Glasgow Warriors rugby club to chart value of social media in sponsorship deals

Pro14 rugby club Glasgow Warriors has linked up with computer vision firm GumGum Sports to measure the sponsorship value of its partners across traditional broadcast and social media.

The partnership will allow Glasgow Warriors to track the value of the sponsorships it offers and chart the digital impact of its assets across a 12-month period – during which will involve both the Guinness Pro14 and Heineken Champions Cup.

GumGum Sports will track all impressions across broadcasted games and social media platforms over the next 12 months and will determine a media value based on equivalent costs for advertising.

The valuation will account for exposure generated by all content creators – including traditional broadcast and social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

The analysis will look to identify traditional on-screen sponsorship assets and to qualify the impressions using a proprietary Media Value Percentage (MVP) methodology.

That percentage will then be compared to what it would have cost to buy an equivalent amount of reach or engagement per the media type.

“It’s more important than ever for rights holders to take into account the value of their sponsorships beyond just traditional broadcast," said Sam Grimley, commercial director, GumGum Sports.

"The way in which fans consume Rugby is rapidly changing, meaning the way in which clubs measure and monetise their sponsorship offering requires a new approach."

According to Nathan Bombrys, managing director of Glasgow Warriors, the move is part of a strategy to cater for a changing media landscape.

“The last few seasons have seen significant growth for Glasgow Warriors in terms of supporters, partners and followers," Bombrys said.

"The biggest shift has been the massive growth of our club-owned channels, particularly social media, where our own club channels have become excellent platforms to reach our supporters with the latest club news, information and entertainment.

“We are always looking to innovate and we believe this exciting partnership with GumGum Sports will help us to better understand how to deliver even more value to our commercial partners through their association with Glasgow Warriors.

“We believe the insights provided by GumGum Sports will put us in an even better position to meet the business objectives of our sponsors and partners, and therefore help us to continue to grow our club.”