最近，美国职业棒球联盟（MLB）成为美国第四个允许在球队球衣上使用品牌赞助商的主要职业体育项目，这是继美国曲棍球联盟（NHL）之后，NHL 将在 2022-23 赛季首次在球衣上使用品牌赞助商。美国职业棒球联盟（MLS）率先在美国本土使用袖标，而这两项运动距今已有整整 15 年的时间，但对于那些考虑到袖标将在 2023 赛季开赛时带来机遇的品牌来说，即将到来的回报似乎值得等待。
According to Nielsen Sports, the average on-screen Quality Index Media Value (QIMV)1 of a sleeve patch for the full regular MLB season is projected to exceed $12.4 million, significantly more than any other professional sports jersey sponsorship in the U.S.
在美国之外，你很难找到一件球队球衣不包含某种程度的企业赞助--这种趋势早在 20 世纪 70 年代就在寻求额外收入的欧洲足球俱乐部中兴起。不过，与其他球衣赞助机会相比，棒球比赛节奏较慢，可以从不同的角度展示品牌，而不像其他比赛那样让品牌习以为常。
例如，考虑一下与典型足球运动员相关的屏幕时间--在比赛过程中，球员很少站立不动，而且屏幕上的画面往往被缩小到最小，以向观众展示大面积的比赛场地。这些转播动态最大限度地减少了观众清晰看到球衣赞助商品牌的时间。赛季长度和比赛时间也是赞助商统一估值的考虑因素。
The approval of sponsorship sleeve patches on MLB jerseys was a part of the latest collective bargaining agreement between the league and players association. Shortly after the new agreement was signed, the San Diego Padres became the first team to enlist a sponsor, agreeing to a multiyear deal with Motorola for a reported $10 million per year.
By the end of the season, Nielsen projects that the sleeve asset alone will deliver a 1.5:1 return on Motorola’s rights fee investment. That’s because the patches are projected to have 39.5 hours of TV exposure during the 2023 season (out of 486 hours of total game time), and the media value of that exposure is $14.9 million2.
鉴于纽约洋基队、洛杉矶道奇队和旧金山巨人队球衣上的赞助贴片所支持的大都市地区，它们将产生最高的 QIMV。预计在即将到来的 MLB 赛季中，排名前五的球队的平均 QIMV 将达到 2420 万美元，而排名靠后的五支球队的平均 QIMV 将达到 690 万美元。
For sponsors, televised sports present significant exposure opportunity. In the U.S., 98% of the 50 most-watched broadcast programs in the first three quarters of last year were sports programming3. And in terms of ROI, a recent Nielsen Sports analysis of 100 sponsorships between 2020 and 2021 in seven markets across 20 industries found that the sponsorships drove an average 10% lift in purchase intent among the exposed fanbase4.
While all marketers are focused on growing sales, brand awareness topped the list of priorities among the marketers surveyed for Nielsen’s 2022 Annual Marketing Report. And in line with that, 71% of marketers in North America believe new ad formats, including sponsorships, are very or extremely important media mix considerations. The percentages are even higher in the auto and financial services industries (84% and 74%, respectively).
In addition to the notable on-screen exposure that jersey patches receive, Nielsen’s 2021 Trust in Advertising study found that brand sponsorships in sporting events rank just behind recommendations from friends and family, as 81% of consumers reported either completely or somewhat trusting them (vs. 89% who trust recommendations).
今年的美职棒季后赛即将结束，2023 年的季后赛也将在 3 月 30 日拉开帷幕。如果联盟的 30 支球队都能获得赞助商的支持，并在揭幕战上使用袖标，预计这些袖标将在本赛季的 162 场比赛中产生总计 3.714 亿美元的 QIMV。
说明
- 赞助商获得的现场直播曝光的媒体价值
- 尼尔森体育 QIMV
- 尼尔森全国电视小组
- Nielsen’s 2022 Annual Sports report
