HVAC companies lean deeper into sports partnerships

As the rising costs of digital advertising continue to up the importance of branding, companies across the HVAC industry have been placing their bets on one of society’s most powerful and unifying forces: Sports. 

State of play: More than 140 HVAC brands, including manufacturers, distributors, and contractors, had secured sponsorship deals across major pro sports as of September 2024, according to software firm SponsorUnited.

• In 2024, Daikin snagged a 15-year stadium rights deal with the Houston Astros; F.W. Webb struck a deal with New York City FC; and Tennessee-based Hiller Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical became the official HVAC partner of Alabama’s Crimson Tide, among a swath of similar partnerships nationwide, from pro sports down to Little League.

What’s happening: This summer, Houston-based contractor Champion and Nash, part of home services platform Zephyr, inked a one-year partnership with the NBA’s Houston Rockets, as part of a broader effort to differentiate itself in a “highly competitive” market, Laura Hayes, Zephyr’s VP of Marketing, tells Homepros. 

• “We were thinking… ‘How can we make a really, really big splash in something that’s going to have lasting power?’” she asks, adding that the move’s ultimate aim is being top of mind. “It’s that social proof, building credibility, [and a] massive amount of awareness.”

Zoom in: While Hayes declined to share financials, for what she calls a “really reasonable price,” the sponsorship encompasses in-arena branding, including jumbotron spots and LED ribbons, social media and other digital collaborations, and community initiatives involving former players. 

• Champion and Nash can use the term “official partner” across its online channels, and on its trucks and uniforms within a 150-mile radius, and receives an allocation of tickets for customers and employees to attend select home games. 

Eastward, Central Florida-based Frank Gay Services has a multi-year partnership with the NBA’s Orlando Magic, announced in 2023, including a similar set of activations, president John Colloca tells Homepros. 

• Among in-arena branding and digital engagements, the company donates $10 to a nonprofit for every home free throw made, and every year identifies a community member in need of a new HVAC system.
• “We show up one day and knock on their door and say, ‘You’ve been selected,’ and we do the changeout right then and there,” says Colloca.

By the numbers: Though sizes (and structures) vary, the median cost of an NBA sponsorship deal was $250,000 in 2024, according to a report by SponsorUnited. 

Between the lines: While customer-facing by design, the sponsorships serve a dual purpose: “It’s hard to attract and retain really good technician talent,” Hayes explains. 

• “So another piece is [we can] use it as an engagement tool,” she adds, noting that game tickets aren’t just reserved for Champion and Nash management, but for those “bringing in revenue every single day.”

Follow the money: As with many branding investments, a key question centers on measuring the return. “We’d love it to be a one-to-one relationship with revenue,” Hayes notes, “but it’s not really what this is about.”

• “It’s never going to be perfect,” she says. “[But] when we look back in a year… all these pieces that we’ve done to build the brand, have they driven efficiency in our other channels?”
• Meanwhile, though branded search volume after home games can be measured, for instance, growing “unaided brand awareness” is “top of mind for us,” Colloca adds. “That is, customers who already know about your organization.” 

The bottom line: “We’re doing it to increase brand awareness,” says Seth Mapp, general manager at Champion and Nash, “and gain market share.”

• “We can do it slowly over time, through incremental growth,” he adds, “or we can make strategic investments like this, and speed up that growth curve.”