Team Sky (now Ineos Grenadiers) is a British professional road cycling team whose aim was to win the Tour de France with a clean British rider and inspire 1 million more people to ride their bikes. The team launched at the start of 2010 and Strive, the sports sponsorship agency was tasked with establishing and managing the team’s sponsorship and broader commercial programme for the first five years of operation. This was critical for the team as cycling teams generate 99% of their revenue through sponsorship, receiving no income from media rights, ticketing, hospitality etc and barely anything from other revenue streams (e.g. race costs, merchandise etc).
Sports sponsorship agency / Strive’s scope of work
- Set commercial and sponsorship objectives, defining a plan to deliver
- Support and input into the team’s brand identity and positioning (for both consumer and business audiences)
- Build an understanding of consumer/fan and business audiences in order to optimise commercial revenue
- Establish the commercial partnership programme. Create a partnership architecture to optimise value for all parties
- Define a clear value proposition and narrative
- Identify and create commercial marketing rights, engagement programmes, and other offerings to maximise value and attractiveness to brand partners
- Build tools and processes to retain and grow commercial partnership revenue e.g. develop return on investment (ROI) models to inform and evaluate partner value
- Supported the diversification of revenue streams through licensed products and direct to consumer propositions
Results
- Delivered significant seven-figure revenue that grew with each subsequent deal term
- Achieved 100% partner retention rate over five years
- Increased the number of partners year-on-year, attracting global brands and achieving all objectives set – as a department and a team
- Build a commercial model that was considered best practice in the sports sponsorship industry
- Multi-award-winning (from industry peers) marketing activity
- Contributed to achieving the objectives of both winning the Tour de France and inspiring a million more cyclists earlier than the 5-year timeline set
Need help from a sports sponsorship agency?
If you’re looking for advice from an esports, gaming, or sports sponsorship agency, Strive Sponsorship can help. Contact us for marketing, commercial, content, media, investment, and communications consultancy services.
Frequently asked questions
What is a sports sponsorship agency?
A sports sponsorship agency can provide a variety of services. Strive Sponsorship advises on sports marketing and sponsorship strategy (what and who to sponsor), helps negotiate sponsorship deals, and helps brands leverage sponsorships to maximise return on investment (this may involve PR, events, social media content and activations etc). We also provide sports content creation services.
Why do brands use a sports sponsorship agency?
There are a number of different reasons brands use a sports agency. The most popular include helping them raise brand awareness, positively impact brand perception, entertain clients and staff, support lead generation, and deliver product sales. Agencies provide specialist knowledge and expertise that a company may not have in-house, or where brands may need additional capacity.
What is unique about sports sponsorship?
Sports offer a platform for brands to create emotional connections with customers and potential customers, in ways few other passion points do. Rather than interrupt what people are interested in when using traditional advertising, brands have the opportunity to be part of the fabric of what fans are interested in and have an opportunity to add to this enjoyment through their marketing activity.
