With the NHL and NBA in the thick of the playoffs, the buzz isn’t just about who’ll take home the championship but also about the substantial value return from sponsorships. Playoffs represent a golden opportunity for brands, where the intense focus and heightened viewership can translate into significant benefits for sponsors.

2023 marked a profitable year for women’s sports in sponsorships, brand deals, and TV broadcast partnerships. Along with 2023 being a FIFA Women’s World Cup year, some of the other major women’s sporting events included the US Open, NWSL Championship, WNBA Finals, NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and more. 2023 was a year of broken records and major strides in the growth of women’s sports.

As sponsorship spend continues to grow year over year, brands and agencies are shelling out more dollars and can’t always explain where the money is going and how it’s benefitting the brand. Brands and agencies should be able to answer the question “if you had one more dollar to spend, what team, league, market, asset, etc. are you going to put it towards to return the greatest value?” without hesitation.

Budgets continue to get slashed on the brand side and re-prioritized to areas that can prove value and impact. This has had a substantial impact on the sponsorship industry, which continues to struggle to get out of its own way.

Sponsorship reporting in the sports industry has typically been limited to TV broadcasts and social media – but, sponsorship portfolios encompass much more than that. Frequently, teams are leaving money on the table when reporting solely on social media and TV broadcasts – radio is a great example of that.