TL;DR
- What this guide covers: How to fix broken sponsorship sales with packaging that actually sells.
- Why it matters: Buyers expect outcomes, not logos, so your deck needs to deliver or you’re out.
- What you’ll identify: What’s slowing your sales and what today’s buyers actually want to see.
- What’s included: A fast, tactical playbook to build pitch packages that cut through and close.
- Who it’s for: Sponsorship pros ready to stop chasing and start closing smarter, faster.
Sponsorship is no longer the sidekick to media. It’s the main event. With the global market expected to grow at an average rate of 5.5% per year through 2029, the dollars are there. It’s now the fastest-growing marketing channel, outpacing traditional advertising. Sponsorship is growing at a rate of around 4% annually, while global ad spend is increasing at just 3%.
But here’s the reality check: more budget doesn’t mean more deals. It means more scrutiny.
This used to be a seller’s market. You’d set the terms, pitch the logo placements, and that was enough. Not anymore. Brands are walking in with a plan, data in hand, and eyes on business outcomes. Exposure alone won’t cut it. They want ROI, engagement, leads, content, and proof.
If your pitch still reads like a menu of assets, you’re already playing catch-up. The sellers who win now? They build deals around brand objectives. They speak in outcomes. And they don’t just pitch. They advise.
That’s the shift. Strategy over sizzle. Outcomes over impressions. And it’s where the smart sellers are pulling away from the pack.
The State of Sponsorship Sales in 2025: Why So Many Sellers Are Stuck
Yes, brands are still spending, but they’re demanding more. Marketers want clear, measurable value that drives business outcomes and holds up in front of a CMO. If the impact isn’t obvious, the deal doesn’t move.
At the same time, categories like gambling, alcohol, and crypto are slowing. Regulation is increasing, public sentiment is shifting, and the deal pool is shrinking. More sellers are chasing fewer opportunities, driving up competition and cutting into margins.
If your strategy still looks like it did in 2022, you’re behind. Buyers have changed. They expect outcome-first partnerships, not just asset lists. Sellers who haven’t kept up are seeing the fallout: stalled deals, lost renewals, and frozen revenue.
To stay competitive, sellers need sharper positioning, smarter packaging, and a sales approach built for today’s decision-makers.
1. Competition is up, deal values are down
With changes like the Premier League’s ban on gambling sponsors, premium deals are becoming harder to come by. The market favors buyers, with fewer high-value opportunities and more players going after them.
2. Buyers are drowning in generic pitches
Brands receive over 100 sponsorship sales emails a week on average. Anything that doesn’t speak directly to their goals and audience is dismissed immediately. Relevance is the new baseline.
3. “Show me the ROI” is the new standard
Sponsors want measurable business impact. To stay competitive, sellers must bring data-backed proposals and outcome-focused narratives.
4. Brands are consolidating
Fewer partnerships, higher expectations. Brands are focused on strategic alignment and deeper engagement.
5. Old pricing models are out
Valuations based on impressions or rights fees are getting replaced. Performance-based pricing and shared success metrics are what brands are asking for. Sellers need to reframe how they define and sell value.
6. Fragmented media makes reach harder to scale
As digital channels diversify and audiences spread out, broad reach is more difficult to achieve. Sellers must build focused, digital-native activations that hit specific targets, especially younger, digital-first consumers.
7. Missteps stand out
Spray-and-pray outreach, recycled packages, and generic offers damage trust. Winning teams are precise with targeting, strategic in timing, and focused on building long-term relationships, not just deals.
The Sponsorship Sales Playbook: How to Package Winning Deals
As you’ve heard (over and over again), inboxes are flooded and attention is scarce, so excellent packaging is your most powerful sales tool. Your deck is your first impression. In a crowded inbox, excellent packaging wins attention… And meetings.
The most effective sellers lead with outcomes, clearly demonstrate value, and design every proposal to initiate a genuine conversation.
Here’s how to build a deck that’s:
- Deeply researched and personalized
- Anchored by clear and measurable outcomes
- Fueled by compelling value props
- Built around sponsor priorities
- Tied to actual KPIs and marketing objectives
- Backed by real audience data and business impact
- Designed to drive dialogue, not just look good
Let’s break down how to bring each of these elements to life in your next pitch.
1. Start with research, land with relevance
Forget generic. Use real insights from a brand’s mission, roadmap, audience, and past deals. Let those insights drive your structure and messaging. High-performing sellers are using tools like Winmo, LinkedIn, and social listening to understand brand priorities and internal politics before even drafting a pitch.
2. Define what success looks like, then prove it
Every slide should speak to measurable value. Show audience reach, engagement, conversions, and business lift. Don’t talk about “brand awareness.” Link every benefit to outcomes that matter.
Add trust-building evidence, such as case studies or past performance metrics. Catapult’s clients regularly use performance snapshots to reinforce proposals, because when sponsors see proof, they see potential. Most importantly, tie everything back to the brand’s KPIs (sales lift, brand affinity, trial conversions, etc.), so your proposal can move up the chain with confidence.
3. Lead with what makes you different
If you’re selling generic assets, you’re not standing out. Build around unique reach, audience fit, content potential, or cultural edge. Use mockups, branded visuals, and immersive content. Challenger brands and growth categories want to stand out, so show them how your platform makes that happen.
4. Package with flexibility
Gold-Silver-Bronze models don’t cut it anymore. Use modular packaging, flexible, goal-based components that sponsors can mix and match to align with brand priorities like content, data, and engagement. Each module should solve a business problem, not just list an asset.
Leave room for tailored builds. This kind of flexibility speeds up decision-making and extends deal longevity. It also signals maturity. When your offer mirrors a sponsor’s internal buying process, you’re already one step closer to a yes.
5. Map every asset to business goals
Each brand is solving a different problem. Align every slide to their strategy (lead gen, community engagement, brand affinity) and position each asset as a solution, not a feature.
Swap “social posts” for “audience reach that drives trial.” Use action verbs like amplify, convert, and accelerate. Build a “proof loop” with numbers and examples that reinforce every claim.
6. Design for clarity over flash
Your deck should guide a decision, not just look pretty. Keep it skimmable, clean, and to the point. Every slide should answer “So what?” Use smart layouts, clear CTAs, and placeholders for brand customization.
7. Treat your deck like a living asset
Once you’ve built it, keep refining. Your sales deck is a core part of your engine. At Catapult, we treat packaging as an evolving strategy:
- Update quarterly with learnings from wins and losses
- Track open rates, slide views, and CTA clicks
- Use modular content for faster turnaround
- Build vertical-specific themes
- Log performance to shape future pitches
Reinvention is Relevance
The era of generic, inventory-led sponsorship sales is over. Brands expect partnership and, if your approach hasn’t evolved to meet that expectation, your deals won’t either. The most successful sellers reframe these challenges as opportunities to move faster, package smarter, and sell with the precision today’s buyers demand. But only if you treat packaging as a strategy.
Need a better process for closing more sponsorship deals? Catapult is your outsourced business development partner, built to put sponsorship sales on autopilot. We bring the strategy, structure, and execution that move deals forward.
Book a meeting with one of our sales leaders and see how we help teams like yours package smarter, pitch sharper, and close faster.
