Americans love their sports teams. Some of the most devoted fans follow their teams religiously, paying close attention to everything they endorse, from their favorite shoes to their official soda brand. In fact, according to a 2022 Nielsen Insights article, 81% of consumers trust the branded sponsorships they see at sporting events. And now, beef has gotten into the mix with branded partnerships that encourage consumer trust by associating beef with college and high school sports teams.
I’m not a beef producer; I am an importer. I work for Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), which is a farmer-owned industry organization representing New Zealand's sheep and beef farmers. I represent the interests of B+LNZ here in North America, advocating on a range of issues in what is one of our biggest export markets. We’re longtime members of the Meat Importers Council of America (MICA), which is how I was nominated for the Cattlemen’s Beef Board (CBB).
During my two-plus years on the CBB and the checkoff’s nutrition and health committee, I’ve experienced the benefits of branded beef partnerships firsthand. Integrating beef messaging into athletics through branded partnerships allows the beef checkoff to have multiple touchpoints with fan bases throughout the year. This is a “surround-sound approach,” meaning the partnership’s components – such as on-site and in-game fan engagement, digital ads, social media content and student-athlete engagement – run consistently throughout the athletic season.
These partnerships are currently most prominent in the northeastern U.S., where they’re spearheaded by the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (NEBPI), a subcontractor to the beef checkoff. Reaching consumers in this part of the country is important, not just because there are so many of them, but also because people in large cities such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia can be somewhat skeptical about beef production and beef’s nutritional value.
In an ongoing effort to evolve and diversify the program by reaching new audiences, NEBPI began a partnership with Seton Hall University (SHU) athletics during the 2021-22 athletic season, with support from the Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC). This sponsorship named beef the "preferred protein of the Seton Hall Pirates" and continued into the 2023 season as well. Located in South Orange, New Jersey, SHU is less than 20 miles from the heart of New York City. This partnership allowed the beef checkoff to reach more than 800,000 SHU Pirates fans throughout the New York market area.
I got to see NEBPI’s surround-sound approach in action when I helped them at a couple of SHU men’s basketball games. As a big fan of all sports, including NCAA basketball, I was eager to watch SHU's game and observe how beef was promoted to Pirate fans.
The messaging at the game I attended was clear for all to see on the big screen, which clearly said that “Beef is the preferred protein of the Seton Hall Pirates,” a team that narrowly missed getting into the NCAA tournament this year. SHU's home arena, the Prudential Center, can hold around 16,500 fans, and thousands of fans also tune into the games on TV, multiplying the visibility of beef’s messaging on the arena’s jumbotron.
I could easily see that this branded partnership provided a great avenue to reach many consumers in the Northeast with positive beef messaging. The partnership also gives NEBPI an opportunity to directly engage with fans and distribute recipes and other materials that promote the important role of beef in a healthy diet. NEBPI staff gave away fun items such as mini basketballs with beef logos on them and beef jerky sticks to help engage with the fans as they walked around the stadium. Fans also had the chance to win a beef prize pack during the Pirates' shuffle video board game.
Other elements of the partnership included mentions during the game’s radio broadcasts, messaging on 40,000 game-day programs, on-site interactive table displays, digital ads, sweepstakes to win a beef prize kit, a video series with registered dietitians from NEBPI and SHU, messaging in the monthly athletic director newsletter, and a student-athlete refueling station with beef recipes and nutritional info. This multifaceted approach provides a greater return on beef checkoff investments than a one-time event sponsorship. Reaching consumers multiple times throughout the athletic season keeps beef top of mind and extends trust and confidence in beef.
The SHU partnership is just one example of what NEBPI is doing in the Northeast. This past year, NEBPI entered its first-year partnership with University of Connecticut (UConn) athletics for the 2023-24 season. During the 2022-23 athletic season, NEBPI also entered the high school athletics realm for the first time by partnering with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), funded by the Montana Beef Council.
NEBPI saw positive results with the PIAA partnership and decided to expand the geographic reach of high school athletic partnerships. With funding from the South Dakota Beef Industry Council, NEBPI partnered with the District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA), which has 51 member high schools and 85,000 students. Additionally, with a Farm Credit Northeast AgEnhancement program grant, NEBPI worked with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), which has 435 member high schools and 283,650 student-athletes.
Partnering with athletics programs such as these is a great way to tap into a big market while positioning lean beef as a healthy and nutritious choice of protein for both players and fans. By aligning with athletics to share beef’s multiple advantages, the beef checkoff is encouraging student-athletes, coaches, fans, nutritionists and more to learn about beef’s role in a healthy, active lifestyle. Learn more about NEBPI’s efforts to drive demand for beef in the Northeast on the beef checkoff's website.
