Football clubs as mediators in sponsor-stakeholder relations

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Design/methodology/approach -The study is based on a case study approach, taking its point of departure in two sponsor brand management paradigms, the projective and relational paradigm. The case of Malmö FF in the Swedish top tier league and the club's official partners has been chosen to exemplify the commercially immature context. Findings -The study has shown that the most important value the club can provide for sponsors is to act as a mediator in sponsor-stakeholder relations. Exposure effects are subordinate to the relational effects sponsors achieve through their sponsorship.Research limitations/implications -The study indicates that the relational construct in the sponsorship literature should to a greater extent include sponsor-stakeholder relations, beyond the sponsor-club dyad, in a context of commercial immaturity. Practical implications -The results indicate that club management should engage in stakeholder management with a strong focus on stakeholders of sponsors to provide value for these sponsors. Originality/value -This study explores a new dimension to the relational construct of sponsorship, using the relational paradigm of brand management in a context of commercial immaturity. The mediating effect of the club is a contribution to the discourse on the relational construct.

Added value for sponsors: a study of network in football 2011–2018

“…In his case study of top Swedish football club Malmø FF, Junghagen (2018) found that exposure had a lower-than-expected value for several sponsors. Exposure was not a target in the agreement for this sponsor group; what was valuable for this type of sponsor group involved the network itself.…”

“…Exposure was not a target in the agreement for this sponsor group; what was valuable for this type of sponsor group involved the network itself. The recommendation for the owner of the sponsor network is to work with stakeholder management beyond the sponsor-club dyad (Junghagen, 2018). The arbitrator's role is, among other things, to visualise the network, lead the portfolio of sponsors, and set up an interaction between the sponsors (Cobbs, 2011;Ryan and Fahy, 2012).…”

“…The task of the arbitrator is to initiate new contacts between actors in a network (Cobbs, 2011). The network research indicates that the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a network can impact their success and profitability (Junghagen, 2018;Street and Cameron, 2007). Building reputation and establishing competence in B2B markets are also important motives for sponsorship in many industrial enterprises (Blomb€ ack and Axelsson, 2007).…”

“…The use of “sponsorship–relationship” and “sponsorship network” as terms in articles on sponsorship refers almost exclusively to the sponsor–sponsorship object relationship. Very few studies examine the networks that sponsorship objects establish and that facilitate the creation of value for sponsors (the few that do include Cobbs (2011), Junghagen (2018), Olkkonen (2001) Olkkonen et al (2000), Pieters et al (2012), Ryan and Fahy (2012), Street and Cameron (2007) and Wagner et al (2017)).…”

Comparing perceived brand positioning through social representations among registered amateur football players

“…A considerable amount of research has focused on sports brands, such as teams or clubs (Ara ujo, Pablo de Carlos and Fraiz, 2014;Gasparetto, Barajas and Fernandez-Jardon, 2018;Junghagen, 2018;Richelieu and Desbordes, 2013;Richelieu and Lessard, 2014), and on the retail branding strategies of professional football clubs (Szymoszowskyj, Winand, Kolyperas and Sparks, 2016). Little research has focused on the sporting goods brands used by registered amateur football players.…”