Emerging Sports Properties: Taking Share from Established Sports Leagues or Expanding the Sports Marketing Universe?

As we explore and navigate paths for our clients within the world of sports marketing, we would be remise without prioritising the growth and opportunities that exist through emerging sports properties. We all (rightfully) know the prominent sports entities that dominate conversations when it comes to brand sponsorships, but what we equally need to be thinking about are the new sports that are rising rapidly in popularity, providing greater access and 'bridges' for brands to fans, building engagement-driven communities with specific consumers through new media, and pushing the boundaries with different formats and experiences for sports fans. Why? Because we are seeing new audiences exploding in sports and fans recalibrating where, how, and why they consume sports – and emerging properties start with those audiences first and then scale a compelling sports product for that audience.

For advertisers active or interested in sponsorships, emerging sports must now be part of the consideration set as brands need to include up-and-coming sports properties (in addition to traditional leagues) when shaping sponsorship strategies. These emerging leagues embody a broader societal and/or media trend happening, and new leagues are typically built off the success of a certain sport or vertical, but provide a more cutting-edge value proposition, stronger innovation, and deeper storytelling to bring the product and athletes to fans in new and exciting ways. Historically with sponsorships, the scale and reach of a property is usually at the top of the list. But for emerging properties, it’s less about the scale only and more about the connection and impact. Through this lens, we look at the 'audience quality' of a potential property, not just the size of the audience which would provide an inaccurate comparison. That approach enables us to successfully factor in the potential business upside, brand alignment synergies, and value derived from the audience association. For emerging sports leagues, the level of customisation and integration through brand partnership deals is much easier to achieve vs. traditional sponsorship constraints. Because of the depth of passion from fans around these properties, brands are able to naturally embed themselves with the fabric of the ecosystem and overall business operations (with the right strategy) to reap the reward from loyal consumers. 

Storytelling, purpose, and innovation are three of the biggest drivers propelling growth of emerging sports properties and sparking more participation from brands as sponsors. These leagues need to work harder to attract and retain fans. Storytelling is at the core of that, to ensure the product and competition is highly motivating and the 'always-on' content around the sport continues to engage and excite fans in the right places to build momentum on/off the field. Purpose is so deeply intertwined within the mission statement of emerging sports properties because their existence is born from a need to solve a problem or fill a gap for the betterment of the sport and/or society. When brands share those same beliefs and lean into them through these partnerships, it becomes an incredible engine for authentic purpose-driven marketing since emerging sports leagues were created on those values (not just a campaign). Innovation is a necessity for these properties to thrive as they look to redefine a sport or create a new category, and that cannot be done without disruptive innovation around their approach, technology, and business model. When brands prioritise storytelling, purpose, and innovation within their sponsorship investments, emerging sports properties are impossible to ignore.

Whether it’s Pickleball, Premier Lacrosse League, Professional Fighters League, Athlete’s Unlimited, The Drone Racing League, Overtime Elite….there are an abundance of emerging and innovative sports challenging the traditional sports sponsorship model with more competition than ever before. With our immense capabilities around data, consumer insights, and audience analysis at Wavemaker, our Sports experts are well-positioned to confidently identify and pursue these sports leagues with a data-led approach to provoke our clients into new (and potentially uncomfortable) territories.

Key’s to making this happen:

• Understand marketplace dynamics and evolving cultural changes and consumer behaviours at the root of rising interest and growth of new sports.
• Lean into the audience connection and composition (not just scale) to make the case between an emerging property and a brand.
• Be creative, be bold, and resist the hesitance to present provocative and unconventional sponsorship recommendations.
• Challenge the norm to structure, customise, and activate these sponsorship deals differently and through an innovative lens.
• Research global sports trends and developments in various regions to stay ahead of the curve and be prepared for what might be coming next.