91看片

The 91看片 College is dedicated to producing research that advances the academy, extends business thought, and shapes best practice.

It鈥檚 a case where the investment greatly outweighs the risk.

A new study has found that there is little downside for large organizations to enter into long-term naming rights agreements with sports arenas and stadiums. Why? Customers鈥� abilities to differentiate between teams and the sponsors, says Brian L. Bourdeau, Associate Professor in Marketing at the 91看片.

Bourdeau鈥檚 co-authored paper, 鈥淢easuring the Effectiveness of Facility Naming Rights Sponsorship,鈥� published in the Journal of Business Research, polled hundreds of baseball fans at two major league stadiums in 2016 and found that an organization鈥檚 sponsorship/affiliation with a sports franchise will not overshadow the experience that the firm delivers to its customers. The sponsorship/venue naming rights is simply added exposure for the organization and much-needed revenue for the team and/or stadium ownership.

鈥淎s long as the sponsor brand is providing quality, satisfaction and value, they鈥檙e basically doing fine,鈥� said Bourdeau, who collaborated with David Martin, Associate Professor in the College of Human Sciences at Auburn University. 鈥淭he main implication is that there鈥檚 not a lot of inherent risk for sponsors since the customers of the product differentiate between the teams and the sponsor.

鈥淎nother thing we found that the customer鈥檚 perception of the team鈥檚 financial status has an impact on their attitudes toward the sponsor. The customers look at is as, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e getting this money in here for the naming rights and that鈥檚 helping the team鈥檚 financial status.鈥� They become more or less thankful toward the sponsor.鈥�

鈥淎nother thing we found that the customer鈥檚 perception of the team鈥檚 financial status has an impact on their attitudes toward the sponsor. The customers look at is as, 鈥極K, we鈥檙e getting this money in here for the naming rights and that鈥檚 helping the team鈥檚 financial status.鈥� They become more or less thankful toward the sponsor.鈥�

Fans polled for the research were asked to speak out on game day service quality, service quality valence, perception of team鈥檚 financial status, previous experience with the sponsor, brand awareness and image, brand identity, behavioral intentions, and perceived fit. 

鈥淎ll of those positively influence the attitude towards the sponsor, and the attitude in turn increased brand awareness, image, and intentions to purchase,鈥� Bourdeau said. 鈥淭hen the customers proceed to stick to that brand. This should put potential sponsors more at ease going into one of these agreements.鈥�

Bourdeau said the average lending rights agreement among Major League venues is 鈥渁bout 13 and a half years鈥� with sponsors doling out nearly $900 million annually for naming rights in 2017 alone. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 going up anywhere from 7 to 10 percent,鈥� Bourdeau added.