Youth sports sponsorships are a win-win for brands and leagues.

Think about your favorite sports memories growing up. Do your team bus rides to and from the game come to mind, or maybe it’s when you hit a walk-off home run at your high school championship baseball game? You may not remember the tests you took or what you had for dinner last night, but the impact of youth sports can stay with you forever.

Not only are the wins and losses memorable, but the atmosphere is unforgettable, too. From traveling with your team to new cities for tournaments to drinking milkshakes at the local pizza shop that sponsored your Little League team after every game, sports bring people together in a way that no other entity can.

That impact is the reason why companies should sponsor a youth sports team. In a time where traditional forms of advertising are no longer generating the same return as they once did, brands from a variety of business verticals are beginning to shift their marketing and advertising spending towards youth sports sponsorships.

Youth sports sponsorships are a win-win for brands and leagues. Leagues can attain the funding they need to operate and brands can engage in an effective marketing mechanism that reaches target consumers on a more unique and meaningful level.

Positive Impact – Sponsoring a youth sports team positively impacts your company, the league, and the community. Providing a youth sports team with funding gives them access to positive experiences. Additionally, you’re helping keep kids off the streets by keeping them on the field. Having your brand’s logo on the uniforms or a banner on the field keeps you top of mind with your target customers. They’ll remember you long after the final whistle blows.

Engagement with the Community – When you decide to sponsor a youth sports team, your company is directly engaging with the community. You can go big, like having a table at a game to talk with people and hand out swag, or small, like offering a team discount for your product or service. Sending brand ambassadors out to games allows you to engage with your customers face-to-face and gain valuable feedback.

Generate Exposure – From physical and in-person assets like signage, jersey logos, and in-venue advertising to on-site activation and sampling and integrated digital and social media campaigns, a youth sports sponsorship can garner tons of exposure. Additionally, when you use many different channels for marketing, you can reach customers at multiple touchpoints, unlike many traditional marketing techniques. This helps your brand cater to the constantly changing needs and preferences of your consumers and helps your brand stand out amongst the competition.

Support Your Other Marketing Initiatives – The best way to maximize your return and leverage your sponsorship is to make it consistent with other elements of your current marketing mix. When you use sports sponsorships to support your other marketing initiatives, it aids in brand recognition and recall amongst current and prospective customers.

Promotional Opportunities – Through sponsorship, your company can build customized in-person, digital, and social media campaigns that focus on sweepstakes, contests, sales, discounts, or product/service offerings. These promotions are for engaged fans and potential customers, which helps increase brand awareness, build loyalty and drive traffic to physical locations.

Build Long-Term Relationships – When a company or brand decides to sponsor a youth sports team, it demonstrates that they support youth sports, understand its benefits, and genuinely care about the community. This can help instill loyalty amongst the players and parents associated with those teams and a brand. If your company sponsors a Little League or Pop Warner team, the children and families may be more willing to choose your products and services over a competitor long after their season ends.

It’s time for brands to realize the opportunities available and invest in sponsorship, especially in a time where traditional channels are on the decline. Youth sports sponsorship can be one of the most powerful ways to reach your target customers if approached the right way.

Interested in sponsoring youth sports leagues like Semiahmoo Minor Lacrosse? Send us a note and we’ll be happy to discuss our Sponsorship Program with you.  Contact us today!

Reprinted from leagueside.com

Posted in All News, Teamwork