caytoo’s analyst team reveals their Top 5 sponsorship deals or activations in August in terms of the ideas they provide for other rights holders

Our Top 5, in no particular order, aren’t necessarily the biggest or most high-profile. Each one has been selected as it represents best practice or an important lesson for other rights holders and their potential sponsors.

Factoring in the ‘fourth stakeholder’
Sage x English Football League

The best deals benefit three main stakeholders – the sponsor, rights holder and the latter’s audience/fanbase. This deal targets the fourth stakeholder, one that also plays a key role in the experience. In this case, it’s the small businesses (pubs, cafés, shops, and suppliers) involved in matchdays for fans of EFL clubs.

One of the activations involved accountancy software provider Sage launching a UK-wide fan campaign where supporters from all 72 teams can nominate local businesses who elevate the matchday experience. Three winners will have the chance to win a bespoke club sponsorship, funded by Sage, with the chance to gain exposure and drive growth.

Lesson: in full article

Identifying a specific asset
Milwaukee Bucks x StairMedia

Not a sponsorship in itself but instead a deal between the NBA team and a sports advertising business to monetize a fairly new sponsorship asset: the lower seating stairways inside stadiums. StairMedia’s LED panels are embedded into the staircase risers so ads can be displayed on them, offering a new asset for rights holders to sell, either as a standalone offering or in conjunction with a wider package.

Lesson: in full article

Showcasing product attributes
Kia X Big Beach Clean

Ireland’s Big Beach Clean initiative aims to encourage people to participate in cleaning up coastal areas – a major issue caused partly by plastic pollution. Kia’s sponsorship clearly showcases its sustainability credentials but crucially, it’s a platform to inform people that Kia actually uses recycled ocean plastics in production of its electric vehicles.

Lesson: audit/assess the key elements involved in your organisation (in this case, plastic pollution) to see if they match initiatives being undertaken by other companies (in this case, using recycled ocean plastics in products). You can then approach them with a relatively straightforward and compelling pitch about how a sponsorship with you can showcase a product message they’re trying to get across in a much more resonant way.

Characteristics share
University of Wyoming x Buffalo Bills

The fourth of our sponsorship deals in August was undertaken because the University of Wyoming’s former star Josh Allen now plays for the NFL team. However, one of the many shared characteristics cited between the two organisations is “a bison on our flags.”

Lesson: in full article

Demonstrating CSR in a resonant way
Asahi x Ellie Kildunne / Women’s Rugby World Cup

Asahi is already the official beer of the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 but it has just partnered with an England rugby star to launch an associated campaign activation around the tournament kicking off.

The Asahi Pub Pledge is a nationwide initiative aimed at supporting and screening the tournament to “make women’s rugby not just visible, but part of pub culture for the future.” One goal is to get the tournament screened in as many venues across the nation as possible to make it the most-viewed women’s rugby event in UK pub history.

The campaign included the launch of The Asahi Open Arms, a fan-first venue in London, that aims to ‘reimagine’ how women’s rugby can be enjoyed and is “about setting a new standard for fan experience and building a more inclusive rugby culture.”

Lesson: in full article

Summary

All these sponsorship deals in August provide an example of the great utility sponsorship provides which all rights holders and brands can look to emulate to benefit both parties. This is particularly the case for rights holders who can come up with their own version to spark a conversation with potential sponsors.