Adobe's Best Sponcon Has No Logo

👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a weekly newsletter dedicated to sponsored content strategy in the sports industry! 

This is a resource for sports organizations to generate more sponsorship revenue and for brands to get more from their sports partnerships by building sponsored content fans actually want to engage with.

In Today’s Edition:

• 🎨 MLB turns highlights into product demos

• 🏋️ New sponsored interview shows hit the gym

• 🍺 A beer can becomes a camera

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
MLB Found A Better AI Use Case

Most AI-powered sports sponsorship content has the same problem:

Nobody would actually use the product that way.

We’ve seen athletes asked to use AI to generate goofy images, dream up ridiculous scenarios, or create something purely because the technology can.

The AI becomes the idea.

But MLB and Adobe are taking a different approach.

They’re showing how people actually use Adobe’s products to create sports content.

Last month, they rolled out two activations that show why the approach works.

Turn The Highlight Into A Product Demo

In August, MLB started adding a new layer to some of its biggest highlights on X.

First comes the moment.

Then MLB quote-tweets the highlight with a custom hype graphic commemorating what just happened.

And right in the caption, MLB tells you how it was made:

Designed in Adobe Photoshop with Adobe Firefly.

And notice what’s missing from the graphic: an Adobe logo.

It doesn’t need one.

The caption identifies the specific Adobe products used to create it, while the behind-the-scenes content that follows shows those products in action.

Adobe may sacrifice some visibility on the graphic itself, but it gets something more valuable across the full sequence: product proof.

That brings us to the third and final step.

MLB quote-tweets the hype graphic with a time-lapse showing the creative process behind it.

Highlight. Hype graphic. Making-of.

• Willson Contreras: Highlight | Hype Graphic | Making-Of

• Jazz Chisholm Jr.: Highlight | Hype Graphic | Making-Of

• Munetaka Murakami: Highlight | Hype Graphic | Making-Of

• Yordan Alvarez: Highlight | Hype Graphic | Making-Of

One baseball moment becomes three pieces of content, with Adobe becoming more central to the story each time.

Together, the four series produced 8.3M views on X, with 4.1M views (49%) tied directly to Adobe. And using MondoTrends, I found the graphics are driving up to 7x MLB’s average engagement per post.

While the graphics are great, I think the behind-the-scenes layer is what makes this particularly interesting in 2026.

Show The Human Behind The AI

There’s been plenty of skepticism around generative AI in creative work, including across sports.

That's another reason showing the process matters.

The time-lapse doesn't present Firefly as a magic button that spits out a finished graphic. You can see a designer bringing the piece together, with Adobe's AI-powered tools playing a role in that process.

That's what a lot of AI sponsorship activations have missed: an actual use case.

A better starting point is figuring out where the product solves a real problem or improves something people already want to create.

MLB gave us another example during Players' Weekend.

The annual event gives players an opportunity to show more of their personalities and interests, including through customized equipment that wouldn't normally appear during regular-season games.

So MLB worked with creator Adrian Vazquez (@adrianvvlogs) to sit down with three players and develop ideas for custom equipment. The videos generated 1.2M views on X.

• William Contreras: Tape-Inspired Cleats

• Travis Bazzana: Big League Chew Cleats

• JJ Wetherholt: Fishing-Inspired Bat

The designs were created using Adobe Firefly and Photoshop, something MLB again explicitly called out when it revealed the finished products.

Think about the role Adobe plays in that story.

The players bring the ideas, Adrian translates them creatively, and Adobe provides the tools to visualize them before they become equipment used on the field.

That’s a legitimate use case for the product.

The Gold Standard

As much as I like what MLB and Adobe are doing, my favorite example of this type of activation is still Josh Allen and AWS.

In 2024, AWS teamed up with the NFL for My Cause My Cleats, helping players including DK Metcalf, Josh Allen, and Maxx Crosby use generative AI to design cleats supporting their causes.

But the standout content came from the Buffalo Bills.

Instead of simply sharing AWS’s brand-forward video, the Bills created their own version centered on Allen and his connection to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital.

They led with the emotional connection.

AWS was still part of the story. It just wasn’t the story.

That approach produced 3.97M impressions and 104K+ engagements across channels, outperforming the other content around the campaign.

That’s still the gold standard for this type of activation.

The technology had a legitimate role, but fans cared about Allen, his cause, and his connection to the hospital. AWS helped bring that story to life without getting in its way.

MLB and Adobe are tapping into the same principle with Players’ Weekend. Josh Allen showed how much more powerful it can become when a legitimate product use case is paired with a deep emotional connection.

1. Build Adobe's "Shot on Pixel"

Last November, I wrote about the incredible work being produced by sports content teams and the opportunity for editing platforms like Adobe to monetize it.

My suggestion:

Imagine “Edited on Adobe” or “Created with Edits” tagged on a Celtics highlight or Arsenal hype reel.

In other words, borrow from Google's "Shot on Pixel" playbook.

Sports organizations create great content every day. If Adobe's products helped make it, the content itself can become the product demo.

MLB is starting to do exactly that by crediting Photoshop and Firefly alongside its sponsored graphics.

Now scale it.

Imagine Adobe integrations across some of the best creative produced by MLB and its 30 clubs:

1. Designed in Photoshop.

2. Edited in Premiere Pro.

3. Created with Adobe Express.

4. Powered by Adobe Firefly.

It doesn't require turning every post into an Adobe ad.

The work is already being created. Adobe can own a piece of the story behind how it gets made.

And there’s another example I’d borrow from to make those integrations even more useful.

2. Show Which Tool Created What

Earlier this month, I highlighted a smart execution from the Miami Dolphins and Sony.

At the end of Training Camp, the Dolphins published a carousel thanking fans and highlighting moments from camp.

But instead of putting #ShotOnSony across the entire post, they used Instagram's multiple-caption feature to identify the specific camera behind each image. For example, Shot on Sony Burano, and Shot on Sony FX3.

That turned a Training Camp recap into a product showcase.

Adobe could apply the same thinking.

Imagine an MLB carousel featuring creative from a major event:

• One slide edited in Photoshop.

• Another using a particular Firefly feature.

• A video cut in Premiere Pro.

• Another asset built in Adobe Express.

Rather than broadly saying "Made with Adobe," each slide could identify the specific product or feature used to create it.

Fans see great content, creative professionals see the tools behind it, and potential customers see actual use cases.

There’s one more place I’d take this.

3. Turn Designers Into Creators

I’d borrow this idea from Starbucks.

Starbucks has been building an employee creator program that gives baristas opportunities to create content and tell stories from inside the company.

The premise is simple: employees already understand the product and culture. Give the right ones the tools and incentives to create around it.

Now apply that to baseball.

Designers across MLB and its 30 clubs are already using tools like Photoshop to turn baseball moments into content fans see every day.

Give those designers a platform.

Encourage them to share time-lapses and behind-the-scenes breakdowns on their own channels by showing the original asset, walking through their creative decisions, highlighting where the product helped, then revealing the finished piece.

Adobe could support participating designers and potentially add performance incentives for content that reaches larger audiences.

One of my favorite follows is Bailey Mincer, Art Director for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who regularly shares her work and the process behind it.

You're watching a professional designer use the product to do the job, rather than a brand explaining what Photoshop can do.

Now imagine Adobe building a network of those voices across baseball.

That expands the partnership without overwhelming MLB's feeds with tutorials and design breakdowns. The designers become another distribution channel for Adobe, reaching audiences that want to see how the work gets made.

From Sponsorship To Case Study

Adobe gets the consumer-facing benefit of appearing alongside MLB highlights, stars, and major moments while reaching the creative professionals and organizations it wants using its products.

Sports teams are creative businesses, with designers, editors, photographers, and social producers creating content every day.

That gives Adobe an opportunity to turn its MLB partnership into a case study for how its products fit into professional creative workflows.

MLB and Adobe have already started telling that story.

Now I'd see how far they can take it.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Two workout-themed interview shows recently launched on YouTube. The NFL teamed up with Lowe’s for Iron Sharpens Iron, featuring Myles Garrett working out, competing, and talking football and life with other elite NFL defensive players. Meanwhile, Ilona Maher launched Power Hour, presented by Liquid I.V. Each week, the Olympic rugby medalist hits the gym with a celebrity or athlete to tackle their workout while talking about life, careers, and everything in between.

Save these names for your next sponsored content series in the auto category. Angel City FC shared Ali In The Driver’s Seat in partnership with CarMax. In The Driver’s Seat would be a great name for a team or player highlight reel after a win. The Philadelphia Eagles are running a Roll Into A Seat sweepstakes with Amoroso’s Bakery, a name that could work perfectly for a tire or auto brand.

USF Football’s unconventional camera series was a hit last year. I love the creativity from Oklahoma State Athletics here, using an Iron Monk beer can as a lens to capture photos at the brewery’s fall kickoff party.

Red Bull brought professional skater Danny León to Atlético Madrid to attempt the world’s first 50-50 grind across a professional football crossbar. I also really enjoyed the brand’s simple, effective partnership announcement with Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders got a new closet in their locker room courtesy of Abercrombie, timed with the brand’s new apparel collection and the start of the NFL season.

I thought this Shopify-sponsored piece with Lando Norris was especially effective. The reigning World Champion told the story of growing his lifestyle brand, Quadrant, giving fans a chance to celebrate the journey while naturally showcasing Shopify’s role in the business. They also used the post to announce Quadrant’s next pop-up at this year’s Austin Grand Prix.

🚨 ICYMI
Industry News & Insights

Golden [Retriever] Game Picks: Hertz partnered with Kirk Herbstreit’s famous golden retriever, Peter, to create a fun college football campaign where the pup serves as a “gold Squad” ambassador and predicts game winners on social media.

The Creator Effect: According to IBM’s Sports Intelligence Report, 70% of sports creator followers say creators influence their interests beyond sports, including the products and trends they discover.

YouTube Confidence Crisis: According to Little Dot Studios’ YouTube Confidence Gap report, 54% of marketers say YouTube is important or critical to long-term audience growth, yet just 4% feel highly confident in their YouTube strategy.

World Cup Content Win: Alyssa Meyers explores how The Athletic turned its World Cup content strategy into record sponsor growth, while also increasing readership 40% YoY [via Marketing Brew].

5G On Course: David Hyland explained how T-Mobile is using its USGA partnership to solve real operational challenges, turning its 5G network into both critical event infrastructure and a live product demonstration [via The Business Of Golf].

More Than A Logo: Vipul Londhe breaks down how a chip brand became part of football culture through its partnership with Manchester United [via 10 Bits Sports].