Ricky Mulvey and Dylan Lewis discuss why stadium sponsors generally don’t outperform their peers or the market. They also explore when major sponsorships do and don’t make sense as part of a marketing budget. The brilliance of Monster Energy in focusing on extreme sports is highlighted. Companies discussed include F, PG, PAYC, MNST, ALGT, LUMN, MET, SOFI, AAPL, GOOG, GOOGL.
Investing in companies based on stadium naming rights is not a recommended hedge fund strategy.
Publicly traded companies that sponsor NFL stadiums generally underperform industry indexes and the broader market.
Deep dives
Investing in stadium naming rights is not a good hedge fund strategy
The podcast discusses the idea of investing in companies based on stadium naming rights and examines the performance of these stocks compared to broader indexes and ETFs. The experiment involved two hypothetical hedge funds, one investing in purchasing companies and the other in the broader ETFs those companies belonged to. While stocks won four times and ETFs won 14 times, the total return was closer, with the ETF fund having $59,000 and the stock fund having $52,000. It is concluded that investing in stadium naming rights is not a recommended hedge fund strategy.
NFL stadium sponsors generally underperform industry indexes and the market
The podcast analyzes the performance of publicly traded companies that sponsor NFL stadiums and highlights that they generally underperform industry indexes and the broader market. Only two companies outperformed the market, while the majority underperformed the Vanguard total stock market index. The research also reveals some flaws, such as the lack of comparison for older deals and survivorship bias. Additionally, the terms of some sponsorship deals are not made public, making it difficult to fully evaluate their financial impact.
Awareness marketing and the value of stadium sponsorships
The podcast explores the concept of awareness marketing and its effectiveness in stadium sponsorships. It mentions companies that excel in awareness marketing, such as Monster Beverage Corporation, which aligns itself with niche sports like motocross and professional bull riding. However, it is noted that big tech companies tend to have different marketing strategies and are less involved in stadium sponsorships. The discussion concludes that stadium sponsorships can be an expensive and less targeted way of attracting customers, and it may be worth looking at other aspects of pro sports, such as broadcasting rights and live events, for investable ideas.