Why QR Code Sweepstakes Keep Underperforming

👋 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:

• 📊 Why QR code sweeps underperform

• 📱 Liverpool turns No. 11 into Pixel 11

• 🏎️ Mercedes finds unexpected inventory for Snapdragon

🏊️ DEEP DIVE
The 6x Sponsorship Activation Advantage

This week’s newsletter is presented by SQWAD.

Pretty much every sports organization runs sweepstakes.

Scan the QR code. Enter your information. Maybe win something.

And then everyone moves on.

But if you're using these activations to generate leads for a sponsor, build your own CRM, or drive actual sales, there are a lot more decisions involved than putting a form behind a QR code.

• How long should the QR code stay on screen?

• How big should it be?

• How many fields should you ask fans to complete?

• What's a good opt-in rate?

Those are questions I've rarely seen actual benchmarks for.

Until now.

SQWAD analyzed 154 interactive sponsorship activations across 48 college properties and six varsity sports during the 2025–26 season.

And there are some incredibly useful numbers in the data.

One that immediately jumped out to me:

When SQWAD compared interactive, game-based activations against traditional sweepstakes at the same properties, the interactive versions generated 3.8x more participation and 6x more opt-ins.

That's a massive difference.

So I went through the report and pulled out the benchmarks I'd want in my back pocket if I were building one of these activations tomorrow.

And I added a few things I'd do based on my own experience.

Quick disclosure: I've been a SQWAD customer and fan long before they sponsored this newsletter. I first worked with them at the White Sox in 2021, where one of our activations generated 100K+ entries and delivered 100K+ offers. I've recommended them everywhere I've worked since.

1. Get the Scan

Let's start with the first hurdle.

Getting someone to actually participate.

Across SQWAD's activations, the average stadium participation rate was 14%.

That benchmark alone is useful.

If you're activating in front of 20K fans, a 14% participation rate would translate to 2.8K people engaging with the experience.

So if I'm a brand buying an interactive activation from a team, one of my first questions would be:

What's your typical participation rate?

And if I'm the rights holder, I want to start tracking that number across every activation.

Because "we'll put it on the videoboard" doesn't tell a sponsor very much.

"We typically convert X% of attendance into participants" does.

But here's where the report gets even more useful.

SQWAD found that properties driving strong participation consistently displayed the QR code for at least 45 seconds and made it at least one-fifth of the total display. Below either threshold, scan rates dropped significantly.

Think about how many times you've seen the opposite.

A QR code pops onto the videoboard. You realize you might be interested, reach for your phone, unlock it, open the camera, and... it's gone.

45 seconds should become part of the activation brief. So should the one-fifth rule.

• Your partnership team should know it.

• Your game presentation team should know it.

• Your designers should know it.

And I'd go a little further.

If it were me, I wouldn't automatically limit the QR code to the main videoboard.

Could it also appear on ribbon boards or other digital signage closer to the fan?

Could you run the activation more than once if the sponsorship package allows it?

I'd also be careful with pregame inventory.

Unless participation needs to happen before the game or first quarter, I'd rather hit fans once they're actually in their seats and paying attention.

The activation can be great. The prize can be great.

None of that matters if people never see the opportunity long enough to participate.

EXAMPLE: How Miami University Drove 40% Participation for 5 Sponsors

2. Don’t Get Greedy

Once someone scans or clicks, SQWAD found that 93% go on to play.

Ninety-three percent!

That puts even more emphasis on everything we just discussed.

Get the scan, and you've already cleared a huge hurdle.

But there's still a potential conversion killer sitting between the fan and the experience:

The form.

SQWAD identified two major factors here: prize value and form length.

The longer the form, the more valuable the prize needs to be.

As the report puts it, few fans are going to complete a 10-field form for a 10% off coupon.

This is where I'd tell teams and brands:

Don't get greedy with the data. Before building the form, separate every field into buckets:

• Must have: What information do we actually need to accomplish the objective?

• Nice to have: What would be useful, but isn't worth sacrificing conversion?

Then talk to your CRM or business analytics team.

Based on past performance, if you get someone's email address today, what information has been easiest to learn or collect later?

Maybe you don't need eight pieces of information right now. Maybe you need three.

I'd also track how many participants are net-new records.

If 5,000 people enter an activation but 4,500 were already sitting in your CRM, that's a very different lead-generation story than adding 5,000 new reachable fans.

Participation tells you how many people played. Net-new records tell you how much your database actually grew.

3. Get Permission

This might be my favorite number in the entire report.

Across these activations, the average promotional opt-in rate was 58%.

More than half of participating fans were willing to hear from the sponsoring brand again.

That's incredibly encouraging if you're trying to build sponsorship inventory further down the marketing funnel.

Because generating an immediate sale isn't always realistic. Generating a qualified lead that a brand can continue marketing to absolutely can be.

And that's why opt-in rate should be one of the first KPIs discussed when a sponsor's objective is lead generation.

But simply putting a checkbox on the form isn't enough.

SQWAD found that activations that felt like a natural extension of the sponsoring brand consistently outperformed activations that felt transactional.

That makes sense.

Fans shouldn't feel like the entertainment ended and the data collection began. The brand should make the experience better.

The more natural the relationship between brand + mechanic + reward, the better chance you have of earning permission to continue the conversation.

That's ultimately what the opt-in is. Permission. And for the right partner, that may be much more valuable than another logo impression.

4. Make the Offer Worth Opening

Getting permission isn't the finish line. Now you have to do something with it.

For activations that included an offer or coupon, SQWAD found an 81% average email open rate.

This is particularly relevant for categories like QSR, where an activation can create a pretty direct path:

1. Play

2. Opt in

3. Receive offer

4. Visit location

There are two sides to getting that email opened.

First, deliverability.

SQWAD specifically calls out subject lines, preview text, and even image size as factors that can affect whether the email lands in someone's inbox or spam folder.

Then there's the actual offer.

It needs to be desirable. That doesn't necessarily mean expensive!

As SQWAD points out, a free donut the next morning can be as desirable as a $100 gift card with the right activation. Especially on a college campus.

The objective isn't to give away the most expensive thing possible. It's to understand what your audience actually wants enough to act on.

EXAMPLE: How ETSU Got an 87% Open Rate on Sponsor Offers

5. Build an Effective Distribution Plan

This final section isn't from SQWAD's report.

It's something I'd add based on what I've seen throughout my career.

Most interactive activations are under-promoted.

A team builds the experience, creates the landing page, gets the prize, builds the form, then the promotional plan consists of a videoboard placement and a couple of organic social posts.

That's leaving a lot on the table.

Especially because organic social usually isn't the channel I'd want carrying a lead-gen or sales KPI.

It can support the campaign, like this example I shared in the newsletter last month. But most social channels are trying to keep people on-platform, while your activation needs them to click somewhere else and complete an action.

If lead generation matters, I'd build an actual distribution plan around the experience.

Paid social

This would be at the top of my list if budget allows.

You can optimize directly toward the behaviors you care about and target the fans most likely to participate.

Email

You already have direct access to an audience that's raised its hand to hear from you. Give them a compelling reason to participate and send them directly to the experience.

App

Use push notifications.

And if you have the inventory, consider a takeover or first-display unit when someone opens the app.

Website

Same principle.

Don't bury the activation three clicks deep.

Consider homepage inventory, first-display units, and even browser notifications if you use them.

Broadcast

If rights and inventory allow, put the QR code on screen during a relevant moment.

Radio

A QR code obviously isn't helping you here.

But a short, memorable vanity URL can.

SMS

They're already on their phones.

Send fans directly into the experience.

Earned media

Giving away something genuinely interesting?

Your comms team may be able to turn the prize itself into a story and expand the reach beyond your owned channels.

Athletes + creators

If you have additional budget, give athletes or creators a reason to promote the experience.

You can even build custom links that drive directly into the activation or an SMS flow.

EXAMPLE: Minnesota Vikings x Karlie Place x Winter Whiteout (see Sponsored Content of the Week.

And one newer opportunity I'd add:

YouTube on TV.

More people are consuming YouTube on television screens, which gives you another environment where a QR code can bridge a lean-back viewing experience with an action on someone's phone. Doesn’t hurt to put a link in the description too.

The larger point is that the activation shouldn't dictate the distribution plan. The KPI should.

If you're trying to generate leads, build your media plan around channels that are actually good at generating leads.

The Takeaway

Interactive activations can do a lot more than collect a few email addresses.

Done well, they can help a sponsor move beyond awareness and create something much more measurable.

If I were building an interactive sponsorship activation tomorrow, I'd want benchmarks for all of it at the ready.

You can download the free College Sponsorship Activation Benchmark Report here.

🔍️ SPONCONSPIRATION
Steal These Ideas

Liverpool used a real-life storyline to help Google promote the launch of the Pixel 11. A prank video featuring Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, and Ryan Gravenberch tricked fans into thinking a new player had taken Mo Salah’s iconic No. 11 shirt following his departure. The “new 11” was the Google Pixel 11. Great use of a storyline fans already cared about to make the product part of the joke.

PUMA Football challenged Wolves’ Mateus Mané to run as fast as “admin says” while wearing ULTRA NITRO™ boots, tracking his speed as he sprinted past the goal. Clever concept that directly associates the product with speed and athleticism.

The APP Tour is nailing it with a punny sponsored series names for Chex Mix, Mix It Up, tying to great rallies and Mixed Pro Doubles highlights. Mix It Up was also one of my favorite series names from years ago when the Cleveland Browns used it for a Vitamix-sponsored player mailbag. Speaking of Q&A’s, the LA Galaxy launched Tails of the Galaxy with Purina. There’s plenty of territory here. Tail of the Tape, for example, could make a great game-preview series.

Planet of Gymnastics has a fun series called Stick It or Spill It, presented by US Glove. Gymnasts have to stick a dismount or spill a secret they’ve never told their parents. It’s sport-specific, creates stakes to keep watching, and ties back to the benefit of US Glove’s chalk: better grip.

Fanatics teamed up with the NFL to surprise rookies with video messages and advice from league legends. Each rookie then received a signed jersey from their respective legend, naturally connecting the content to Fanatics’ collectibles business.

I’ve bundled every post from this section into one Gondola playlist so you don’t have to open them one by one. Click here to see them all.

🚨 ICYMI
Industry News & Insights

Snap Into Frame: Sarah Beakey’s Hungarian Grand Prix sponsor debrief included a really clever example of how Mercedes is generating earned social value for Snapdragon during driver interviews [via Sunday’s Sponsors].

Priceless Partnerships: Verity Edgell joined Sean Callanan on the Sports Geek Podcast to discuss how Mastercard approaches sponsorship strategy, from selecting and activating major partnerships to turning fan passion into measurable business results.

Revving Up Revenue: Shergul Arshad joined Andy Marston on the Sports Pundit Podcast to discuss Aston Martin F1’s growth in North America, including his approach to sponsorship sales, partner collaboration, and building deeper fan relationships through their I/AM loyalty program.

Fandom Flipped: Neve Clark explored why Gen Z is showing up for everything except the sports, and how athletes, creators, and cultural experiences are reshaping what fandom looks like for the next generation [via The Deal Zone].

Coke’s Data Haul: Madeleine Speed and Gregory Meyer explored how Coca-Cola and Unilever’s World Cup marketing blitz paid off, including Coke collecting more than 25 million consumer data records through QR codes on its packaging [via The Financial Times].