"Several individual properties showed significant improvements over 1999, including the AFL, MLS, LPGA, the PGA Tour and the NBA. Of the 10 comparable questions related to sponsor/client relations, the AFL registered significant improvement in nine — significant being an increase of 10 or more points in the percentage of sponsors answering 4 or 5 on the five-point scale. LPGA and MLS had double-digit improvements in eight categories, the NBA in six and the PGA Tour in five." (S&S Sports Business Journal) this is a quote from an article in the SBJ discussing the results of a 12 page sports marketing survey sent to more than 1,200 sports marketing execs. Questions asked included brand awareness, promotions, expertise provided to sponsors & service after the sale to name a few. Just another good sign. It's always good when sponsors are happy.
Can you find this info and hit us with a link? I would be very interested in actually seeing this and analyzing this for myself.
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/ i have a paid subsciption to get on-line access and the SBJ in print. just provide a little info and get a free trial.
To me, this is the most important place for MLS to be successful. Score the sponsors and fans will follow. People will watch what they are told to and if the advertisers say it is soccer then good luck keeping kits on the rack.
Typically, it's the other way around. Score with the fans, and the sponsors will follow. Sponsors usually invest based upon stats (i.e. attendance) or perceptions (i.e. demographics that attend) that the teams/leagues present to them. The sponsors look for sports/events that most closely match their target market. MLS announced attendance per game is on par with NBA and NHL. They are getting about the same amount of advertising "hits" per game, yet at a much better price than an NHL or NBA game. They also tend to get better value with MLS (i.e. more bang for their buck -- player appearances, unique promotions.) There are fewer games in MLS, but the price of the sponsorship reflects that. The fan demographics are also perceived to be unique. Sponsors who are interested in targeting "soccer moms" and their families or Hispanics are presented with numbers from attendance that may support a claim that this is a good investment for someone looking target those markets. The "sport" that usually tops the rankings of sponsor satisfaction is auto racing (I haven't seen this year's ratings yet.) They do a great job of research (i.e. surveys to ticketbuyers) that demonstrates fan loyalty to their sport and the likeliness of the fans to purchase sponsor products. They attempt to show the sponsors directly how well their sponsorship is working. That said, though, press like this is very good for everyone involved or potentially involved in MLS. It reinforces the sponsor investments, it is a tool for the teams and league to use when approaching new sponsors, and it gives validity to the league in the eyes of fans.