The Marketing Play archive

All articles.

Ideas, observations and analysis on sports, brands, culture, partnerships and the business behind the game.

A Sponsorship Is Not a Logo. It Is a Business Partnership.

The best sponsorships create shared value long after the signage comes down.

October 5, 20264 min read

The latest plays12 stories

PartnershipsOctober 5, 20264 min read

The best sponsorships create shared value long after the signage comes down.

PartnershipsSeptember 28, 20265 min read

Adidas understood the role it needed to play in Lionel Messi’s farewell: support the moment without becoming the story.

Business of SportSeptember 21, 20266 min read

NBC Sports is turning players and teams into characters, showing how sports marketing can build serialized stories fans want to follow.

Brand StrategySeptember 14, 20264 min read

The most powerful sports organizations represent more than winning: they create history, rituals, belonging and identity.

Brand StrategySeptember 7, 20265 min read

The emotional intensity of sport is not just atmosphere. It is a durable advantage for organizations that know how to earn it.

CultureAugust 31, 20265 min read

Fans remember how a team made them feel. The smartest experiences are designed around that truth.

Brand StrategyAugust 24, 20265 min read

When the Criollos de Caguas returned, the first job was not selling tickets. It was giving people something to believe belonged to them again.

Business of SportAugust 17, 20265 min read

A follower on Instagram is not the same thing as a fan relationship you control. The future belongs to teams that own the relationship.

Brand StrategyAugust 10, 20265 min read

Being scrappy is not what you do before you become sophisticated. Done correctly, it is part of sophistication.

PartnershipsAugust 3, 20265 min read

Treating creators as part of the ecosystem, not competition for attention, turns collaboration into distribution and trust.

CultureJuly 27, 20265 min read

You do not make a sports brand more universal by removing what makes it specific. Place should never be background scenery.

Business of SportJuly 20, 20265 min read

Sports marketers cannot control the core product, but they can shape everything surrounding the competition.