ONBOARDING HUB
sponsor faq
Have questions about your youth sports sponsorship campaign this season? Welcome to our frequently asked questions page. If you have any additional questions, do not hesitate to reach out to your LeagueSide account team.
confirming league partners
Can we select the leagues we’re sponsoring?
Based on the goals of your campaign, LeagueSide’s algorithms determine which leagues will best position your campaign for success and then automatically onboards these leagues for your campaign. In any situation where a league could be a good partner but does not meet all your criteria, your LeagueSide account team will reach out to let you know why we’re recommending the league and think they are still a great partner to achieve your goals.
When will we get to know the leagues we’re sponsoring?
Immediately after your onboarding call, our league operations team gets to work on outreach to youth sports partners to confirm the best possible organizations to hit your campaign goals. You will receive a dynamic landing page that helps you track the progress of confirmed leagues and also see verification images of your different assets in real-time.
An example of the Leagueside dashboard*
What sports will the leagues we’re sponsoring be in?
LeagueSide cannot guarantee that your youth sports leagues will be from any specific sport, however, based on the seasons some sports tend to be more popular than others.
In the Winter, most youth sports sponsorships run in basketball, hockey, and futsal leagues.
In the Spring, most youth sports sponsorships run in softball, baseball, soccer and volleyball leagues
In the Fall, most youth sports sponsorships run in soccer, football and basketball leagues.
How do you determine which leagues are a good fit for our campaign?
Based on your strategic goals, the LeagueSide team develops a strategy that includes your various assets and how they want to be utilized. This is then passed to our operations team who utilize algorithms to determine which youth sports partners in your target regions will drive the results your campaign is targeting.
For example, if raising brand awareness is a campaign goal, a league unable to have any physical assets is unlikely to be a good fit. Our operations team and processes help sift through all the available leagues to understand which are best equipped to deliver success.
creative assets
How often will we be able to switch out creative?
Each season, clients are able to refresh or replace their creative with each of the youth sports partners in their upcoming campaign
Can I see examples of each creative asset?
Yes, you can see creative examples by visiting leagueside.com/creative (PW: dreamteam)
Game Signage
Who incurs the cost of production of game signage?
LeagueSide handles the production and shipping of game signage to all youth sports partners. All you need to do is provide us with designs in the specifications as outlined in the LeagueSide Creative Hub.
What material is game signage printed on?
6″x4″ field banners are printed on vinyl material while pop-up banners are printed on stretch lycra material.
Can we use different field banner creative at different organizations?
Yes, LeagueSide is able to send different field banner creative to different leagues based on sport, location or other parameters to ensure that you’re reaching each family with a message that resonates
digital communications
Will each league send out both a social media post and email?
No, LeagueSide allows youth sports partners to determine which of the two options, they’d prefer to fulfill their digital communication requirements with based on which option they’ve seen generate higher engagement with their families.
Are the digital communications sent out by LeagueSide directly?
Digital communications are sent out by the youth sports league commissioners to capitalize on the higher engagement they have with families.
How should we be writing these communications?
As digital communications are sent out by the youth sports league commissioners, they should be written from the perspective of the league commissioner.
Will we receive open rates on emails that are sent out?
As emails are sent out by youth sports who are often incapable of providing this information as a result of the email systems they use, we cannot guarantee open rates or click-throughs from all leagues as we do not have the direct visibility to do so. Where leagues are equipped to share reporting and it is of interest, we can work to source that information.
Can we get access to email lists of families being reached?
As emails are sent out by youth sports organizations and not LeagueSide directly, we are unable to share email lists, however, in surveys, we are able to add a question that asks if families will like to opt in to further communication from a client.
jerseys
Will we have jerseys at every youth sports league we’re sponsoring?
Your package includes an overall number of jerseys and LeagueSide executes those across the best youth sports partners with jersey sponsorship opportunities
LeagueSide does not guarantee jerseys at every youth sports partner as some leagues which could be great fits to achieve your campaign’s goals may be unable to deliver on jerseys due to print cadences or for other reasons.
Where are logos going to be printed?
All youth sports league partners will print your logo on either the front, back or sleeve of their jerseys
Will we see jerseys before they are printed?
Yes, your LeagueSide account manager will share jersey proofs with you before they are sent to print by youth sports partners. LeagueSide requires responses on jersey proofs within 24 hours to ensure leagues do not miss their print deadlines.
When will we be able to see the pictures of jerseys on athletes?
Within 3 weeks of season start dates, leagues will submit verification images of jerseys in action. As these are received, they will be available for your reference on your dashboard for the season.
seminars
Who are the typical attendees for these meetings? Parents? Coaches?
Each seminar opportunity is unique and will either feature coaches only or coaches and parents depending on which opportunities the league has available. We find that in many instances, coaches also happen to be parents in the leagues.
Can I only attend seminars where I will be reaching parents?
LeagueSide cannot guarantee that all our league partners will be able to provide seminars that only reach families, however, we can prioritize league partners that provide such opportunities.
What’s the typical attendance for one of these events?
Seminars typically have between 10 – 20 participating families.
Will I be the only presenter or will there be other topics/presenters at the meeting?
Seminars are typically held within already established events to ensure that there is built-in attendance for the sponsor so you can expect that there will likely be other topics and presenters at the league meeting.
What topics are most successful based on LeagueSide’s experience running these events?
LeagueSide asks each league to submit a topic that will resonate with their audience to ensure that each seminar is high utility.
How long will I have to present?
Presentation slots for seminars are typically between 10 and 20 minutes long.
How much lead time will you provide for these events? Our presenters have super busy schedules. It can be super difficult to nail them down so we need a lot of lead time!
LeagueSide works to provide at least 2 weeks lead time for seminars.
When do these events typically happen during the season?
Seminars typically happen within 1 month of the season start date.
webinars
Does each league have their own webinar?
No, LeagueSide will coordinate 1 webinar that is promoted to all the youth sports leagues in your campaign each season
How many people attend the webinar?
We tend to see about 20-30 participants in each webinar. This number may vary vastly based on the number of leagues in your campaign and the time of the webinar.
How long do you recommend the webinar be?
We have seen more success with webinars that run no longer than 45 minutes.
What is your recommendation for the breakdown between presenting and Q&A?
We typically run webinars with all the presentations back to back and then some time for Q&A at the end of all the presentations.
Can I have multiple presenters participate in the webinar?
Yes, you can have multiple presenters for the webinar. We see the most success with webinars where there are 2-3 speakers who present for about 10 minutes each and then take questions at the end.