Beyond Sponsorship: Re-Framing Corporate-Sport Relationships

The purpose of this paper is to draw from broader management and marketing literature to provide a framework for assessing interorganisational relationships between sport organisations and corporate sponsors. This proposed framework seeks to extend current perceptions of the reasons and objectives for linkages between corporate sponsors and sport properties. Relationship marketing is an integral element of this framework, given its importance to the internal readiness of firms to enter into and manage long-term relationships, and to assist potential partners as they seek to find the best fit to meet their immediate and strategic objectives through interorganisational linkages. The intended contribution of this paper lies in its identification of three broad elements for consideration by sport organisations and potential or existing corporate sponsors. These elements include: context (external, internal), mutually derived benefits, and varying strengths of relationships. The theoretical underpinnings for each of the three elements, and the justification for their inclusion in this framework are discussed.