#BetweenTheSheets: Week 8 Power Rankings
Money, money, money, money....Sponsorship's are keys to success
I love money! You love money! We all love money!! Right? Well sports teams also love money....but in a slightly different way than perhaps you and I do.
Travel, spiel entry fees, food, equipment....all of these things add up in the world of sports. Whether a small town hockey team to an amateur athlete with Olympic aspirations to a professional athlete playing in the biggest league in the world, the costs associated with being the best still add up regardless of your level of play.
Enter the world of Sponsorship!
This past week Team Homan announced a sponsorship deal penned with Lululemon. Smart move by the Canadian company founded and operated out of Vancouver partnering with the #1 women's team in the curling world. Not to mention the defending world champions and front runners for Canada's Olympic spot in PyeongChang. Of course this is also a win for Team Homan. As noted in their press release, they are already wearing the brand on a regular basis from training to competing to everyday home life, might as well make some money off of the clothing you already enjoy right?
But this is not the first time Team Homan has been able to make a large sponsorship announcement. Just take a look at their impressive sponsorship list, including nationally recognized companies like Pinty's, Boost, Goldline and AMJ Campbell. Oh and of course the Ottawa Senators. Yup a curling team has a sponsorship agreement with an NHL team folks. Did you know that? The sport sure has come a long way since the days of cigarette smoking in between ends!
Team Homan is not the only team sporting some impressive sponsorship dollars either. 2014 Olympic champ Brad Jacobs and his Northern Ontario squad also have the back of Pinty's and are poster children for the #DrinkThePink movement from BioSteel, again with a few famous NHL players and other professional athletes. Fellow 2014 Olympic champs Team Jennifer Jones have commercials from WFG Financial and are also sponsored by Princess Auto.
And local companies are just as involved in sponsoring curling teams as large national and international companies. Right here in Calgary, Team Nadine Scotland is sponsored by a local Audi dealership. Not too bad right? At least you know you have transportation covered! Team Gunnlaugson has a strong sponsorship agreement with McMunn and Yates Building Supplies. And who can forget #TeamOranje sponsorship for Team Laycock in Saskatchewan, partnering up with CORR Grain and SaskCanola. And what about individual athletes even receiving sponsorship deals? Look no further than #TwineTime fam member himself Chris Plys and his deal with Red Bull.
<Ed. Note: How could I forget to mention Chester Cheetah himself sponsoring Team USA now?! This was just announced this morning folks. Another cool sponsorship announcement with Cheetos sliding into the hack with USA Curling>
These types of sponsorship agreements can make or break a season for a team. If you are trying to move up the rankings, you need to travel and play the biggest events and the best teams in the world on a regular basis. As previously discussed on this blog this season, if you want to make the move to compete on the grand slam level you need to start winning on a regular basis during the tour season and work your way up. Entering spiels around Canada (not to mention around the world) is not cheap folks. How many of you can regularly afford a trip to Ontario a few times a year let alone a trip to Switzerland? Air travel is expensive! But so are other incidentals, like equipment, clothing and hospitality. Hence why many teams spend time in the off-season working on their team sponsorship package and doing their best to recruit new sponsors while continuing to retain current sponsors. It is not an easy process folks.
We all know the sport of curling does not pay great. You may win a tour event during the season but that victory may only pocket you a couple thousand dollars (if it is a medium tour size event). Some smaller events barely pay out $1,000 to the champions. Consider the cost of everything going into competing in an event, for a team of 4, and you could end up losing money with a tournament win!Sponsorship is what saves the financial backing of a season for a curling team. It helps create a bit more peace of mind in knowing you not only have financial support but also there is a sense of confidence in hearing a company actually believes in you. Yes YOU Mr. or Mrs. Curler in the world. My company believes you are going to do great things this season and we want to show our support by throwing some money at you to help you out. How awesome of a feeling would that be?
Now let us not kid ourselves here, there are many benefits for the sponsor too. The building of brand awareness, increased product or service sales, market your organization to a new and expanding target audience, drive interest to your own company website and/or stores and potential increase of TV and social media appearances are all great reasons for a company to stand beside a contending curling team. In the end, everyone wins!
Well hopefully you Mr. and Mrs. Curling also win on the ice because no sponsor is going to stick around with a sinking ship either. Sponsorship can bring great excitement, encouragement and dollars but also comes with great responsibility. Be careful how you act on and off the ice as you are now a brand representative. Win some games, take home a few titles and get on TV at a slam so the sponsor sees increase value for dollar or they may consider pulling their sponsorship of you for a rival team. It is still a business after all and you cannot fault a company for wanting to see results. Sure most do not pull if you have a bad season but do you want to run the risk?
In the end, sponsorship really has allowed the sport of curling to grow from the amateur ranks into the professional sport conversation. TSN and Sportsnet as broadcast sponsors helps #growthesport. Large sponsors like Pinty's, Scotties and Tim Hortons have brought name brand recognition to the sport and elevated curling into a next level of sport designation.
Lets continue to see more local sponsors support local teams too. Do you work for a small business? Perhaps head out to your curling rink and sponsor an up and coming junior team or team on tour trying to make their move up the rankings. Sure it is great to see the top teams in the world sport your companies logo but there are many highly skilled teams in your own backyard who could also use the sponsorship support to elevate their game to the next level...and your company could be that springboard! Sponsorship can help #growthesport but also help encourage the dreams of young athletes.
Now, while you consider how to get your company to sponsor a local curling team, lets take some time to take a look back at all the action on the ice this past weekend and see which teams are trending up as #IceWarmers and which are falling down with a #BambiBumble:
#IceWarmers
2. Rui Liu - Speaking of momentum and #PyeongChang2018 build up, China's Rui Liu is quietly rolling through #wct events this fall, picking up another title this past weekend in Gatineau. Remember Liu does not have his Olympic ticket punched yet and will need to qualify China for the games at the last-chance event in December in the Czech Republic. But consider them a STRONG favourite right now. With Liu's victory this weekend, the team has now won their past two events and sport a 13 game winning streak! Overall the team has qualified in 5 of 6 events this season and have two titles to their name. It really is unfortunate this team is not playing in the slam this week, it would be interesting to see how they do given the roll they are on.
3. Niklas Edin - Welcome back to the ice #SwedishVikings! After taking just over 3 weeks off to train, heal and enjoy some time back home, Edin and company returned to the ice last weekend in Champery, Switzerland and defended their title from a season ago. The boys lost their opening game to Scotland's Tom Brewster but then reeled off 7 straight wins to claim the title, defeating Scotland's Greg Drummond in the championship final. This is title #2 for Edin on the season and provides some great momentum heading into the second slam of the season, where they are the defending champions.
4. #TwineTime Fam Mention: Matthew Blandford - We are going to add a special #4 spot to the #IceWarmers section in the #PowerRankings to discuss the success of a #TwineTime family member on tour each week. This week we give props to Matthew Blandford. Blandford returned to the ice this season to throw fourth stones for Team Jamie King, curling out of Edmonton, AB. This past weekend in Medicine Hat, Blandford and his boys reached the championship final coming up short against defending AB champ Brendan Bottcher (and past Blandford teammate Darren Moulding). This was only the third event of the season for the team and props on a championship finals run. Overall the team sports an 11-6 record on the season and seem to be coming together as a new team quite well. Best of luck the rest of the way Matty....and Go Steelers! LOL (Matty is a HUGE Patriots fan btw)
#BambiBumble
2. Michelle Englot - This is probably going to seem like nitpicking on Team Englot right now but aren't we just a tad bit surprised and disappointed with the results the past few weeks for the defending national runner-ups? Englot started the season with QF appearances at the Spider Performance and Tour Challenge events and then picked up their first W of the year at the Mother Club Fall Classic....but then what happened? An 11-5 record to start has turned into a dismal 4-6 record in their past two events, failing to qualify both times. This past weekend Englot started with 3 straight W's only to quickly bow out in Portage with 3 straight L's and find themselves eliminated. Sure losses to Hasselborg, Jones and Christensen are not bad losses by any stretch of the imagination but it is more concerning with the up and down performance the past few weeks. Every team hits these minor slip ups in a season so it is not time for huge concern....but we are watching more closely to see how they perform aren't we?! Lets see how they do at The Masters this week.
3. Kyle Smith - Something is rotten in the state of.....Scotland? The Scottish Olympic team is struggling right now. This past weekend in Gatineau the boys struggled to a quick elimination and 1-3 record, including losses to sub-50 ranking Jordan Chandler and sub-150 ranking Steve Allen. To no disrespect to either of those teams and congrats on the nice W's but Smith is off to the Olympics in a few months and currently is sitting as the #10 team in the world. The results perhaps wouldn't stand out as much had they not become almost a regular result on the season of the young Scottish team. Overall the boys sport a sub-.500 record on the season at 12-16 and have failed to qualify in their past two events and 3 of 5 for the year. You have to wonder what the #TeamGB Olympic committee is thinking right now considering rival teams like Bruce Mouat, Greg Drummond and Tom Brewster are putting together pretty solid seasons themselves. Team Smith need to get back to winning soon and rediscover the rhythm and momentum of last year....quick!
Here are the UPDATED Week 8 #PowerRankings:
MEN
1. Team Gushue (LW: 1) - Quiet off week to prepare for the second #gsoc event, and first major, of the season. Can they continue their winning ways and start the talk of a calendar slam?
2. Team Jacobs (2) - Again, another off week for the team to prepare for The Masters. We have only seen this team 3 times this season but they put up strong results in all 3 events. Will they continue?
3. Team Edin (5) - The #SwedishVikings slowly slid down the rankings due to inactivity but then step on the ice and climb right back up following the W in Switzerland. Momentum on their side now to defend their Masters title?
4. Team Liu (NR) - We simply cannot deny the boys from China a spot among the Top 5 after pulling out back-to-back spiel wins. Be careful folks, this is a very strong team and they are rolling right now!
5. Team McEwen (3) - Another team we have only seen 3 times this season, the boys took time off following a SF appearance in Portage to prepare for their first slam of the season. Always a threat, lets see how they perform in Lloydminster this week.
Hon. Mention: Team Ulsrud, Team Drummond, Team Carruthers, Team Gunnlaugson, Team De Cruz
WOMEN
1. Team Hasselborg (LW: 1) - The Swedish Olympic team finally returns to the ice after taking some time off and make another deep playoff run, this time reaching the final in Portage. After qualifying A-side and knocking off Carey (QF) and Einarson (SF) the team fell prey to a very similar storyline....a loss in the big game when it matters most. We cannot fault the team for consistent results, they do sport a 30-8 record on the year after all, but these continued tough losses in championship finals is becoming more and more of a concern for Swedish curling fans.
2. Team Homan (2) - Hasselborg reached another final and Homan took the week off so status quo for now with the Top 2 in the rankings. However, we have a slam this week so lets see if Homan can rebound from a disappointing 1-3 Tour Challenge record and push Hasselborg for the #1 spot next week.
3. Team Roth (NR) - A huge championship W in Portage reaps rewards with the #PowerRankings...welcome to the Top 3 Nina Roth and team! As mentioned above, this team is rolling along right now. We only wish they were playing in Lloyd this weekend right?!
4. Team Tirinzoni (3) - We can forgive Team Tirinzoni for the disappointing result in Portage and not qualifying, coming off a HUGE Switzerland Olympic Trials W and punching their ticket to Korea. But time to regain focus heading into a grand slam event this week.
5. Team Einarson (NR) - Apologies Team Einarson for taking so long to get you into these rankings...you deserve the coveted #5 spot! Another playoff run this weekend in Portage (SF) helped the team get back on track after a disappointing Autumn Classic in Calgary. Remember this team won their opening two events of the season, including the Tour Challenge Tier II, and reached another final the following event. They have played their way back into a #gsoc field this week and should be a dangerous team to keep an eye on as they own an impressive 26-9 record this season.
Hon. Mention: Team Wang, Team Jones, Team Muirhead, Team Rocque, Team Chisholm
With the second #gsoc event of the season hitting the ice this week, we can fully expect to see some movement in the #PowerRankings next week. Can Gushue and Hasselborg hold off hard charging teams behind them? Will Homan continue to rise and dominate? Can Edin defend his title? We will find the answers to all these questions, and more, when The Masters begins play.
#StayTuned for a full Masters preview sliding from my hack to yours VERY soon! Seriously these Monday finals and #gsoc Tuesday starts sure makes it hard on a blogger you know?!
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