Sports sponsorship effectiveness

A sports athlete and a commercial organization have several things in common: a dynamic character, a strong sense of purpose, striving for maximum effectiveness and efficiency of their activities. The practice of associating business with sports properties, in the form of sports sponsorships, has been subject to an extraordinary growth rate. Sponsorships, at first characterized as a short term, philanthropic activities, have been evolving into long term strategic partnerships over the last decades. In this thesis the effectiveness and efficiency of sports sponsorships are investigated from the perspective of the sponsor. The dissertation consists of a literature overview of extant studies on sponsorships effects, which leads to a conceptual framework of sponsorship outcomes and the different factors influencing these outcomes. Furthermore, this research comprises three empirical studies in which different sponsorship outcomes are examined; an exploration of the development of sponsorship awareness, an investigation of sponsor equity in different countries and a benchmark of sponsorship project efficiency. This research contributes to our understanding of sports sponsorship effects and the findings have implications for both sponsors and sponsored properties.