# @sponconsports on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdJj4TdRW8h
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/71718972-sponconsports-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/14ec1bc68b.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-11T13:52:44.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Alex Kopilow (@AlexKopilow) — https://gondola.cc/AlexKopilow

## Caption

But seriously, why isn’t Joe Burrow wearing the hat?

@krogerco built a smart Cincinnati sports partnership around Burrow and Bengals center Ted Karras.

The limited-edition Cincy Hat taps into the Bengals’ White Bengal look, is only available at Cincinnati-area Kroger Pharmacy locations, supports both the Cincy Hat Foundation and Joe Burrow Foundation, and even has Burrow’s signature embroidered on it.

Which makes the execution miss harder to understand.

Across Kroger’s launch content, Karras wears the hat. Burrow never does.

We don’t know why. But we do know he wears hats, including in other brand partnerships and past Cincy Hat content.

Compare that with Josh Allen and New Era. Allen wears patient-designed hats to Bills home games, turning the product itself into recurring content and promotion.

That’s the difference between featuring an athlete in a campaign and making them part of the product story.

Would you have launched this without a shot of Burrow wearing the hat?

#sportsmarketing #sportsbusiness #contentstrategy #athletepartnerships #NFL

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 98
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 5

## Credits

No public credits are recorded here. This does not identify who made the post.

## Tags

sportsbusiness, sportsmarketing, nfl, contentstrategy, athletepartnerships

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