How Super Bowl 50’s Organizers Led With Purpose to Execute the “Most Giving Super Bowl Ever”
This is an excerpt from Chapter 4 of 3-Win Sponsorship — Begin With the Third Win in Mind.
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The first principle of 3-Win Sponsorships is about intentionality. It is critical to begin sponsorship deals with the intention of creating social and environmental impact for the target audience. Without the initial vision and mission centered around purpose, and causes near and dear to your target market’s heart, your sponsorship deals will not reach their full potential and connect meaningfully with customers and fans.
To demonstrate this principle in action, let’s take a look at how the organizers of one of the largest sporting events in the world achieved tremendous amounts of success by leading with a clear intention of social good.
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In their book, Big Game, Bigger Impact, Pat Gallagher and Stephanie Martin describe in great detail how the Host Committee set an ambitious goal of “redefining the Super Bowl experience.“ Gallagher served as the Executive Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Partnerships for the Host Committee, while Martin played the role of Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
From the beginning, as they set out to find Bay Area companies to seed the operations of the Bid Committee’s operations, Gallagher and Bid Committee Chairman, Daniel Lurie, put purpose first. Gallagher estimated that the San Francisco Super Bowl 50 Bid would need to raise at least $30 million in commitments from companies who would support their efforts to bring the Super Bowl to the region.
At the time, Lurie ran Tipping Point, a charitable organization built to eradicate poverty in San Francisco. During a meeting at the Tipping Point office, Gallagher put the number “25%” on a white board. This was meant to signify that the Host Committee would “devote a quarter out of every dollar [they] raised from corporate partnerships to go to nonprofits in our region,” Gallagher recalled. “We all wanted to be involved in something that had the potential to deliver real impact. It felt bold, but it also felt right.”
Lurie and Gallagher’s mindset was, “With the region’s leadership in philanthropy, we believed a significant community investment might make this project really resonate with local leaders.”
Born out of that meeting was the vision for the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl. As Gallagher wrote, “We started with a vision that spoke right to the heart of the 50th anniversary: we didn’t want to just bring the Super Bowl to our region, we aspired to do it in a way that would set a new standard. Just as the NFL wanted to celebrate their past, we also knew this was an opportunity for them to celebrate the Big Game and make a statement about its future.”
“Redefining the Super Bowl” became the core mantra for Gallagher, Lurie and the entire Host Committee. They believed that their “true differentiator was our legacy initiative.”
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In this article series, I share excerpts and stories from my book, 3-Win Sponsorship. I hope you enjoyed this post — if you want to connect you can reach me via email — john@thirdwin.com — or connect with me on Twitter & LinkedIn. You can also find my book on Amazon.
