Last October, the National Football League inaugurated its international series in London's Wembley Stadium to a sold-out crowd. For title sponsor Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, the game between the New York Giants and the Miami Dolphins was an introduction to global marketing.
The competition, known as the Bridgestone International Series, provided several marketing platforms for the sponsor: advertising units on Sky TV, on-air billboards during the telecast, pre-game tune-in spots the week before and advertising the day of the game. It was broadcast in more than 200 countries and in 21 languages via 39 media partners.
In addition to the NFL, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League all have stepped up their efforts to expand abroad. Their end game is to generate new revenue streams from foreign broadcast rights, licensing and sponsorships.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, sponsorships alone are poised to grow significantly worldwide through 2010. They will climb to $12.4 billion in the U.S., up about 17 percent from the $10.6 billion expected this year. Similar growth is expected in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with sponsorships and related fees projected to climb 16 percent to $10.7 billion. Thanks to the Beijing Olympics, deals in the Asia-Pacific region are projected to grow by 26 percent to $9.6 billion...
...The NHL has similar ambitions. Last year, it created NHL Premiere, an international series that also debuted in London, to sell-out crowds at the O2 Arena, with two games between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings. This October the series will double in size to four European games in Prague, Czech Republic, and Stockholm, Sweden. Although the league didn't sign any sponsors for the 2007 series, this year it will potentially have three main sponsors, plus local advertisers, said Ken Yafe, svp, NHL International.
Bridgestone was also the first client to partner with the NHL's international series, a deal that was finalized three weeks ago. Yafe declined to elaborate on other sponsors.
Phil Pacsi, vp of consumer marketing for Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire said the company gains ice-level signage as a part of the agreement. He referred to the league's demographic as a "very tech-savvy" crowd. "And we like to think of Bridgestone as a tech leader in the field. Look at hockey: It's a premier game that's played on ice. We have a premier ice tire called the Bridgestone Blizzak. It's a great opportunity to promote an advanced-technology tire from Bridgestone with the leading game on ice," said Pacsi.
For advertisers, building a global marketing footprint is sometimes easier said than done. Pacsi noted the Tokyo-based tire company's marketing is broken up into three areas: Asia, the Americas and Europe. "When the opportunity came for us to partner with the NFL international series, it was a natural fit as a global brand and a global tire company," he said.
The U.K. games also offered the advertiser a unique opportunity: field-level signage that the NFL does not offer in the U.S.. "The opportunity to get our brand out in the stadium, in the field, as well as the promotion that the NFL executed around the game, gave us great exposure for our European counterparts as well as exposure from the worldwide audience that watched the game internationally," said Pacsi. In the States, only the NFL and the broadcasters of the games get that field-level exposure. Bridgestone's signage received a combined 3 minutes and 35 seconds of screen time and reaped more than $1.6 million in comparable exposure value, according to research from Joyce Julius Associates, an Ann Arbor, Mich., firm that measures the impact of sponsorships.
While the MLS, NFL and NHL foreign deals with American Airlines and Bridgestone are tied to domestic sponsorships, EA Sports, a video-game distributor and the title sponsor of the NBA's Europe Live series, said it specifically wanted to support the league's international games. "We are a licensed product, and anywhere the NBA strengthens its brand helps us," said Jordan Edelstein, marketing director.
Last week the NBA outlined the slate of games for its 2008 European tour, which will feature regular-season contests in Paris, Berlin, Barcelona, Spain, and London starting in October. EA Sports' NBA video-game franchise has a lot of potential outside of North America, Edelstein said. "As the NBA expands its own global footprint, it provides a vehicle to let people experience our products as they come more in contact with the league," he said.
The tangibility of a game played on foreign soil helps advertisers reach consumers in new ways. For instance, MLB, which last month held its third two-game opening-day series in Japan, placed patches on the sleeves of players' uniforms. The Oakland Athletics sported a Pepsi patch, while the Boston Red Sox displayed the EMC logo. Meanwhile, a Ricoh sticker adorned each batting helmet.
"It gives us the opportunity to show companies where we are in certain markets," said Paul Archey, svp of international business operations for MLB, who added Japan is the only place the league uses such promotions. "But it also gives sponsors a way to be a part of the touch and feel of those markets. It's not just broadcast, nor a licensed product nor a promotion. It's actually taking the game and attaching them to it."