The Inches: A Podcast About Sports Sponsorship

Rookie & The Vet: How To Adjust Your Assets For When Games Come Back

March 25, 2020 Nick Lawson
The Inches: A Podcast About Sports Sponsorship
Rookie & The Vet: How To Adjust Your Assets For When Games Come Back
Show Notes Transcript

In sponsorship, we are entering a new world when games come back. The atmosphere we entered the renewal season with will be massively different for our sponsors, fans, and teams.

So how can we adjust and be ready for this new world?

This week Rich & I dive into some tactics you can implement to make sure you understand what has changed for your fans & sponsors and adjust for when our seasons start.

------

The Inches Podcast is a podcast that looks at sports & event sponsorship and how digital is affecting the industry and landscape. Hosted by Rich Franklin, VP of Corporate Partnerships at the Portland Winterhawks Hockey Club and Nick Lawson, Co-founder of SQWAD.

spk_0:   0:05
Welcome back, everybody to another episode of the Inches podcast podcast that looks at sports sponsorship in event sponsorship in how digital It's Affecting the industry of the co host Nick Lawson, co founder of a company called Squad, were helping sports teams and events connect fans to sponsors digitally during breaks in the game. In my co host here, Rich Franklin, as always, VP of corporate partnerships for the Portland Winter Hawks. Tough times in the W h l in the c h l No, no playoffs, for for any teams rich coming down, my season is over.

spk_1:   0:39
They officially, uh, made the announcement on Monday afternoon that not only is the remainder of the regular season uh, canceled, but, uh, the playoffs are canceled and the postseason Memorial Cup tournament is canceled. So at this point, uh, we you know Well, first of all, it sucks because, you know, we were the number one team in the league heading into the playoffs. And so, you know, you're in a good position like that. You want you want to see the playoffs through, and certainly the fans wanted to see it. The players definitely wanted it. Um, but, uh, you know, right now, everyone's health is just much more important. And, you know, at least I guess if there is a silver lining in that piece of bad news, it's that we now have some some closure as faras uncertainty as to when the season's gonna resume. And it's gonna be, uh, you know, we're looking ahead now to training camp in late August and the 2020 21 season starting in late September.

spk_0:   1:53
Yeah, you know, when the news came out, obviously, you know, rough all around, because again, you pretty much played most of the season, you know, fighting for those top spots. And then obviously it's over. But no, I think you're totally right at least within the business side of things. You. Now there's no there's not really any uncertainty, right? You now can go to your partners and, you know, tell them Hey, this is this is the end kind of of of even some playoff activations. Let's look toward next season on, and that's really what we're gonna kind of dive into today is just obviously post crisis. Some things are gonna be changed. Overall, within sports was within the world, whether It's economic, whether it's, you know, social in just kind of chatting today about how your assets in sponsorship are gonna need to change. How that changes it, really going toward Game one. Obviously, you know this, the economy or whatever might not be fully back to normal. Everything might not be back to normal for two years, three years. But you know, going into that first game, what are you gonna have to kind of change within your assets? Just post crisis. To be ableto to be able to connect with sponsors and kind of try and get things back, going to what would be normal,

spk_1:   3:15
right? And this kind of harkens back to last week's podcast, where I talked about three importance of setting a schedule for yourself. If you don't have a game schedule or a season schedule that helps you plan and dictates what your activity is, that you need to kind of create your own. So this today's topic is kind of along those lines, that is, we're gonna do a little bit of gazing into the old crystal ball and say, at whatever point your team or your league's season either resumes or starts a new season. How has covert 19 changed things for your fans, for your sponsors and for your teams? And I think it's a good time to be thinking about these kinds of things now and planning ahead, because it's going to give you time to put some things in place. Maybe launch some new initiatives may be refined. Some things that you're already doing. Uh, I think about how you want to approach your corporate partners knowing or at least having a pretty good idea off what's going to be different. 30 60 90 120 days down the road at whatever point that your team, where your league starts to play games again.

spk_0:   4:43
Yeah, and I think, you know, again kind of going back to that closure. And obviously not all sports kind of have that closure. But, um, really being able to at least have you know that first light of certainty to say again, at least in the C h l W Joan for many hockey leagues, you sort of know you know how we building toward opening day and and how can we kind of take those steps toe? Make those adjustments and I got imagine, you know, based on different sponsors. Obviously, some partners are being hit harder from this than others directly. But, um, but again, it's it's going to be a sort of different world and today, just diving into kind of what you need to be looking out for, whatever those next steps to take. Based on that 30 60 90 that we chatted about again, kind of getting getting closer to that day. One. When when games do come back for your team,

spk_1:   5:33
exactly. So let's start the process, first of all, by thinking about the group that we, as a team and our sponsors is probably most focused on and needs to pay the most attention to. And that is the fans. Um, what will the fan reaction? What will the fan response be when we have that first first game when this is all behind us? And obviously you know there's gonna be a lot of excitement for the resumption of games? It's going to be one more step in everyone's, uh, healing process, if you will, or the feeling that things are kind of getting back to normal, okay? And I kind of harken back to how It was after 9 11 where everything shut down baseball playoffs shut down, football set down. Um, and resumption of the of the games was part of the healing process and part of things feeling like they're getting back to normal. A couple of interesting twists, though, that we need to be considerate of taking a consideration. And one is first of all, what's the financial situation of our fan base gonna look like, Um, this is a little bit up in the air, because as we record this, there's still some questions about, you know, Are we all going to be getting a check from the government? Or we're gonna be able to, you know, not make mortgage payments for some period of time? Uh, some questions as to what the the financial stress level is going to be of the fan base once game start playing again. What's there? What's there income situation going to be? They Are they able to stay at work through all this? Are they furloughed? Are they lose their jobs? You know a lot of questions that I think that that, um, that's half of it when considering the fans is the financial the other side of it is unlike other crises similar to this in the past that were almost exclusively financial related. Now we've got we're gonna be coming off this period of social distancing and our fan base, you know, the public in general for the for the past. Whatever point we start games again. But for the past 30 60 90 120 days, they've been told to stay away from each other. Don't don't gather in large crowds. Um, you know, how was that mindset going to impact Attendance Impact fans willingness to take part in things like party, Dex and other social gathering areas within the stadium, or even being around all those people to begin with. And I don't mean to be doom and gloom here, but again, we need to start thinking about what does Post Cove it 19. Resumption of games look like from the fan standpoint, so to look at it from from these two angles, both financial and group, I think that from a sponsorship standpoint, there are maybe some opportunities if we have sponsors that are willing to, uh, you know, help the financial burden for the fans a little bit Maybe that's like some entered a win a pair of tickets or, you know, download our app or fill out this form or stop by our location. And we're gonna give you a voucher Good for, you know, some dollar amount off a ticket to, you know, maybe it's a particular home game or games on a certain night, things like that. So I do think from a sponsorship standpoint, we need to be looking at this from a would we go to our sponsors and say, Hey, look, our fans are going to be looking for a little bit of financial help here. I think that's a reasonable assumption, given where we are right now. There's some ways that we can motivate, activate, build some goodwill for your company, drive some traffic, whether that's Web traffic, foot traffic, whatever it may be to help with the activation standpoint. So I think one thing that we ought to be looking at is is how can the discounting I don't want to see, you know, just massive discounting of tickets. But, you know, maybe something along the lines of Hey, we're giving away a pair of tickets were given only four tickets or, uh, do this particular action and save $5 on your on your ticket. I think that sort of messaging will really resonate with with both sponsors and fans as we kind of start to get things back to normal.

spk_0:   10:36
Yeah, you know, and I've been intrigued with this because obviously there some partners who are doing better than others um, toe where you know you can definitely you know, what they're gonna be looking for is is obviously trying to build brand, build some goodwill. Obviously, there's some partners who are. And you know what comes to mind First is just obviously a restaurant partners, just as they're being shut down for, you know, months and weeks, um, sort of. I'll assume that kind of pairing those offers and those opportunities with the right partner is is gonna be vital in just understanding. You know who's going to really have Maur financial, I guess, ability to be able to sponsor something like, you know, a discount off of that to drive people in rather than rather than a restaurant partner who obviously really, really need that cash.

spk_1:   11:31
Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean, I think that what the restaurant is looking for is they're looking for customers to come back through their doors. Um, and, you know, maybe it's a situation, as they say, where they're willing to do some some price discounts on food or beverages at their location. You know, show us your ticket or show us your access card or, you know, where the T shirt I wear the hat, Uh, just to get people back in the habit of coming into their locations. Uh, or, uh, you know, like I said, the opportunity to save a couple bucks on on tickets. But I think that those kinds of off added value not added value from the standpoint of your giving these to your sponsors free. But you are showing to the to the fan that this particular sponsor is receptive to their The fans need to save a few bucks. Uh, given, you know, maybe some of the economic hardship that they've undergone through the through the covert 19 Shut down.

spk_0:   12:37
Yeah, definitely. No, I think that's

spk_1:   12:41
one opportunity.

spk_0:   12:43
I was just I was just gonna say that, you know? Obviously one opportunity. I'm sure I'm sure you have others.

spk_1:   12:50
Why? Why, yes, I

spk_0:   12:51
D'oh!

spk_1:   12:53
I do think that, uh, there may be some lasting changes here with regards to the hole social distancing and on the one hand, fans part of the fan experience. Part of being a fan at a game is you are there with other fans and you are swept up in that fan experience of seeing an exciting game, and everybody is cheering and and that's part of being a fan of the team. But again, there may be some lingering concerns or issues about, you know, large, uh, gatherings of strangers on again. This is all gonna be somewhat depending on how the cove it's situation plays out. But one of the one of the aspects or assets I should say of sponsorships that I do think is going to have increased values. A result of all this is the out of stadium and digital elements. Fan is probably not going to stop being a fan of your team or your illegal your sport as a result of all this, but their ability to physically attend a game night. A game event may be curtailed for some period of time, either out of financial necessity or concern about being in a big social gathering on the heels of the of the shutdowns and restrictions and stay at home orders and things like that. So one of the things that would not surprise me as I gazed into my crystal ball here for resumption of play is that there's going to be increased use of, um, APS and streaming and out of stadium types of ways to follow and engage and interact with your favorite team. That will have some implications for sponsors that are still wanting to and are interested in reaching out to those consumers. So just it may kind of accelerate what we've seen. What I've seen in the last 034 years with the maddest growth of digital assets that this whole cocotte 19 shut down and staying home orders may just give it an even bigger increase in another bump in use of digital assets by fans to follow their teams either on game night or, uh, you know, outside of stadium or on non game night.

spk_0:   15:39
Yeah, I think I think you're totally right. I think there's gonna be ah, more lasting implication that then we realize just of people being social distance and maybe even after the orders air lifted and games or getting going, you know, still being worried about going out and being around other people. I'm excited. You know, the one thing that has excited me about this time period is you know, you and I have talked about, you know, going all in on digital. Um, this is almost forced us to so that we can be in a better position after the fact. So if you are seeing lower attendance in those first sort of, um, you know, games if you've built out some of the social things that we're seeing, sort of with activations right now, one thing I'm getting excited about, it's just twitch. You know, teams are streaming sort of games and simulating games on twitch. That's a whole new streaming aspect that you can go on, stream your live games and still reach fans. Um, but it's it's almost Digital is having its moment right now, and in the nice thing is, it won't go away, meaning even when fans air slow to come to the stadium's, it'll be valuable. But even when fans are fully back in and everything's back to normal. You can still have the ability, you know, even better than before to kind of reach them and monetize and help those sponsors kind of really track that r A y. So I do think one thing that not a lot of us are thinking about right now in sponsorship but you know, is I think will be more of a factor now that you kind of really bringing up and dive into it is the fact that it will probably be a slow roll.

spk_1:   17:23
Yeah, yeah, I say. I mean, I'm I would love to say that on game one, when the season either resumes or or a new season begins for our listeners specific team. Maybe maybe on Game one. Yeah, you get that big turnout because everybody's excited to be back at the stadium. They're excited to have live sports again. But what about Game two in Game three? And you know, once you kind of get going, are there going to be some lasting patterns or habits developed by fans developed by consumers during this shutdown period that are going to carry through and remain the same? Once the live games resumed again for me, looking at the my crystal ball. I believe that due to financial concerns due to social distancing concerns, I do too more and more people using social media and digital to communicate that we're just gonna continue to see that snowball gained momentum. And again, that's not to say that suddenly your in stadium scientist doesn't have value. I think that still will have value. But it may be that fans are now seeing that in stadium signage, not only from a from a seat inside your venue, but also while watching a streaming broadcast of your game. So I just again looking, looking into the future a little bit here. I think that we're going to continue to see growing use of an acceptance of and reliance upon, uh, streaming audio broadcast television broadcasts, all that kind of stuff for, uh, for some fans, not all fans, but for some fans to continue to engage with their team and with other fans. And it may be some other things, too, Like, you know, one area that I think, um, you know, fans really like is the idea of doing, like, live, chat or you know, anything along those lines forums. Um, any kind of opportunity to interact and engage with other fans of the team to talk about the team to talk about, you know, the players to discuss, you know, maybe what's going on during that particular game night. I think those we'll have, we'll see a lot of growth and they are very, very responsible in terms of putting sponsor, branding, sponsor links products. However you know, product placement, whatever that may look like for you, for your team in your league. But again, looking at just how fans are going to engage, interact with their team after er season resumes, I think digital is going to continue to grow at a rapid pace.

spk_0:   20:32
Yeah, and I think, you know, just talking through it right now again, One of the big things that I mean, you also don't know when this is gonna end, right? It could look, everything's clear, everything's back to normal. And then we could go back into, you know, heaven forbid another segment of having to having to not do social distancing. So you know, anything you can build now, obviously almost hedges against that, so at least you're not caught off guard you have those pieces in place to be able to go to?

spk_1:   21:02
Yeah. Yeah. And now shifting gears a little bit, I think we also need to be thinking about what is the sponsor situation going to be? Um, clearly, there's not a lot of businesses that are not being impacted by Corona virus and shutdowns and all those kinds of things. So if you're on the team side right now, take a look in your crystal ball and say, All right, I'm gonna take my top five partners. What's the world gonna look like? What's the business environment gonna look like for my top five partners at the at the end of this situation isn't gonna be a different world. I mean, if you've got a big airline sponsor, let's say, um, airlines are getting hit really, really hard. And you know, that's something you need to bear in mind as you are approaching some of these some of these partners, either existing partners or new business that you want to pursue or, you know, up selling a particular uh partner that you already have is to think about what's going on in their world. Did they lose a bunch of business that they lose a bunch of employees. Certainly, I think for the majority of our partners, the belt's going to be tightened a little bit. And at this point, I think all of us in the sports sponsorship world need to be doing two things. Number one, uh, we need to be reaching out to our partners proactively not to sell, but to communicate, to reassure and to continue to, um, build and strengthen our relationships with those partners. So that's number one. And number two is at this point how? Ask your partner, How can I help? Is there anything I can do right now? Is that anything the organization do right now? Maybe there is. Maybe there isn't but at least making the offer to your partners. Um hey, I'm not here asking for more money today. I'm just asking you. You know what I can do? Is there something I could do to to help your situation right now, Is there some messaging that we can share coming from you to our fan base via our social channels are email or whatever it may be, uh, you know, just again put yourself into their shoes. Put your put their needs before your needs for today. Well, actually, you should be doing that all the time. But, um, you know, do that today and then looking ahead when the when the season resumes or the new season begins, What kind of changes may they be seeing with regards to their financial situation with regards to their overall, um, opportunities to engage with fans and consumers, You know what's changing in their world that could impact how they work with you on their sponsorship. And maybe it's a situation, Nick Words simple is, um, you know, we're gonna we're gonna shift some assets around a little bit. Uh, you know, we're gonna we're gonna change this here. We're gonna move this over here. We're gonna tweak the messaging a little bit. Um, but I think that that's something again that we need to be sitting down and looking at today in terms of what's happening. And then, yeah, it's a little bit of prognostication because we don't yet know how all this is going to shake out. But give it your best estimate as to what this is gonna look like when you're

spk_0:   24:55
and I was going to say, You know, I've been intrigued on obviously you know, some of us were in renewals in new business. You know, colleges in baseball was kind of just finishing up. If if you were kind of in that level, would you be more proactive of coming in? Let's say to a restaurant partner and saying, Hey, you know, I get this is a new world. Yes, you're spending a lot on Let's say in stadium Sign Ege. I think what's gonna be best for you right now is if we shift some of those assets towards coupon ing or, you know, whatever that may be to get people into your restaurant because because obviously your mindset has gone from branding to maybe a little more action. Is that something you do proactively, or is that just part of the conversation? I think you know. Yeah,

spk_1:   25:43
I think what you do in a situation like that, let's use a restaurant, a cz, a, uh, an example. Either you're gonna look at are their assets that would that would be better, uh, to reach our fan base right now than current assets that we're using, Or do we need to take the assets that we're currently using and just switch up the message that's within those assets. I personally believe that a lot of what we a sponsor sales professionals need to be doing right now is emphasizing to our sponsors the value we provide. Um, and I think that value is going to be a hot point. Uh, for consumers of any product, once things get quote unquote back to normal, you know, there's gonna be a lot of people in this in this country and around the world who maybe took a strong financial hit. Uh, that need to You don't get there, get there feet back under them, um, to get their their retirement there. 401 k or their IRA or whatever. It may be back, you know, in a healthy position. Uh, there's going to be financial concerns for just about everyone. Now, does that mean people stop spending? Ah, maybe yes, maybe. No. But I think that the important thing right now is to if I'm selling a product like food I'm talking about. Hey, it's a great value. Um, you know, healthy portions. You know, uh, it's gonna messaging is gonna vary a little bit, depending on what kind of restaurant I am. But, you know, maybe you're talking about the late night value meal Maybe you're talking about, You know, you're emphasizing the value meals. If I'm by my Jack in the box, I'm talking about, you know, my combo meals, and it's a great deal. And you know, those those kinds of messages that I think you're going to to resonate with with consumers, whether it's a message that they're hearing at the at the stadium at the ballpark or whether it's going to be the immediate or Harvard is that they're receiving that message.

spk_0:   28:08
Yeah. No, I guess what you know, kind of it kind of Just wrap this up unless you have kind of more ways. Um that to change what? For people again. For me, this is a brand new world. As faras a recession goes. You know, anybody under 30 was still in high school during the last recession. Anybody a little bit over 30 was in college, and and I was in college kind of what's kind of that first step toe where I know, obviously, You know, we just chatted about your top five partners and seeing what that next world looks like is that kind of the first step. Other than kind of reaching out to partners and seeing how you can help immediately,

spk_1:   28:47
I think, Yeah, I think step one is, they say is make sure that you're proactive say, Hey, look, I'm here for you. If there's anything you need, If there's a message we can deliver, please let me know. I think then the second step is, as they say, Take a look at at what you think and this is gonna be very based upon. You know who your fan base is, what your league is, what your sport is. What's your average ticket price? It's gonna It's going thio. It's going to vary a little bit, you know, What market are you in? There's no one right answer to all this, but I think that it's important, as as the sponsorship side of things to say. What is it gonna look like for my fans? And what is it going to look like for my sponsors when this is starting to come to an end and we're starting to play a game, play games again? Uh, one of the things that's kind of in my mind is for kind of a promotion or a theme for that first game back is you almost treated like a college or high school team would with homecoming. It's sort of like, Hey, you're gonna maybe play up the nostalgia little bit. You're gonna be playing up the, um you know, things are getting back to normal. We've we've all come through this together. Uh, come on down. Uh, you know how you how you activate that, how you seem that in your particular venue and with your particular team is going to vary a little bit. But I just think it's important that we do a little bit off projection into the future when when things resume, what has changed? How do I need to change my approach to my sponsors? How do I need to change the assets that I offer them? And how do I change the messaging that my sponsors are putting out towards fans? And as they say, I think that that the important things are going to be stressing the value may be opportunities for for sponsors to earn some goodwill by offering, you know, maybe some ticket discounts or some free tickets or, you know, as part of their sponsorship that they are paying for. But, um, I think that you just need to kind of think about what sort of messaging is going to resonate coming from me to my sponsors and coming from my sponsors to my fans. Uh, when when things were starting to get back to normal?

spk_0:   31:35
Yeah, and I think, you know, I think you hit it on a little bit earlier. Some of these things we should be doing anyways right, whether there was a crisis or not. But you know, it's it's really empathizing with your partner's understanding that there's not gonna be a blanket. It's, you know, there's not gonna be a blanket statement or strategy for for everyone. It's gonna be a little bit different for each partner. And how can you How can you show in, empathize and understand what they're going through and really look at what their problems are before you start coming in and, you know, shifting assets around a minute.

spk_1:   32:12
And maybe there's other things, too, that you can do, you know, in in house. Uh, you know, at your at your stadium. I mean, maybe there's a, uh you know, a sponsor voucher that a fan congee get that saved them five bucks at the concession stand, you know, or or, you know, I guess it depends a little bit on what your situation is with your with your venue in your food and beverage provider and those kinds of things. But, you know, there's other opportunities. Maybe through, uh, you know, hey, by a by a soda and a hot dog and you're going to get a free popcorn or, you know, whatever whatever it may be, just the idea being, though, that that fans, they're gonna want to get things back to normal. They still love your team. That hasn't changed its best. What has changed is possibly their financial ability to physically attend games, especially early on if they've been particularly hit by, um, by financial issues as a result of this hole Corona virus situation, Um, and then will there be any kind of lingering reluctance or concern about jumping right back into a stadium situation with a whole bunch of people after having been told, stay away from groups of people for, you know, a month or two months or three months, or whatever it may be. Now, let me really reinforce something that that I've said throughout this whole situation. And that is we will get through it. Yeah, um, you know this there is gonna be light at the end of the tunnel at some point. This will be behind us as we sit here today. Uh, we don't know what that time frame is gonna be. We don't know exactly how how deep the impact is going to be of this thing. Financial and social meteor. That's, uh, that's hitting us right now. Um, you know, at some point it will get better, but there may be in the near term, uh, some things that you do need to take into consideration from from the fan standpoint, from the sponsor standpoint, from your own personal and business standpoint that are gonna impact not only how you reach out to your sponsors, but what you reach out to them with And what your recommendations they're going to be in terms of messaging and specific assets to help your sponsors engage and deliver a message to your fans.

spk_0:   35:01
Yeah. No, I mean, that's the the key thing and, you know, just chatting with some of the teams we worked with this it's been very much Hey, what is you know, how can we mitigate for now? How can we, you know, even strengthen relationships right now Because we are understanding, But then fully understanding and, you know, really displaying this confidence to your partners? There are going to games back. You are going to be able to connect with our great fans who love our sports games. Will it be the same? Absolutely not. Will it get back to that point? Probably. But you know, we're in this together. We're going to get back to that point of some sort of normalcy. And ah, again, I think the key thing that that you harped on this and last part cast is just really being communicative and understanding. To see how you can help out in the near term as well as as well as you know, far turn

spk_1:   35:58
Well, I like a say night. My my takeaway for listeners today is if you're if you're thinking about what I can do today, that's great. Now take the next step. Think about the interim and what's going to be happening and what's going to be changing with an eye towards the first game back.

spk_0:   36:19
And

spk_1:   36:19
what do you think that that first game back is gonna look like? What do you think is the atmosphere? What do you think is the, um, situation with your fans? What do you think is the situation with your sponsors? And now is the time to be? And again it's all subject to some. Some change just because this this whole thing is, is still playing out. But I think that the key right now is as part of your 30 60 90 day plan. Start to think about what you know what the desire to be talking sponsorships about what is the desired end result and therefore, what assets do I need to activate to desired and result. Similarly, what is the situation both socially, financially, off my sponsors and fans been games resume and what do I need to be doing between now and that date? To make sure that I'm strengthened not only strengthened my relationship but putting the right kinds of assets the right kind of messaging together as part of my sponsorship packages so that when When the puck drops, when the first pitch is thrown, when the kickoff. Whatever. You know, however, he however you start the games again

spk_0:   37:44
in

spk_1:   37:44
your particular sport, um, that your messaging to your fans, your messaging prior to that to your sponsors is on point and taking into consideration what has changed as a result of this really unprecedented situation.

spk_0:   38:00
Yeah, definitely awesome podcasts, You know, again, I lean on rich for a lot of this, because again, well, I haven't been there, so obviously I would encourage you all. And obviously you all are doing that. But thanks for so much for kind of diving through this and taking this this justcause again. Obviously it's unprecedented because, as you said, this is a medical endemic that's really causing some of the economic, um, pieces and obviously is shutting down sports. But but But yeah, it's just been it's been great to kind of see see the path from somebody who's has already been the right

spk_1:   38:36
Well, I can't say I've been through this exact

spk_0:   38:38
area

spk_1:   38:39
before this. This does have the social and in particular medical aspect to it, in addition to the financial aspect. But I guess I've been through enough of these before, too. You want to continue to emphasize that we're going to get through it, Games will start again. Um, it may be, ah, different mood, a different atmosphere, a different reality. Uh, once those games resume, and you need to be thinking about that right now, has it really do not only your fan base, but your sponsors as well?

spk_0:   39:15
Yeah, definitely. Awesome. Well, thanks, everybody for tuning in Rich. If if anybody wants to get a hold of you asked some questions, shoot you some e mails. I know I've been getting some direct messages. How can they do that?

spk_1:   39:29
Best ways. While the first ball here you're missing on linked in I can be found here on lengthen. The name is Rich Franklin, vice president of corporate partnerships for the Portland Winter Hawks hockey team. Or if you'd like to go the e mail route and reach out to me directly via email. My email address is rich F r I C H f at winter hawks dot com.

spk_0:   39:53
And I'm Nick Lawson. You're seeing this on Lincoln, so definitely connect with me. Yeah, me, um, One last thing I will say, and we always do a call out, But But obviously I'm getting getting a lot of questions, kind of, especially on our 90 day playing last time. Shoot us over topics again if if you, if you're having some questions, may be on a particular segment or a particular asset, showed us those questions we'd love to dive into those with what's everybody kind on the podcast for next week on and kind of dive into their Obviously we're kind of shifted from hey overall digital to which is a huge part of the peace right now in sponsorship, but just two again, kind of kind of setting it up for the new normalcy. But if any topics you have any questions you have shoot him over to us, we'd be happy to kind of jump on the podcast and dive into them with all of you. Um, thanks everybody for listening. Thanks so much for tuning in. Uh, stay in there. It's gonna be better. We'll get games back on. Keep pushing those limits within sports sponsorship