During the first panel discussion of the conference, titled “From global to local: Marketing leaders weigh in on where sports fit in the big picture,” executives from Citi, Subway, Coca-Cola Co., Anheuser-Bush and Volkswagen of America talked about taking advantage of opportunities that may arise during what are otherwise tough economic times. A financial downturn could mean lower prices, which can present opportunities.

Tony Pace, CMO of Subway, talked about the possibility of Subway not only sponsoring athletes, but an entire league. “The de-leveraging that’s going on in the financial space is going to make those deals a lot less expensive going forward for the leagues,” he said. “But I think that will make it more attractive for us. In some ways it will take some of the ego premium out of the pricing, which is certainly a good thing from a marketer’s standpoint.”

But in order to make future acquisitions, the panelists agreed, the storm of bad economic times must be weathered. Bea Perez, Coca-Cola senior vice president of integrated marketing, had this to say: “What’s going to be critical is having a long-term view and not making a short-term decision because of this current financial condition.”

The importance of long-term thinking when it comes to sports sponsorships was another point of emphasis for the panel.

“The one good thing about sports marketing,” said Mark Ingall, Citi’s managing director for global strategic media, “is that the relationships in that category tend to be more about longevity.”

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Quick Hits:

Ingall, on why Citi struck a deal with the Mets, rather than another New York team: “This seemed the most organic in the full marketing relationship – relationship with actual owners, relationship with the actual business building the stadium and also looking at some of the fundamental values of the Mets and some of the fundamental values that we actually bring to Citi Field. The little things: the return of Jackie Robinson and celebrating a bigger part of the sport.”

Pace, on his view of Subway: “I like to think of us as a $9 billion mom-and-pop business.”

Tim Schoen, vice president, global sports and entertainment marketing for Anheuser-Busch, on the effects of the economy on sports marketers: “These are some bad economic times, but we're having the best summer we've ever had. Now, we're having the best summer we've ever had for a lot of reasons – we had a couple new brands come out (Bud Light Lime and Budweiser American Lager), so we are pulsing the marketplace. We're still working it, and our industry still stands steady.”

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