On Our Radar: Highlight Reel
With the explosion of women’s sports and fringe sports like pickleball and rugby, the leaders of two Minneapolis creative agencies saw an opportunity to approach sports partnerships in new and more customized ways. That led Media Bridge CEO Tracy Call and Griffin Archer CEO Ellie Anderson to launch Highlight Reel, a new sports marketing agency that aims to deliver “deeper connections,” say the founders, who also maintain their separate companies.
“Sports are one of the last places that brands are guaranteed live eyeballs,” Anderson says. Adds Call, “Sports sponsorships have long been more of a passion play—a decision made because the CEO likes basketball. We’re saying, Let’s get him a Timberwolves suite and create a targeted strategy based on brand goals—maybe the better fit is NASCAR or the WNBA.” Women’s sports, in particular, present big opportunities for brands right now. “You’re going to get more of an ROI with women’s sports,” Anderson says. “They have something to prove.”
For Call and Anderson, sports marketing is smart business, but it’s also personal. Call played rugby for the Women’s Premier League and was a member of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team. Anderson was a gymnast through college and remains an avid tennis player.
We talked to duo about their new partnership.
What are some of the factors that made you think now was the time to go after sports business?
Call: People are not consuming media the way they used to; they’re moving toward more activations. Deloitte recently put out its 2025 Global Sports Industry Outlook, which talks a lot about the trend of engagement activations. But in sports marketing, we still see a lot of brands slapping their logo on a billboard. I don’t think brands are being cared for in the sports marketing world. There is so much missed opportunity in extending these huge investments to create multi-channel campaigns. It’s not just about logo placement or cool tickets to the game. You actually want to see return. That’s what gets me excited.
Anderson: Streaming recently overcame linear TV in terms of how people are consuming sports. Two examples: Peacock’s subscriber base hit 33 million in August 2024 and Tubi’s free livestream of Super Bowl LIX had 14 million viewers. That opens up a whole opportunity for more targeted creative.
Can you give us an example of targeted creative?
Anderson: Digital viewing makes it possible for us to more effective to target groups with different creative—a 22-year-old male and a 50-year-old female could be watching the same football game, but they’re going to respond to different sorts of pitches. There’s also more opportunity to create campaigns adjacent to a big event, without being directly part of it—for instance, finding a player that you think connects with your target audience and doing an entire campaign around that player in channels where fans are consuming that content.
Read more from this issue
Sephora recently announced a multi-year partnership with the WNBA’s Golden State Valkries and market watchers are saying it signals a shift in women’s sports marketing. Are other brands ready?
Anderson: Viewership of women’s sports and the WNBA has skyrocketed in the last two years (some call it the Cailtin Clark Effect). It’s a huge opportunity for brands to align with different target audiences, and also at a slightly lower price tag.I think overall, it’s still not top of mind right now for brands looking for sports sponsorships—they’re still thinking men’s sports first. I actually think brands are going to get more of an ROI with women’s sports—they have something to prove. Female athletes want to delivery—they have this opportunity now and they’re taking it really seriously.
Call: We can actually be a funnel for women’s sports with intentionality. I’ll give you one local example: I’m on the board for Minnetonka High School football.
What brands are doing sports marketing well, in your opinion?
Anderson: Sleep Number has done a really wonderful job with their NFL partnership, for several years. I think they have 80% of the NFL players actually sleeping on their smart beds, and they’re able to record their data every night to see how sleep affects performance. It’s so authentic.
An abbreviated version of this story appeared in TCB’s April/May print issue.
