29th 2020
12. Sports Illustrated Saturday Night Lights on February 2nd 2020
13. The Huddle Celebrity Golf Tournament on January 30th 2020

2. Partner with a player

Partnering with an NFL player during Super Bowl weekend in Miami comes with many sports marketing benefits, including:

• Tickets to the game
• Opportunity to run a contest for fans to do a Meet+Greet with the athlete
• Having the athlete create content around the actual weekend (such as during training or in the locker room).

Once the teams for Super Bowl LIV is decided it is important to jump on cost effective players that will give a high ROI - this could be retired NFL hall of famers, active players from other teams who will be in Miami for Super Bowl weekend, or athletes from the Playoff teams who will be doing highly selective marketing campaigns. With over 1500 NFL athletes on OpenSponsorship, we have the perfect athlete for every brand and at every budget range.

3. Partner with one of the mission-oriented events

Partnering with a mission-oriented event has many benefits for a brand including:

• The corporate social responsibility side to the sponsorship
• Access, content and brand or logo visibility

Many of these events are related to charity and help boost a brand’s image in the eyes of consumers. A great example of an event like this last year was Roddy White’s Super-Bowl-A-Thon to raise awareness surrounding autism and epilepsy. Partnering with an event like this gives excellent visibility as well as good press for any brand.

On Tuesday, October 11th, Seattle Seahawks (NFL) cornerback Jeremy Lane posted to both Instagram and Twitter on behalf of our newest member - FanWide. FanWide is a social network for sports fans that organizes viewing parties for every team in every city.

@Seahawks fans - check out @FanWide a new app that lets you find the local #Seahawks viewing party wherever you are! https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fanwide/id1127504597

FanWide is based in Seattle and is currently in the early stages of raising capital, making this endorsement from a Super Bowl Champion in their own city all the more impactful. We are proud to play a part in their raising efforts (and may have even boosted downloads of their app!).

Jeremy was a valuable investment as an endorser of FanWide's product because of how dedicated the Seahawks fanbase is to their team. Seahawks fans, nicknamed the "12th Man", live and die by their team and enjoy watching games and rooting for the Seahawks with other fans of the team. Therefore, promoting an app that allows fans to interact and find Seahawks viewing parties was a strong choice.

Jeremy's post gave FanWide exposure in a market that is valuable to their product. Using our athlete statistics and follower demographics, any brand can find the perfect athlete for them- one that reaches their desired target market and helps them achieve their marketing goals.

FanWide's success is just one example of how OpenSponsorship can help brands find the perfect endorsement from a pro athlete. To learn more about how your brand can take advantage, reach out to an OpenSponsorship rep or send us an email at info@opensponsorship.com.