The Sports Advisors is a biweekly roundtable discussion for decision-makers, hosted by their peers, on the stories that actually matter and their second-order effects. It is actionable intelligence from senior operators who have actually built, bought, sold, programmed, monetized, and scaled sports businesses.

In the latest episode, The Sports Advisors discuss premium sponsorship inventory.

Monster Energy recently became the entitlement partner for Big 12 regular season football and men’s and women’s basketball, a deal that includes a co-branded patch on all team uniforms, fields/courts, and digital and social channels. Within 24 hours, the University of Kansas announced a five-year jersey patch deal with Ripple/XRP across all KU athletics uniforms. We explore whether the Big 12 and KU properly priced their new sponsorship inventory, why the value of a partnership extends beyond the rights fee, what the deals signal for the broader college market, and how technology could transform premium assets into personalized, dynamic opportunities.

The cast for the sixth episode in a row includes:

As always, you can connect with a member of the JohnWallStreet Advisory team by sending a note to [email protected]. In fact, we encourage it!

Key insights and takeaways from the 50-minute conversation:

Look Beyond the Rights Fee

The Big 12 will receive more than $20 million annually from Monster. But the value of the partnership extends well beyond the rights fee. The CPG brand gives the conference a powerful national retail and marketing platform.

“This [is a] huge win for the Big 12 because they’re going to now be at point of purchase all over retail, in grocery [and convenience stores across the country]. They're getting [an] integrated logo and that 18-to-34 persona of Monster. [The relationship is going to be] their biggest marketing engine,” Brody said. “Put aside the fees, $20 million, $200 million, [it doesn’t matter]. Any great idea or concept or partnership is won or lost on how hard, aggressively, and deeply [the brand] activates. And if Monster's going to activate the way they can and should, the Big 12 is going to be getting exponentially more growth from the marketing of this partnership than they will from the real estate on the chest of student athletes. That is a game changer for [reaching an] 18-to-34 demo you're marketing the Big 12 [and its schools to] and every sports leader is trying to get to.”

Target the Right Consumers in the Right Markets

For Monster, this deal is largely about demographic alignment and gaining exposure to its target audience across several strategically important markets.

“The biggest piece here for [Monster] is that they're getting essentially the middle of the country, from a national deal standpoint, and key markets, like Texas. [The Lone Star State is, in] the CPG business, one of the two or three most important markets and the Big 12 has multiple schools across the state; they [host] a lot of their championship events there. The other piece about this [is Monster will] have independent school deals with everybody in the Big 12. And, given that their target demo is 18-to-34, there's probably very few deals out there that are in such a sweet spot as a college conference,” Kelly said. “It’s a smart move for Monster. It's an extremely competitive category. This is their core audience and the assets that they purchased should provide them a ton of value to engage on campus.”

College Sports Delivers Experiential Access to a Scarce Demographic

Monster is not traditionally known for buying passive signage or advertising inventory associated with stick-and-ball sports. 

“They rarely buy television units. They like to [invest] in [environments] where they know they're going to have long periods of time with people seeing their activations and their sponsorships and then trying their products. This deal goes right down the middle of [that],” Crakes said. 

So, its willingness to make a commitment to the conference underscores the value college sports offers to brands as an experiential marketing platform.

“Scarcity creates value. What is the scarcest demographic to reach? [Young men]. The easiest one is older women, and women in general. Men are harder than women. Young men are nearly impossible to reach because they do a lot of different things and they exist on platforms that are hard to advertise on, like video games,” Crakes said. “Who are the core college [football and] basketball fans at stadiums, at universities? Men 18-to-34. Either they are in school or they just got out of school, and [sports] levers their relationship with the university. These are all folks who are probably going to be upscale in the future [too].”

Technology Will Turn Existing Premium Assets into New Inventory

Rights owners across sports are racing to monetize their most visible assets. The next phase of sponsorship revenue growth may come not from adding more physical inventory, but from using technology to make existing assets more adaptable and sponsor messaging more targeted.

“By 2030, the jersey patch [likely won’t just be a static] patch. It’ll be a rendered pixel and depending on who is watching [will determine what is seen. The rights owner will] sell the same square to one brand in Dallas, [to] another in Mexico, [and] another one in Europe, in the same broadcast, at the same time. Just like with virtual signage,” Shah said. “AI is going to start rendering [dynamic pixels and] that's going to be a premium asset because [media partners] are going to want something to keep the broadcast rights fed. The technology is [already] there, it's [simply a matter of leveraging an] identity graph that decides what logo [the viewer] sees. That level of personalization is where things are going. There still will be the physical patch, but that virtual [functionality] is going to create new inventory.”

📺 Watch the full episode on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube page.
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Catch previous episodes of The Sports Advisors on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube channel, including discussions on the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s decision to stop funding LIV Golf after the 2026 season, speculation around Vancouver Whitecaps FC potentially relocating to Las Vegas, the 2026 World Cup serving as a stress test for the modern sports business model, a much needed sports betting reality check, challenger leagues as investments, and more.

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The next episode will be released on Wednesday, July 29.

On the latest episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus, a college sports podcast powered by Playfly Sports, JohnWallStreet Founder Corey Leff and Playfly Sports Chairman Michael Schreiber sit down with Rutgers University Director of Athletics Keli Zinn and Scarlet Knight Enterprises Chairman Oliver Luck.

In this 50-minute conversation, the four discuss taking a pro sports approach to revenue generation, managing costs through structure, cultivating regional identity, and more.

📺 Watch the full video on JohnWallStreet’s YouTube Page. 
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

We’ll be back with the next episode of JohnWallStreet Presents: Big Business on Campus in one week. DePaul University Senior Vice President and Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy will be our guest.