The top 5 sports marketing ideas to know about right now

The clock is ticking down on the football season but it’s a new year in lots of other ways. The Paris Olympics are long gone but Los Angeles is getting closer. The NHL has a new take on its All-Star Game. The ATP Tour and IndyCar are revving up for new seasons, and ESPN is plugging … well, ESPN, while it readies a new digital endeavor coming later this year. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Click here 5. Hockey’s national pride Not all All-Star games have to be yawners. Stars hailing from the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland—hockey superpowers all—are sharpening their skates for the 4 Nations Face Off, a tournament where pro players represent their home countries, airing on ESPN beginning Feb. 12 (the usual NHL All-Star weekend will not be held this season). Arts & Letters’ “For Country. For Glory. Four Nations” captures the event’s high stakes, where NHL teammates become rivals and national pride inspires performance. The spot is directed by hockey fanatic Malik Vitthal of Cornershop, and is set to “Boys in the Better Land” by Fontaines D.C. NHL athletes appearing are Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk (representing team USA); William Nylander (Sweden); Aleksander Barkov and Mikko Rantanen (Finland); and Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sidney Crosby (Canada). 4. Moving On Canadian middle distance runners Kieran Lumb and Ben Flanagan exit the bright lights of the Paris Olympics only to begin training anew in an ad supporting their running gear supplier, On. “When One Dream Ends” from The Rec League captures the runners training in the Canadian wilderness and pondering what is next for them. The brand also recently released its latest spot featuring FKA twigs. 3. ESPN taps in ESPN’s evolution from a cable channel to a digital sports hub is captured in new creative from BSSP—the first step toward the Worldwide Leader’s direct-to-consumer offering, expected to launch later this year. “We’re moving from a world of tuning into ESPN to a world of tapping into ESPN,” Seth Ader, VP of brand marketing for ESPN, said in an interview. “It’s a more active experience. It’s more engaging, it’s a little more leaned-in.” While ESPN has near-universal brand awareness, 53% of consumers still view the entity as a TV network, said Sinan Dagli, executive creative director of BSSP. Raising ESPN’s digital profile frames the first phase of BSSP’s work. 2. ATP’s smash hit The propulsive percussion of a lengthy tennis volley provides a beat that builds in intensity and delivers a message that every serve, every hit and every point matters in men’s pro tennis. The new ATP Tour campaign from Wieden+Kennedy London is called “It All Adds Up” and features ATP stars like Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. It is meant to capture the energy of men’s tennis as a means of attracting casual and younger fans to the game, while also building excitement for longtime fans. It will live across social media, broadcast, and digital channels. 1. Indycar zooms to Fox Fox Sports, which won exclusive rights to broadcast IndyCar Series racing beginning this season, steps on the marketing gas behind a joyfully exaggerated biography of two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, “an action hero who wins even when he loses” possessing the best jawline in sports (Tom Brady is there to protest). The spot from Special Group plugs what it calls “the fastest racing on Earth” by focusing on the personalities behind the wheel—forthcoming spots are to profile drivers Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward. IndyCar, which competes with Formula 1 and Nascar, begins its new season March 2 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Fox. The circuit had been broadcast by NBC for almost 20 years. Read Ad Age’s 2025 predictions stories here

The top 5 sports marketing ideas to know about right now

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