5 Questions Every Property Should Ask Before Building a Sponsorship Package

Building a strong sponsorship package shouldn’t start with a list of assets and a price tag. 

It should start with understanding your audience, the value you bring to partners, and where there may be opportunities to create something new. 

Before building your next sponsorship package, start with these five questions. 

1. How big is our audience, really? 

Your audience is more than the people who walk through the gates. 

Fans may watch on TV or online, follow you on social media, buy merchandise, attend events or recommend you to others. 

Looking across these touchpoints gives you a better picture of your true reach and a stronger story to take to potential partners. 

2. What makes our audience valuable to a potential partner? 

Audience size matters, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. 

How engaged are your fans? How passionate are they? Is interest growing? Are they more likely to consider or purchase from brands that support the properties they care about? 

Then think about fit. What categories are your fans buying? Where does your audience overlap with the customers a potential partner wants to reach? 

It’s not just about reaching a lot of people. It’s about reaching the right people. 

3. What are we actually worth? 

It’s easy to ask, “How much do we think a sponsor would pay for this?” 

A better starting point is understanding the fair market value of the opportunity. 

Audience size, engagement, potential sponsor awareness and impact, and market benchmarks can all help establish a reasonable investment range. 

You may discover you’re priced exactly where you should be. Or you may find there’s room to grow. 

Either way, understanding your value gives you a more confident and defensible place to start. 

4. What problems can we help solve? 

Not every sponsorship opportunity needs to start with existing inventory. Instead, look at your fans and community. What do they need? What would improve their experience? Where could the right partner add genuine value? Starting with a real need can lead to partnership opportunities that would never appear on a traditional inventory sheet. Instead of asking, “Where can we put a sponsor?” ask, “Where could the right partner add value?” 

5. What new opportunities could we create? 

Your sponsorship inventory doesn’t have to stay the same every year. Even major properties continue to evolve what they offer. The NHL, for example, has expanded beyond traditional assets like rink boards and in-ice logos to include opportunities such as helmet decals, jersey patches and data-related assets. The takeaway? Think evolution, not revolution. Look at what you offer today and ask what could come next. Sometimes the most valuable asset in your next package is one you haven’t created yet. 

Start with value, then build the package 

The strongest sponsorship packages aren’t simply collections of assets with prices attached. They start with understanding your audience, what makes that audience valuable, what your opportunity is worth, and where you can create even more value. So before you start building the deck, ask: 

• How big is your sponsorship audience? 

• What makes your audience valuable to sponsors? 

• What is your sponsorship opportunity worth? 

• What problems can the right sponsor help solve? 

• What new sponsorship opportunities can you create? 

The answers can give you a much stronger foundation for what you take to market. 

Want to go deeper?  Watch Part 2 of our Business of Sport series on demand for a deeper look at quantifying your fan base, establishing fair market value and evaluating your commercial assets.