Player appearances can be immensely powerful as part of a sponsorship. And it seems simple enough - put a huge star on stage, in front of a room of people you are trying to impress, or in a marquee as part of an activation, and you’ll engage your audience and there will probably be lots of digital to help spread it all.

However, not everyone can afford the superstars and, even if you can, it isn’t always the best play when it comes to appearances. Like all sponsorship assets, it depends so much on what you are wanting to achieve.

Add to that that so many sponsorship deals get ‘topped up’ with player appearances, as a bit of an add-on and a feel-good gesture, and a lot of brands, and rights holders for that matter, can miss out on the huge benefits available through appearances.

This is an especially important point when you consider that many athletes are on the lookout for more paid opportunities and the chance to broaden their experiences and engage with the community.

One man who knows the space well is James Begley. Not only is James the Founder, and CEO, of Pickstar, the most trusted platform for facilitating paid engagements, large and small, but he’s also been on the other side, as an athlete, when he played 61 games of Australian Rules Football with St. Kilda and Adelaide. He was one of those athletes on the lookout for more paid opportunities and the chance to broaden his own experiences and engage with his community.

James joins us in this episode to discuss how rights holders and brands can maximise the use of appearances in their sponsorships.

You can connect with James on LinkedIn and find out more about Pickstar on the website.

Along with James, also joining us on the show is KORE’s Head of International Business, Mark Thompson, who discusses his latest blog which looks at The Changing Face of Broadcast and What This Means For Broadcast Partnerships.

Enjoy.

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