Live, captive audiences. The most passionate consumers on the planet. The intense fandom and loyalty surrounding athletes, teams, leagues, and competitions. There's simply no substitute for sports, which is precisely why sports sponsorships have been such a staple in marketing strategies for as long as we can remember. And with the rapid rise of women’s sports bringing fresh momentum and new audiences into play, sports sponsorship is becoming even more attractive to brands.

The numbers tell a compelling story: Sports sponsorships worldwide are poised to reach almost $190 billion by 2030. Looking specifically at the US market heading into 2025, Forrester found that 39% of marketers planned to increase their investment in sports sponsorships this year, while another 28% were preparing to enter the space for the very first time. 

Yet despite this growth and enthusiasm, significant challenges remain. A whopping 76% of marketers say they struggle to measure sponsorship ROI. On the other side of the equation, sponsorships represent a critical revenue stream for rights holders, but without a data-driven approach, they risk leaving substantial money on the table.

The allure of sports to marketers is clear, but how can they maximize the value of their sponsorships and effectively measure impact? How can rights holders retain lucrative sponsorships, win more deals, and maximize deal value?

It all starts with fan data

There was a time when fan engagement centered around live events on TV and in-person experiences at stadiums and venues. Data wasn't really part of the equation.

In recent years, however, there’s been an explosion of fan data with the majority of fan engagement now happening digitally outside of live events. Today, fans connect with their favorite teams, leagues, and athletes through digital channels and touchpoints such as mobile apps, memberships and communities, online stores, ticketing platforms, streaming platforms, social media, and more.

For rights holders that have been smart about capitalizing on this shift and have actively taken steps to capture fan data, they now have a powerful strategic asset. It gives them access to rich fan insights, enabling them to build a clearer picture of who their fans are, what they value, and how they behave.

That data puts rights holders in a strong position when it comes to sponsorship negotiations. They can offer sponsors granular, real-world insights into their fan base and the potential customers they can reach to grow their business and achieve their goals.

But with increasing privacy regulations, a reluctance among organizations to share data outside of their own walls, and heightened consumer awareness around data use, this must be done in a way that preserves privacy. 

Data collaboration bridges that gap.

Smarter sponsorships through InfoSum’s decentralized data collaboration platform

At its core, data collaboration makes it possible to bring together and connect multiple datasets from different organizations, without any data ever being shared, centralized, or moved. With InfoSum’s decentralized collaboration technology, these matches happen instantly, giving immediate access to strategic and actionable insights.  

In the context of sports sponsorships, this direct data collaboration means:

• Rights holders can give potential sponsors secure access to their fan base without having to share any raw data.
• Sponsors can bring their own first-party data and connect it to a team or league's fan base to see the overlap between their own customer base and a team or league’s fan base.
• Each party retains full ownership, control, and sovereignty over the data at all times.

Rights holders can protect their fan data and its commercial value, while sponsors are empowered to make informed decisions without risking data exposure. Data collaboration is transforming the way sponsorship deals are negotiated, activated, and measured, with exciting implications for both sponsors and rights holders.

Let's break down the benefits for both sides.

For rights holders

Transparently demonstrate the value of their fan base 

With data collaboration, rights holders can safely invite sponsors to explore the makeup of their fan base. They can show potential sponsors exactly who their fans are and whether the audience is valuable to a brand's business objectives, without revealing or sharing any personal data. This puts rights holders in the driving seat when it comes to negotiating sponsorships and brings a level of transparency to sponsorships where rights holders can easily prove the commercial strength of their fan base. 

To go a step further, and give rights holders more negotiating power in sponsorship deals, they can collaborate with data owners such as commerce partners, streaming platforms, or gaming publishers to enrich and build more holistic fan profiles. This adds greater depth and dimension to their fan data, increasing its commercial value to sponsors. For example, a basketball team could partner with a retailer to reveal which categories its fans overindex in, proving its worth to CPGs.

Drive more revenue from sponsorships

When rights holders have the data and technology to prove the quality of their audience, they can command more. Granular and robust fan data assets justify higher deal size and help sports organizations attract and win more sponsors as well as retain lucrative deals.

In addition to proving the strength of their fan base, data collaboration opens up powerful new data-driven opportunities. Imagine a ride-hailing service being able to leverage fan data to deliver timely ads targeting fans attending and travelling to games. Teams and leagues can provide sponsors with fan insights to inform activations, deliver personalized offers, and execute targeted marketing campaigns to high-value fan segments. 

For sponsors

Easily evaluate the efficacy of sponsorships upfront

Before making any investment, brands can securely compare their own customer data with a team’s or league’s fan base. This helps them assess alignment, evaluate potential, and make informed decisions based on real overlap and synergies, not assumptions. 

If the analysis shows strong customer overlap, sponsorship becomes a no-brainer to drive loyalty and delivers immediate insights into what your best customers look like. And if a sports organization’s fan base consists of a demographic where a brand seeks to grow and increase brand awareness in? That’s a clear signal that the sponsorship can deliver real impact.

Maximize sponsorship opportunities and performance 

Fan insights empower brands to fine-tune their sponsorship strategies, deliver more personalized marketing campaigns, and shape meaningful activations. These insights not only help deepen loyalty with existing customers but also support efforts to reach new audiences, elevate brand awareness, and drive customer acquisition.

As an example, an athletic footwear company sponsoring a marathon could safely get exclusive access to registration and training app data to identify engaged participants, then offer them personalized product recommendations and early access to limited-edition running shoes, driving both sales and brand loyalty.

Measure the impact and prove sponsorship ROI 

CMOs are under ever greater scrutiny to justify spending, so having hard, simple performance figures to present back to CFOs is no longer optional, it's essential.

Data collaboration empowers the 76% of marketers who struggle with ROI measurement by enabling ongoing reporting and measurement in a privacy-safe environment. Brands can link exposure data or sponsorship activity to outcomes such as website visits, sales, app downloads, or sign-ups, empowering them to identify the incremental impact of their sponsorship and adjust strategies in real time. 

Everyone’s a winner in this game

Data collaboration is transforming sponsorships. It’s helping brands make smarter investments and proving that their spend delivers tangible outcomes. It’s enabling rights holders to showcase their audience with confidence and unlock more impact from every partnership.

InfoSum provides the infrastructure that makes it all possible, enabling secure, real-time collaboration where every party stays in control of their data. Whether you're a rights holder looking to grow your sponsorship revenue or a brand aiming to drive greater ROI from your marketing investments, data collaboration gives you the advantage. 

If you'd like to collaborate with the major professional sports teams, leagues, and organizations across football, basketball, hockey, golf, and more already using InfoSum, let's kick things off.