You’ll have to indulge me for a moment while I once again use Crystal Palace as a segue into another edition of this newsletter.

Back in 2017, when the club was nearing the end of another managerial search, the Eagles posted a video of white smoke emanating from the chimney of Tasty Jerk, a Caribbean takeaway on the corner of Selhurst Park, to tease that an appointment was imminent. The fast food restaurant has become synonymous with matchday for a lot of supporters, who have made tradition out of making a pre or post-game stop at the South Norwood haunt.

One social media user described the post as a ‘9.5/10 tweet’; another labelled the video ‘absolute genius’. Sadly the creative nous of the content team wasn’t matched by Frank de Boer’s subsequent four-game spell in charge of the club.

💭💭💭 pic.twitter.com/ruXld8jy08

I’ve been thinking of Tasty Jerk in recent weeks amid reports that some small businesses across the UK are likely to have to close their doors because of soaring energy bills, rising costs, and declining consumer purchasing power caused by the cost of living crisis.

As might often be the case when reading this newsletter, the question you might now be asking is what does this have to do with sponsorship and marketing? Well, sports teams are increasingly keen to highlight in official communications the role that they play in their communities, a trend that has become more prevalent amid a rise in purpose-driven messaging.

So what better way to action that than by creating marketing initiatives that support struggling local businesses who are part of the fabric of that community, and may even be part of the gameday ritual for match-going fans?

Believe it or not, there is already some form for this type of thing. Last year, for example, Premier League side Chelsea invited small businesses with a London postcode to apply for free advertising space on matchdays, including a branded Instagram story.

My personal favourite initiative actually came from Arsenal, who during last season created a series of adverts with local businesses in an effort to raise awareness of their services and drive footfall around matchday. Those companies, which ranged from local hairdressers to pubs and fish and chip shops, had their ads air on big screens at the club’s stadium and also featured on perimeter boards.

The whole campaign actually resulted in content that felt more authentic, entertaining and endearing than anything the club could create with its major partners like Emirates.

I’m not suggesting that clubs give up their most premium advertising spaces for free, nor am I claiming that this exposure would be a silver bullet for local businesses. Even so, elite sports teams now have dedicated content creation teams and are sitting on heaps of digital inventory that could provide small companies with valuable awareness at a time when they need it most. Clubs could even find other ways of integrating the services of local businesses into their matchday operations.

Perhaps this is all very fanciful thinking in the global world of sport. But at the very least it would come at a low cost to the clubs, generate goodwill among fans, and potentially even result in content that resonates further than you might expect.

I wonder if anyone at the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) was reading this newsletter a few weeks ago. On Tuesday, the governing body announced that Google has become the first-ever global partner of women’s basketball and this year’s Women’s Basketball World Cup.

Fiba hasn’t said anything official about unbundling the sponsorship rights to its women’s properties and my understanding is that the organisation’s deals with its other global partners – Nike, Tissot, Molten, Wanda and Ganten – still cover both the men’s and women’s World Cups. But this is a clear step in a similar direction to those already made by the likes of Fifa, Uefa and World Rugby, who now sell standalone packages for their women’s competitions.

For Google, it reinforces the technology giant’s commitment to women’s basketball after it became a WNBA ‘changemaker’ in May last year. Similar to that agreement, where Google has worked with ESPN to deliver more nationally televised regular season fixtures, this partnership ensures six games will air exclusively in the US on ESPN2 and ESPNU, which will be the most fixtures from the tournament to ever be broadcast on live TV in the country.

I’ve had my personal grievances with Trainline this summer (can I have my Manchester refund now?) but can’t argue with the company’s decision to partner with Lionesses star Beth Mead to offer fans discounted travel to women’s soccer matches this season.

This summer’s Uefa Women’s Euros delivered record crowds but one issue identified during the tournament is that we’re yet to see those repeated on a regular basis at domestic level. With that in mind, it’s good to see a brand pledging money to address a specific challenge in the game, especially given that some Women’s Super League (WSL) grounds can be difficult to get to.

Our £10 travel discount offer for women’s football fans both supports rail travel and promotes attendance levels within the professional game – plus it’s backed by England striker @bmeado9 too! Find out more here⬇️https://t.co/fcPjBushmR pic.twitter.com/iIjqcOyFsX

Premier League club Everton were already under the microscope after jumping back into bed with a betting sponsor so won’t have been best pleased when they saw a recent social media post from their main partner Stake.com.

The club has reportedly been forced to warn the betting brand to stop using their colours and player imagery in an international promotion offering a US$10 free bet to anyone who bets US$5,000 on its platform in the space of a week.

Everton Road to Glory Cash Drops 💰 Here’s the first of two bonus drops thanks to @Everton‘s win in the #CarabaoCup 🤑 Code: evertonrtg1 Value: $10 Requirements: $5,000 wagered in the last 7 days Total Drop Limit: $25,000 Under settings, go to offers & redeem the bonus drop 💧 pic.twitter.com/A85W2LWIeT

H/T to Sportico’s Eben Novy-Williams for sharing this neat graphic after Fanatics secured another ten-year omnichannel retail partnership, this time with the Baltimore Orioles, which means the company now has ecommerce rights to 129 of the 156 teams in North America’s major leagues.

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