Let me say the quiet part out loud: Most sports sponsorships suck.

As a lifelong sports fan and someone who’s built a career helping brands show up authentically in culture, I can tell you that too many sponsorships feel like what they are — ads. Forced. Disruptive. Completely out of sync with the moment or the audience.

The result? Fans scroll past. Or worse, they roll their eyes.

But every now and then, a brand gets it right. And when they do, the internet rewards the brand with engagement, cred and props.

Case in point: The mobile game Royal Kingdom recently dropped a collab with LeBron James — and it went crazy viral. We’re talking 58,000-plus shares on Instagram on Day 1. More than his top dunk of the NBA season. More than most major brands see in an entire campaign cycle.

Why? Because Royal Kingdom didn’t try to create a moment — they tapped into one that already existed. They understood the culture, they respected it, and then they played inside of it.

For context: LeBron has long been the subject of a running........

© Sports Business Journal