After the NBA announced the adoption of sponsorship logos on player’s uniforms for the 2017-2018 season, the Los Angeles Lakers made a preemptive move in locking up a sponsorship valuation company to aid with their digital and social media sponsors.
Hookit, a data-driven sponsorship intelligence platform, will aid in the development of what the company refers to as an
“empirical, data-based approach” in order to increase the total value of the sponsor patch.
Hookit, based out of San Diego, uses analytics for tracking and establishing the value of teams, events and athletes/individuals across the sport and entertainment industry. Through the Hookit Valation Methodology (HVM) the Lakers hope to gain relevant information regarding the media value and significance of their eventual sponsor patch.
“The HVM technology provides the Lakers a platform to precisely track and understand social media value driven by analyzing digital engagement and utilizing image recognition to track logo placement in photos and videos shared” said Tim Harris, Lakers Senior Vice President of Business Operations/COO. “ In combination with our traditional television viewership metrics, we now have a more comprehensive look at what kind of value we can generate for our partners.”
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Hookit’s ability to measure and track the value and performance of a sponsorship across physical, digital and social media landscapes will provide key insight into establishing a strong sponsor profile. They will look to provide a measurable solution that assigns a value to a brand’s levels of distribution and engagement.
“We know measurement matters” said Carl Thomas, Chief Revenue Offer at Hookit “because you can’t manage what you fail to measure. As the consumption of sports content continues to grow on social media and digital media sites, our HVM has rapidly become the accepted standard measurement tool to value the consumer digital engagement.”
The 2.5 by 2.5 inch patch will be placed on the front left side of a player’s jersey opposite Nike’s official swoosh logo. The addition will be added once Nike takes over branding as the official jersey sponsor of the NBA.
Commissioner, Adam Silver believes the “experiment” will increase the potential of added revenue.
“I think the greatest impact will be on sort of this amplifying effect of a company choosing to associate directly with a team’s jersey, then going out and promoting that relationship in the larger market,” said Silver. “I think that will lead to greater engagement of our fans with these teams.”
With logos appearing on international and MLS soccer jerseys for years now, the NBA decided they would dip their toes in the water. The potential revenue could reach upwards of $100 million annually, but there is a catch. NBA teams will have to generate and manage their own sales, which could lead some teams to lacking in participation.
The future of NBA jerseys are changing. Lets just hope it does not reach the intensity of the sponsors on the side of a NASCAR vehicle, or resemble a street corner in downtown Brooklyn covered in graffiti. Either way, we will adapt. It is just another notch on the belt of an endlessly changing game.