In an Olympic year, let’s look beyond the mainstream

What a year for sport we have coming up. With the Six Nations, the Euros and the Olympics all in quick succession, the marketing world is going to lick its lips at all the wonderful brand sponsorship activations we’ll get to see. Said nobody, sadly. 

However, if you go back just a few weeks there’s already been one sports moment of 2024 that has got us all talking. 16-year-old Luke Littler has brought darts to the mainstream, with 4.8 million viewers tuning in to Sky Sports to watch him battle Luke Humphries in the World Darts Championship final. That’s the most-watched non-football UK event in Sky Sports' history. 

Whilst Littler didn’t win, he brought new attention to a sport that had previously been shoved under the radar.

Lucky for Paddy Power, who were the long-time sponsors of the event. Although, they sadly couldn’t be associated with a 16-year-old, so had to de-brand the entire final due to the letter of the law. 

Above: 16-year-old Luke Litter took the World Darts Championship by storm earlier this year. 

Whilst Littler didn’t win, he brought new attention to a sport that had previously been shoved under the radar. Large men drinking beer and throwing darts. Not seen quite on par with pro footballers scoring epic goals. And yet, just before the final, Declan Rice and Aaron Ramsdale scuttled backstage to get a photo with their new hero. 

Whilst Luke’s darts explosion might feel like a one-off, it really wasn’t. Last year, women’s football reached new heights during the World Cup, resulting in more investment into grassroots clubs across the UK. And, in 2020, skateboarding finally flipped its way into the Olympics, resulting in a 34% sales growth of skateboards, with a 21% increase in female skateboarders in the UK. 

With smaller sports crawling their way into the limelight, marketeers finally have something to be licking our lips about.

So, with smaller sports and sporting events crawling their way into the limelight, marketeers finally have something to be licking their lips about. Why? 

Well, for starters, Luke Littler had no sponsors before the world championships. They now estimate he’ll get over £100m of sponsorship deals post the event. Imagine being the person who knew a 16-year-old was competing in the world championships and getting in there early before the tournament kicked off. Marketing is so often about spotting opportunities, and sport is starting to unearth some great ones of late. 

Above: Sky Brown of Team GB won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which introduced skateboarding, resulting in a 34% sales growth of skateboards, with a 21% increase in female skateboarders in the UK.

We also have that thing called creativity. Brand sponsorship of big sporting events (of which I’ve done a fair few) involves many PDF guidelines, drawn-out approval processes and uploading artwork on portals so that we can get told we are not allowed to do the thing we want to do. So, if you have something to say, and want sport to be your vehicle, there’s bound to be a sports platform to tell your story creatively. Let’s see a mindful or wellness brand do kick-ass activations with fishing. Or KitKat sponsoring the snooker and doing something great with ‘breaks’. 

Bringing it back to reality, I read recently that Lululemon branched out from their light and airy yoga associations and entered the world of ultimate frisbee in China. They now sponsor national competitions and have athleisure being worn by everyone on [social media platform] Xiaohongshu. China has become the brand's second-largest market, although we can’t totally attribute that to a frisbee. Still, frisbees do scream ‘light and airy’ to me. 

With more creative licence at your disposal, you have the chance to actually make the community share and do something rich and immersive.

And then there’s the community aspect. Brands love an experiential pop-up. Often in a shopping centre, for obvious footfall reasons. A chance to create something ‘rich and immersive’ with its consumers. Except, what’s the one thing often missing from those experiences? Actual emotion! 

Whilst the audience attendance at these niche sporting events will undoubtedly be smaller than at mainstream sports, the passion felt certainly won’t be lacking. And with more creative licence at your disposal, you have the chance to actually make the community share and do something rich and immersive through your brand. Something that would wipe the floor of the classic shopping mall pop-up.