SFC Insider: Behind The Scenes of Super Bowl LIX Brand Innovators Event

On Thursday, members of team SFC headlined day one of Brand Innovators Sports Marketing Upfronts panel at Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana. The panel discussion, hosted by Andrew Lafiosca of Nielsen Sports, covered the rise of SFC by reimagining pro fishing and connecting to audiences, partners and investors from across the world.

For those not in the know, Brand Innovators is an exclusive community of brand marketers from the world's top brands, gathering regularly for thought leadership conferences, virtual livecasts, and social events, just like this one for Super Bowl week.

Mark Neifeld, SFC's CEO and Commissioner was joined by Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl running back and co-owner in East Coast Remix Angling Club, Jaselyn Berthelot, two-time SFC fish division champion and 2022 SFC Fan-voted Angler of the Year, and Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee Titans’ three-time Pro Bowl, two-time all-pro defensive lineman. 

By the way, Mostert, Simmons and Berthelot will all be competing in SFC’s The Catch, Powered by Verizon pro-am offshore fishing tournament April 11-13, with packages available to fish with them. 

The panel allowed SFC to share its mission, which runs deeper than just the league's "ocean arena." SFC is hyper-focused on bringing sportfishing mainstream, fueled by the same passion for competition and excitement that connects fans across sports.

The audience of sports marketing professionals, industry executives, and even former coach and college football sportscaster Urban Meyer about the popularity of fishing: the largest recreational sport in the U.S. with approximately 70 million Americans participating each year. 

“The addressable fan market (in fishing) is massive, and we found the segment to be enormously underserved,” Neifeld said. “At SFC, we bring people, whether at the event or watching on their phone or TV, to Nantucket in July; We bring fans into the back of a $10 million sportfishing boat while they’re in the middle of reeling in an 800-pound blue marlin.” 

Discussing The Catch, Powered by Verizon gave the panel an opportunity to highlight the event’s unique ability to form genuine connections in both the locker rooms of professional teams, and the boardrooms of corporate America. 

“Only SFC can get you on the same team with Jaselyn Berthelot and Raheem Mostert for six hours, and that’s an intimate experience,” Neifeld said. “But the fun part comes after The Catch, when we hear all the stories about who stayed in touch with each other, between the anglers and the relationships they built with the NFL players, or fans who stayed in touch with their favorite players, it’s all about forming relationships.”

Some of those relationships have already led to major deals being done.

Several of the NFL Superstars and Legends of The Catch, Powered by Verizon are team owners in the new closed SFC professional format, including hall of famer Randy Moss, New Orleans Saints’ five-time Pro Bowl and two-time all-pro running back Alvin Kamara, and the aforementioned Raheem Mostert.

"Truthfully, it was my first ever sport," Mostert said. "I would go bass fishing at a local pond in my hometown and I would fish off the jetty at Ponce Inlet in Daytona Beach. So I’m not new to fishing but this world is completely different. Being on a boat, open water, I was just trying to take in the techniques and I fell in love with it.”

Speaking of techniques, the panel tackled the myth about the strength required to reel in Marlin and Sailfish, the prized species of SFC events. In reality, technique matters more than strength-- something the NFL players learn the hard way each year at The Catch, Powered by Verizon.

“I work out all off-season, so I didn’t think catching a fish was going to be that hard," Simmons said of his experience at The Catch last year. "Being out there on that water with the excitement of the team, you should have seen how excited the guys were to see my catch my first sailfish! It was an unbelievable experience."

“One thing that is really cool about fishing is, no matter where you are in the world, what you do for a living, or what your life looks like, it always brings people together," Bethelot said. "Events like The Catch are a really great representation of that because no way me, an LSU College student (now graduate) would think that I would be on the back of the boat with Alvin Kamara and Raheem Mostert, helping them catch sailfish simultaneously, and coaching them through it. SFC made that possible for me."

We will be unpacking these connections, along with a boatload of other details, next week during SFC Media Days at the Miami International Boat Show. This would be a good time to turn on push notifications for all posts and stories from SFC’s social media handles.