BJ’s Wholesale Club has partnered with the New York Yankees for 2018, the first partnership with the team in the retailer’s history. The sponsorship will give BJ’s shoppers a chance to win game tickets, exclusive Yankees experiences and memorabilia.
BJ’s will work with the Yankees to build the retailer’s brand awareness and drive sales in the New York tri-state area and other regions. The retailer carries a variety of goods that are marketable to baseball fans, including peanuts, popcorn, sunscreen and sunglasses.
Sports team partnerships can be lucrative for retailers. In 2014, Yankees merchandise increased seasonal sales by 37% and customer orders by 48% for a sporting goods retailer that had a sponsorship deal with former Yankee Derek Jeter.
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Companies spent $62.8 billion on global sports sponsorships in 2017, but research on the benefits is limited, according to The Conversation. In 2014, McKinsey & Co. found that 33% to 50% of U.S. companies don’t have a system in place to measure sponsorship ROI comprehensively. Those executives who do implement a way to gauge sponsorships can increase company returns by as much as 30%.
