Sports marketing and Sponsorship

Abstract

This chapter discusses the changing nature of the political economy of sport, and football in particular, in the last quarter of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century. Focusing on the United Kingdom for a national perspective and on FIFA for the international perspective, this chapter identifies the nature of the market for sponsorships and endorsements, the fan base of national and international soccer, and the Horst Dassler-led FIFA assault on the traditional promotion of world football and the establishment of corporate partnerships that generate millions of dollars of revenue both for corporate identities and Football Associations.