Character-Sports Collaborations for the Win

Just over a year ago, we wrote about how tie-ins bringing together sports organizations and entertainment properties, including musicians and characters, were experiencing a cyclical surge, with collaborations between the NBA, My Hero Academia, and Hyperfly; Major League Soccer, Adidas, and Marvel; and Lacrosse Unlimited and Peanuts among the examples at the time. The trend has intensified since then, especially on the character side, with new examples over the past 12 months covering a wide variety of sports and geographic regions: 

• The Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball paired with Sanrio for a Hello Kitty birthday celebration in August, featuring on-site initiatives including a cake, paper crowns for the crowd along with decoration stations, trivia, a Friendship Cam, and a first pitch from the Kitty herself. The main merchandise component was a Hello Kitty-Dodgers plush given to fans who purchased a special promotional ticket. This was not the first time the character has paired with the Dodgers, and both Hello Kitty and the other Sanrio characters have long been active in co-branded initiatives with sports entities around the world. 

• Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees announced in May that the team was collaborating with author Mo Willems and The Hidden Pigeon Company for a promotion featuring his characters The Pigeon and Elephant & Piggie. Two family days at the ballpark, one this month and one in September, offered character appearances, giveaways of co-branded bobbleheads of the characters in Yankees gear, and a ceremonial first pitch by Willems. There was also a limited-edition collection of apparel, comprised of short-and long-sleeve t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, and onesies from OT Sports, as well as caps from New Era. 

• Team USA announced a partnership in July with Universal Products & Experiences for Olympics-themed merchandise combining Team USA graphics and the Minions, which were named official brand ambassadors for the team across all Olympic sports. The products were sold through the Team USA online shop and in the NBC store at Rockefeller Plaza in New York. 

• The Japanese National Football team worked with the anime property Spy x Family and Adidas, in an initiative announced in July, on a range of merchandise for the Japanese market. Products, including jerseys, collectibles, and scarves, featured depictions of the characters wearing soccer gear. Special events featuring players and voice actors from the TV show were also part of the initiative, as were social media campaigns and advertising. 

• The K League, Korea’s pro football league, collaborated with Sanrio and 7-Eleven in June of this year to sell umbrellas, mouse mats, keyrings, and other products that match Sanrio characters with K-League clubs, including F.C. Seoul with Hello Kitty, Ulsan HD with Cinnamoroll, Daegu F.C. with My Melody, and Pohang Steelers with Kuromi, among others. All told, 15 Sanrio characters were involved. In addition to 7-Eleven stores and the stadiums, the products were sold in a pop-up at Lotte World Mall in Seoul. The league and Sanrio also released co-branded shirts and digital stickers from telecommunications company Kakao. The latter depicted the characters showing different emotions, in scenarios inspired by star coaches and players across the league. 

• England Rugby teamed with Warner Bros. Discovery Consumer Products and its Looney Tunes characters in May for a co-branded, limited-edition line of t-shirts and hoodies, available at the organization’s online shop and its store at Twickenham Stadium. Activities where fans could interact with the characters at key competitions were also a component of the partnership. 

• The International Olympic Committee came together, also with Warner Bros. Discovery, in March to create a collection of merchandise featuring the Olympic Rings and the Looney Tunes. Produced by a range of licensees, the apparel, bags, toys and games, sports equipment, and stationery were meant not just for sale during the Olympic Games but also on a continuing basis, in keeping with one of the IOC’s strategic goals, which is to strengthen its brand between its global summer and winter events, collectively held every two years. WBD also partnered with the Olympic committees in the U.S., Australia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, and Spain to create Looney Tunes merchandise for their respective national teams. 

• The Professional Women’s Hockey League forged a deal with Mattel Canada for a Barbie apparel collection in March, during the league’s first season of play. The eight-piece merchandise component, including hoodies, t-shirts, drawstring and tote bags, and a tumbler, all available on the PWHL website, took a bit of a different direction than the other partnerships mentioned here in that there was no character art. Rather, the designs included the PWHL and Barbie logos, inspirational phrases like “Dream It, Do it” and “Goal Getter,” and, of course, pink. The two partners also collaborated on content inspiring girls to be whatever they want to be (including a hockey player), along with in-arena advertising and activations. 

• The Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League implemented a game-day promotion with the anime One Piece in December 2023, billed as the first time the Rams have collaborated with an anime property and the first American football collaboration for One Piece. It included character graphics and video content appearing on screens, monitors, and ribbon boards in the stadium, as well as digital banners on the Rams website linking to a new One Piece informational site for global fans. Merchandise components included a One Piece rally towel given to fans at entry gates and One Piece clear bags for the first 10,000 attendees to visit an on-site activation booth. 

• The J League, Japan’s professional soccer league, paired with the anime Blue Lock in November 2023. Each of the 18 clubs in the top level of competition at the time—the league is currently being expanded to 20 teams—including clubs in Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and other cities, were paired with one of the nine main characters in the soccer-themed, manga-based anime series for limited-edition merchandise sold in the clubs’ stadium stores. 

Some of these examples are primarily promotional rather than merchandise-focused, but all include at least a few products in the mix, whether for sale or as giveaways. 

In general, the collaborations serve to expand awareness, bring new fans into the fold, and provide some fresh new art that appeals to followers, among other benefits for both partners. They can also help highlight the core brand messages of one or both. Given the success of most of these recent pairings, it seems as if the current enthusiasm for this well-established licensing practice will continue for a while longer.  

RaugustReports will not publish on Monday, September 2, 2024, due to the U.S. Labor Day holiday. We’ll be back with our regular twice-weekly posts on Thursday, September 5.