Unhealthy product sponsorship of Australian national and state sports organisations

Abstract

Issue addressed: Marketing of products harmful to the health of children has been found to be prolific, and occurs across multiple media platforms and in several settings, including organised sport, thus potentially undermining the health benefits inherent in sports participation. Through website audits, this study investigated the nature and extent of unhealthy food, beverage, alcohol and gambling sponsorship across peak Australian sporting organisations. Methods: A structured survey tool identified and assessed sponsoring companies and products displayed on the websites of the 53 national and state/territory sport governing bodies in Australia receiving government funding. Identified products were categorised as healthy or unhealthy, based on criteria developed by health experts. Results: There was a total of 413 websites operated by the 53 sports, with 1975 company or product sponsors identified. Overall, 39 sports had at least one unhealthy sponsor, and 10% of all sponsors were rated as unhealthy. Cricket had the highest percent of unhealthy sponsors (27%) and the highest number of unhealthy food and beverage sponsors (n = 19). Rugby Union (n = 16) and Australian Football (n = 4) had the highest numbers of alcohol and gambling sponsors respectively. Conclusions: Sponsorship of Australian sport governing bodies by companies promoting unhealthy food and beverage, alcohol and gambling products is prevalent at the state/territory and national level.So what? Regulatory guidelines should be established to limit such sponsorship and ensure that it is not translated into promotions that may reach and influence children.

The impact of unhealthy food sponsorship vs. pro-health sponsorship models on young adults’ food preferences: a randomised controlled trial

“…Food and beverage companies exploit elite sports’ marketing potential, with prevalent sponsorship of various Australian sports through their governing bodies by companies promoting unhealthy food, alcohol and gambling products. This has led to calls for regulatory guidelines to be established to limit such sponsorship [9]. At the same time, opportunity exists for public health organisations to capitalise on elite sport sponsorship for reaching young adults with well-aligned healthier eating and body weight messages.…”

Marketing Food and Beverages to Youth Through Sports

“…Finally, the pervasiveness and effectiveness of unhealthy food and beverage advertising have been studied in several sports sponsorship settings. In the realm of children’s sport in Australia, half of food company sponsorships did not fulfill healthy sponsorship criteria [79], and 10% of national and state sports organizations in Australia have unhealthy food/beverage, alcohol, or gambling sponsors [80]. Moreover, an analysis of the sponsorship of community sports organizations showed that the majority of food company sponsors did not meet healthiness criteria ratings developed by a panel of 10 government officials and experts in nutrition, health promotion, physical activity, and health economics [81].…”

Impact of exposure to alcohol marketing and subsequent drinking patterns among youth and young adults

“…Event sponsorship positions a product or brand for a certain customer segment so that there is a match between the product or brand, and the demographics and psychographics of the event attendees. Sponsorship of sports teams and sporting events is one example (Macniven 2015). O’Brien and Carr conducted a frequency analysis of all verbal and visual references to alcohol on the televised Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix 2014 (O’Brien 2015), demonstrating on average, 11 promotional references to alcohol per minute during the race.…”

“…Alcohol-branded merchandise or alcohol promotional items represent another way that alcohol companies increase brand exposure among young people (Jones 2016; McClure 2006). Youth and young adults are further exposed to alcohol marketing through sponsorship of sports teams and events (Macniven 2015). Authors of a systematic review found positive associations between exposure to alcohol sports sponsorship and increased levels of consumption, including two studies reporting significant associations between exposure to sports sponsorship and increased levels of consumption among children (Brown 2016).…”