SBJ Marketing: ANC, LG Electronics team up for venue sales venture

LG Electronics and ANC are now quietly operating under what the two companies are terming a marketing “alliance,” where the electronic giant’s scoreboards, ribbon boards and other venue hardware systems will be sold and serviced by ANC in what the two parties termed a "long-term deal.”

The two companies have been working on the “alliance” for a few years, and among their early joint projects, both sides said, were large pending installations in two NFL and MLB venues (deals done within the last six months). They would not yet specify those facilities, since they are under NDAs.

“We’ve got a lot of mutual targeted customers, and the combination of our products and ANC’s marketing and sales is a collaboration that will allow us to engage with some sports conglomerates we’ve both been pursuing for quite some time,” said Tom Bingham, LG's director/vertical market sales. “There are just huge tech requirements now for a connected [venue] experience -- everything from live ordering and sports betting to cashless environments and just providing bandwidth for all those watching on site. One of the most exciting things for us is that we’re now incorporating things beyond digital. We can also include HVAC and energy offerings across a venue for different solutions. ... There are lots of competitors, but very few who can put together and run a unified building.”

ANC President and CEO Jerry Cifarelli also noted, "Our thesis all along has been to transform venue technology upgrades from just capital expenses to revenue generators. Now we can combine their display installations with our industry expertise, marketing servicing and sales, which solidifies our mutual position in a market when there’s so much building going on or planned. It changes us both.”

Both sides also said they are targeting incremental business in minor-league sports facilities as well as non-sports, out-of-home advertising. Along with its hardware, LG’s various sports tie-ups -- even non-tech ones -- will also be serviced by ANC. "We’re charged with getting their brand and their technology out there," Cifarelli added.

While Toyota won't be buying ad time during the Super Bowl telecast on Fox this year, the NFL league patron will be pushing its presenting sponsorship of NFL Flag Football hard, along with its Tacoma TRD Pro Hybrid, 2025 Sequoia Capstone, 2025 Tailgate Tundra and 2025 4Runner TRD Pro vehicles, with a variety of activations around the Super Bowl.

An HBCU flag football tournament at the Pro Bowl in Orlando will include 16 teams and 250 players, and the top female and male flag players of the year will be feted within the NFL Honors show. A pair of “Glow” flag football games also will see New Orleans youths play wearing glow-in-the-dark uniforms.

An AR activation at the Super Bowl Experience fan fest will allow fans to simulate driving with Toyota pitchmen like 49ers QB Brock Purdy, Patriots CB Christian Gonzalez, Ravens S Kyle Hamilton, Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. and former Giants QB Eli Manning. MKTG is Toyota’s sponsorship agency.

I thought it would be enlightening to see what SponsorUnited’s biggest searches have been during the first few weeks of 2025.

Among the new top searches, according to SponsorUnited founder and CEO Bob Lynch, was Cudis, an “AI-powered smart ring" that uses blockchain tech to track health. Cudis is marketed as an alternative to Oura, which has more than 50 sponsorship and media deals. Cudis generated considerable attention after inking a sponsorship with UCLA late last year, believed to be its first and one that it said would be backed by NIL pacts.

What’s the category? Wearable/connected fitness, of course.

Also gaining some traction: the Unisom OTC sleep aid, with the help of the recent Saquon Barkley ad. Also, a lot of QSR (half of the top-10 searches were QSR, Lynch said).

Personal finance brand NerdWallet also entered the top 10 for searches. It has already been active with athletes and team deals, including with the Colts, Pacers, Rockies, Sixers and Union.

• My boss Abe Madkour in his weekly Forum looked at Bank of America's growing sponsorship portfolio within soccer. "This is a brand that traditionally does league and team deals with the NFL, MLB and NASCAR, but in the last year, it’s signed a global sponsor-level deal with FIFA for the 2026 World Cup, which marked Bank of America’s first major deal in soccer and one of its largest sponsorships ever. This month, it doubled down and signed a long-term partnership with U.S. Soccer that will see the bank sponsor the U.S. Soccer House during the World Cup."

• Sugarlands Distilling Company has a deal to be the official moonshine of this year's Ryder Cup that includes the release of a limited-edition Ryder Cup-branded Cherry Limeade Moonshine now available at retailers nationwide, notes SBJ's David Bourne.

• Diamond Baseball Holdings, which now owns 41 MiLB teams, also plays a key role in MLB's national corporate sponsorship program and is looking to sell the first title sponsorship for all of MiLB, similar to the deal Gatorade has with the NBA G League, reports SBJ's Mike Mazzeo.

• My colleague Ben Fischer went deep on the marketing rights battle in the Maryland suburbs between the Commanders and the Ravens.

• King’s Hawaiian is joining Joe Gibbs Racing beginning with the 2025 NASCAR season, giving the sweet-bread brand a new team sponsor after previously aligning with RFK Racing, reports SBJ's Adam Stern.

• The ACC has a new multiyear deal that makes T. Rowe Price an official sponsor, including title sponsorship of the ACC Men's Basketball Tournament through 2027, reports SBJ's Ben Portnoy.

• The Capitals will continue to wear the logo of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok on their road jerseys, notes SBJ's Alex Silverman. Other sports properties associated with TikTok include MLS, WWE, UFC, MLB, the Yankees, Timbers and the Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team.

• General Mills is returning to the Super Bowl with an in-game ad for the first time in over a decade, promoting its Totino’s Pizza Rolls brand with a 30-second spot via Dentsu in the fourth quarter, reports SBJ's Trevona Williams.