Weekly Newsletter 11/1
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INNOVATION IN ACTION
Sponsorship as Innovation
To cap off the busiest month of the sports calendar, we hosted our inaugural Most Innovative Event. This gathering of executives, creators, analysts, and even mascots proved to be a one of a kind conference.
Historically we publish an annual Top 25 Most Innovative Teams In Sports Report where we highlight the top 25 teams that prove innovation is at the forefront of their practices. Our methodology includes three key touchpoints for an organization: revenue diversification, technology enablement, and organizational agility.
Sports sponsorships date as far back as the 19th century, when tobacco companies printed baseball cards and included them in packs of cigarettes as as a marketing ploy. Due to the strong presence of partnerships, sponsorships, and investments, we wanted to measure innovation within this realm and see how different brands faired when compared with each other. As a result, Sports Innovation Lab has released our first annual Most Innovative Sponsors In Sports Report. To develop our ranking system, we used a detailed methodology to "quantify" innovation within sponsorships. The pillars of our rankings were complex research and data categories that we termed community strength, brand energy, and emerging technology. The combination of these characteristics REVEALS how these brands engage their consumer community, track fans’ interest over time, and leverage new consumer-friendly technology to enable Fluid Fan behaviors.
Congratulations to this year's honorees!
Hot News In Sport
Portland Thorns Score NWSL Title
The Portland Thorns took home the 2022 NWSL Championship on Saturday night with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Current. This was the Thorns' third championship in the team's history. The first was in the league’s inaugural season in 2013 and the second in 2017. NWSL MVP Sophia Smith put the Thorns up 1-0 in the fourth minute. This season, the 22-year-old Smith became the youngest regular-season MVP in NWSL history. The Thorns remained in control for much of the match while Kansas City was having a tough time getting through the Portland Thorns' defense.
In the second half, Kansas City’s Addisyn Merrick netted an own goal to extend Portland’s lead, and The Current couldn't dig themselves out of the 2-goal hole. As a result, the Thorns came out on top and secured their spot as the 2022 NWSL Champions.
In Recording Breaking news, The 2022 NWSL Championship drew in 915,000 viewers Saturday, a +71% jump from last year, according to a tweet from the NWSL. We've been saying it for a while now, but this is another piece of evidence that women's sports are on the rise and the time to invest is NOW.
Sports Innovation Lab Events
Recapping Our 2022 Most Innovative Event
Last Thursday, Sports Innovation Lab hosted the inaugural Most Innovative Event at VR World In New York City. This was not any ordinary sports business conference; this was an innovative, creative, and technology-driven event that brought together so many different people in the sports business world.
There were 6 different panels throughout the day: Acquiring The Fluid Fan, BananaLand Live, Eavesdropping on the Creators' Council, What Dedication to Innovation Looks Like, A High Growth Investment: Women's Sports, and The New Frontier of Sports. These panels featured executives from the sports, technology, and entertainment spaces and they provided lots of valuable insight and information.
During the event, our Chief Marketing Officer, Gina Waldhorn unveiled the Top 25 Most Innovative Sponsors in Sport Report, which we broke down above. The report is now live and available for download. Throughout the day, attendees were able to experience VR technology brought in by vendors and interact with creators while they did live activations, captured content, and showcased their unique talents and artwork. The event also featured performances from Thorb, a professional recording artist and sports rapper (Check out the rap by clicking here), and Sunny Choi, a top-ranked Olympic "breaker" and high-level executive at Estée Lauder. The food at the event was even innovative, with Popchew - in partnership with Snapback Kitchen - featuring one of their "ghost kitchens," which aims to integrate food into interactive and immersive sports experiences.
Thank you to all the attendees, vendors, creators, panelists, and everyone who helped make this event possible. We are excited to keep expanding this event, and make it one of the most innovative sports conferences in the world! We can't wait until next year... Until then, STAY INNOVATIVE.
If you're ready to create breakthrough fan experiences and connect with the Fluid Fan through technology, visit our website sportsilab.com or email info@sportsilab.com!