Local Sports Sponsorship

I’m wondering if anyone thinks there is value in sponsoring local sports clubs. Personally, I think that it’s a big opportunity that is sometimes missed by companies. For us, it gives something back to our local community, and the local sports clubs can really benefit from a company getting on board.

For a few hundred pounds we have helped out various football, basketball and ice hockey clubs, helping with printed programmes, advertising boards and hoardings and sports equipment and kits. We have helped out a football team for people with learning disabilities who couldn’t afford footballs, and this year we have sponsored Bracknell Athletic football club, Girls Rockets, helping with their kits and reducing the cost of local girls playing sports.

I don’t think that companies always realise the huge marketing potential this creates. Just sponsoring a football team will mean that our logo is on the girls’ kits. So it’s not just seen by the ten girls wearing the kits every week but by the 20 parents on the sidelines. Also, add to that the other 20 parents of the opposing team every week (with 40 games a season we are up to 800 already). Then, before the match, the players are wearing the kits, tracksuits and our logo in the local Costa, town centre and anywhere else they go before the match. I was waiting in line to grab a coffee and saw my company’s logo three times in one supermarket. I also saw a few other logos on the shirts of various other kids in the shop.

Not bad for under £500 for the season.

We always look at sponsoring our local ice hockey team, football team and other clubs too. Again, we are spending a small amount of money and gaining a lot of exposure in our local community. It costs hardly anything to have a banner at the local ice hockey team and an advert in the programme for the year.

I do agree attention is on screens in 2018 but I can’t help thinking that there are so many benefits for helping out your local, appreciative, sports clubs.