Sport Sponsorship: Appeal and Risks

Abstract

Sport sponsorship is a particular case within the sponsorship industry. It is distinct from the more philanthropic forms of sponsorship, which appear to be less motivated by commercial objectives, and which generally achieve less significant commercial returns (Calderon-Martinez, Mas-Ruiz & Nicolau-Gonzalbez, 2005). In this paper, the advantages of sport sponsorship are reviewed to identify why sport sponsorship is more popular than other forms of sponsorship. Despite this popularity, the sponsorship of sporting events and individuals also carries some risks. In this paper, we also review the risks, including generic risks such as the risk of news media reporting that is interpretive rather than objective. Other risks relate more directly to sports, particularly the effects of winning and losing on audience attitudes (or sponsorship objectives), and the impact of off-field behaviour otherwise unrelated to the event threatening the objectives of corporate sport sponsorship.