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Exactly what is sports sponsorship, anyway?

Sponsorship has been defined in several different ways depending on which side of the table one sits.  Obviously, there is the selling side, but also the operational and marketing sides as well.  Dr. Tony Meenaghan, in the International Journal of Sports Marketing defined it as, “… the provision of assistance either financial or in-kind to an activity by a commercial organization for the purpose of achieving commercial objectives.”  There have been many other common definitions since Dr. Meenaghan first wrote his in 1984; however, Denis Sandler and David Shani, well known authors in the sports marketing arena coined the following widely accepted definition of sport sponsorship:

            "Sport sponsorship is the provision of resources (i.e., money, people, equipment) by an organization directly to an event or activity in exchange for a direct association to the event or activity. The providing organization can then use this direct association to achieve their corporate, marketing, or media objectives”

Interscholastic athletic departments across the country are now selling almost everything: broadcast opportunities to local radio and television stations; seeking corporations who will agree to contribute financially in return for facility or event naming rights; deals with food and beverage companies to distribute their product exclusively in exchange for new electronic scoreboards, uniforms, or equipment; and soliciting  advertising revenue from game programs, field and arena signage, locker rooms, bus and rooftop signage, and halftime promotions.  And this is just the beginning.

The NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations) signed a sponsorship deal in 1998 with the Quaker Oats Company for its brand Gatorade beverages.  Since that initial sponsorship deal, the NFHS has been involved in many other sponsorship programs including: developing the first national television package for high-school athletics made possible by sponsors; promotional ventures involving the federation's magazines and drug-awareness programs; paid endorsements by high-school coaches for athletic gear; and most recently creating the first-ever national event hosted by the NFHS in 2006, "T-Mobile Invitational" high school basketball tournament.  Sponsorship has become such an integral part of the NFHS and the programs the association offers that a marketing department was developed to design corporate partnerships and sponsorship programs to meet specific marketing goals and objectives of businesses and corporations interested in sponsoring education-based interscholastic activities.

There is no reason that a local school district should not be able to capitalize on the same kind of programs and benefits that will enable it to provide improved facilities and services to its students, all the while serving the marketing needs of local companies.  If you want to know how there are many companies available today to assist in evaluating the school districts assets and how to use them to generate valuable income. 

Why not take a chance today?