07 Jan Which Sponsorship Assets Actually Drive Fan Attention in Sports?
Sports sponsorship has officially entered its fan-first era.
As sponsorship spend across major U.S. sports properties continues to climb, brands are facing a tougher question than ever before: Which assets actually earn attention — and which just take up space?
That’s exactly what The Amplified 25: Sport’s Stickiest Sponsors, produced by Gray Wolf and Zoomph, set out to uncover. By analyzing billions of data points across social, broadcast, and earned media, the report goes beyond ranking brands — it reveals which sponsorship assets consistently drive real fan engagement
Below is a preview of a few asset-level insights brands are already using to sharpen their sponsorship strategy.
Across leagues like the NBA, WNBA, MLS, and MLB, uniform exposure continues to deliver some of the highest sponsorship value. Jerseys offer something few assets can: clean, persistent visibility in the moments fans care about most — highlights, action shots, and social content that lives well beyond game day.
But the data makes one thing clear: Visibility alone isn’t enough.
The brands that rise in The Amplified 25 pair jersey exposure with storytelling, relevance, and cultural fit, turning passive impressions into active engagement.
In-venue signage often gets dismissed as “table stakes,” but the data tells a different story.
Arena signage consistently spikes in value when paired with rivalry games, postseason run and viral, game-defining moments.
Game-day photography and highlight clips naturally capture in-venue branding — and when fan interest peaks, that exposure multiplies across social and earned media channels.
The takeaway? Arena signage performs best when brands plan for when it will be seen, not just where.
Download The Amplified 25: Sports Stickiest Sponsors for full rankings and more insights.
One of the most reliable asset performers in the study: sponsored social graphics.
Why? Because branded overlays are intentionally baked into the content fans are already engaging with most — score updates, lineup announcements, milestones, and breaking news.
These assets remove guesswork. Brands aren’t hoping a logo appears in frame — it’s designed into the moment, ensuring consistent exposure and alignment every time the content travels.
If there’s one universal truth in The Amplified 25, it’s this:
Timing matters as much as placement.
Tentpole moments — playoffs, championships, drafts, record-breaking performances — generate 2–4× the value of standard regular-season content. Elevated fan interest, heavier posting volume, and earned media pickup create short windows where sponsorship impact compounds rapidly.
The most successful brands don’t treat these moments as bonuses. They plan for them.
Every sponsor can buy rights. Far fewer earn attention that sticks.
The brands that top The Amplified 25 understand something critical: assets lay the foundation, but storytelling drives amplification. Measuring performance at the asset level allows brands to:
Double down on what actually works
Optimize creative and placement strategy
Prove sponsorship ROI with confidence
That’s where Zoomph and Gray Wolf come in.
Zoomph’s asset-level measurement and AI-powered logo detection reveal exactly which placements — from jerseys to signage to sponsored social graphics — drive real media value, helping brands move from assumption to accountability.
As a sponsorship advisory and valuation firm, Gray Wolf helps brands and properties translate performance data into smarter partnership decisions — aligning assets, storytelling, and timing to maximize fan attention and long-term sponsorship impact.
This is just a snapshot of what The Amplified 25 uncovers.
Download the full report to see the complete rankings, brand case studies, and the sponsorship strategies earning the most fan attention in sports today.
