We are considering sponsoring an athlete or athletes in 2015. We (the owners) are active in endurance sports - mostly triathlon.
While I know sales and marketing, this is a new arena for me. Our line of business is not triathlon related, so our goal here would only be a name recognition boost. Our focus would be IM distance pros - male or female.
A few questions:
I have no idea of the price points. Obviously there are different levels. Would spending $25k each on several athletes or $100k on one athlete be in the right ballpark? (I don’t want to insult anyone.)
Operationally, what is the timing on pros lining up sponsorships for the season? My assumption is fall for the northern hemisphere to start making these deals.
Thanks in advance for any ideas. If I’ve crossed a line or brought up a subject not pertinent to this board, let me know and I will take this down.
We are considering sponsoring an athlete or athletes in 2015. We (the owners) are active in endurance sports - mostly triathlon.
While I know sales and marketing, this is a new arena for me. Our line of business is not triathlon related, so our goal here would only be a name recognition boost. Our focus would be IM distance pros - male or female.
A few questions:
I have no idea of the price points. Obviously there are different levels. Would spending $25k each on several athletes or $100k on one athlete be in the right ballpark? (I don’t want to insult anyone.)
Operationally, what is the timing on pros lining up sponsorships for the season? My assumption is fall for the northern hemisphere to start making these deals.
Thanks in advance for any ideas. If I’ve crossed a line or brought up a subject not pertinent to this board, let me know and I will take this down.
I highly doubt that $25-100k in sponsorship money would “insult” any triathlete. Hell $25k is probably more than 90-95% of pros make in a year. I bet you get a shit ton of PMs from pros after posting this.
Definitely agree with the poster above. I highly doubt you will insult anyone.
You are absolutely right, it is the right time for the athletes on here.
If you’re also looking for young amateur long distance athletes, I may know one very well ;).
Personally I think I would sponsor several athletes instead of sponsoring only one with more $$$. Having multiple athletes wearing your logo will give a bigger boost in visibility.
I would agree with the other posters - the dollar amount you’ve listed is going to get a lot of interest in the professional triathlon community.
I would make sure that the Pro or Pros that you think about working with have influence, especially if your company/product is not in the Triathlon realm. It’s one thing for a nutrition or bike company to pay athletes small amount of money to put their logos on kits/websites/social media. But if you are wanting to get exposure in a new market - I would be sure to be clear on exactly what you hope to get out of the partnership. Best of luck -
For that money you can probably have a small team and be naming sponsor. Better visibility than being an associate sponsor on random individuals.
Find a pro that wants to do the legwork on getting other sponsors on board and coordinating website/PR so it doesn’t become a time sink for you.
We are considering sponsoring an athlete or athletes in 2015. We (the owners) are active in endurance sports - mostly triathlon.
While I know sales and marketing, this is a new arena for me. Our line of business is not triathlon related, so our goal here would only be a name recognition boost. Our focus would be IM distance pros - male or female.
A few questions:
I have no idea of the price points. Obviously there are different levels. Would spending $25k each on several athletes or $100k on one athlete be in the right ballpark? (I don’t want to insult anyone.)
Operationally, what is the timing on pros lining up sponsorships for the season? My assumption is fall for the northern hemisphere to start making these deals.
Thanks in advance for any ideas. If I’ve crossed a line or brought up a subject not pertinent to this board, let me know and I will take this down.
I would think a good place to start would be with some of the coaches on the board that have higher performing athletes. desertdude, Francois, Jonnyo, MarkyV, etc., and see if they have any “up and comers” that they think would be a good fit for the opportunity. Also, think about what you want from the pro, is simply wearing your name enough? Twitter/fb/social media mentions? How many? How many races would you require, or any PR must attends?
Oh, another thing you might think about is forming a team, or sponsoring a team.
+1 on a team. Much more visibility at each event and/or more events and the potential to build a brand. There’s also the option of having a mixed team like Zoot and Timex and include some FOP amateurs from a range of age groups.
I would consider also contacting a bicycle brand, Dimond comes to mind, to might be interested in teaming up with you. I’m not sure how that would impact the 2 or 3 pros that they already have.
My $.02 - you need to take a step back and evaluate why you are doing this and what you want to achieve. Now, I only have your single post to go on, but based on that, it seems you are rushing headfirst into this without evaluating what your goals are (other than “name recognition”). But you have numbers in mind while not knowing if those numbers are realistic, or who you want to sponsor.
First, you need to determine if the triathlon community is even the right demographic for your company, or if sponsorship is the right vehicle to reach triathletes. If you then decide it is a viable demographic, then look at your goals and how you can measure them (what does “name recognition” equate to and how will you measure it?). Then I would suggest talking to current professionals about how they can help achieve those goals. The LAST part of the equation should be the $$.
Depends what you want your logo under a first place banner.
An athlete that attracts new people into the sport.( coaching, volunteering/talks, social media).
Lots of race gear near in your community to represent you company.
All my sponsors are local to me. My sponsor expect me to give my best and represent them as a quality person, athlete, and coach… They never ask me to be give up work or family to win.
BUT if I was racing just to win I would look for big companies and expect big checks.
If you have 25-100k to spend on brand visibility i can think of 100 things better to do with your money than sponsoring a professional triathlete. I follow tri fairly closely, i could not tell you the bike sponsor of most Pro’s let alone their other sponsors simply because they switch so often everybody knows they ride what pays the most, not what they deem the best product.
If you have 25-100k to spend on brand visibility i can think of 100 things better to do with your money than sponsoring a professional triathlete. I follow tri fairly closely, i could not tell you the bike sponsor of most Pro’s let alone their other sponsors simply because they switch so often everybody knows they ride what pays the most, not what they deem the best product.
If you have 25-100k to spend on brand visibility i can think of 100 things better to do with your money than sponsoring a professional triathlete. I follow tri fairly closely, i could not tell you the bike sponsor of most Pro’s let alone their other sponsors simply because they switch so often everybody knows they ride what pays the most, not what they deem the best product.
True story…
A few months ago there was a go fund me thread about a certain Pro athlete, in the thread it came up that some lower end pro was sponsored by “Little Ceasers”……I looked him up, and honestly he has the ugliest triathlon kit known to man. I showed my girlfriend and we had a good laugh.
Having said that two days later we ordered Pizza, and we joked that anyone who races seriously and has the “balls” to wear a little caesars kit deserves a try. We are normally Dominoes people and we eat garbage about 1-2 times per month.
We gave little caesars a try and were happy and now stick with them, because they provide pretty good service and to my knowledge don’t kill people on the way to delivery.
This is only slightly in pink, we spend 50$ a month on Pizza….600$ year. The funny thing is I don’t remember his name…not sure if that’s what a sponsor wants, but honestly it was a bit of a joke but his sponsorship caused us to give another brand a try.
To the OP….are you a Pizza company? I would bend over backwards to create value for you ;-0
