SPONSORSHIP WORKING AT SOCCERCITY
USIndoor Sponsorship Director by Chris Moler
Before they engaged USIndoor
for sponsorship services, SoccerCity Tulsa, like so many privately owned indoor sports facilities,
sold banners for $500 to $1,000 annually, which included the cost of the decal. Annual sponsorship revenues were somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000.
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n just five months, the facility now enjoys more than fifteen sponsorships worth over $90,000 in cash and value-in-kind. Deals worth more than $30,000 are currently on the table. Advertising related support and cross-promotional campaigns are being created that could ultimately result in new business for both SoccerCity Tulsa and its sister facility, SoccerCity OKC.
SoccerCity anticipates total sales exceeding $200,000 by the end of the 2012. That is a long way from last year's sales of just over $5,000 in signage. SoccerCity Tulsa is an 60,000 square foot facility located on the east side of Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has a local population of 350,000. Greater Tulsa County has a population of 916,457. The facility sports two regulation size turf fields, two junior fields, a party room, a small mezzanine and a concession stand.
Last year, SoccerCity investors purchased an older facility in Oklahoma City that is 70,000 square feet, having three
regulation fields, a large upstairs mezzanine and party overlook. The two venues have a combined annual attendance of roughly 500,000. During a six-season year, 3,200 sports teams play at both facilities.
All these assets—plus access to a target market of active adults and families with children, as well as a large space that attracts a high number of players and spectators—must be considered when creating a successful sponsorship program.
The program put together by USIndoor and STAAR Solutions, USIndoor's sponsorship agent, provided SoccerCity with an extensive makeover of its sponsorship benefits, coupled with a variety of contractual forms for sponsorship agreements, artwork services, training and sales support.
The program also included an ongoing review of budgetary goals, as well as line-item budget categories that could be traded for sponsorship, saving money on
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necessary services. Such items included cable television and internet service, local and long distance phone service, security alarm service, trash pickup, t-shirts for players and staff, printing services, cell phones and cell phone service, electrical contracting, plumbing, cleaning service, exterminator service, an official SoccerCity vehicle, and advertising. All tolled, these services amounted to potential savings over $75,000 per location.
After a comprehensive analysis, STAAR Solutions, SoccerCity Tulsa and SoccerCity
