The scores now tallied, the US Open tennis tournament can claim it a pointed victory for its sponsors.
Lexus, Chase, Olympus, Adidas and others together scored more than $56 million in broadcast advertising value this summer during the championship rounds of the event, according to a sponsorship measurement tool used by Relay Sponsorship & Event Marketing.
Lexus and JPMorgan Chase took top value. Lexus, through branding placements on in-stadium signage, net logos, onscreen graphics and player clothing, received more than $13.5 million in value during the broadcast of the men’s singles finals. JPMorgan Chase followed with signage that raked in $11.76 million in exposure and Olympus with $7.81 million. Rounding out the list is Nike clothing $790,792; Polo signage, clothing $429,003; Lacoste clothing $410,287; Citizen signage $403,938; IBM signage, onscreen graphics $263,578; Evian courtside cooler, water bottles, signage $190,941 and American Express signage, onscreen graphics $147,825.
During the women’s singles finals, JPMorgan Chase beat out all other brands for exposure with more than $16 million in ad value with its in-stadium signage and net logos. Olympus’ signage followed garnering $1.81 million and Adidas player clothing with $436,111 in broadcast value. Rounding out the list is Polo signage, clothing $367,403; Lexus signage, onscreen graphics, net logo $311,374; Nike clothing $261,590; Citizen signage $167,877; Evian courtside cooler, water bottles, signage $136,182; Prince player equipment $117,103 and Wilson player equipment $115,513.
A total of 37 brands received airtime during the tourney.
The measurement tool that Relay Sponsorship & Events Marketing uses factors how consumers view a brand’s exposure during sports and entertainment programming by totaling the instances of on-air exposure, including onsite signage displays at an event, as well as onscreen graphics and branded features aired, said Matt Pensinger, senior director of sponsorship consulting, Relay.
According to sponsorship information resource IEG, 66% of sponsorship spending this year is earmarked for sporting events like the US Open. In addition, the average sponsor will spend $1.70 to leverage its deals for every $1 it pays in rights fees this year. The amount equals the highest ratio tracked by IEG, which was achieved in 2003 before dipping to 1.3-to-1 in 2004 and inching up to 1.5-to-1 last year.
“A rise in the number of sponsors spending 3-to-1 or higher on activation caused the increase,” IEG said in a report. “Nearly 23% of sponsors reported their leveraging spending would be at least three times their rights fees.”
Last year U.S marketers forked out $12.1 billion in sponsorship spending, per IEG.
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