Grown Up Thinking

With marketers continuing not to see the returns on high priced athlete endorsements and even more athletes caught amongst the scandals (Manny), marketers are asking what’s next. About a decade ago, Texas Hold-Em Poker emerged as the new hot sport (if a finger gesture and flick of the wrist can constitute a sport). ESPN and other networks jumped in on the action and marketers ante’d up.

So the new Poker? It might very well be Ping Pong, or some might say Table Tennis. Already the second largest participation sport in the world to only soccer, Ping Pong is gaining in popularity in the US and like Poker is spreading quickly on college campuses.

Now marketers are thinking it might be time to jump in. InBev’s Anheuser-Busch has signed on as the lead sponsor of the Bud Light Hard Bat Ping Pong Tournament, which started last month. Ping Pong offers AB the chance to own a new sport on the rise, associate itself with a fun, social activity and does so without the expense and headache that often accompanies the sponsorship of today’s major athletes.

Will Pong reign? If so, brands might want to start to get on board the Cornhole and Skeeball train soon.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 5:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.