SBJ Marketing: Turning younger audiences into fans

Jason Wilson here, filling in for Terry Lefton, who’s on assignment this week.

This week’s SBJ Marketing newsletter features a pair of dispatches from our Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago, with insights from a panel of CMOs and a look at why Dr Pepper’s long-running “Fansville” campaign continues to engage college football fans.

As sports properties compete to capture the attention and fandom of the younger generation, CMOs are increasingly prioritizing player storytelling, community connection and authentic fan engagement over traditional marketing tactics.

Four CMOS — the Chicago Stars’ Kay Bradley, LPGA’s Chad Coleman, MLB’s Uzma Rawn Dowler and Rams’ Kathryn Frederick — discussed shifting consumer habits, how organizations are finding their voice and the growing importance of authenticity in a panel moderated by SBJ’s Terry Lefton at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit on Tuesday.

Let personality shine

• Coleman said sports properties must think beyond the game itself and focus on the personalities and stories that drive fandom in today’s creator economy.
• Drawing from his experience at Dude Perfect, Coleman noted that audiences are built around people and communities, not just competition: “The golf isn’t necessarily the product — our players are. Our stories of our players. Our personalities are what fans are attracted to, and that’s how you build a community around them.”
• Dowler noted that younger fans increasingly follow players over teams and that leagues must embrace athletes as creators and influencers in their own right.

Invest long-term in youth and community

• Frederick said that rebuilding and growing a fan base in L.A. requires balancing legacy supporters, newer fans and the next generation. She said the organization has focused on youth engagement as a crucial long-term growth strategy: “Do I think I’m going to be more successful converting hearts and minds of the 7-, 8-, 9-year-olds, or am I going to work to unwind someone who’s got Packers fandom at the age of 35?”
• Bradley described a similar challenge, saying the Stars had to overcome the hurdle of establishing itself as “Chicago’s team” following an ownership transition and rebrand while competing in one of the most entrenched sports markets in the world. She said community engagement and local appearances have been key to crossing that bridge.

Creating breakthrough moments

• Coleman pointed to LPGA star Nelly Korda’s recent U.S. Women’s Open victory as an opportunity to introduce the league to new audiences. He said the league worked to place Korda in broader sports and culture conversations, including an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show”: “We need to be everywhere. We need to be where people are consuming content. We need to show up in unexpected places. We need to really figure out how to break out of that kind of golf bubble.”

Authenticity rules all

• Frederick spotlighted the Rams’ recent draft campaign, which featured a L.A.-inspired parody of the film “Friday” and incorporated longtime fans, local personalities and players. She also noted the organization’s decision in 2025 to move its draft operations to LAFD Air Operations HQ following the area’s devastating wildfires.
• Dowler, an SBJ Forty Under 40 Hall of Famer, said sponsors want customized solutions and meaningful fan connections as opposed to traditional inventory: “We’re not selling inventory; we’re selling solutions.” She cited MLB’s recent partnerships tied to its America 250 campaign, including activations with Ford and Mountain Dew, as examples of creating those connections.

Seizing the moment of the World Cup

• Bradley said the World Cup provides a testing ground like no other for future opportunities across women’s soccer ahead of the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil and the LA28 Games. She noted the Stars will be facilitating activations and community programming tied to the tournament to better understand how fans engage with soccer in the U.S.
• She also emphasized the opportunity to showcase the NWSL’s international player base and reinforce the league’s global identity.

Dr Pepper’s long-running “Fansville” campaign has worked because it has become part of college football culture, not just an ad buy around it, said Derek Dabrowski, Keurig Dr Pepper’s SVP/cold brand marketing, Tuesday at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago.

As Dr Pepper approaches its ninth season for “Fansville,” Dabrowski said that “consistency has a compounding effect.” Brands that grow tend to follow repeatable patterns, he said, noting the importance of being talked about and becoming more of an insider by participating in a community. Dr Pepper has capitalized on close connections within college football communities, including references to coaches on hot seats.

With “Fansville” (which SBJ honored in 2024 as Best Commercial during its Year End Awards) becoming a welcome intrusion before and during games, the incorporation of college football fandom gives the campaign a human feel. The work around “Fansville” has become an entertainment franchise for the brand that has generated community interaction and fan engagement. In terms of scaling, Dabrowski said mass reach still matters.

“It’s still a great thing, but we now have the tools, the capability, the tech to get more precise even while we are at scale,” Dabrowski said.

That precision can lead to more dynamic, customized messaging.

“It works because I can galvanize an entire system. I can get retailers behind it because they’ve got retailer theater all built around tailgates and home gates and things like that. I can get routes to market and customers behind that,” Dabrowski said. “I can connect the shopper and the consumer, and I can find moments and time periods where we can energize an entire huge Fortune 200 company around doing something, and that’s when that system really works well.

“That’s why this actually is a great property for us to invest in.”

Building alongside adjacent properties through IP partnerships has added another subplot to the storytelling in “Fansville” and to the Dr Pepper brand itself.

But key for Dabrowski and those at Keurig Dr Pepper is knowing that while the fan experience can be sponsored and bought, the brand is not really looking for a sponsorship.

“I’m looking to participate alongside a culture,” he said.

Dabrowski reiterated his point from the opening, saying Dr Pepper does not sponsor sports simply for visibility or exposure — it wants to be chosen.

“At the end of the day, consumers have a lot of choice out there. The way we do it: Partner with fandom, put a spotlight on fandom,” he said. “And ultimately, I can measure that in dollars and cents and growth and incrementality, and that’s what the C-suite cares about and that’s what boardrooms care about.”

• My Insiders column this week features a look longtime sports marketer Rick Jones’ new book, “The Business Tithe: A Faith-Based Framework for Profitable Businesses That Change the World,” which condenses some of his redoubtable wit into a brief tome that walks that precarious line between capitalism and faith.
• The International Tennis Hall of Fame released its sponsor roster of 14 brands for 2026, featuring new deals with Cerity Partners, BMW, Wilson and Silent Pool Gin, reports SBJ’s Rob Schaefer.
• Schaefer also writes that the USTA signed a multiyear deal with Electrolit to add the electrolyte drink to the U.S. Open sponsor roster.
• The NHLPA continues to expand its revenue-generation efforts under the leadership of Executive Director Marty Walsh, branding its commercial business unit as the NHLPA Player Collective and naming Brandgenuity its exclusive group licensing representative in Europe, writes SBJ’s Alex Silverman.
• NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar’s first Cup Series win earlier this season set high marks with merchandise sales, providing further evidence that the auto racing circuit may have its next star, notes SBJ’s Adam Stern.
• The AUSL’s sponsor roster for the 2026 season features new deals with Adidas, goodr, Sequel, StubHub and LonelyPlanet, reports SBJ’s David Broughton.