Happy Wednesday, and welcome back to the 55th weekly edition of Broken Marketing by Anvara, where we discuss marketing that breaks.

For those of you who are new here, we’re Nick and Andrei, the co-founders of Anvara. We’ve included you here because one way or another, we’re connected. We’re happy to have you as a part of the Anvara family.

JPMorgan Chase entered the Olympics by securing two layers at once.

One deal with the International Olympic Committee as a TOP sponsor, and another with the LA28 Olympic Games as a founding partner.

That places the investment around $400M across one Olympic cycle.

The structure reflects how the Olympic commercial system operates today.

The IOC controls global rights, while local organizing committees control domestic categories. Most brands align with one side.

JPMorgan spans both.

That unlocks global category ownership across asset & wealth management, investment banking, and private banking, while also securing retail banking access in the U.S., where fan engagement and commercial activity peak during LA28.

The timing adds another layer.

The TOP program currently sits at 12 sponsors, the lowest level in nearly a decade, following exits from major partners like Panasonic and Toyota. Meanwhile, LA28 has accelerated commercial growth, adding 15+ partners within the past year.

This creates a shift in how value is built.

The Olympics operate across a multi-year timeline, spanning media rights, infrastructure, host city development, and fan engagement.

JPMorgan now integrates across each of those surfaces.

They appear in broadcast through NBC, connect into operations through LA28, and hold global category rights, evolving the role of a sponsor into a system-level partner embedded within the event ecosystem.

As presence expands across more touchpoints, visibility compounds well ahead of the Opening Ceremony.

NHL expanded the Stanley Cup Playoffs into a multi-layer sponsorship system.

Norqain enters as a global partner, Expedia takes presenting rights for the bracket challenge, and brands like DraftKings and Nobull integrate into distinct moments across the postseason.

The structure reflects intentional design.

The playoffs span two months, with 60+ nationally broadcast games, daily highlights, and continuous digital engagement.

That scale creates repeatable attention. And repeatable attention creates layered inventory.

Each partner aligns with a specific interaction. The bracket sponsor captures prediction behavior. In-ice sponsors capture broadcast repetition.

Prediction platforms capture real-time engagement.

Campaign partners capture storytelling moments tied to performance and narrative.

Each layer connects to a distinct fan behavior, including watching, predicting, betting, traveling, and following.

This evolves the model.

Sponsorship expands from category ownership into behavior ownership.

The playoff format, built on consecutive high-stakes games, generates fresh attention every night, allowing multiple brands to operate simultaneously across different touchpoints.

The result creates density with structure.

Each sponsor operates within a defined role, and each role maps to a measurable form of engagement.

Which turns the playoffs into a system where one event supports multiple parallel value streams.

Powerade has the rights. Gatorade has the market.

Heading into the World Cup, both are playing different games.

Powerade comes in as an official FIFA partner through Coca-Cola, which guarantees on-field integration, visibility during hydration breaks, and repeated exposure during the most-watched matches in global sports.

That’s controlled distribution.

You show up exactly where the game is.

Gatorade comes in without those rights, but with scale.

They hold 58.8% U.S. market share, compared to Powerade’s 17.9%, and are deploying a global campaign across digital, social, and out-of-home, designed to dominate conversation rather than the field itself.

That’s open distribution. You show up everywhere the conversation travels.

And the World Cup amplifies both models.

Because it delivers billions of global viewers, but also billions of digital impressions across social platforms, highlights, and creator content.

So the event splits into two parallel systems.

One is controlled by rights holders. The other is shaped by content and culture.

Powerade wins in moments like hydration breaks, where the product is physically embedded into the game, creating repeated, functional exposure tied directly to performance.

Gatorade wins in moments that travel - campaign storytelling, social clips, cultural relevance - where scale and frequency matter more than official placement.

So this lands differently.

Now, it’s a decision about where you want to sit in the attention stack.

Inside the game, where exposure is guaranteed. Or outside the game, where exposure can scale infinitely.

And the brands that perform best are the ones that understand how to connect those two layers into one continuous presence.

🏟️ US Squash x Hightower - As squash heads toward LA28 Olympic Games, Hightower locks in as the official wealth partner with category exclusivity, championship integrations, and premium hospitality, turning a niche sport’s Olympic moment into a targeted, high-income audience play.

⚽ Inter Miami CF x Shift4 - Shift4 powers ticketing and concessions at Nu Stadium, embedding itself into every fan transaction and turning payments infrastructure into a full-funnel sponsorship layer tied directly to spend.

🏓 Association of Pickleball Players x Chex Mix - Chex Mix enters as official snack partner with livestream naming rights, pro division sponsorship, and on-site distribution, plugging directly into consumption moments as pickleball scales into a broadcast-driven, fan-first property.

Quote of the Week

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest until your good is better, and your better is best.” - Tim Duncan