SPORTS

Sponsorship in Sports: A Mutually Beneficial Agreement



Sponsorship in Sports: A Mutually Beneficial Agreement

Introduction

Steven and Andrews argue that 'sport has become a significant international currency' (2005, p. 4). The actual sums of money involved in the mutually beneficial agreement between the sports personalities and the corporate attest to such statements by Steven and Andrews. The worldwide sports, as an industry, totals 3% of global-trade and around 1% of EU's GNP (Schaub, 2002). Another significant example is the broadcasting deal between the Olympics committee and NBC, a renowned US television channel. NBC acquired the broadcasting rights from 1996 to 2008 for a hefty sum of US$ 4 billion (International Olympic Committee, 2008). These examples demonstrate the economic and monetary values of sport-based personalities and the global sport industry. Affiliation of these personalities to brands significantly enhances the brand value in the minds of the consumer. The market players, those that include corporations, attribute considerable values to sporting images and icons. Major businesses from a variety of markets across the globe, from soft drink producers to cosmetic manufacturers engage in strategic contests to make affiliations with different sports and their iconic personalities (Lagae, 2005). This market dynamic inherently points to the belief that hefty affiliation contracts are worth for corporations to develop significant sports based alliances of their products. These fundamental marketing believes and tools to advertise products and services is an employed strategy by major businesses (Smolianov & Shilbury, 2005).

This paper is an attempt to demonstrate the mutually beneficial agreement between sports and the corporate that is demonstrated through the medium of advertisement. The paper would consider the social, cultural context to develop the arguments. Further, research would be considered to isolate important variables that develop long-term associations between sports and its devoted fan following. The last step in the paper would be to articulate the most preferred category of consumers that are avid sports fans and would translate into indirect long term consumers of the brands that associate with sports, events and personalities.

Discussion

Many scholars, academics and professionals have attempted analysis on the phenomenon of sport and its worldwide popularity. Scholars like, Corvellec (1995), claim that sport reflects the industrial civilization. This is because the popularity of sports extends with its capability to mirror the general beliefs and values of the modernistic society. Corvellec asserts this modern inclination towards sports as “of the same age as industrial factories, the urbanisation process, and the development of modern means of transportation and communication'. Corvellec concludes that this derivation leads to the fact that the development of industrial society and sports occurred in coalesce. The common features between sports and the industrial society stems from the shared qualities of rationality, competition, individuality and measurement between the two. This makes modern sport popular and a constant source of entertainment for the modern society as a whole (Corvellec, 1995). Corvellec further argues that the inherent objectives that affect the attraction of sports and the corporate stems from sports inherent values that fittingly articulate two essential ...