this summer will be my second triathlon season. let me give you some background about myself and my fraternity brothers…
i am a junior in college, i am 5’9" and 143. over the summer, i weighed 138; the 5 lbs is all muscle in my legs from taking up cycling. my fraternity brothers are all overweight sloths (with 1 exception, he’s a hurdler), and during any given week, i spend more hours exercising than the rest of them put together have all semester. they love making fun of me as i cycle on a trainer, and they especially love making fun of me after my brick workouts, when i can barely walk. most of all, they love making fun of my lycra-dependancy. recently, though, they’ve taken to mentioning that i am a triathlete when talking to other people - rushees, girls, etc. i guess it’s a good conversation piece. but i digress…
a bunch of them have decided to sponsor me this season. i’m planning on spending $300 on races, most of which are close enough to the frat house that they will come and watch. so they will all chip in and pay for those races’ entry fees. also, they have been talking about buying me a jersey and getting a logo or something screen-printed on - some of them might even get such jerseys for themselves.
i have a few questions, which i hope you can help answer: is this in good taste (as a MOPer)? is this USAT legal (as an age grouper)? are there restrictions on this - size, numbers, etc? have any of you been similarly “sponsored”? in general, is this a good idea? do you have any ideas for funny sponsor names or logos?
if you’d like me to, i can post what some of the ideas are. some of them are pretty funny. thanks in advance…
if you’d like me to, i can post what some of the ideas are. some of them are pretty funny. thanks in advance…
I refuse to answer until we hear the ideas.
haha, okay…
first, the ones that border on tasteless (please bear in mind that we are frat guys, and that these are just brainstorming-type ideas): “NO FAT CHICKS” “HOW’S MY DRIVING?” the female silhouette like on the mudflaps of trucks “If you can read this, YOU’RE BEHIND ME” this would be written on my back “HOOTERS” this would be written on my chest
now, the moderately more serious ones Trombley Construction, Inc. Ippolito Industries, Ltd. note: These two are NOT real companies; however, for various reasons, they have been put on resumes by brothers applying for jobs, and they have become inside jokes. Phi Kappa Psi i’d either get the greek letters or write them out in english, as here
after having consulted these guys some more, we’ve pretty much decided that it’ll be a bunch of our frat’s inside jokes, unless we (ie you) can come up with something else
i’m replying to my own thread, so that i can move it up the list. lame, i know. but this is something that i don’t want to let die. so there.
some ideas besides the letters of your house.
triathletes do it longer I’m 3 times better than your boyfriend
on the back of the singlet: if you can read this you suck worse than i do
will race for food sex beer etc.
I think it’s a great idea. In college running XC, doing tri’s, having shaved legs and long hair, and knowing how to cook kept me a busy guy.
Many people confuse sponsorship with a charitable contribution.
A contribution is when somebody gives an athlete money to enjoy the sport and support their involvement.
A sponsorship is a business arrangement where an athlete is hired by a sponsor for the purpose of increasing the visibility of a given product/service.
When an athlete returns a viable service (publicity, image definition, increased sales, etc) to a sponsor they have done their job. If not, they have failed.
The nature of sponsorships is that they are hard to quantify. There are exceptions though. Anna Kournikova has been a golden girl for Adidas and Berlei Shock Absorber sports bras. She isn’t a great tennis player compared to the absolute top players, although she is certainly elite, but she understands the value of her image and is not reluctant to use her appearance and modelling talent to deliver on her sponsorship agreements.
Anna sells product. Very few other sponsorships work that well.
When you accept a “sponsorship” (as opposed to a contribution) from someone the first question you have to ask yourself is: What am I going to return to my sponsor?
Not sure if you’re in the US or ot, but be careful not to violate any NCAA rules regarding professionals. Even if you’re not on a school’s tri team, but maybe you swim or run for school? As an example, see Jeremy Bloom at Colorado (skiier/football player). If this becomes an issue, technically you’re not a “professional” to the extent you use the funds solely to offset expenses (i.e. are reimbursed for your expenses and still operate at a loss). Talk to a sport’s coach or your athletic department
i love those ideas. as soon as we all get together to play poker tonight, i’ll run the ideas by them… “will race for food/beer/sex/etc…”, i love it!!!
as far as me being on my school’s teams… well, that’s easy, 'cause i’m not. i’m a member of the cycling club, and we race together sometimes, but one of them is on a real team, so if he’s not in trouble, then neither will i.
tom, you are absolutely correct about the difference between contribution and sponsorship; however, that’s a moot point, because we’re doing this for laughs.
thanks for the advice, and the warnings. if anyone comes up with any more logos or ideas (by the way, we’re looking for a team name, like Mr. Tibbs’ “Team Secondhand Racing”), let me know!
I vote the Ippolito Industries. It just sounds too damn good to tell people “I race for Ippolito Industries”. As long as it doesn’t jeopardize anyone’ job (i.e. fake resumes) or future use of the reference on resumes. That’s classic. I love it.