Outsourcing sports sponsorship activities: a multi-theoretical approach

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand and explain why some professional sports organizations outsource their sponsorship-related activities to sports marketing agencies, whereas others purposely retain these activities in-house. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies transaction cost economics (TCE) and the resource-based view (RBV) to outsourcing of sports sponsorship activities. It examines the extent determinants descending from these theories influence the sourcing choice of professional sports organizations. Findings This paper argues that determinants derived from TCE and the RBV are useful to understand the factors likely to influence an outsourcing decision and to analyze which sponsorship-related activities are more or less likely to be outsourced. However, these determinants are insufficient to shed light on why sports organizations arrive at different conclusions about their internal and external environments. With recourse to contingency theory, the authors propose two additional contingencies that affect the sourcing decision: a sport organization’s size and its degree of professionalism. This integrative conceptual framework improves the understanding of sports sponsorship outsourcing, makes several propositions, and paves the way for future empirical research in sports sponsorship. Originality/value This is the first paper to apply classical theoretical concepts to outsourcing sports sponsorship activities. As a conceptual paper, it hopes to stimulate further research on outsourcing in sports sponsorship and on the relationship between sports organizations and sports marketing agencies.

An examination of the effects of outsourcing ticket sales force management

“…These areas frequently include functions such as concession management and corporate hospitality (Crow, 2011;Kaplan, 2016;Steinbach, 2000), venue security (Hall et al, 2012), athletic field maintenance (Anderson, 2005;Nicholson, 2014) and aquatic operations (Mowen et al, 2009). Similar to other business sectors, the sport industry has also seen significant outsourcing of sales and marketing management in a variety of settings (Burden and Li, 2009;Dreier, 2011;Dietl et al, 2017;Lee et al, 2016;Lee and Walsh, 2011;Muret, 2011aMuret, ,b, 2013Popp, 2014;Scanlan, 2017;Schoettle, 2012;Zullo et al, 2014). The decision to outsource sales management has been examined extensively utilizing a variety of sport organizations as cases, such as European football (Dietl et al, 2017;Manoli and Hodgkinson, 2017), minor league baseball (Burden and Li, 2009) and National Collegiate Athletic Association departments (Lee et al, 2016;Lee and Walsh, 2011;Popp and McEvoy, 2012;Walker et al, 2009;Zullo et al, 2014).…”

“…One group of studies examines the managerial decision-making process of whether to contract with a third-party vendor or keep marketing and sales operations inhouse. For example, Dietl et al (2017) utilize multiple theories, such as transaction cost economics (TCE) and resource-based view (RBV) to hypothesize why German Bundesliga clubs might choose to outsource their sponsorship sales functions. Similarly, Burden and Li (2009) surveyed Minor League Baseball general managers to determine how many clubs outsourced marketing functions (41% did), the primary motives for outsourcing (e.g.…”

“…One function commonly outsourced among sport organizations is the sales force, particularly sponsorship and ticket sales. For example, North American major and minor league franchises, as well as National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) university athletics departments, have hired third-party firms to help sell corporate naming rights for venues (Muret, 2013), while European football clubs, minor league baseball franchises and university athletic departments, among others, have partnered with marketing agencies to sell sponsorships on their behalf (Burden and Li, 2009;Dietl et al, 2017;Lee and Walsh, 2011;Zullo et al, 2014). North American major league sport teams have also contracted firms to help sell luxury suites and premium seating (Dreier, 2011;Muret, 2011b).…”

“…Several prior studies have examined the decision-making process of outsourcing sales functions within sport organizations (Burden and Li, 2009;Dietl et al, 2017;Lee and Walsh, 2011;Popp and McEvoy, 2012;Zullo et al, 2014), and a handful of researchers have investigated the relationship between members of the sport organization and employees of the third-party sales firm (Lee et al, 2016;Manoli and Hodgkinson, 2017;Walker et al, 2009). To date, however, no prior studies within the field have empirically tested whether outsourced companies out-produce in-house sales forces, based on actual sales revenue.…”

The Role of Culture in Sports Sponsorship: an Update

“…If the sponsor and sport property can develop a shared culture and shared objectives, there is a better chance that their relationship will be sustainable, which enhances the benefits of the relationship (32).…”