👋 Welcome back to Sponcon Sports, a twice-weekly newsletter breaking down the best ideas, strategies, and trends shaping digital sports partnerships.

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:

We all know the Postseason brings more excitement. But how much does it actually impact social media performance?

And more importantly, could your team be charging more for sponsored content?

I teamed up with Mondo Metrics to find out.

Using MondoTrends to analyze 57,239 posts across all 12 MLB Postseason clubs, we compared each team's regular-season performance to its Postseason results across five platforms.

Here's what we found:

There's a catch, though.

Teams shifted more content to Instagram and TikTok during the Postseason, where posts typically generate more engagements. My theory? After a 162-game season of being selective about what makes those channels, nearly every Postseason moment feels worth sharing.

That shift helped drive up the overall average. But even after adjusting for each club's regular-season platform mix, engagements per post still increased 32%.

The Postseason bump is real, and it has important implications for how teams value and price their sponsorship inventory.

The increase varies significantly by platform.

Often overlooked in sponsorship conversations, Facebook delivered the biggest jump: +79% engagements and +40% views per post. I've seen similar results firsthand, and this is another reminder of its commercial value.

Instagram and TikTok saw smaller engagement increases of 8% and 18%, respectively. But both already generate substantial engagement per post, so even a modest lift can be valuable.

How far a team advances also makes a considerable difference.

Clubs eliminated in the Wild Card round averaged just +13% engagements per post, compared to +168% for the two World Series participants.

The Brewers led all teams at +196%, followed by the Rays at +140%.

That's a pretty compelling argument for increasing your prices as your team advances.

Not necessarily.

If you've followed my newsletter, you know I base sponsored content valuations on expected performance. More projected views or engagements generally mean a more valuable asset.

Want to learn my exact valuation framework? Sign up for my free 5-day email course, where I break down how I price digital sponsorship inventory.

But I wouldn't simply increase every regular-season rate by 51%.

Your best bet is to calculate your own Postseason bump, broken down by platform and ideally by content series.

Compare your team's Postseason results against its regular-season averages, then use those benchmarks to project performance and inform your pricing.

Refresh the numbers every year you qualify, since algorithms and audience behavior change.

If your team hasn't made the Postseason recently, Mondo's findings provide a useful starting point.

But knowing what your inventory is worth doesn't mean you'll actually sell it for that amount.

If you wait until your team clinches to start selling Postseason sponsorships, you've already put yourself at a disadvantage.

You might have just days to sell inventory that could disappear in less than a week.

With that little time, maximizing value becomes a luxury. You need to get deals done, giving brands significantly more negotiating leverage.

Most brands have also allocated their budgets by September. You might find unused activation dollars from existing partners, but securing incremental spending can be difficult.

Sometimes, you take what you can get.

And that's okay. Even $10,000 or $25,000 can help offset Postseason expenses like rally towels and T-shirt giveaways, which can cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But there's a better approach.

Start selling Postseason inventory no later than the All-Star break.

Even if your team has only a small chance of qualifying, there's little downside to starting conversations. If you don't make it, sponsors aren't obligated to activate those conditional packages.

Starting early gives brands more time to allocate budgets, your sales team more negotiating leverage, and your designers more time to build creative with partners in mind.

Better yet, build Postseason commitments into regular-season sponsorship agreements.

For example, a partner could commit to spending an additional $50,000 if your team qualifies. Depending on the partnership, that number could be significantly higher or lower.

And here's where I'll make an exception to one of my biggest sponsorship sales rules.

I typically recommend defining exactly what a partner is buying before signing a deal. But Postseason kickers are one of the few times I'm comfortable selling an undefined bank of assets, which could include digital content, in-venue signage, or other opportunities.

Why? Because some of the best Postseason opportunities won't become clear until later in the season.

You can secure the budget upfront and work with the partner to determine how to spend it as the Postseason approaches.

You can also negotiate additional commitments for each subsequent round, with pricing that reflects the increased performance potential.

That gives sponsors time to budget, teams more revenue certainty, and both sides the flexibility to develop customized activations worth investing in.

This approach offers several advantages:

Everyone benefits from planning ahead.

Sports may be unscripted, but many content opportunities repeat every season. Start developing your core Postseason inventory shortly after Opening Day, with the goal of finalizing it no later than the All-Star break.

Leave room for unexpected opportunities, and keep these three considerations in mind:

1. Give existing partners first dibs.

If a brand sponsors a regular-season series, offer it the opportunity to continue during the Postseason.

Just establish a commitment deadline so you're not holding premium inventory indefinitely. And double-check that the activation still makes sense in a Postseason setting.

2. Protect your revenue.

Let's say a brand sponsors Player of the Game content following wins.

What happens if you get swept?

If those are the only assets in the package, you risk generating no revenue. Bundle them with guaranteed deliverables, such as starting pitcher hype graphics, so the partnership still activates regardless of the results.

3. Get approvals early.

Player access, production timelines, and league restrictions can complicate even the best ideas.

Bring your creative, video, marketing, and leadership teams into the planning process early. The sooner you secure sponsors, the more time everyone has to execute properly.

Which brings me to one of my favorite Postseason activations.

During the White Sox's 2021 Postseason run, we wanted to try something different.

What if we mic'd up a player during an actual game?

We expected leadership to say no.

Instead, they approved it, provided the player wasn't expected to enter the game.

We selected a starting pitcher who wasn't scheduled to pitch that day and arranged additional compensation for his participation.

The concept also helped entice Valparaiso University to become a new Postseason partner. It aligned with their goal of reaching a younger audience.

But executing it required a quick turnaround. We needed to capture the footage, edit it, secure sponsor approval, and publish before the following day's game.

Everyone understood the assignment.

And sometimes, it pays to be lucky.

While our player was mic'd up, the White Sox came from behind to take the lead, giving us an incredible reaction to capture.

It became one of our top-performing sponsored posts of the Postseason.

But what made me proudest was the collaboration required to pull it off. Leadership approvals, player compensation, creative coordination, and a sponsor willing to turn around feedback in under an hour.

And the experience helped lay the groundwork for a partnership with Valparaiso the following season.

That's what can happen when you plan ahead.

The Postseason bump is real, but maximizing its commercial value requires planning well in advance.

NFL, NBA, and NHL teams: Now is the time to start preparing.

I've developed Postseason sponsorship programs and know what it takes to bring them to market. If you need help building inventory, valuing assets, or developing a sales strategy, book a call with me.