CFL Sponsorship Inventory Data Mapping and Process Implementation
“As we set out to implement a new vision for league-wide sponsorship inventory tracking and sponsorship collaboration with our clubs, PandoPartner played a key role in the operationalization of our strategy.
PandoPartner worked with our team to build inventory database structures, designed sales agreement submission workflows, developed sponsorship sales and inventory dashboards, and to roll out league-wide training, working with our clubs.
Our sponsorship inventory tracking would not have gotten off the ground as quickly and effectively without PandoPartner helping to support this complex undertaking. Their sponsorship industry experience, combined with strong data analytics acumen, translates to unique capabilities that were extremely valuable to the CFL in such a pivotal time in our commercial evolution.”
Owen Welsh - Associate Vice President, Global Partnerships
The Situation
In early 2022, the Canadian Football League (CFL) was undergoing a major change in the way the league managed, tracked, and sold nationally-relevant sponsorship assets across the league.
A new system had been designed by the league’s leadership, in collaboration with the clubs and with new league partner, Genius Sports, that would ultimately lead to more consistent asset pricing and a more collaborative approach to sponsorship sales in an effort to optimize league-wide commercial business.
The new system, however, required a league-wide inventory management system that could identify sold and unsold inventory in real-time for each club, across all games and media platforms, based on every club’s latest sponsorship sales in their local markets. To achieve this, the CFL asked PandoPartner to support them in the development of sponsorship asset databases, tracking and reporting dashboards, and other collaboration tools that would allow for all 10 entities (the league and its nine teams) to stay synchronized and connected.
The Work
PandoPartner’s work began by gaining a thorough understanding of the relevant sponsorship assets across each club’s stadiums and digital platforms. As part of this initial learning, it was important to fully understand the details of how the league’s games and fan engagement platforms operated, and how assets were sold - in what quantities, and with what rate card values. Then PandoPartner established database tables and taxonomies that could underpin an inventory tracking system.
Pictured: Virtual on-field sponsorship assets which are visible in CFL broadcasts.
With the necessary database structure established, a process was deployed, in collaboration with the CFL’s technology and software team, whereby CFL clubs could seamlessly input their existing agreement data into a central database. Then, dashboards were built that would enable the clubs and the league to quickly and easily check in on various KPIs and asset-specific sales insights as part of their ongoing sales efforts and correspondence moving forward.
Both the initial data input and the ongoing correspondence phase of the project required educating, training, and listening to partnership personnel across the league’s nine clubs, so that everyone involved in the new system felt comfortable with the new processes and tools. PandoPartner played a lead role in developing training videos, administering training sessions, and corresponding to email inquiries throughout the roll-out.
Outcomes and Momentum
Ultimately, by implementing the new inventory management system, the CFL has been able to successfully operationalize their new commercial model for the league and teams. The league now ensures that assets are not discounted from their proper market value, and it can more easily work with clubs to sell unsold inventory to national partners and advertisers. Through improved efficiency, readily-available analytics and better collaboration, the CFL and its clubs look forward to a new era of commercial growth.
