Nike has seen its net sponsorship value soar to a staggering £18.4m thanks to the third series of Apple TV’s Ted Lasso, only one month after its release.
The data – released by YouGov – indicated that Nike’s sponsorship growth was overwhelmingly driven by team clothing (player tracksuits and Ted Lasso’s jumper). These contributed £13.9m to the overall total for Nike, with an extra £2.7m coming from player clothing such as AFC Richmond’s kit.
YouGov analysis has found that the latest series is already the show’s most viewed, registering an audience of over 172 million since its release.
“Through gathering zero-party data shared with us by our panellists, YouGov Stream allows us to accurately predict audiences for titles on streaming platforms,” YouGov product lead, Dominic Prince, said.
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“For example, the finale of Ted Lasso has already been seen more than 14.5 million times across the US and UK alone, despite it being just 28 days since it’s release. This kind of data on streaming audiences unlocks new abilities in the arena of sponsorship and product placement valuation, which we’re well served here at YouGov to provide.”
The total sponsorship value across season three for Nike, AFC Richmond and Bantr (the fictional shirt sponsor) has risen to £47.3m, with £32.2m of this originating from team clothing.
YouGov Sport commercial director Joshua Marcus added: “To date, rights-holders and sponsor brands have been faced with something of a blind spot when valuing docuseries and other SVoD content.
“With the advent of YouGov Stream, we’re now able to integrate robust streaming audiences and ensure this value isn’t being left on the table. The data we’re releasing today shows the significant value this type of content provides and can supplement more traditional means of sponsorship activation.”
