Tag Archives: advertising

Increasing a sponsor’s footprint at your soccer tournament

This morning I received an email from a tournament director to see if we could make the sponsor logo bigger. I took a look at the listings under the DEALS area and noticed the logo was already at the maximum size and in the top position. But I also noticed the sponsor had no Super Deal, no additional coupon, no links to their Facebook Fan page or posted video. Fortunately, there is still some time to get these things up and running.

For a player, parent or coach visiting the tournament website, there is no reason to click on the logo if there is no additional information. They know all that is going to happen is a visit to the sponsor’s website. But they don’t know why they would go there other than being sold something, so they don’t click.

Sometimes the easiest thing to ask for is to “make the logo bigger” but the more effective strategy is to make the sponsorship footprint bigger. Think what your sponsor means to the player, parent or coach. Ask the sponsor what special information they have for your audience and make that the SuperDeal. Then ask for a flyer or coupon This does not even need to be a discount, just more information targeted to your tournament-goers and their fans. And a video never, ever hurts. It could even be the sponsor welcoming the teams to your tournament.

If you want to go further, you can post a news story on your front page and email it to the teams. If your sponsor relies on foot traffic during the event, you could send text messages from the Team Applications Module to the team contacts, sparingly of course. You could also tweet out offers using your twitter account.

Think about how you can increase your sponsor’s footprint instead of just their logo size. Chances are, if they have success in year one, they’ll keep coming back every year.

Bowling for soccer teams

What do bowling, soccer tournaments and the economy have in common? A lot, according to the Wall Street Journal. When the economy is down, people pick up a bowling ball and you have a lot of people coming into town for your soccer tournament.

This is a great opportunity for soccer tournaments to partner up with a local bowling center. You have kids and parents coming into town and looking for entertainment in the evenings and between games. Bowling centers are everywhere and a great way for the teams to keep “warmed up” between games.

When partnered with your TourneyCentral advertising DEALS, a listing of bowling centers in your local area as well as a deal to host a soccer team night or dedicated lanes is a win for the center, the community, your tournament and your guest teams. And, you may even be able to talk the bowling center manager into running our Real-Time Scores on one of their televisions to keep the teams in the loop.

Our advice: Call your local bowling centers and get some deals going. Fill their lanes, become a great community partner. Introduce a new sport to lots of kids and reintroduce it to their parents. Whether they bowl a perfect game or gutter balls, the social aspect of bowling makes it fun for just about everyone.

You can find bowling centers in your local area at the AMF Web site and at this great search engine Bowling2U.com.