The ISC is sure that FIDE, The world chess federation, is enjoying the attention it’s number one ranked player, Magnus Carlsen, is delivering to the world of chess. Magnus has captured the attention of the world including fashion shoots with Liv Tyler and recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. Magnus

What has impressed the ISC is the unique value he delivers to his sponsors online
Magnus and his manager, Espen Agdestein, position his main sponsors with a personal touch as Magnus describes what each sponsor means to him and the impact they have delivered. This personal touch makes the sponsor relative and is far more valuable than just listed the respective Web sites of the sponsors. Congratulations to Team Magnus and his sponsors which include Arctic Securities, Simonsen Vogt Wiig and Verdens Gang AS.

Simonsen Vogt Wiig reciprocates by positioning Magnus on it’s home page.

The ISC encourages properties and sponsors to increase these positionings to deepen the engagement between the partners.

A college coach was recently fired after video emerged showing him committing abusive behavior towards his players. Some sports fans support a hard stance by coaches in what they describe as “character building”. In a world that faces the damaging impact of bullying and abuse, whether it is in the home or office, it is critical that sponsors avoid perceived support of these actions and any association with these incidents and their potentially harmful influence. Coaches need to find an alternative mode of motivation. Corporations commit to a positive environment of health and safety as part of the social leg of sustainability. Abusive actions are counter to these commitments by corporations and the ISC feels that sponsorship of any individual or program should face high scrutiny. Society shouldn’t condone a behavior that perpetuates damaging effects in the home or workplace.

As the trade association for corporate sponsors, the International Sponsor Council does neither promote nor speak for any one sponsor, but focuses on the collective interests and value of sponsors.

It is not the desire or intention for the ISC and sponsors to interfere with the business and management processes of pro sports. It is, however, our right and duty to protect the interests of fans and sponsors. The fan is the most important stakeholder for sponsors.

The currency of sports and entertainment sponsorship is fan passion. Without it, there is no industry. More emphasis should be put on supporting and respecting that passion. It is obvious that sports & entertainment has evolved into big business, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a moral obligation to the fans. In fact, there is a larger responsibility in the form of sustainability.
Many of the world’s leading corporations are committed to sustainability as well as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The base of this commitment is borne from the need for careful consideration and planning of present actions and their impact and ramifications on future success.

Today, major corporations are focusing more on stakeholders than just shareholders. For a healthy business environment, there is an obligation to those that are affected and can affect the long-term success of these corporations.

Considering the three legs of sustainability, the environmental leg gets the most attention, but the social and economic legs play an equally important role. Too much focus on just one of the legs dilutes the effectiveness and power of sustainability.

The social leg of sustainability includes the need for labor standards and right to associate as well as transparency and anti-corruption. It is natural and healthy for professional leagues to face labor issues with its respective athletes, but in America, labor strife in professional sports has been too frequent and largely ignores the protection of interest of its two major stakeholders: the fans and sponsors.

As far as the economic leg of sustainability, the respective official sponsors are hugely affected by cancelled games due to labor disagreements. Sponsors face detrimental damage including loss of staff hours, agency time and costs, production costs, absence of a branding and promotional platform and while competitors enjoy theirs. From a local community standpoint, since many venues are publicly supported by taxes and public investment, there often is a huge loss in these communities when events are cancelled. These cancellations are in conflict in the spirit of the contract to these respective communities funding these venues.
Without fan passion, corporations do not become sponsors.

Professional sports needs to be reminded that 100% of its revenue is created through fan passion. That passion is generationally shared and is in danger of erosion - that is damaging to the psyche of the public. The industry needs to be wary that it doesn’t take advantage of the fans. There is an obligation for sponsors to stand hand-in-hand with the fans and help protect their interests. To fail to do so can be in conflict with sponsors’ moral contract to leverage fan passion in order to meet business objectives. This is not a judgment upon the profits an owner may make by owning a team or the income of an athlete. It is a reminder that corporations are measuring their reasoning for why they commitment to certain sponsorships and especially those that may not be aligned with their sustainability commitments and initiatives.

Panasonic is a Founding member of the ISC and a valuable leader in the sponsorship industry. It is often hard for many to get an inside look at the machinations of sponsor management and activation. Panasonic has produced a series of videos “London 2012 – Inside Track with Panasonic” that provides an insightful look at how Panasonic achieves success with its management of their worldwide Olympic partnership. Amazing to see the massive impact Panasonic has on the Games’ attendees, viewers and athletes. Episode 1 kicks things off and Episode 6 delivers a look at Panasonic’s headquarters and what it takes to deliver on its sponsorship commitment. You can see the rest of the videos via YouTube.

UEFA through its Control and Disciplinary Body has banned Denmark forward Nicklas Bendtner for one international match as well as giving him a Eur100,000 fine for Bendtner’s improper showing of the logo of a betting company that is not an official Euro 2012 sponsor. During Denmark’s loss to Portugal, Bendtner revealed his underwear to television cameras and the match crowd which prominently displayed the logo of the betting company. Unless successfully appealed, Bendtner’s ban will apply for Denmark’s next 2014 World Cup qualifying match.

“This is an obvious ambush marketing attempt by the betting company and as a sponsor of other football programs, it knows better,” stated Terry Cecil, President & CEO of the International Sponsor Council, world trade organization for sponsors. “It has been reported that the betting company stated that the ban and fine is a ‘hysterical and deeply cynical move by UEFA dictated by pure commercialism’. The ISC actually finds this to be the exact nature of the betting company’s actions. We all need to work hard at producing positive impact on the world and stunts like this are irresponsible and should be heavily criticized.”

“It is also unfair to compare this action by the UEFA to others it has to make concerning serious matters,” Cecil added. “It is necessary for the amount of the fine and ban to be considerable enough to prevent ambush marketers from creating and supporting these damaging incidents. The fact that a company would take advantage of this situation and try to influence fan mindset and behavior in an attempt to demean UEFA and its sponsors is unacceptable. Sponsors have an obligation to be a positive force and they should not be trying to influence athletes to undermine that position.”

Bendtner’s action has also been in conflict with the Danish Football association which has an agreement with official sponsor, Ladbrokes.

The Hampton Roads area will experience its first HR Sustainable Living Expo on September 28th and 29th.

Tim Cole is the Sustainability Program Manager of Virginia Beach Schools and founder of the HR Sustainable Living Expo. Tim, who is a valuable advisor to the ISC, is one of the leading experts in sustainability and schools. Now, Tim is extending his program successes with the creation of this event which will introduce and develop an educational and collaborative opportunity for a critical region of the United States, the Hampton Road area, in regard to sustainability.

The ISC is supporting the HR Sustainable Living Expo and encourages sponsors to contact us for information on how to participate in this important event. The Expo will include speakers and exhibits with the first day focusing on how local businesses can reduce their impact on our natural resources, operate more sustainably, and perhaps even save a little money while providing a better workplace. The second day is designed to answer many questions that local residents have regarding sustainability. Learning venues will range from edible landscapes and urban gardening to bee keeping and alternative energy opportunities for your home.

Nike deepens its commitment to sustainability as seen in its latest Sustainable Business Performance Summary. Mark Parker, Nike President & CEO, and Hannah Jones, Nike’s VP Sustainable Business & Innovation, continue to make an impact on the industry through Nike’s use of innovation to focus on the economic, social and environmental legs of sustainability and the opportunities of positive impact.

The Nike vision has a long-term commitment and supported by two clear tracks:

1. The first is to Make Today Better: taking account of our impact areas (including waste, water, energy, toxics and labor) and working to both improve and redefine business performance.
2. The second involves Design the Future by unleashing innovation and embedding sustainability into our product and manufacturing approaches.

In order to maximize the impact of the collective efforts, Nike has stated the critical importance of collaboration,
“As a company with an extensive supply chain, we have learned over the years that our impacts, both environmental and social, create a complex set of challenges that cannot be solved by one company on its own. We also recognize that if companies work alone, the best that will be achieved is incremental change, rather than the transformation of markets and economies that is required. To that end we are accelerating the transparency of our data, knowledge sharing and tools and encouraging deep collaboration across the system in which we operate.”

Great work from Nike and congratulations to Hannah for the leadership role and development of real solutions through sustainability.

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.