The State of the Market for Tour and Event Sponsorships in 2021 and Beyond: Pollstar Live! Recap

The right approach was and continues to be a matter of doing what’s right for a particular brand, with a perspective that’s anything but short-term, even if that means forgoing some revenue, attendees at the 2021 PollstarLive! conference were told.

“These are long-term plays here, long-term relationships. You don’t want to do anything stupid to sacrifice a relationship that we built for a long period of time,” Dan Griffis, president of global partnerships at Oak View Group, said during a discussion of “The State of the Market for Tour and Event Sponsorships in 2021 and Beyond.”

“Hopefully you didn’t have a lot of deals that were coming up for renewal and you can work through that angle, but really our focus was about trying to do what’s right for the brand and understanding that you’re not going to be in an environment where you’re going to keep everything. You just can’t do that,” he said. “So, listen to what they have to say, try to figure out the right solution and then just sort of grind your way through it.”

It took a month or two before it became apparent to brands that the contagion would be a lingering menace, noted Russell Wallach, global president, Live Nation Media and Sponsorships.

“Once we realized that this was going to be longer than we all thought, we started to have those conversations,” he said. “One of the surprises for me looking back was that and we kept — we’ve got a pretty big global media sponsorship business — we kept about 90% of our business. Partners stuck with us. Hope we were good partners to them in understanding, whether it was Hilton and others who were having really tough times themselves, but we took the approach … this isn’t about 2020. This is about, are we are we partners in ‘25 and ’26?”

The division lost “a couple deals here and there,” Wallach said, but he expects those brands will come back once financial issues are fully in the rearview.

“I think the good news is that we’re seeing now unbelievable velocity for the back half of this year and 2022,” he said. “Brands are wildly active and are interested in getting back out there.”

“A lot of these smaller, third-party agencies were quick to pay their contracts through as fast as they could because they also didn’t want to lose their brand clients and they knew they had to get through this, so they signed the deals (and) paid us in full,” said Maureen Valker-Barlow, executive vice president, partnerships at Danny Wimmer Presents.

Kevin Gelbard, music brands partnerships executive at CAA, said it’s all about relationships.

“I had a mentor many years ago who said in times of adversity that’s when relationships are really cemented,” he said. “In good times, everyone’s having fun, but when there are challenges, that’s when you can really build strong relationships. Our business is about relationships and having a long-term view is absolutely key.”

Remain rational and empathetic, Gelbard advised.

Mark Weinstein, Hilton’s senior vice president and global head of marketing and loyalty, offered the brand perspective, saying the most productive conversations occurred with partners focused on the brand’s objectives.

In some cases, the relationship was put on hold by mutual agreement, he said, adding that such partner flexibility was highly valued.

Asked about how companies pivoted once the pandemic took hold, Griffis said on the sports side of the business partners sought more TV visible signage.

“That’s one asset we could provide,” he said. “The leagues did a really good job of creating inventory that could bridge the gap for a lot of these partners.”

The company also embraced digital and social media more, which is something partners want to continue and expand upon, Griffis said.

Sometimes, the conversation with partners involved informing them that what was promised can’t be delivered under the circumstances.

“I’d rather take a 30-40% hit this year alone,” or work out some other creative solution, he said.

Valker-Barlow said DWP used the down time to create content for streaming, pay per view and social media and has launched a new partnership with Twitch.