Sponsorship ROI Measurement: What We Learned at SPX ROI Forum
Authors - Lindsay O’Brien, Jorge Tatto, and Norm O’Reilly
SponsorshipX conferences have been advancing the field of sponsorship for more than two decades. Last year, the ROI Forum of SPX was launched as part of the overall portfolio — and this was the second iteration. Held in Pittsburgh against the backdrop of the NFL Draft and 800,000 visitors, it was the perfect setting for a conference laser-focused on sponsorship ROI measurement.
More than 100 practitioners gathered in an intimate setting, all focused on one question: how do we measure what sponsorship is actually worth? That shared purpose is what made the ROI Forum so valuable.
TL;DR
Sponsorship ROI measurement remains the industry’s single biggest challenge, confirmed again by the Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study.
The SPX ROI Forum brought together 100+ brand, property, and agency leaders — including Toyota, Amazon, FIFA, and the NFL — to share real data, models, and case studies.
Practical ROI frameworks were presented for organisations of all sizes, from major leagues to not-for-profits.
Tightly focused conferences like this produce dramatically higher engagement and more actionable content than broad industry events.
The industry is making real advances in evaluation and valuation — and gatherings like SPX ROI Forum are accelerating that progress.
Why Is Sponsorship ROI Measurement Still So Hard?
We know, and most in the room agreed, that evaluation and measurement remain our industry’s biggest challenge — but one where we are making great advances.
The annual Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study continues to show that measurement, year after year, is the biggest challenge brands and agencies face. This remains true today, despite the rise of agencies devoted to sponsorship, a proliferation of third-party tools available for valuation and evaluation, and an increasingly sophisticated industry across the board.
That tension — between how complex the problem is and how urgently the industry needs to solve it — is exactly what the ROI Forum is built to address.
Who Was In The Room?
The lineup of speakers was exceptional. Brands included Toyota, FanDuel, Thorne, Microsoft, Nationwide, and Amazon. The NFL (league and clubs) and NFL Players Inc. speakers, aligned with the NFL Draft weekend, led an impressive list of property speakers that included FIFA and all the major Pittsburgh-area sports teams.
Agencies — which are key to the ROI work — were well represented, with firms like Nielsen, Trajektory, YouGov, Excel, and many more contributing to the depth of content.
What Sponsorship ROI Frameworks Were Actually Shared?
This was perhaps more impressive than the speakers themselves. Data, models, and approaches were shared in large and small group settings. Documents were distributed, photos of slides were taken, and real numbers were on the table.
Each speaker shared case studies to illustrate their topic, provide data, and showcase how sponsorship ROI is measured and applied. We discussed models appropriate for large properties like the NFL and FIFA, all the way down to what is appropriate for small properties and not-for-profits. There was something for everyone, including opportunities to dig deep with experts in intimate sessions.
Why Focused Conferences Deliver Better Outcomes
Finally — and this is an observation from our collective attendance at hundreds of conferences — the importance of a tightly focused subject like ROI in sponsorship cannot be overstated when it comes to delivering great content.
It is somewhat like graduate school research: the topic is so narrow that it may not be relevant to most, but for those it is, engagement is exceptionally high. When everyone in the room shares the same core challenge, the conversations go deeper, the content gets more specific, and the takeaways are more actionable.
That’s what made the ROI Forum so special. And it’s why we’ll be back.
Keep the Conversation Going
Sponsorship measurement is a discipline, not a checkbox. If your organisation is working through ROI frameworks, valuation models, or evaluation strategy, we’d love to connect. Explore T1’s approach to measurable sponsorship ROI, or take a look at the 19th Annual Canadian Sponsorship Landscape Study for the data behind the discussion.