I’m a big hockey fan, especially of the American Hockey League, which is comprised of 31 minor league teams that are affiliated with National Hockey League teams. The other day while watching a game of the AHL’s Western Conference finals — the Chicago Wolves vs the San Diego Gulls — I spotted a familiar sponsor name on the boards surrounding the ice rink: JMG Security Systems. Turns out JMG Security, also a “Power Play Sponsor” of the Anaheim Ducks NHL team, has also been an NHL sponsor for decades. The home page of JMG’s website at www.jmgsecurity.com proudly shows off the Ducks sponsorship.

Sports sponsorships are powerful marketing tools on many different levels. Security companies large and small can gain from the exposure to large numbers of fans.

Security dealers have long been involved with sports sponsorships, but lately several security companies announced some big partnerships: 

• Guardian Protection Partners With Pittsburgh Pirates

www.SDMmag.com/guardian-partners-with-pirates 

The company announced an exclusive new partnership with the Pittsburgh Pirates through the 2021 season. Guardian is now the “Official Smart Home Security Provider of the Pittsburgh Pirates.”  The new deal also includes the rebranding of the PNC Park bullpen space with Guardian becoming the presenting partner of the area as well as expanded in-park advertising and media. Guardian will be the in-park presenting sponsor of all pitching changes, as well as all Pirates save opportunities at PNC Park. 

• Vector Security Enters Sponsorship Agreements With the Pittsburgh Penguins & Carolina Hurricanes

www.SDMmag.com/vector-sponsorship-pittsburgh-penguins 

www.SDMmag.com/vector-sponsorship-carolina-hurricanes 

Last summer Vector Security announced multi-year sponsorship agreements with both the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes. Vector Security will receive in-arena sponsorship exclusivity in the home and business security categories and is named the “Official Security Partner of the Pittsburgh Penguins” and the “Official Security Partner of the Carolina Hurricanes” through the 2020-21 season.  With the Penguins, Vector Security branding opportunities include LED and digital displays throughout the PPG Paints Arena, radio advertising on the Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network, and other promotional benefits. The agreement also includes an in-ice logo for maximum brand exposure to the more than 800,000 fans that fill the arena for home games each year. With the Hurricanes, Vector Security will receive dasher board signage and title sponsorship of the Hurricanes siren sounder feature for maximum brand exposure to the nearly 550,000 fans that fill the arena for home games each year. 

Heavy investors might gain insights by attending the IEG World annual conference, which is an annual marketing summit devoted to ways brands can leverage partnerships across genres to achieve mutual benefit; a big focus of the conference is usually on sports partnerships.

There also is a fascinating read at https://frntofficesport.com/impact-of-sports-sponsorship-2018/, which tallies the financial and social media impact on brands due to their sponsorship of all things sporting. For example, the blog discloses, “Online e-commerce company Wish gained 20 million new followers across all platforms thanks largely to its first full calendar year as the jersey patch sponsor of the Los Angeles Lakers.”

However, as most of SDM’s readers will want to start small, consider sponsoring a local baseball or softball team; or working with a minor league team in your city to sponsor a half-time presentation or give-away such as t-shirts or towels. Start small and see if sports sponsorship is right for you.