SBJ Marketing: New data shows NFL parity extends to sponsorships

With the Super Bowl approaching quickly, here are some NFL sponsorship data nuggets from the prescient folks at SponsorUnited (SU).

Based on SU’s new SPND platform, the number of NFL teams now surpassing $100 million in annual sponsorship revenue increased from three to five. The Cowboys have long been tops in that area; others in the $100 million club are the Falcons, Patriots, Raiders and Rams, per SU. That means NFL franchises now represent five of 11 North American pro sports teams generating $100 million in annual sponsorships, “solidifying the NFL’s commercial dominance," as SU founder and CEO Bob Lynch puts it.

Even as the rich NFL franchises get richer, the NFL has an edge in sponsorship parity -- the difference between the haves and have nots. SU data shows the revenue gap between the top and bottom quartile of NFL teams is 2X, meaning the top eight teams generate, on average, twice as much sponsorship revenue as the bottom eight. By comparison, the average revenue disparity across the other major U.S. leagues (MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS) is 4.7X, making the NFL the most balanced in sponsorship-revenue distribution.

Category-wise, longtime leaders such as auto and financial services/fin-tech continued to grow, with their NFL sponsorship spend increasing 10% year-over-year. Overall, the total number of brands buying NFL team sponsorships or ancillary media grew by 7.5%, and the average number of sponsorship deals per team increased by 10% to 113.

The most saturated sponsorship categories, totaling deals across team sponsorships, local radio and TV are:

1. Automotive (NFL teams work with an average of 15.5 car brands or dealerships)
2. Law firms
3. Telecom (TV, internet and phone providers)
4. Ticketing platforms
5. Banking/financial services

Outside of those top categories, there seems to be potential. Just 8% of the categories tracked by SU are sold by more than 90% of teams; just 28% of sponsorship categories are represented by more than half of NFL teams.

So many sponsors are looking to social media metrics for evidence of marketing efficacy. Accordingly, it's interesting to note that while in the aggregate, social media followers of NFL players (398 million) rivals teams and league (407 million), but the NFL is far out front when it comes to engagement. SU notes that the NFL collaborated with almost twice as many brands and generates 9x more engagement on brand-related posts (185 million interactions this year).

A potential concern: four of the top five most-followed NFL players are nearing retirement -- #1 Odell Beckham Jr., #2 Russell Wilson, #3 Travis Kelce and #5 Aaron Rodgers.

Ask anyone in sports licensing about Super Bowl hot-market sales this year and the first thing you hear from any of them is about how much more profitable any Lions Super Bowl could’ve been.

Still, “Eagles fans always buy in heavy numbers, and if the three-peat thing happens for the Chiefs, that could get interesting since fans will start talking about all-time legacy teams," said NFL SVP and Head of Consumer Products Joe Ruggiero.

Legends will be operating more than 30 brick-and-mortar NFL-licensed product stores in NOLA, anchored by a 30,000-square-foot "NFL Shop" emporium in the same Ernest N. Morial Convention Center that will house the Super Bowl Experience fan fest, open from next Wednesday through Saturday.

Other brick-and-mortar locations are in the Canal Place Shopping Center, with longtime licensee G-III; and there will be one at Caesars New Orleans, with the rest scattered across local hotels.

For NFL sponsor activation at Super Bowl LIX, spirit brands remain some of the most active.

Captain Morgan has an arrangement with the city through which they are “renaming” Bourbon Street as Rum Street for the week and supporting it with out-of-home marketing and innumerable on-premise activations. Captain Morgan also has its “NFL Fan of the Year” promo, with the payoff at the NFL Honors show.

Crown Royal, the league's official whisky, has some cause-related activations. Smirnoff is again supporting a "Night of Pride" alongside GLAAD and extending its “Take a Minute, Make a Plan" creative alongside MADD and Uber, according to NFL VP/Global Partnerships Susan Hamlin.

As my colleague Bill King went deep on in his SBJ Betting newsletter, FanDuel is repeating its “Kick of Destiny” promo, this time with both Mannings squaring off for a live field goal attempt. Frito Lay has returned to its user-generated “Crash the Super Bowl “contest, plus an activation structure near the French Quarter. Pepsi is activating in Woldenberg Park with a food fest under its “All better with Pepsi Zero Sugar" tagline.

Endeavor's 160/90 is activating for no less than nine NFL sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch InBev, DraftKings, Marriott, Visa and Verizon, for which the agency has built a “House of Verizon” in the Warehouse District that will host an amalgam of fashion, cultural and musical events. “The idea is to combine that widespread Super Bowl interest with as many other cultural touchpoints as we can," said 160/90 co-head Justin Zambuto.

• The seven leading U.S. sportsbooks have a combined 87 sponsorship deals with teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB across the 16 legalized states, notes SBJ's Bill King. BetMGM has the most, at 23. FanDuel has 17, Caesars 16, DraftKings 11, Fanatics eight, ESPN Bet six and Bet365 six.

• The Flyers opened a new retail location at Wells Fargo Center called Gritty’s Chaos Factory, where fans will be able to choose from an array of merchandise bearing the likeness of the team’s popular mascot, reports SBJ's Alex Silverman.

• Silverman also reports Home Depot continues to invest in soccer marketing assets in advance of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America, signing a multiyear sponsorship agreement with U.S. Soccer.

• Michelob Ultra is set for its spot in Super Bowl LIX with “The Ultra Hustle,” a 60-second spot created by Wieden + Kennedy that will feature actor Willem Dafoe, actress Catherine O’Hara, N.Y. Liberty G Sabrina Ionescu, Pro Football HOFer Randy Moss and Olympian Ryan Crouser, reports SBJ's Juwan Watson.

• Cracker brand Lance is getting into NASCAR with Joe Gibbs Racing as part of parent company Campbell’s broader relationship with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, reports SBJ's Adam Stern.