Following recent increases in the financial value of sport sponsorship
programs, some commentators believe this has been accompanied by the
development of sponsorship management practices. Despite this, there are
still widespread concerns about some of these practices. This study
therefore sets out to examine and comment upon the practice of sponsorship
management from an English perspective, specifically in soccer. This is an
area of sponsorship that has previously been examined and is a sport in
which there have been significant commercial developments in recent years.
Using face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, 43 corporations provided
information about their sponsorship programs. While there is some evidence
of good practice, a continuing failure to effectively manage sport
sponsorship programs is clear. The study thus concludes by making
recommendations about the future development of sport sponsorship
management.The authors would like to
acknowledge the contribution made by Victoria Wynn during the formative
stages of the study.