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The purpose of this article is to explore the corporate brand‐web associated with the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team in order to exemplify existing theoretical discussions of the brand‐web concept and contribute to insights towards developing understanding of the structure of the corporate brand‐web and brand relationships.

A case study analysis of the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team, focusing on brand relationships associated with different levels of sponsorship is presented. The case study analysis is based on desk research.

The corporate brand‐web of the TOYOTA F1 Racing Team is presented. This portfolio of corporate brands and their relationships can be regarded as a corporate brand meta‐architecture. The study also offers taxonomy of different types of sponsorship‐based brand relationships, and identifies and discusses two key aspects of the relationships between brands, title sponsorship, and network relationships between the corporate brands in the brand‐web.

This article contributes to understanding of the corporate brand‐web and brand relationships in the sponsorship context and demonstrates the complexity of multiple brand relationships, and the need for researchers and practitioners to understand and manage their corporate brand architecture.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons for the discontinuation of sports sponsor–sponsee relationships and categorize them. Despite the negative outcomes of a sponsorship dissolution, research on this topic is rather scarce.

The paper relies on an analysis of 24 historical cases and 19 in-depth interviews focusing on the Dutch soccer league. Several sponsorship disruptors are identified and clustered into four categories.

The four categories for sponsorship dissolution are the following: sponsor-related factors, sponsee-related factors, inter-relational factors and external factors. In total, ten sponsorship disruptors are identified: insufficient value creation, objectives achieved, sports results, signal to society, exclusivity, negativity, personal relationship, changed marketing strategy, financial situation and legislation and regulation.

This study primarily investigates soccer sponsorship cases. Future research could investigate other sponsorship areas, which could yield different reasons for sponsorship termination.

Practitioners are advised to view the sponsorship relationship as a strategic alliance, rather than a resource, from the beginning of the sponsorship. A solid relational framework is needed, which is built around the elements of trust, commitment and collaborative communication. If such a foundation does not exist or has eroded, the sponsorship relationship is fragile and can be endangered by various factors.

This study uses inductive reasoning to devise a framework that enables sponsees to anticipate when sponsors are likely to discontinue their sponsorship such that the sponsees can take actions accordingly. Apart from validating existing reasons for sponsorship dissolution, this research also presents novel and previously undiscovered sponsorship disruptors.

This study examines professional soccer sponsorship as a business-to-business relationship and explores key dimensions of sponsorship success in the context of the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga. The findings suggest that commitment, satisfaction and cooperation positively influence the success of sponsorships; trust and effective communication do not emerge as significant variables. The implications for soccer clubs and sponsors are discussed and avenues for further research are suggested.

The purpose of the current study is to advance understanding of sponsorship effectiveness by investigating the impact of the quality of the relationship between a consumer and a sport property on sponsorship effectiveness.

A model was developed to examine linkages among relationship quality, sincerity, attitude toward sponsor and intention to purchase a sponsor's product. The measurement model was tested using confirmatory factory analysis. The relationships in the hypothesized model were tested using simultaneous equations.

The results indicate that positive attitude toward a sponsor and intention to purchase said sponsor's product(s) are more likely to occur among the customers who perceive a higher degree of relationship quality with the sport property and believe the sponsor motives are sincere.

A conceptual model of sponsorship effectiveness was developed and empirically tested. The tested model provides an expanded view of relationship quality and its impact on key variables of sponsorship effectiveness.

Provided in this study is a framework for both sponsors and sport teams that can be used to understand some of the ways in which sponsorship works. The findings suggest that sponsors should leverage their activities to communicate sincere motives, not just “doing business”. For the sport property, the implication is developing quality relationships with consumers, and being able to promote such relationships to prospective sponsors.

Relationship quality has been previously shown to influence various behavioral aspects related to partners in business‐to‐business relationships. This study extends the literature by examining the effect of business‐to‐consumer relationship quality on the expected outcomes associated with a business‐to‐business relationship.

The purpose of this study is to understand the structure and dynamics of minority equity sponsorship agreements and the motivations for organizations to go beyond traditional sponsorships by acquiring minority equity in the sponsored organization.

This paper adopts a qualitative methodology and presents interview data from key actors involved in minority equity sponsorship agreements.

The findings of the paper include major characteristics of minority equity sponsorship agreements including the motivations, dynamics and resources exchanged by sponsoring firms and clubs in these relationships, based on the experiences of key actors from firms, clubs and other key stakeholders, and a conceptual model for forming and maintaining these relationships.

Sponsorships are increasingly evolving into minority equity sponsorship agreements, particularly in the European market. The findings of this study assist sponsoring firms and the executives of clubs in better understanding the dynamics and stakeholder-related consequences of these relations.

The findings of this paper illustrate the differences between minority equity sponsorship agreements and both traditional sponsorships and minority equity alliances. The findings also identify major characteristics of these relationships and the interdependencies among these characteristics.

Using a case study of an international sport event, the purpose of this paper is to examine the inter-organisational relationship between a sport event property and its corporate sponsors.

Interviews were conducted with personnel from the national sport organisation responsible for the delivery of this major event, and from four of its corporate sponsorship partners.

The findings indicated that both formal and informal governance were critical to the relationships underpinning these sponsorship alliances. From a dyadic perspective, it was found that the satisfaction of sponsorship partners had two key elements: tangible commercial benefits from the sponsor-sponsee alliance, and the less tangible but nonetheless valuable relationship support within the partnership. In short, partner satisfaction and alliance stability stemmed from relational constructs and the balance of formal governance mechanisms.

This paper explores the variables that generate value and maintain alliance stability for improved sponsorship governance. These findings, while focused on a single case study, have implications for research in the field of sponsorship and to the area of business-to-business relationships more broadly.

The main focus of the paper is an examination of the nature of sponsor commitment to a team, an event or a sport. Established notions of “sponsor commitment” typically involve the sponsor engaging in a transaction with a sponsored property. Through this process a sum of money is paid to property managers in return for which the sponsor expects to achieve a tangible outcome. The paper argues that this is a crude view of commitment, and highlights the relevance of a more collaborative and relational perspective of sponsor commitment. It begins with an examination of the relationship literature, highlighting the important role of commitment between collaborative partners, and concludes by exploring a range of implications for sponsorship managers embracing a broader view of commitment.

Despite increasing attention in the marketing literature devoted to market orientation and relationship marketing issues, the sponsorship relationship has not been examined according to these perspectives. In this study, a number of propositions linking market orientation, collaborative communications, trust and commitment are developed and examined empirically in a sponsorship context. The findings suggest that market orientation and collaborative communication are both important determinants of sponsorship commitment, defined as a sponsor’s preparedness to leverage the association. Results concerning trust are somewhat more ambiguous. The implications of these findings are discussed in conclusion, along with directions for future research.

While various scholars have identified relationship marketing objectives as a rationale for sports sponsorship engagement, analytic investigations of the implications of a relational approach to the corporate sponsorship network have been slow to materialize. The purpose of this paper is to advance the discussion of sponsorship as a means of industrial sports marketing towards a network conceptualization, which can be dissected from both the perspective of the sponsoring firms and that of the sponsored enterprise.

This paper employs an illustrative case‐based approach to the application of network analysis tools as a means of exploring the relationship marketing dynamics of corporate sponsorship portfolios.

Several research propositions and applicable network analytics are presented within the context of Formula One racing team sponsorship portfolios. The concepts of network range, density, power, growth, and social capital are explored in regards to their influence on network actors and prospective actors.

Though often neglected in sponsorship research, B2B relational objectives are the focus of this paper, where various evaluative methods are suggested and their dynamic implications illustrated.

By utilizing an international contextual case and explicating several analytic network measures, this research extends the investigation of sports sponsorship beyond the image and awareness‐based objectives that have dominated this area of research. This application of social network analysis to the study of inter‐organizational networks in sport builds on the discussion of sponsorship as a bilateral relationship and advances the dialog towards a broader exploration of corporate sponsors and sport enterprises as network partners.

Sponsorship literature is deficient in terms of its failure to consider the process of managing sponsorship programmes, in particular the problem of commitment that has been identified in many relationships. Employing football shirt sponsorship dyads (football clubs and shirt sponsors) as a focus, this paper sets out to investigate the determinants of sponsorship commitment. Using quantitative and qualitative techniques, three important determinants are identified: shared values, perceived benefits and opportunistic behaviour. Following validation of these findings, structured interviews revealed a distinction between short-term and long-term 'committers'. This paper therefore concludes by proposing a matrix of football shirt sponsorship commitment which explores the implications of engaging in a relationship with the different 'committer' types.