Providing value to sports sponsor – An exploratory study of Finnish athletes and sports clubs in cross-country skiing and golf

Abstract

Sponsorship is an important part of sports as it is typically one of the main sources of finance for athletes and sports clubs. Thus, athletes and sports clubs seeking for sponsors should know what they can offer in return. Through interviews with Finnish athletes and sports clubs in cross-country skiing and golf, this thesis examines different ways for providing value to a sponsor, identifies the best ones according to the interviewees, and gives opinions of the ways that do not include visibility of a sponsor in the perspective of a sponsored entity.

This thesis identified numerous methods for athletes and sports clubs from using a logo of a sponsor to utilizing networking and B2B opportunities between sponsors and making straight commercial agreements. In addition, suggestions for the best ways were given although it was discovered that the best ways varied between the interviewees. Furthermore, this thesis found that the ways not including the visibility of a sponsor were more important for athletes than sports clubs.