Sports sponsorship from a business perspective : A study of four Swedish companies operating in sports sponsorship

A lot has happened to the Swedish sport landscape over the years, especially in regards to commercialization and professionalization processes. A result of this development is that many companies today want to be associated with sports and therefore choose to invest large parts of their marketing budget in sports sponsorship. The motives behind these investments have long been characterized by increasing sales, but as the sports sponsorship landscape has changed, many new motives, but also new alternative ways of working with the phenomenon have been developed. In relation to this background, the purpose of the study was therefore to create an understanding of what motives four Swedish companies have with sports sponsorship, and how the companies reason between sports sponsorship at individual versus club level. To achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative method has been used where semi-structured interviews have been conducted with four different companies engaged in sports sponsorship in the Swedish market. To gain a deeper understanding of the investigated phenomenon, two complementary theories have been used. The A-ERIK-model has been used as the main theory because it focuses on the motives behind sponsorship, and further the exchange theory has been utilized to complete the actual relationship impact on the exchange at a sponsorship. The results show that the motives at a general level look quite similar for companies regardless of which sports sponsorship they engage in, however, it is possible to distinguish some differences in how companies reason about sports sponsorship at individual compared to club level, with emphasis on relationships