Today's post is the last one in this series and today I thought I would write a bit about what sort of support you might get from a sponsor and what they might expect in return for that support.
Really the level of support you might get from a sponsor comes back to how much you are worth to the sponsor. If you aren't getting much from a sponsor then that thought can be a bit depressing if you focus on it too much. But the important thing to remember in all this is that it is a business, it isn't personal. Not normally anyway.
The range of support that an athlete can expect ranges from financial incentives (including free travel etc) for those at the pointiest end of the field to discounts on equipment and services for the rest. Yep you read that right, you are only likely to see financial incentives etc at the pointiest end of the field. The reality is that most companies can only afford to give this sort of support to the top few. In the triathlon world particularly, there just isn't enough cash to justify more than that. Instead for most professional triathletes sponsorship comes in the form of discounts. This range of support is important to understand in order to temper your expectations when you are talking to potential sponsors.
In this post I am going to be focusing more on the discounted gear and services end of the spectrum, since if you are at the pointiest end of the field, then you probably don't need a lot of assistance with sponsorship.
When people first think about sponsors they often have grand ideas of all the free kit they will have pouring through their doorway. Free gear may certainly be part of the support you get, but it isn't a given. The reality is that a lot of sponsors simply can't afford to be giving away too much of their product, particularly if that product is really expensive. This is even more true if the support is coming from a local distributor rather than from the factory. How many $6000 bikes do you think your local bike shop could afford to give away before going out of business.
One variation on the above discount theme is where a company gives you a discount and then promises to pay you back a percentage of any sale that comes from a direct referral from you. This is a nice idea and works well if you into marketing gear. For the rest of us though it essentially amounts to a discount.
However, free and discounted gear is nothing to be sneezed at. Money saved on equipment is money that be spent on other important things like travel to events. Or food. A discount on bike can be disappointing if you are after a free one. But a heavily discounted bike could be worth a few thousand dollars to you. If you replicate that saving on the rest of your gear before long you are looking at thousands of dollars saved a year. That sort of money can make a difference.
So the important take away here is that when you are negotiating with potential sponsors free gear is a actually a good result. Significant discounts are also a good result and not to be sneezed at. Remember if a company offers you a discount, it isn't necessarily because they don't value you, or are stingy, it may be all that their advertising budget can afford. Whether this is enough to convince you to sign up with that particular sponsor is really up to you.
Okay, so now you have found a company, they really like you and have offered you a deal. What now? Well they will expect something in return. And they may ask you to sign a contract that stipulates just what that something is.
The sort of commitments you are likely to see on a contract might be that you:
- not use anyone else's gear
- train and race with their brand prominently displayed.
- post about the brand online and on social media.
- take part in any online campaigns that they run
- mention them in any interviews you do
- promote the brand at any other opportunity you may have.
- give regular updates to the company on your progress
That is about it. Doesn't sound like a lot when you list it like that and to be honest it isn't. However, it can add up once you are doing it for more than a few sponsors.
So now that you have a deal and you know what you need to do. What are you going to do?
Well hopefully the answer it obvious, you will do what is asked of you.
Despite the above list of tasks not being particularly onerous, it is amazing the number of sponsored athletes that don't do it. This is one of the reasons that companies are questioning the worth of sponsoring athletes, because they consistently see no return on their investment. For me fulfilling the obligations of a sponsorship deal is a big part of being a 'professional' triathlete. Whether or not you consider the sponsorship to be worth the effort you go to is irrelevant. Once you have signed that contract you have made a deal. Your job is to fulfil your obligation.
So there you go. I think that is about it for my little mini-series on sponsorship. Hopefully it has been of use to some people or at least a bit interesting.
Tomorrow, something else. Not sure what yet.
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