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When most people think of sports content sponsors, brands like Nike, Adidas, Lululemon, and Athleta likely come to mind.<\/p>\n
Sports newsletter and media company The Gist, which just announced that it crossed the 1 million newsletter subscriber mark, has worked with all of those brands\u2014but it didn\u2019t increase its ad revenue 20 fold in the past two years by targeting typical sports marketers alone, Jacie deHoop, co-founder and head of partnerships at The Gist, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe certainly bring on a lot of sports-endemic partners, but it\u2019s been so fun to work with that next layer of partners too, that maybe historically haven\u2019t really put their stake in a sports tentpole or in a sponsorship,\u201d deHoop told Marketing Brew.<\/p>\n
The Gist isn\u2019t the only sports property to experience increased interest from a more diverse group of brand categories\u2014there\u2019s been a number of less traditional sports sponsors and advertisers in leagues like the NFL and WNBA in recent years. At The Gist, deHoop said experimenting with sports veterans and rookie brands has helped grow both its revenue and its audience.<\/p>\n
Many of The Gist\u2019s sponsors have been sportswear brands like Lululemon, which haven\u2019t only activated with traditional newsletter ads, deHoop said. Within a year of its debut, The Gist teamed up with Lululemon to host a Super Bowl party, which, deHoop said, helped open the door for similar brands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really open with our partners about it being our first time doing [something],\u201d deHoop said. \u201cThe right partners are like, \u2018Yeah, we see the opportunity in this space, and we want to jump at doing this for the first time, too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
While The Gist has worked with plenty of sportswear companies and other brands like State Farm, Verizon, and FanDuel that have deep experience in sports marketing, it\u2019s also leaned into partnerships with less usual suspects, deHoop said.<\/p>\n
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DeHoop partially attributes interest from those categories to The Gist\u2019s audience profile. \u201cShe\u2019s booked, she\u2019s busy, she has disposable income, and she\u2019s making a lot of those spending decisions for the household,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Paris Olympics helped drive engagement and revenue for The Gist, deHoop said.<\/p>\n
Across channels, The Gist\u2019s audience grew seven times faster during the games, according to the company, and deHoop said she\u2019s already expecting LA28 to be similarly beneficial. In the meantime, deHoop said her team plans to continue embracing experienced sports sponsors while finding growth opportunities with newer players in the space.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat next layer of growth for the entire women\u2019s sports industry is, How do we bring on more of these beauty brands, fashion brands, that next layer, where a female fan is an incredibly valuable consumer?\u201d she said. \u201cSports is a really interesting way to be able to reach her and engage with her in an authentic and oftentimes really fun way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n