Mastercard's Athlete Endorsement Strategy

For nearly a century, owners of U.S. professional sports teams have lobbied respective governmental bodies for public subsidies to build stadiums and arenas across the country, using franchise relocation as leverage. Myriad justifications have been used as a defense for the public subsidization of this private enterprise, ranging from the economic impact of capital intensive projects to the psychic regional benefit of being a host city to a professional sports franchise. But do these justifications hold up under increased scrutiny? In this case, students are placed in the position of the Mayor of Oakland as she is faced with a dilemma regarding publicly subsidizing a new Raiders stadium. Students will examine the issue through the lens of multiple key stakeholders, and will ultimately have to decide whether the city should utilize public funds to keep the Davis family happy and the Raiders in Oakland, or withhold funding for public good and risk the franchise relocating elsewhere.

After closing an exclusive sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association, and their affiliated brands, Coinbase is keen to leverage this new opportunity to grow their base of customer and further legitimize cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Coinbase faces competition from other digital assets trading platforms that have also pursued sports sponsorship opportunities. Coinbase is looking to build their business by attracting new users but are particularly interested in those that are apt to be active crypto traders. The case challenges students to craft a creative marketing plan and tactics that leverages consumer data insights. Additionally, the case provides students with an opportunity to learn about cryptocurrencies. Written in collaboration with Mastercard's VP and Head of Sponsorships for North America Michael Goldstein, this case examines Mastercard's overarching sponsorship strategy, summarizes notable athlete endorsement theory and models for endorser selection, and ultimately tasks students with the assignment of working through a hypothetical, but applied, endorser selection process featuring eight (8) prominent soccer athletes and their adjoining E-Poll endorser scores.

With exclusive insights from former XFL Presidents Jeffrey Pollack and Basil DeVito, this case examines the decision to relaunch the XFL in 2020 through the eyes of Vince McMahon, the league’s owner and this case’s protagonist. Students will be taken through a historical analysis of the XFL, starting with the League’s first attempt in 2001. The case then picks up in 2018 with McMahon’s decision to relaunch the XFL. It assesses the XFL’s entire relaunch strategy, from marketing plans to football operations and innovations, allowing students to compare and contrast the approaches of the XFL's two iterations, and think holistically about new property creation. Whilst the pandemic ultimately put an end to the second iteration of the XFL, the case culminates in detailing some of the impressive successes the league achieved in 2020, asking students to critically debate whether it was the right decision for McMahon to relaunch the XFL.

After discerning key marketing insights from Dr. Tyler and Dr. Cobbs' Know Rivalry research lab, and with consideration of MLS’s unique ability to deliver brand awareness at a league and club levels through the ownership model, students will identify several local markets that present strong fan interest in rivalries and could pay off greatly for a smart new sponsor. With the Heineken Rivalry Week program currently in use as a benchmark, students will apply the case theory to prospect a new food-at-home sponsorship category. The case provides an engaging and differentiated narrative to team students ways in which they can apply MLS rivalry research in a responsible way, to sustain the best parts of fans’ passions while leveraging a new partner to promote the narratives of MLS rivalries.