No abstract

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.

This study explores the influence of shirt sponsorship advertising on different attitudinal variables reflecting team and brand equity in cross-cultural settings. Three major patterns of on-shirt advertising were identified: the logo-free or 'clean' approach practised in the National Hockey League (NHL); the restrained approaches used in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL); and the unrestrained approach typical of the majority of European hockey leagues.A cross-cultural sample of respondents from North America and Europe was used for testing the influence of intensity of on-shirt advertising on three variables: attitude towards the team; team-related purchase intention; and sponsor brand recall rate. The study also addressed the issue of cross-cultural differences between the fans and explored the peculiarities of how tested effects work in North America and Europe.