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The process by which a new shirt sponsorship was struck between SEGA Europe and Arsenal FC is described through a case study. The circumstances leading both organizations to seek out a sponsorship partner are identified. SEGA Europe was preparing to launch its new Dreamcast video console in Europe and wished to create a high-impact marketing program. Arsenal was looking for a company to replace its former shirt sponsor JVC. The case study also provides information about the sponsorship deal, the first 18 months of the partnership, and draws out some some more general lessons.

The study extends the research on visual imagery in advertising to sports marketing. The results suggest that excessive on-shirt advertising is wasteful for sponsorships and harmful for team image. However, a strategy of moderate advertising increases the brand recall rate and does not harm the team's image. From a managerial perspective, this study highlights the risks of excessive use of sponsor logos and provides a framework for determining the optimal level of on-shirt advertising for professional teams.

The study extends the research on visual imagery in advertising to sports marketing. The results suggest that excessive on-shirt advertising is wasteful for sponsorships and harmful for team image. However, a strategy of moderate advertising increases the brand recall rate and does not harm the team's image. From a managerial perspective, this study highlights the risks of excessive use of sponsor logos and provides a framework for determining the optimal level of on-shirt advertising for professional teams.

While numerous studies have investigated the returns firms receive for their investments in sponsorship, no study to date has examined the potential for organizational performance to contribute to the continuance of business to business (B2B) relationships. Thus, this study aims to illuminate B2B sponsorship relationships in isolating whether firm decision-makers are like fair-weathered fans, in that they are more likely to stick with successful organizations.

An advanced quantitative modeling approach, survival analysis, is applied to a data set of more than 350 sponsorships to isolate the impact of performance on B2B decision-making.

Even after controlling for several potentially confounding variables, results indicate that every point per game earned by English football clubs decreases the probability of the sponsoring firm exiting the agreement by 54.4%.

These findings provide empirical evidence of the impact of the sponsored organization’s performance to influence B2B firm decision-making, a novel finding yet to be confirmed in the sponsorship-linked marketing literature.

Over the past several years, growth in sponsorship spending has surpassed that of traditional marketing and promotional approaches, as it has become an indispensable part of the marketing mix. Yet, despite considerable advances in the application of analytics across the sport industry, sponsorship revenue forecasting still largely relies on a decades-old methodology. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This research seeks to assist sport organizations by applying more advanced survival analysis methodologies to the study of shirt sponsorships of football clubs, utilizing more than 300 sponsorships of every team that has competed in the English Premier League (EPL) over the past 25 years.

The analysis of the lifetimes of shirt sponsorships provides several insights for those employed by European football clubs and tasked with managing these increasingly lucrative sponsorships. Notably, tests confirmed that survivor functions of EPL shirt sponsorships are significantly different than those that appeared solely in English Football League (EFL) Championship play. In addition, results found that the median lifetimes of shirt sponsorships of EPL clubs were more than one year longer, when compared to EFL clubs.

This research marks the first attempt in the literature to apply survival analysis methods to describe the lifetimes of European football shirt sponsorships. The results provide empirical evidence that the potential effects of promotion or relegation could have consequences for football clubs in the tens of millions of dollars, and illustrate the importance of providing those tasked with managing such partnerships with more advanced methodologies to assist in the organization’s sponsorship revenue forecasting activities.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to consider sponsorship embedded within a brand strategy and how fit between the sponsor's and the sponsored brand provides a platform for the integrated communication of brand values. The importance of a service dimension to the brand in the form of retail outlets is considered.

A case study research strategy was adopted. Other methods were used in the building of data and the triangulation of the findings: documentary analysis and participant observation also provided valuable insights. In particular, the environment in which the case study strategy was adopted demanded an understanding of the discourse on which the relationship was built and developed.

Explains how the company integrated the sponsorship relationship within its communications and placed the relationship at the centre of its redefined brand strategy. The close semantic fit between the sponsoring and sponsored organisation helped to facilitate a co‐branding relationship and the service dimension of the brand provided an opportunity for a comparatively rapid redefinition of brand values.

Develops an understanding of the methods by which sponsoring organisations may successfully meet corporate objectives. The findings show the considerable value of semantic fit if deployed appropriately.

This paper conceptually structured the research outcomes within the context of existing research relating to the two issues of brand strategy and semantic fit.

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.

This chapter provides a study of how gambling companies use the cultural and social capital of Newcastle United Football Club, in the English Premier League, to establish a connection with the club's fans to promote gambling. Newcastle United had two gambling sponsors during the period of this study, from 2017 to 2020, including a front of shirt sponsor, FUN88, an online gambling brand with a large following in Asia. Data were gathered from a range of sources, including from the social media platform, Twitter, to identify the methods the company used to engage fans and to encourage betting on the outcome of matches. The data from the study were explored thematically to describe the relationship developed between the football club and its principal gambling sponsor in order to drive business for the latter with the club's followers. The findings showed how FUN88 evoked Newcastle United's cultural tradition to promote gambling and generate business globally whilst the club actively promoted their ‘primary partner’ through its media channels. The lure of free match tickets was used to encourage fan engagement. Corporate practices promote the consumption of unhealthy commodities through their marketing whilst consumers (fans) are responsibilised for any harms engendered by their gambling practices. The ubiquity of gambling brands has enabled gambling to become a normalised part of football culture. The findings from this study show how FUN88 has used all elements of the sponsorship assemblage to create an emotional connection whilst engaging with Newcastle United's fans to increase consumption of its products.