Ever considered launching a pro-baseball team, trying to build rapidly while maximizing the positive impact of the team and its stadium for the community and sponsors? In this episode of 'The Sitdown with Sport Endorse', our guest is Kevin Brown, Director of Business Development and Sponsorship for Staten Island Entertainment, a dynamic firm that is bringing Pro baseball, concerts, and community entertainment to Staten Island in New York. We talk about what it is like to be part of a rapidly growing young company with strong values, how the pro-baseball team 'The FerryHawks' came to be, ways in which the company can collaborate with partners and sponsors, top sporting moments, and why Japanese player Yoshi Tsutsugo has joined the FerryHawks. Show Notes: 00:30 About Kevin 01:21 What sports Kevin played 02:35 Kevin's day-2-day with SIE 05:09 Background to Staten Island Entertainment and the FerryHawks 07:23 Signing Yoshi Tsutsugo 09:36 Some characters on the team 11:37 SIE's biggest success to-date? 14:09 Baseball, importance to the community and to sponsors 18:19 Importance of technology in the next 12-24 months? 21:26 Working well with sponsors and the community 25:32 Being honest with sponsors 27:20 How can business learn from sport? 31:22 Mitigating risk around sponsorships 33:35 How alignment of values is crucial 36:34 Ideal new sponsor for next season? 38:33 Role of content in sponsorship 42:44 Measuring ROI on a sponsor 46:09 Top 3 moments in sport to-date 50:59 Toughest challenge 52:00 Biggest Joker/ Nerves of steel END

Jack Kenney-Herbert, is Director of Sponsorship for Sid Lee, a multidisciplinary global creative agency of brand builders. Part of the Kyu group, which is under Hakuhodo DY Holdings, Sid Lee works with a selection of the world's leading sports rights holders and sports talent and have delivered exceptional campaigns.

Jack talks to us about his 10+ years of working in and around sport, about great campaigns, including an extraordinarily successful and continuing multi-year partnership between the Brand 'Sure' and Premier League Football Clubs in the UK. He also shares what he thinks is essential for successful sports sponsorships, his aspirations for 2023, and the fact that the CEO of Sid Lee in London is a true sports fan.

Show Notes:

01:12 What sport Jack does himself

02:18 Jack's role in Sid Lee

04:41 Oppo + Champions League partnership

05:15 Lidl + UEFA

06:06 Bringing the brand Sure into Football in the UK

08:11 The next 12-24 months in terms of collaborating with sport

- 08:36 why an individual deal with athlete can be beneficial
- 09:13 benefits of partnering with a sports team/ property

10:50 Mitigating risk in campaigns and need for flexibility

12:00 The role of tech and AI in future collaborations

14:49 'Authentic' content is now a must have

16:20 Mitigating risk in collaborations

18:25 Investing in producing proper content leads to much better outcomes/ ROI

19:39 Is there an optimum length for a collaboration/ partnership?

21:01 What industries collaborate well with sport?

22:01 Does sport transcend culture and assist in targeted messaging?

23:11 How to measure ROI?

24:54 Top 3 moments in relation to sport for Jack so far?

27:03 Biggest challenge so far in career?

28:26 Best joker encountered so far?

29:38 Person with 'Nerves of Steel'?

30:46 Biggest sports fan Jack knows

31:32 Sporting hero?

32:02 Best sports event attended so far?

32:48 Favourite way to relax?

33:09 Best thing to happen this week?

33:35 Hopes for the remainder of 2023?

END

What's the secret to being an excellent athlete? Could you succeed in being that good in four different sports along your journey as an elite athlete?

In this episode of 'The Sitdown with Sport Endorse', our guest is Megan Henry, a USA athlete that has excelled at four sports, and is now helping athletes herself.

We cover a lot of ground, from life threatening blood clots, the disappointment of missing out on Team USA for an Olympics after being a leading contender ranked 8th in the world, meditation, mindset, food, and much more.

Show Notes:

01:38 How Megan got involved in sport

04:31 D1 collegiate athletic career

05:06 Joining the military

07:13 What Skeleton is all about

13:21 Competing for Team USA

17:31 Important to reach out if needed

19:27 Impact of not making an Olympics

23:29 Getting into Olympic Weightlifting

25:01 Dropping weight in a short time period

29:24 Discovering life-threatening blood clots

33:11 The road to recovery

38:42 What Megan does for 'fun'!

40:36 Who would Megan like to play her in a movie

40:52 Sporting heroes

43:50 Brands that Megan uses regularly

45:28 Cheat meal choice

47:10 Athlete types and locations that Megan would work with

END

For the first episode in a series where we explore the collaboration between brands and sport and what best practice looks like, we were delighted to have Lorna Danaher, Sponsorship Manager for Energia, as our guest.

Energia is one of longest providers of green energy across the island of Ireland, and has over 250,000 customers, and as a brand, it has a strong history of aligning with sport. Lorna's experience around sponsorship for both Energia, and companies she worked with before, mark her out as an authority on sponsorship, working with sport, and how to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes.

Show Notes:

01:17 Lorna's involvement in sports

02:09 How to stay motivated

03:16 What makes Energia special

04:10 Current partnerships

05:58 Grassroots approach

08:02 Stacey Flood and Hugo Keenan as brand ambassadors

10:09 Most satisfactory collaboration to-date

17:25 Yes/No on social media

19:24 TikTok Six Nations a good thing

21:00 The team in Energia that make the sponsorship’s succeed

24:15 Mitigating risk in sponsorship

27:17 Can sport work for different industries

29:33 Does sport transcend cultures

31:10 Challenges or innovation in sport

32:49 Measuring ROI on sponsorship

35:51 Best sporting moments to-date

38:24 Tough moments

40:10 Funniest sports person

42:43 Nerves of steel sports person

43:26 Biggest sports fan in the office

44:40 Sporting hero, best sports event ever, favourite way to relax, best things to happen so far this week

45:14 Hopes for the rest of 2023

END

It was great to talk with Muhmmad Azmi, Founder of GYMZYG, a new UK based brand that aims to give people improved confidence by ensuring that the gym gear they wear fits properly. We discuss why Muhammad founded GYMZYG, what the aims for the brand are, why sports people make sense to help promote the range, and how AI is helping the brand to differentiate itself in what is a crowded market.

Show Notes:

01:17 Muhammad's involvement in sports

03:37 Why GYMZYG was founded

05:17 Delivering value to customers

07:37 Brand values

10:35 What's behind the name GYMZYG

13:07 Core products at the moment and plans for product range

17:18 Importance of technology to the business

19:38 Biggest challenge to-date

21:23 Best success so far

24:12 Staying motivated

26:34 Managing currency exposures

28:25 Purpose and aims for the brand

31:29 Sporting hero

33:14 Favourite way to relax

33:39 Favourite music

35:01 Favourite meal

37:29 Languages spoken

38:57 Complexity around sizing

42:23 Open to discussion with athletes

END