The Sports Marketing Playbook

Welcome to Digiday’s Sports Marketing Playbook virtual event. Digiday’s Jim Cooper and Michael Burgi will set the stage for the day.

Brand marketers in sport are shifting focus from “likes” to “loyalty” through sponsorship, athlete engagement and digital and in-person campaigns and activations. In this session, Chris Weil walks through HS&E’s choice to build bespoke new sports opportunities that tap into fan connections for brands — and how AI can play a vital role in the build.

There is a reason diehard sports fans refer to themselves as “nations” – rooting along with a community of family and friends produces authentic engagements that are passionately tribal and that span generations. This session will look at how sports advertiser Eli Lilly is approaching sports partnerships with a focus on community impact and authentic engagement with a focus on female fan groups and communities gathered around health and prevention.

With so much passion-driven attention focused on them, professional athletes competing in the world’s largest sports command a huge amount of profile and power when it comes to fan and cultural engagement. This session will examine that limelight and how it is the organic foundation for the creator/athlete across the marketing and creator economy

The most valuable audiences in sports aren’t just reached — they’re understood, engaged, and activated. In this session, Yieldmo and Deloitte will show how enriched data and intelligent media work together to identify high-value audiences, engage with them through more meaningful experiences, and drive measurable business impact. The result is a smarter, more connected approach that turns fan experience into real business outcomes — not just impressions.

Sports clubs aren’t just built to compete on the pitch — they’re cultural entities, too, and can provider brands with more than just sheer exposure. In this session, Internazionale’s Luca Adornato talks us through the leading club’s overhaul of it social content operation, how it’s aided the club’s commercial objectives and and how it’s working to expand its fanbase by building bridges between soccer and pop culture.

As sports marketers pivot from mere engagement to deep loyalty, AI is stepping up as a critical player. Join Charlie Wade as he reveals how VML Live leverages generative AI to enhance fan experiences and redefine sponsorship strategies