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You are here: Home > Current Topics > Wanna Argument? > Sponsorship in Sport: A Waste of Space? > What is sponsorship? |
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Wanna Argument?Sponsorship in Sport: A Waste of Space?What is sponsorship and why should a commercial organisation agree to sponsor a sporting event?Simply put, it's the endorsement of a product or brand by an individual, team or event. A detailed definition comes from the International Chamber of Commerce. Sponsorship is: 'any commercial agreement where a sponsor contractually provides financing or other support, in order to establish an association between the sponsor's image, brands or products, and a sponsorship property, in return for the rights to promote this association and/or certain agreed direct or indirect benefits'. As a means of communicating with existing or potential consumers, sponsorship is attractive because TV advertising is comparatively expensive. It costs more than £20,000 for a 30 second TV advert broadcast on ITV, in order to reach a peak time audience. Sponsorship means that the commercial brand name is visible to spectators on a TV screen throughout an event. TV viewers are exposed to the brand continuously, not just for thirty seconds during the advertising breaks. 
International cricket attracts big crowds and big sponsors. © Damon Freeman, Stock.Xchng In the case of long duration events, such as Test Match cricket, this could mean TV viewers being exposed to your brand name for up to 8 hours. But sponsorship is about more than just having your brand recognised on the TV, it's more about highlighting the proximity of a brand to things that consumers love, so that a relationship develops between the brand and the event/individual/team being sponsored. |
