Sad news hit the soccer world as the Women’s Professional Soccer, the WPS, suspended its 2012 season. The situation between America’s pro women’s league and one of its franchises has led to a decision that has damaging effects on many people and companies involved and supporting women’s soccer, but aside from the players the two most important are the fans and sponsors. Without them, you have no league. It will be much harder to sell women’s soccer to sponsors in the future when they evaluate the risks with a league that kills a season in such a manner. The soccer community should give huge gratitude to the current sponsors, especially Citi and Puma for sticking through the hard times, but these companies deserve a stable environment.

A general comment should be made as to the fiduciary responsibility of a franchise to its respective league. The purpose of the league, it seems, isn’t to support the national team, but to create a stable and thriving league to support its fans, sponsors, athletes and staff. There doesn’t seem to be a consideration to the international players in the WPS and that is very short-sighted and oblivious. Soccer has had its share of failed operations, but hopefully this one will soon be rectified. On a positive note, the MLS is thankfully riding the wave of current and past passions, becoming stronger every day and carrying the flag for all of with hope. Let’s keep working on this so our daughters can have a future in pro soccer.

It is great news for NBA fans and all parties involved that the NBA season looks like it will tipoff soon. A continued concern for sponsors though is the continued discern for sponsor interests and the enormous damage caused by these labor lockouts. The NBA has worked to update its sponsors during the process. There is, however, an absence of mention by media on the ramifications to current and future sponsors.

Considering that the NBA may be looking at another labor disturbance in six years, it is time that sponsors collectively address the situation and press the issue to defend financial commitments and brand reputations. Professional sports thrives on fan passion and these events erode the trust and generational equity fans have invested and created in them. The industry rents that passion – we don’t own it. Sponsors have a fiduciary responsibility to fans and through the ISC they collectively have the opportunity to raise the efficiencies of the industry. Otherwise, accountability and justification of sponsorship commitments will be affected.

The ISC recognizes Ohio State University for its dedicated recycling program which it has had for years, but the institution has committed considerable effort toward landfill diversion of its game waste with its Zero Waste program. Ohio Stadium is working on a 90% diversion record for the season and provides a chart breakdown on its Web site http://sustainability.osu.edu/zerowaste to back it up. Composting is also part of the program. You know they are committed by eliminating all trash bins during the games.

The program was highlighted by Waste and Recycling News

The additional information for fans to embrace recycling at home is exactly what the ISC has been promoting for sports teams to do. This is a next generational opportunity for brands to engage fans through their respective sustainability initiatives, so make sure you include sponsors in the process. They have a wealth of knowledge, experience and the ability to add value to the program. Increased relevance is key for sponsors.

The ISC has been working to promote the value of sponsors and deepen the engagement for them with fans.

A major program we promote is Sponsor Initiative Marketing™.

Many corporations are committed to sustainability and it is crucial that the properties they sponsor have aligned values. It is also important to promote the sustainability initiatives of these sponsors. By doing so, the property increases the relevancy of its sponsors and deepens the engagement between sponsors and fans. If done right, this ultimately increases the value of the sponsorship to the sponsor.

If a corporation has recycling as a core sustainability initiative, develop a recycling program and tie-in the sponsor.
We encourage properties to continue to have their own respective charities, but they are losing out on a valuable opportunity to build sponsor awareness and reputations by ignoring their initiatives. Another case-in-point is shirt sponsorships. It’s great to put a charity on a shirt and bypass the sponsor and its associative revenue, but you are depositioning sponsors as a whole and losing out on the opportunity to connect a charity or initiative to a sponsors thus winning on all sides.

Sponsor Initiative Marketing and the leveraging of sustainability in the industry will create more meaningful opportunities for current sponsors and bring new ones into the fold

Fan passion is the single most important aspect of the sports industry.

Without the passion of fans, there is no sports industry. Without the passion of fans, there are no sponsors.
Unfortunately, that passion is being leveraged to the breaking point, leveraged and in many cases, abused. If we don’t address these abuses, we kill a critical positive force of society.

The ISC focuses on sustainability because it is a crucial commitment to the future of most industries as well as the planet. Yet in many cases, the sports industry is the antithesis of sustainability. For too long our industry has increased costs upon fans and sponsors while failing to appreciate the benefits of that support and acting in a financially responsible way.

This isn’t an issue of if players and or owners making too much money – that is based upon what the market will bear.

This is a case of the industry living up to its contract between the fans and sponsors. The industry must act more responsibly. As an example, soccer is at an all-time low suffering from corruption accusations, and despite this, it continues to work on a “business-as-usual“ basis. The ISC sponsors have to create an outside analysis of the situation. This is demanded by the commitments of corporate sustainability.

In the case of labor issues, the ISC and sponsors have neither the desire nor intent of dictating the management of sport, but we do demand that you live up to your obligations and deliver a product – we can’t and will not accept threats of labor stoppages every three or four years from leagues.

The ISC and sponsors are coming together in a show of support of the fans and their passions. This is our right as we protect our collective interests. If we stand by and do nothing, we are equally at fault.

There are currently two major situations that have critical importance for sponsors: the NFL labor lockout and the Air Canada / NHL issue.
A glaring similarity between the two is the conflict that these issues create for a sponsor’s ethos.
After Air Canada complained to the NHL about an incident regarding a violent hit by an NHL on another player in a game, one article covering the situation reported that, “… the league lashed out at the airline on Thursday for meddling in its internal matters, and suggested it could take its business elsewhere”.
Sponsors should not look to change the nature of a sport for purely commercial gain, but if we are to raise brand reputations we must adhere to the missions and values of the corporations in the role of a sponsor.
Air Canada isn’t creating exposure for itself because it thinks it can benefit from it. Air Canada is in a position that demands it adhere to its mission and values. If you visit the “About Air Canada” area of its Web site, you will see that it states “Safety First and Last. 100%. All the time.” It also states that the company will “Act with Integrity. We are accountable. We foster an environment of trust. We communicate openly and in a timely manner.”.
Air Canada supports the NHL because it believes that the NHL and the opportunity will support the mission and values of Air Canada and provide a successful impact on Air Canada’s Return on Objectives.
At a time when brand reputations are at a low point and corporations are blamed for not being trustworthy, Air Canada is speaking up for what’s right for their corporation despite the backlash. This is an act which defends the collective interests of all sponsors. The ISC was formed to protect the collective interests of sponsors and promote their value. We believe this and other incidents where sponsorship properties should be listening to and supporting sponsor needs will help raise the efficiency of the industry.
We’ll save the NFL situation for our next post.

The ISC wishes everyone a very Happy New Year for ushering in 2011. The year ahead shows promise with great stories including New Zealand’s hosting of the Rugby World Cup, countdown to the 2012 Olympics, Germany’s hosting of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh , India and Sri Lanka.

Unfortunately, the biggest story of 2011 for America might be the labor issues of the pro leagues. The NFL and NBA are trying to avoid a shut down. The NHL has an agreement that will run through 2013-14, and MLB is looking good, but needs to work on having e new agreement by end of 2011.

This does not bode well for sponsors. The main and most important reason a corporation becomes a sponsor is to align with the passion of the fan. These labor issues make it very difficult for long term sponsor planning and activation. Disruption in schedule damages the ability for sponsors to earn an ROI/ROO. This takes them “out of the game” – not only are they without an engagement platform with fans, their competitors are still out there with their respective opportunities.

Many of the sponsor members of the ISC have no intention of taking sides in the issue as many work with both sides. The situation is unfair to the fans and sponsors and becoming a grave concern with sponsors and sponsorship in general. The ISC will continue to have discussions between sponsors to see what their opportunity of influence and perspective can achieve. This is an issue that is not limited to the official sponsors of the respective leagues, but affects all sponsors. Let’s get it done

One of the most important issues for the sponsorship industry is how to incorporate sponsors into the online experience of their respective properties. The Internet delivers incredible engagement opportunities for fans that attend games, but also fans that can not due to limited ticket availability or geographic restrictions.

The power of sponsorship is dependent upon full integration, but many fail to deliver the value of Web inclusion. The industry has to commit to co-branded content and making the sponsors more apparent and relative.

Many Web sites have no inclusion of sponsors, yet have a sponsorship click through to sell to sponsors. Why do sponsors accept this?

Also, the practice of selling “online sponsors” and providing them positioning on the site without incorporating the property’s overall sponsors diminishes the real value of the sponsorship.

This also portrays sponsors as “less than important” in the eyes of fans. This depositioning is damaging to sponsors and the industry as a whole.

A good example of making sponsors relative is the PBR, Professional Bull Riders. They not only position their sponsors’ logos on the homepage, but provide content tying the sponsors to the PBR. Of course it helps when your property CMO is industry icon, Dockery Clark, formerly of Bank of America and Miller Brewing – she understands delivering value to sponsors.

Properties that merely link a sponsor Web site from their site are losing out on the opportunity to leverage the Web to deepen the engagement between sponsors and fans.

For brands seeking increased awareness, title sponsorship can provide high value if the brand’s positioning is maximized. We’ve seen an increase of properties that are selling sponsorships as “Title” sponsorships, but are really “Presenting” sponsorships. Just because the brand is included with the name of the event, doesn’t mean it is in the name of the event. An example is “Evergreen Tennis Challenge presented by BrandX”. An example of a title sponsorship would be “BrandX Evergreen Tennis Championship” or better, “BrandX Tennis Championship”. Consideration needs to be taken if you deleting the historic name of the event, but brands attached to an existing name will often be left out of the mentions and consciousness by media and of consumers thus reducing the value offering. The positioning of a “Presenting” sponsorship as a “Title” sponsorship diminishes the value of the offering by ignoring the needs of the sponsor.

The recent Sustainability Virtual Summit, the first of a series of virtual summits, was an historic launch that provided a glimpse into the future of collaboration. George Kell, Executive Director of UN Global Compact, stated, “The first meeting of its kind, ever”. Considering the world importance of the UN Global Compact, that statement impresses me. Both Mr. Kell and Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environmental Programme, were featured presenters. ISC President & CEO, Terry Cecil, also participated as a presenter. The ISC has a virtual booth from which you may access information by visiting the Summit.

The ISC is working with Summit developers, G2events, to develop virtual summits on sponsorship. This will provide a impactful shift in the global collaboration of the sponsorship industry and deliver a huge benefit to sponsor and any company that works with sponsors. The event also supports the ISC in its commitment to provide leadership to the industry in the area of sustainability. Please contact the ISC to discuss how you can participate.