Make your sport investment work harder than a logo.
For brand and marketing teams investing in sports sponsorship, or deciding whether to. We help you choose the right property, activate it beyond the badge and prove it worked, with 25 years' experience on both sides of the table.
Trusted by
Sound familiar?
The conversations we have most often with brand and marketing teams.
We've been offered a shirt deal, and the deck is all media value.
We sponsor something, but nobody inside the business can say what it's for.
Renewal is coming up and we can't prove it worked.
We want to get into women's sport, but don't know where to start.
Swipe to see more →
How we help
Three places we make the biggest difference, whether you're starting from scratch or already have a partnership in place.
Choose the right property
Which sport, team, event or athlete really reaches your audience, what it's worth paying, and which assets you actually need. Start with the job, not the property you happen to like.
What we do
- Partnership strategy built around your business objective
- Audience and category fit, and a shortlist of properties
- Rights valuation and deal negotiation
- Shirt, sleeve, kit or something better? Choosing the asset, not just the property
What we do
- Partnership strategy built around your business objective
- Audience and category fit, and a shortlist of properties
- Rights valuation and deal negotiation
- Shirt, sleeve, kit or something better? Choosing the asset, not just the property
Activate beyond the logo
The rights fee buys you the right to be associated. The value comes from what you do with it. We plan activation that works across the whole funnel and plugs into your wider marketing.
What we do
- Activation plans from awareness to sales
- Content, creative and athlete concepts
- Retail, B2B and hospitality programmes
- Getting your own people behind it, and briefing your agencies
What we do
- Activation plans from awareness to sales
- Content, creative and athlete concepts
- Retail, B2B and hospitality programmes
- Getting your own people behind it, and briefing your agencies
Prove it at renewal
Measure the job you bought the partnership to do, and set it up before the first ball is bowled. When renewal comes round, you'll have the evidence to decide.
What we do
- Measurement framework, baseline and KPIs
- Partnership reviews using the Bazballers 4P model™
- Renew, reshape or walk away: renewal decisions
- Media value in its place: the justification, not the reason
What we do
- Measurement framework, baseline and KPIs
- Partnership reviews using the Bazballers 4P model™
- Renew, reshape or walk away: renewal decisions
- Media value in its place: the justification, not the reason
Swipe to see more →
Built on the 4P model™
All three run through the same four questions: Purpose, Proposition, Positioning and Performance.
Brand work that moved the needle
Our work with brands at Bazballers, and the brand partnerships our team ran before it, from both sides of the table.
Activating IG's England Cricket partnership
Making the brand's England Cricket partnership work harder, from the stage to the stands. [Result to confirm]
Read the case study →Before Bazballers: our team's track record
cinch × England Cricket
A new principal partner for a new category. Record website traffic within the first hour of play, and trust that turned into car sales.
Read the case study →Metro Bank × Women's and girls' cricket
[Add one line on the partnership and its result]
Olay × Jessica Ennis
London 2012. [Add one line on the partnership and its result]
Hilton × Jenson Button
[Add one line on the partnership and its result]
Swipe to see more →
Thinking for brands
From the Bazballers Scoop and our articles.
Robots in disguise: why robot lawnmowers are showing up in sport
Why brands asking people to change behaviour, from cinch to robot lawnmowers, turn to sport to build trust.
"Sport isn't just something people like. It's something people care about."
3 May 2026 · Read the issue →
The changing rules of athlete partnerships
Five considerations each for athletes, brands and governing bodies.
"Slapping an athlete next to your product on a poster is unlikely to really move the needle."
20 Sep 2026 · Read the issue →
Is your brand on a shirt a sure bet?
What 92 shirts and one 27-year renewal say about buying the chest.
"I'd want to know why before I knew where."
9 Aug 2026 · Read the issue →
Swipe to see more →
Join 1,241 subscribers. New issues land in your LinkedIn feed and inbox.
Brand questions
Straight answers to what brand and marketing teams ask us most.
How do we choose the right sports sponsorship?
Start with the job, not the property. Be clear about the business problem, the audience you need to reach and what you can bring beyond the fee. Then shortlist the properties that genuinely reach that audience, and test them: could five people on your leadership team give the same answer to why you're buying it? If you want a quick starting point, spin the Bazballers Sponsorship Wheel for brands.
How much should we budget for activation?
Treat activation as its own budget from day one. The rights fee buys the right to be associated; the value comes from what you do with it. Many strong partnerships put as much again behind activation, though a smaller, focused budget can work if the idea is sharp.
How do we know if a sponsorship worked?
Measure the job you bought it to do. Set a baseline before launch, include the full cost of activation, and track the change that matters: awareness in your target audience, a shift in belief, trial, sales or leads. Media value is useful, but it should be the justification, not the reason.
Can you review a partnership we already have?
Yes. We run a review using the Bazballers 4P model™: is the purpose still right, is the idea working, are you showing up in the right places, and what has actually changed? The answer might be to renew, to reshape the deal or, sometimes, to walk away.
Do you only work on big deals?
No. We work with brands at every stage, from a first local partnership to national deals. The thinking is the same: be clear about the job, and spend where it makes the biggest difference.
