Sponsorship is powerful — but it isn’t always effective. We’ve been lucky to work on hundreds of sponsorships around the world, and one thing keeps coming up: amazing creative work that doesn’t reach enough fans. Sponsorship is meant to engage huge audiences. But our research shows a different story 👇 📊 On average, sponsorships only reach 23% of the total fanbase digitally. 📉 That drops to 2% when brands rely on organic reach through rights holder channels. 💰 Meanwhile, 73% of ad spend is now digital. That mismatch is what we call the sponsorship gap. It’s the difference between the potential of sponsorship and the audiences it actually reaches. And it’s why we built Cascade — to help brands reach more sports fans. If you want to find out how to close your sponsorship gap then get in touch. More details in the comments. #sponsorship #marketing #marketingeffectiveness #sportsbiz #sportsmarketing The Space Between Tom Gladstone Lisa Parfitt Sam Ruffe Sascha Webster Tom Lovegrove Jonny Kehoe Jack Mead Bogdan de Berg

Reimagining Sports Marketing: Why South African Sports Organisations Need Full-Scale Marketing Teams to Win Fans and Create Financial Stability 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d3_n6nuf

⚽️ As football becomes increasingly global, clubs face a real challenge: how to grow their international fanbase without losing the authenticity that makes them who they are. In my latest piece for The Sports Marketeer, I explore how brand archetypes -from the Ruler 👑 to the Jester 🤡 - can help clubs define their identity, tell more meaningful stories, and build stronger emotional connections with fans. 👉 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/e6YtKEYC #SportsMarketing #FootballBusiness #BrandStrategy

On average brand sponsors are only reaching 2% of the total fan base digitally. At The Space Between we call this the 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐚𝐩. I really believe in sponsorship and have witnessed first-hand the overwhelmingly positive impact on brand and business metrics for sponsors in every category there is. But, to keep pushing and improving the results you have to be objective, honest and self-critical. And, at our most reflective we just know deep-down sponsorships can work even better. Our research of the top rights holders’ total fanbases, and digital following, shows that sponsorships activated through rights-holder social channels only have the potential to reach on average 23% of the total audience following that sport. It’s even more sticky if you factor in the organic reach on owned social channels is only about 5% - which means sponsors are on average only reaching 2% of the total fan base of the property they sponsor. We’ve created 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 to close this gap with smarter digital amplification - ensuring brands reach more sports fans, more effectively, with sharper creative. We are the agency uniting creative and audience reach, and Cascade is another offering to challenge industry convention making sponsorship work harder for brands - from strategy and activation to distribution. If you’ve fallen down that pesky gap, drop me a DM. Adam Raincock Tom Gladstone Sam Ruffe Tom Lovegrove Sascha Webster Emma Albon Jonny Kehoe Leah Dalgliesh Georgia Gogarty Oliver Price Jack Mead Leo Style Bogdan de Berg Kiran Sidhu Roshini Ellis Joshua Olutunfese Charlie Green Charlie Boss #sponsorship #sponsorshipgap #digitalcontent #sportsmarketing #sportsbiz

The Space Between launches Cascade – closing the sponsorship gap The Space Between has unveiled Cascade, a new digital amplification model designed to bridge what it calls the ‘sponsorship gap’. Research by the agency shows that sponsorships activated through rights-holders’ digital channels reach, on average, just 23% of the total audience following a sport. With organic social reach at an all-time low, that figure can drop to as little as 2%. Cascade is built to help brands and rights-holders overcome this challenge — unlocking the full potential of fan communities by extending activation beyond the limitations of owned and organic channels. Adam Raincock Lisa Parfitt Tom Gladstone #TheSpaceBetween #Cascade #DigitalAmplification #SponsorshipStrategy #FanEngagement #SportsMarketing #BrandPartnerships #SponsorshipInnovation

🚀 FinancialMarkets.media Expands into Sports Sponsorships FinancialMarkets.media is proud to announce our new strategic sports sponsorship offering, giving financial brands access to one of the most powerful and measurable ways to build global visibility. “Sports sponsorships are no longer just for global giants. Today, they’re accessible, targeted, and data-driven — meaning clients of all sizes can benefit from the trust and authority that come with being associated with popular sports,” says Sergi López Tomàs, CEO. From football, F1, and golf to emerging sports like padel, our packages are designed to fit your audience, geography, and budget. Key benefits: ✅ Global visibility with engaged audiences ✅ Boosted brand trust and credibility ✅ Flexible investment levels for all brands ✅ Personalised targeting — local, regional, or global Discover how sponsorships can transform your marketing strategy: https://bit.ly/3W4cqcF #FinancialMarketing #SportsSponsorship #BrandVisibility #MarketingInnovation

This #Sponsorship #Evaluation #Model is in my book with Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. There are variations on this sort of model but the bottom, the starting point, holds similarities across organizations utilizing #partnerships in their marketing. In Sponsorship Metric Decisions the brand makes the choice on measurement being common or unique across their portfolio... or accepts the measurement of the partner property/commercial suppler. If everything is measured differently it is hard to compare. Then you end up with a qualitative dial or pie chart on #KPI success. There is a dearth of quantitative measures that can be utilized across a partnership portfolio. This is one value from our new measure of experiential engagement. It is a short scale that captures audience experiential engagement with a context (e.g., sports, arts, music) that can be used across a portfolio. Are audiences more engaged with Sponsorship 1, 2 or 3 and what does their engagement hold for KPIs? We demonstrate use of the scale in this Psychology & Marketing paper. Open Source - no paywall. https://lnkd.in/dzWujKGa Interested in if you use it and find it helpful!

Less Sponsorship As Advertising and More Sponsorship As Authentic Engagement A study published by Journal of Advertising explains why sponsorship should move away from being treated like traditional advertising. ✅ For a long time, #sponsorship was treated like advertising, mainly about logos and visibility. But this idea is old now. ✅ The real strength of sponsorship is when it connects with what people love, like sports, art, culture, or causes. ✅ Engagement is about building feelings: loyalty, attachment, passion, even love for the brand. ✅ Sponsorships must feel real and natural, not forced or commercial. ✅ Authenticity can be measured in four ways: history (continuity), trust (credibility), values (integrity), and identity fit (symbolism). ✅ Spending extra on communication (leverage) and creating fan activities (activation) should make the sponsorship feel more authentic, not like regular advertising. ✅ Measurement should move from just “media value” to things like authenticity, engagement, loyalty, and passion. ✅ Both the sponsor and the property need to tell the “why us together” story clearly, so people understand the connection.

The #sports economy is now more global, diverse and fan-driven than ever, translating into new opportunities for #brands. “There’s a ton more opportunities in reaching consumers and sports fans these days," says Jon Stainer of Nielsen Sports. He tells Brand Innovators sports #leagues and #media are taking those opportunities to heart. #sportsmarketing https://lnkd.in/eFgs35za

Depth vs. Diversification in Sports Sponsorships “Choose Wisely” A recent piece on diversified sponsorship portfolios hits a familiar nerve: going wide across many sports can expand reach, but unless there’s a clear brand narrative and serious activation muscle, you risk turning into logo wallpaper. Cazoo is the cautionary tale. The brand showed up everywhere, football, rugby, snooker, darts, cricket, golf, but spread itself too thin. Rights were secured faster than they could be activated. With limited fan-centric experiences and weak through-the-funnel impact, the spend diluted and the brand couldn’t convert attention into outcomes. How not to be Cazoo: • Prioritize depth over scatter. Pick fewer properties and own them culturally. • Fund activation, not just rights. Experiences, content, community > perimeter boards. • Tie it all together. One unifying brand theme across all properties. • Measure behavior change. Consideration, conversion, LTV—not impressions alone. • Pilot → Prove → Scale. Earn the right to diversify. Bottom line: Diversification works only when your story is coherent and your activations are heavyweight. Otherwise, pick a lane and dominate it. Which begs the question, How many Cazoo-like case do we have in Saudi? 🧐 Source: https://lnkd.in/dP9K6wH2 #SportsMarketing #Sponsorship #BrandStrategy #FanEngagement #Cazoo #MarketingLeadership