Kazuyuki Kanosue, Kohei Kogiso, Daichi Oshimi and Munehiko Harada (eds.)Sports Management and Sports Humanities10.1007/978-4-431-55324-3_6

6. Sport Sponsorship in the Global Marketplace

Yosuke Tsuji¹

(1)

Department of Global Business, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan

Yosuke Tsuji

Email: yo@rikkyo.ac.jp

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce readers to some of the trends and strategies in the industry of global sport sponsorship. We are now living in an age of globalization. This phenomenon has permeated our lives and has had an enormous impact on them. Driven by economic and technological forces, these changes have affected the sport world as well. Because of globalization, sport fans now have access to international games through the Internet and satellite television. Reflecting this, sport teams and leagues, in order to generate more revenue, have started to place strategic importance on the global market. Globalization of sport and the growth of an international audience have attracted numerous multinational companies to sponsor sport teams and leagues. These companies, through the use of advanced technology, have employed numerous strategies to engage international fans. Some of the strategies described in this chapter include the use of foreign signage, virtual technology, and social media.

Keywords

GlobalizationSport marketingSport sponsorshipSocial mediaVirtual advertising

6.1 Introduction

In the past several decades, the world has become increasingly closer. We now have access to numerous products that are manufactured outside of our countries. For instance, a German living in France may purchase a brand new laptop that is designed in the US, assembled in China, and uses semiconductors from South Korea. We are living in a world where travel time has been shortened due to advances in transportation technology. Product availability has also been facilitated, and national economies are agreeing on partnerships that facilitate greater mobility of goods, services, money, and people. Accordingly, countries nowadays depend heavily on world trade for global resources such as petroleum, minerals, wood, water, and food. Scholars have coined the term globalization to describe this phenomenon. Globalization has been a popular topic among scholars as they have examined its antecedents and consequences from various scholarly perspectives, including but not limited to, those of sociology, economics, political science, business, and information technology. Numerous definitions exist for globalization. Robertson (1992) defines globalization as “the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole” (p. 8). The most commonly used definition of the process from an economic or a business perspective comes from the International Monetary Fund, which defines globalization as “the process through which an increasingly free flow of ideas, people, goods, services, and capital leads to the integration of economies and societies” (International Monetary Fund 2006). The sport world has experienced a similar phenomenon. For example, an individual from the Netherlands living in Spain can watch a televised broadcast of a Serie A game, part of the Italian soccer league competition, whose team’s players may come from Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, France, Guinea, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and Slovenia. These players could be wearing a pair of cleats that were designed in Germany and manufactured in South East Asia.

Numerous forces represented by new technology, multinational corporations, and international capital have ushered in the age of globalization (Harvey et al. 1996). According to Lizandra and Gladden (2005), the globalization of sport was driven by factors similar to those that aided in the global distribution of consumer and entertainment products. The initial impetus was the quest for new markets in which to sell products. Realizing the potential to sell sport in other countries, US professional leagues have expanded their market outlook. David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, understood that the US domestic market had matured, so he decided to take the league overseas (Gloede and Smith-Muniz 1987). A second factor involved the advent of new technology, which continues to grow and further facilitate the global distribution of sport products. Technological advances such as the Internet and satellite television allow a Manchester United (English premier league) fan living in Indonesia to access games. In this way, sport leagues and teams have been able to introduce their products to foreign countries. The globalization of sport has also seen numerous companies sponsor sporting events to reach a wider viewing audience. Sport, in general, is a universally appealing product; thus, it is cost-effective to reach desired markets by marketing products through sport (Thoma and Chalip 2003). The investments made by these corporations have also fueled the growth of sport globalization.

As globalization continues to permeate our society and influence changes in our lives, it is important for sport marketers understand the associated changes that affect sport and corporate sponsorship. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of the trends in sport sponsorship as it pertains to the global sport market. This chapter specifically focuses on three trends or strategies by which marketers have leveraged their products onto global consumers. The first section includes a case analysis of a sponsorship strategy in the US by Japanese companies. The second section discusses the advantages of virtual advertising in a global setting. The third section examines the role of new media (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) in sponsorship.

6.1.1 What Is Sponsorship?

Although sponsorship is considered to be a recent development, its history dates back to Ancient Greece (Masterman 2007). During that period, people invested in sport and art festivals to enhance their social standing (Sandler and Shani 1993). Similarly, ancient Roman aristocrats sponsored the Gladiators for political purposes, while wealthy business patrons sponsored chariot horse racing teams to demonstrate their social status (Masterman 2007; Sandler and Shani 1993). However, it was not until the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century that companies started to seek commercial gain by associating their product with sport (Masterman 2007). The most notable sponsorship was realized in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games in which Coca-Cola first acquired the designation as the Games’ “official soft drink” (Sandler and Shani 1993). From that point on, sponsorship grew to how we know it today, as a marketing communication tool, mainly due to the following reasons: advent of television, the prohibition of tobacco commercials on television (thus ushering these companies into sport sponsorship), and global consumers’ interest in sport.

The definition of sponsorship provided by (Meenaghan 1991) is “an investment, in cash or in kind, in an activity, in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that activity” (p. 36). This definition suggests that companies aim to achieve corporate objectives through sponsorship. Some of these corporate objectives include the creation of brand awareness, enhanced brand image, brand positioning, fostering relationships with fans, and increased sales (Cornwell and Maignan 1998). Companies have primarily sponsored sport teams, leagues, and events, but they have also sponsored arts, causes, entertainment, festivals, fairs, and membership organizations (IEG 2014). Of the above, sport has been far and away the most popular, attracting 70 % of the sponsorship investment. Sport is followed by entertainment (10 %), causes (9 %), arts (4 %) and festivals (4 %) (IEG 2014).

The total global sponsorship spending surpassed US $55 billion worldwide in 2013, an increase of 3.9 % from 2012. IEG (2014) projects the global sponsorship spending to grow by 4.1 % in 2014. By continents, companies in North America spent the most with US $19.8 billion, followed by Europe (US $14.5 billion), Asia (US $12.6 billion), and Central/South America (US $4 billion) (IEG 2014). With this significant increase in global sport sponsorship investments, the strategic importance of this communication platform has grown for companies’ executives (Amis and Cornwell 2005).

6.2 Trends in Global Sport Sponsorship

To ensure that the corporate objectives of the sponsoring companies are met, companies employ numerous strategies in the global sport marketplace. Some of the strategies and trends will be discussed in regard to global sport sponsorship.

6.2.1 Foreign Language Ads: The Case of Japanese Signage in US Ballparks

There has been an influx of Japanese baseball players in Major League Baseball (MLB) after the success of Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995. The total number of Japanese players who have ever played in MLB reached more than 50 after the 2013 season (Japaneseballplayers.com 2014). Following this increase, the popularity of MLB soared in Japan. This is evident by the number of people tuning-in to watch the sport, as well as in the increase in fees for the broadcasting rights. In 2003, more than 300 games were televised in Japan (Hong et al. 2005), drawing an average of 1.5 million Japanese viewers during the regular season (Epstein 2004). More recently, Japanese-born pitcher Yu Darvish’s MLB debut game obtained a 12.1 % rating, despite being broadcast in the morning (Ochiai 2012). In addition, the Japanese advertising company Dentsu negotiated a 6-year, $475 million broadcasting contract with MLB in 2012, an increase of US $200 million dollars over a similar, earlier 6-year span (Epstein 2004; Sports Business Daily 2012).

Capitalizing on the sporting event’s ability to draw large audiences and its potential to communicate to consumers (Andreff 2001; Wolfe et al. 1997/1998), Japanese corporations purchased stadium signage in American ballparks. For instance, Yomiuri Shimbun, the country’s leading newspaper, bought a space on the outfield fence at Yankee Stadium. Nintendo, the company that owns the Seattle Mariners, displayed its signage in Japanese at Safeco Field. In fact, Nintendo was one of eight Japanese companies to purchase signage at Safeco Field in 2007 (Reed 2007). Other companies such as, Dandy House and Casio have even purchased signage in ballparks where Japanese baseball players do not appear on the rosters (Reed 2007).

Japanese companies have sought to purchase signage behind home plate, which attracts the greatest attention from television viewers (Reed 2007). Of course, the attractiveness of this location comes with a hefty price tag. The cost for such a location can be $300,000 for half an inning at Fenway Park, while the cost at the Rangers ballpark may range from $120,000 to $160,000 per half-inning (Reed 2007). However, Japanese companies only need the space for a few games (e.g., 3 games) when their home country heroes are playing. The price for a prime location would be anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000 for a half inning at a ballpark such as the Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals (Reed 2007). The price is quite significant considering the minimal amount of time it actually appears on television.

Some Japanese corporations advertising in MLB games use Japanese characters on their signage to specifically target viewers in Japan (Rovell 2002; Reed 2007). This type of signage may be an eye-catching experience for viewers in Japan, as most viewers do not expect signage written in Japanese at foreign stadiums. Past studies have found that this novel and visually prominent signage increases attention (Till and Baack 2005). This is in accordance with the more general finding of Lynch and Srull (1982) observed that novel stimuli garnered more attention, were processed more often, and eventually recalled more often. Therefore, the corporate sponsors of signage at these games likely elicit greater awareness levels of their product. In addition, signage written in a foreign language may elicit different emotional responses from viewers (e.g., anger, pride, respect, etc.). Although these unique situations pose interesting marketing questions with respect to their effectiveness, there is a relative paucity of original research on the subject. Understanding the effectiveness of this type of media presentation will provide corporate sponsors, MLB, and its teams with valuable information.

Studies of sponsorship effectiveness have mostly focused on consumer responses to issues such as brand awareness, brand image, and purchase intentions (e.g., Cornwell et al. 2005). Brand awareness is important, as it is the first step in creating subsequent brand attitudes (e.g., Aaker 1991; Keller 2008). In turn, brand attitude and purchase intentions are important as they influence consumer behavior (e.g., Keller 2008). A study by Tsuji et al. (2009c) focused on the effectiveness of Japanese-language ads in US ballparks, specifically on viewers’ brand awareness and the factors affecting it. Their study focused on the Japanese brand Dandy House, which offers an exclusive day spa to men. The sample, which consisted of undergraduate students attending a university in Japan, found that unaided brand recall was 23.6 %, while aided brand recall was 21.3 %, and brand recognition was 41.6 %. While a direct comparison is impossible, recall recognition rates were similar to those of past studies (e.g., Turley and Shannon 2000). The study also found that the likelihood of unaided recall was higher in males who were interested in baseball. However, the likelihood of aided recall and recognition was lower in males who watched the game simply for the quality of the games.

The study by Tsuji et al. (2009c) was exploratory in nature and focused only on brand awareness. Future studies should be aimed at investigating brand awareness in various sport and countries. Furthermore, more research is needed with respect to the viewers’ attitude toward sponsorship signage and how it leads to attitudes toward brands. As more players challenge sport leagues overseas, we will see corporations following suit. Therefore, it is imperative that sport marketers understand the true effects of such sponsorship, and it is likely that more emphasis will be placed on sponsorship evaluation.

6.2.2 Virtual Advertising

The opportunity to watch televised sport has increased drastically during the past few decades. According to Shank (2009), four major US television networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX) carry more than 2,000 h of sport programming annually, and over 86,000 h of sport on cable television. In addition, viewing of televised sport remains strong. During Super Bowl XLVII, 108.41 million viewers watched the game in the US, the third most watched game in the history of the NFL (Baker 2013). On a global scale, more than 3.6 billion people tuned-in to the 2012 London Olympic Games (IOC 2012), while 3.2 billion watched the 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast (FIFA 2011). In the US, there are various sport specific channels available to viewers in addition to the major network broadcasters. There are channels that particularly focus on college sport (e.g., ESPN U, Fox College Sport), single sport (e.g., Fox Soccer Plus, Golf Channel, Tennis Channel), and outdoor sport (e.g., Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel). Furthermore, professional sport leagues, major college conferences, and individual universities have started carrying their own channels in the US (e.g., MLB Network, NBA TV, Big Ten Network, Pac-12 Network, Longhorn Network).

To capitalize on the viewing audience, companies have sponsored these sporting events in hopes of reaching their target markets. In general, these companies have used either television commercials or sponsorship signage. In return, sport properties receive financial commitments from sponsors (Wolfe et al. 1997/1998). The media completes the third part of this relationship by providing platforms for both the sport properties to increase revenue and for the sponsors to expose their product to the masses (Wolfe et al. 1997/1998). The media, meanwhile, uses sport to penetrate markets and attract viewing audiences that advertisers wish to reach (Goff and Ashwell 2005). In this manner, sport, media and sponsors are involved in a symbiotic relationship (Wolfe et al. 1997/1998).

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