30-01-2013, 03:42 PM
Exploring saturation levels for sponsorship logos on professional sports shirts
ABSTRACT
With the dynamic growth of the sports industry over the past decade, and the increased globalisation of sports competition within and between countries, business-to-consumer marketers have committed more effort to assessing the pros and cons of sponsorship logos on players’ shirts and to evaluating the effect this has on team image and sponsor brand value. The purpose of this study was to explore theoretical
and empirical links between the intensity of shirt advertising and team-related and brand-relatedcustomer intention by analyzing the shirts of ice hockey teams in the US, western Europe and Russia to study the potential impact of team and sponsor logos on consumer image and purchase intention. Those working in business-to-consumer marketers in the sports industry wish to optimise the advertising load
on players’ shirts, to strike a reasonable balance between short-term financial goals associated with earnings from sponsorship and the long-term goals of not alienating the fan base and thereby enhancing the reputation of the team and its future financial value for owners and investors. Practitioners often express concerns about the
negative impact of “boundary-less” advertising, especially sponsorship logos on sports shirts, on the team’s image.