Executive Summary
The reported increase in Sport Sponsorship can be attributed to various reasons such as professionalisation and globalisation of brands, reduced effectiveness of mass media advertising methods, globalisation of the sporting industry, sporting competitors gaining increased television coverage, commercialisation of sport and its acceptance across national boundaries (Meenaghan & Shipley, 1999). Sport sponsorship has evolved from being viewed as a charitable donation to a crucial part of the marketing mix in business activity in contemporary times (Ratajczyk, 1998; Vignali, 1997). It is capable of changing attitudes, increasing awareness and effecting sales for a new or existing entrant in the market (Shank, 2004). Sports sponsorship can extend from sponsoring a specific team, an athlete, a league or even an event.
The question still remains are organisations receiving returns for their investments in sponsorships? The effectiveness of the developed theory will be considered by measuring the profitability of the company with regards to market share by testing awareness in the market, recall by the audience and ultimately analysing the market share of the organisation.
1.0 Introduction
Most Companies with a profit motive are constantly trying various techniques to increase there revenues through different forms of marketing. In order to ensure a successful outcome, organisations need to channel their advertising budget into appropriate programs that will help increase their market share (Bloom, Hoeffler, Keller, & Meza, 2006; Fry, 2006). Statistics reveal that companies in North America spend up to 69% of their budgets towards sports and the rest towards entertainment tours and attractions, festivals, fairs, arts and annual events (Bloom, Hoeffler, Keller, & Meza, 2006). If implemented correctly, these affiliations developed can differentiate a brand from its competitors, attract the target markets and even improve corporate reputation.
The market for global sports sponsorship in 2005 was around $22.86 billion in value, which...