tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/sports-sponsorship-4875/articlesSports sponsorship – The Conversation2023-11-10T00:27:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2173692023-11-10T00:27:54Z2023-11-10T00:27:54ZPerth’s Optus Stadium has drawn more consumer anger after the outage. Another case of the ‘stadium curse’?<p>Looming over the Swan River in Perth, a shiny sporting structure boldly declares “OPTUS STADIUM Yes”. After the disastrously prolonged communication <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/australias-optus-hit-by-national-network-outage-2023-11-07/">outage</a> this week, many will have <a href="https://twitter.com/richo3000/status/1722197742360117639">shouted</a> “No”, or other words requiring asterisks in respectable media. </p>
<p>Sport stadium naming rights are controversial at the best of times – so why do corporates pay so much for them? And what are the risks?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-crisis-optus-appears-to-be-ignoring-communications-101-217265">In a crisis, Optus appears to be ignoring Communications 101</a>
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<h2>Collateral damage</h2>
<p>Optus bought the ten-year rights from the Western Australian government in 2017 for a reported <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-08/how-the-optus-perth-stadium-naming-rights-deal-stacks-up/9130838">A$50 million</a>. </p>
<p>This week’s public relations disaster stands in stark contrast to the company’s optimistic <a href="https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2017/11/optus-says-yes-to-naming-rights-for-new-world-class-perth-stadium">announcement</a> that year, celebrating “a combination of mobile network expansion, coupled with game-changing entertainment experiences for events at the new Optus Stadium”. </p>
<p>Instead, the arrangement has become a <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinDubicki/status/1722110610174095541">focus</a> of consumer anger towards the company, with the sport site suffering collateral damage. </p>
<p>The game has indeed changed, but not in the desired direction.</p>
<h2>Named and shamed</h2>
<p>From the outset, Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/zak-to-the-future-liberals-exhume-perth-stadium-naming-rights-debate-20210208-p570n3.html">objected</a> to the erasure of Perth from the stadium’s title. </p>
<p>Instead of anchoring the stadium to place for global marketing purposes, he argued, it could be anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>Optus’s troubles this week gave him a <a href="https://twitter.com/BasilZempilas/status/1722079543526392167">free kick</a> on X (formerly Twitter), where he said:</p>
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<p>The Optus Stadium naming rights arrangement never looks good on days like this. Bad decision any day – terrible look today.</p>
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<p>Given the risks of such associations, why are businesses attracted to having their names and logos mounted on sports infrastructure? </p>
<p>Ever since <a href="https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781849661577">sport and media</a> converged, corporate brands joined the party. </p>
<p>It should be a fairly straightforward exchange – sport receives money and kudos, sponsors get profile and assumed good will. This is why companies advertise on sport clothing and equipment. </p>
<p>Stadium naming rights, though, make brands even more prominent by imprinting themselves on the cathedrals of sport.</p>
<p>But in the middle of a corporate crisis, reputations can be reduced to rubble. </p>
<p>Sydney’s newly rebuilt <a href="https://commbankstadium.com.au/">Commbank Stadium</a> was hardly the best advertisement for rugby league in Parramatta during the <a href="https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/banking">Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry</a>, for example.</p>
<p>Self-inflicted brand casualty <a href="https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2023/09/01/qantas-turnaround-week-from-hell">Qantas</a> previously had naming rights over the Sydney Entertainment Centre, which was known as the <a href="https://www.eventfinda.com.au/venue/sydney-entertainment-centre-darling-harbour">Qantas Credit Union Arena</a>. Once home of the Sydney Kings and Sydney Uni Flames basketball teams, the venue was eventually demolished. </p>
<p>After its recent PR disasters, it seems unlikely Qantas would be rushing to get its name all over big venues again. It could, as in the Optus case, end up serving as a costly, flashing focal point for consumer rage.</p>
<h2>The stadium curse?</h2>
<p>Some analysts have <a href="https://nzfc.ac.nz/archives/2003/pdf/Maberly_Pierce_Vornik.pdf">argued</a> acquiring sport stadium naming rights is a sign of corporate indulgence, frequently indicating a company is in decline. </p>
<p>Others have called it the “<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2010/01/20/The-Stadium-Curse:-Naming-Deals-Gone-Bust.html">stadium curse</a>” or “<a href="https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2001/12/25/the-stadium-jinx/">stadium jinx</a>”, whereby stadium naming rights are mysteriously associated with corporate peril, even collapse.</p>
<p>Yet, despite these anxieties, sport stadia have no lack of big-time suitors in pursuit of prestige signage. Entry to this club takes a <a href="https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/naming-rights">lot of capital</a>, which is why banks, insurance companies, car manufacturers, hoteliers, communication conglomerates, entertainment companies and airlines predominate. </p>
<p>The likes of Melbourne’s AAMI Park and Kia Arena, or Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, are conspicuous examples of the corporate love affair with sporting real estate.</p>
<p>Smaller venues like PointsBet Stadium (Cronulla) and BlueBet Stadium (Penrith) are named after sport gambling companies, especially in association with <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-clubs-brace-for-multimillion-dollar-hit-from-new-gambling-ad-bans-20231030-p5eg5a.html">rugby league</a>. Here, physical spaces are used to attract customers to “punt” online. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14413523.2023.2260079#:%7E:text=The%20integration%20of%20gambling%20cultures,connections%20between%20the%20two%20activities.">gamblification of sport</a> is unpopular among <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-28/online-gambling-advertising-sports-broadcasts-computer-games/102531432">citizens and politicians</a> who are troubled by the cultivation of children and the malign social impact on vulnerable adults.</p>
<p>Traditionalist fans also <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256195592_Fans'_Resistance_to_Naming_Right_Sponsorships_-_Why_Stadium_Names_Remain_the_Same_for_Fans">resent</a> the names of their hallowed stadium being hawked around the marketplace and switched with the latest contract.</p>
<p>Confusingly, Melbourne’s Disney-themed Marvel Stadium has also been known as Colonial Stadium, Telstra Dome and Etihad Stadium in the last two decades.</p>
<p>For this reason, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Adelaide Oval and the Sydney Cricket Ground have all resisted commercial naming rights. </p>
<p>Accor Stadium in Sydney is still often called Stadium Australia by the historically inclined and ABC broadcasters concerned about their <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/edpols/12-commercial-references/13644020">editorial independence and integrity</a>.</p>
<h2>Aversion to a rival team’s sponsor</h2>
<p>Stadium naming is a conspicuous means of marking sports territory, but fans may even feel an aversion to a rival team’s sponsor in the highly partisan world of sport. </p>
<p>Marketing scholars have developed the concept of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11002-017-9441-6">oppositional loyalty</a> to capture this antagonism of sport fans to the products and services associated with “the enemy”. </p>
<p>So branding a home stadium might turn both diehard fans and their fiercest opponents off the company paying so much for the naming rights.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the association of sports, sponsors and grand buildings has enduring appeal. </p>
<p>The Sydney Opera House may not be a sport stadium as such, but it does <a href="https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/womens/womensworldcup/australia-new-zealand2023/news/five-more-fifa-legends-to-grace-the-sydney-opera-house-forecourt">host sport events</a>. </p>
<p>Its famous sails are coveted by many sports, especially horse racing, to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/09/sydney-opera-house-racing-ad-disrupted-as-protesters-shine-torches-on-sails">chagrin</a> of those who protest “our house is not for sale”. </p>
<p>On the other side of the continent, Optus Stadium would likely just settle for a full house with a functioning communications network.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sydney-olympics-how-did-the-best-games-ever-change-australia-145926">The Sydney Olympics: How did the 'best games ever' change Australia?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rowe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Stadium naming rights are controversial at the best of times, so why do companies pay so much for them?David Rowe, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Research, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2100472023-07-20T22:13:45Z2023-07-20T22:13:45ZWhat the end of Nike’s sponsorship means for Hockey Canada<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538611/original/file-20230720-19-329n1c.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C35%2C3982%2C2934&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nike has made it clear that its support of Hockey Canada is contingent on the organization behaving in a transparent and accountable manner.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-the-end-of-nikes-sponsorship-means-for-hockey-canada" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nike-permanently-ends-hockey-canada-support-1.6909029">Nike has officially ended its partnership with Hockey Canada</a> in the wake of <a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-the-problems-at-hockey-canada-will-be-difficult-without-leadership-changes-187751">the organization’s handling of sexual assault allegations</a> involving members of the 2018 men’s world junior team.</p>
<p>Nike originally <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9185115/nike-suspends-hockey-canada-partnership-scandal/">paused the relationship in October 2022</a>, but now has permanently ceased it after nearly 25 years of working with Hockey Canada. It joins a host of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2022/10/11/a-list-of-major-corporate-sponsors-that-have-pulled-support-for-hockey-canada.html">other sponsors that have also paused their support for Hockey Canada</a>, including Telus, Tim Hortons, Bauer Hockey, Canadian Tire, Scotiabank, Esso and Sobeys.</p>
<p>The relationships between sports organizations and their sponsors are incredibly fragile. They exist only so long as the sponsor sees tangible benefits in the relationship or as long as the sponsor’s money is not seen as a liability for the sports organization. </p>
<p>In the case of Nike and Hockey Canada, both of these reasons have failed. The unique relationship between the two parties has additional complexities that make the end of this sponsorship especially notable. </p>
<h2>A mutually beneficial departure?</h2>
<p>Even though Nike is the one that ended its partnership with Hockey Canada, the decision could be a positive development for both parties. In particular, it could end up benefiting Hockey Canada’s public image.</p>
<p>In 2018, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-hockey-canada-sexual-assault-allegations-3/">the <em>Globe and Mail</em> reported that a Nike Canada employee bought alcohol for Hockey Canada players</a> prior to the alleged sexual assault in 2018.</p>
<p>This alleged connection Nike has to the sexual assault scandal makes a relationship with them a liability for Hockey Canada <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2023/04/19/the-funding-is-back-but-can-public-trust-in-hockey-canada-be-restored.html">as they seek to demonstrate they are committed to good governance and transparency</a> moving forward. </p>
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<img alt="A blurred document with the Hockey Canada logo visible in the upper left hand corner" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538630/original/file-20230720-27-ixgiol.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A Hockey Canada document is reviewed by a member of Parliament during a House of Commons committee on Canadian Heritage looking into safe sport in Canada on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in October 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
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<p>In addition, Nike Canada is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nike-dynasty-gold-uyghurs-canada-1.6903013">currently under investigation for the potential use of forced Uyghur labour in China</a>. The allegation is that Nike Canada is the main customer of a factory that employs Uyghur workers that attend evening classes for “vocational training” and “patriotic education” purposes.</p>
<p>Lastly, both parties are likely to be subjected to a wave of renewed scrutiny once the <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/nhls-investigation-into-alleged-hockey-canada-sexual-assault-closer-to-the-end/">National Hockey League’s investigation into the sexual assault scandal</a> draws to a close. The opportunity for both parties to no longer be associated with one another could work in either’s favour.</p>
<h2>Nike’s foray into hockey</h2>
<p>Nike’s relationship with the sport of hockey itself is complex. Nike was previously listed as one of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210303051824/https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/corporate/partnerships/partners/premier">Hockey Canada’s premier marketing partners</a>, which play “a vital role in the participation and activations at Hockey Canada’s national events, and in creating best-in-class fan experiences at key international events.”</p>
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<img alt="A man wears a hockey uniform in front of a red wall blazoned with Nike and Hockey Canada logos" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=577&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538633/original/file-20230720-15-sbn271.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=725&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">National Hockey League player Simon Gagné wears the new Nike-designed hockey jersey and socks unveiled by Hockey Canada in Kelowna, British Columbia in 2005.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(CP PHOTO/Jeff Bassett)</span></span>
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<p>The Nike swoosh <a href="https://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/team-canada/men/junior/1999/home">has been a staple of the Team Canada uniform since 1999</a>. Nike has been the official uniform supplier for the Olympic Games, World Junior Championships, Men’s and Women’s World Championships and World Cups throughout the course of their relationship.</p>
<p>Additionally, Nike ventured beyond uniform production into the business of hockey equipment at the end of the last century. In 1994, <a href="https://macleans.ca/economy/business/what-all-the-nhl-ers-are-wearing/">Nike purchased Canadian hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer for $395 million</a> and began its aggressive expansion into the hockey landscape.</p>
<p>However, Nike’s hockey equipment venture was largely unsuccessful and Bauer was sold to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/business/22nike.html">investment firms Kohlberg and Co. and Roustan Inc. for $200 million in 2008</a>. </p>
<p>For this reason, Nike’s decision to end their partnership with Hockey Canada could be reflective of their broader strategy to leave the hockey marketplace, as much as an ethical statement on the organization or its current state. </p>
<h2>Hockey Canada’s future</h2>
<p>While the impact of this decision appears to have grave short-term financial consequences for Hockey Canada, it’s important to consider the scale of Hockey Canada’s cash reserves. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hockey-canada-federal-funding-1.6493025">Hockey Canada had nearly $25 million in cash at the end of June 2021</a>, $41.5 million in bonds and $77 million in equities across three trust and endowment funds. The total value of its assets increased by $20 million from 2020.</p>
<p>Certainly, their financial picture is not as rosy as it once was, given massive legal expenditures incurred over the past 24 months. However, the numbers from Hockey Canada have so far indicated that bankruptcy will not be imminent following Nike’s decision. </p>
<p>The organization will likely be able to find a replacement sponsor, as plenty of companies are eager to align themselves with the organization. In fact, <a href="https://twitter.com/rwesthead/status/1681042524650217472?s=20">according to sports journalist Rick Westhead</a>, Fanatics, a licensed sports merchandise company owned by American businessman Michael Rubin, could be a potential replacement.</p>
<p>Hockey Canada will be able to rebuild, including securing a new sponsor, introducing new jerseys and electing new leadership, but it still faces difficult obstacles in regaining public trust.</p>
<p>Is Hockey Canada truly committed to transparency, accountability and further regulatory oversight? The answer to this question will not only dictate the nature of future relationships between Hockey Canada and its sponsors or donors, but the connection felt between Canadians and their national teams.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210047/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taylor McKee receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada </span></em></p>The unique relationship between Nike and Hockey Canada makes the end of their decades-long sponsorship especially notable.Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor, Sport Management, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2097812023-07-19T20:45:09Z2023-07-19T20:45:09ZFIFA Women’s World Cup: Professional women athletes are still fighting for equitable sponsorship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538124/original/file-20230718-19-9jgo3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=129%2C9%2C1946%2C1147&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A United States women's national team member takes a shot during a FIFA Women's World Cup send-off soccer match in San Jose, Calif., on July 9, 2023. Sponsorship and marketing deals with women athletes are often performative and exploitative.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Josie Lepe)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/fifa-womens-world-cup-professional-women-athletes-are-still-fighting-for-equitable-sponsorship" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The 2023 Women’s World Cup is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/organisers-target-record-viewership-2023-womens-world-cup-australia-fa-boss-2023-01-27/">projected to be the most-watched</a> in tournament history and has seen a massive <a href="https://advanced-television.com/2023/07/17/report-womens-world-cup-to-net-308m-in-sponsorship/">surge in sponsor interest</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/soccer/article-the-womens-soccer-economy-is-exploding-despite-the-critics/">growth in commercial investment</a> of women’s soccer is deserved and overdue. Yet, sponsorship and marketing deals with many women athletes are performative at best as women’s national soccer teams <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-the-nasty-dispute-lurking-behind-the-canadian-womens-world-cup/">continue to fight for equitable investment from their federations</a>.</p>
<p>Sponsorship is a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/16184742.2016.1171375">mutually beneficial exchange of value</a> between multiple parties involving commercial potential. Because <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fifa-champion-worked-at-amazon-female-soccer-players-higher-pay-2021-7">many professional women athletes already work multiple jobs to earn a living wage</a>, some are forced to accept unfair deals. </p>
<p>In addition, many corporations are able to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723515615349">cultivate a positive public image</a> while exploiting women’s labour.</p>
<h2>Losing sponsorship and labour exploitation</h2>
<p>As part of our recent sport management research into this issue, we worked with current professional women soccer players from the United Kingdom (Women’s Championship and Women’s Super League) and the United States (National Women’s Soccer League) who had a sponsorship deal at one time in their careers.</p>
<p>Because our study was centred on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2016.10.002">storytelling as a form of research</a>, we will share some excerpts from the soccer players we spoke to that highlight the inequities women continue to face in sport. </p>
<p>We also worked with average professional athletes, rather than the upmost elite who have multiple lucrative partnership deals. These average athletes still played in the world’s top leagues, but were not as widely recognized as the top players of their sports.</p>
<h2>Olivia’s story of losing sponsorship</h2>
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<span class="caption">A goalkeeper picks up the ball before a FIFA Women’s World Cup send-off soccer match in San Jose, Calif., on July 9, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Josie Lepe)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Olivia is a professional footballer in her mid-twenties who competes in England’s tier one Women’s Super League. While she does not currently have a personal sponsor, she formerly had a partnership with a large shoe and athletic apparel brand that ended abruptly after she changed teams. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Right now, I currently don’t have a sponsor. In men’s soccer, players in the top three leagues will have [brand deals] whereas in women’s soccer it might only be the top players. </p>
<p>I’ve been fortunate because when I signed my first professional contract, I did gain a two-year deal with [a brand]. That being said, I remember trying to get shin pads for the season, and it took about three months just to get a pair. </p>
<p>On Instagram they were like “Olivia this, Olivia that,” but I’d wait a long time for the essentials. The next season I moved teams, and they pulled the sponsorship.</p>
<p>They said the team I was playing for wasn’t what they would class as “tier one” football, even though it was. They were a second-tier club in the men’s game, but the top in the women’s league. I wasn’t expecting it to end and it was brutal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Olivia’s story reveals how the majority of professional women’s soccer players rarely receive sponsorship deals. Despite moving to a higher ranked women’s club, Olivia’s sponsorship criteria was based on the equivalent men’s team, which was a tier lower. </p>
<p>Sponsors continue to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/ssj.12.4.347">gain positive brand recognition</a> from fans looking to support corporations that endorse women’s sport. Yet, despite this public persona, corporations do not always <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723515615349">meaningfully invest in women athletes</a>.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/21674795211003524">significant lack of media coverage</a> afforded to women’s sports may not allow a breadth of professional athletes to be widely known, the women we interviewed believed men players at all levels received unquestioned sponsorship while they had to fight to be seen as valuable despite the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizelting/2023/07/12/going-for-gold-womens-sports-are-profitable-when-brands-media-and-broadcast-buy-in/?sh=53a844a9125d">surging profitability of women’s sports</a>.</p>
<h2>Morgan’s story of labour exploitation</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An over-the-shoulder shot of a person taking a photo of a food dish on a kitchen counter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538134/original/file-20230718-15-3ut9lp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One athlete had an unpaid sponsorship deal with a meal prep service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Morgan is a professional footballer in her early twenties who competes in England’s tier one Women’s Super League alongside her country’s national team. While she does not currently have a sponsor, she recently completed her first career sponsorship with a meal prep company. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recently, I did have a food sponsorship deal, that meal prep stuff. It isn’t paid, but I just need to post twice a month when I receive the food and I get to keep all of my meals for free. I actually thought they would make me still pay, but instead they gave me a discount code to give out to other people. </p>
<p>Before I had a sponsorship deal, I thought you had to have a certain look. Like the perfect body. But that’s changed; it’s more how good you are at your actual sport and how active you are on social media. </p>
<p>So far, they’ve been happy with what I’m doing and repost what I do since it’s easier for them to not have to make their own content. At the moment, we have to really prove ourselves to get recognized. So, when we do get media opportunities, it’s something everyone jumps at, even if it’s a two-hour drive away.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Morgan’s story reflects a positive shift away from the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2017.1365696">over-sexualization of women athletes</a>. Rather than being primarily valued for her physical appearance, Morgan’s athletic ability was recognized as being valuable on its own.</p>
<p>But it also reveals that women athletes are expected to perform the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540517747068">unpaid labour of creating digital partnership content</a>. </p>
<p>Corporate sponsors of women’s sports <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2019.1668463">experience an increase in consumer intent to purchase their products or services</a> around their supposedly equitable brands. But these sponsorship deals are not as equitable as they seem because the women athletes receive little to no financial compensation for their work. </p>
<h2>Current state of women’s sports marketing</h2>
<p>Despite women’s sport traditionally receiving only one to two per cent of global sport sponsorship dollars, <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/sports/womens-sports-becoming-bigger-business-better-investment">investment is exponentially increasing</a> as media coverage begins to meet consumer demand.</p>
<p>However, while previous sport sponsorship literature has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2019.1668463">focused on men athletes</a> and mutually beneficial partnerships, it is clear that the power imbalances in women’s sport sponsorship reflect a different exploitative reality.</p>
<p>The state of marketing and sponsorship in women’s sport is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540517747068">far from equitable</a> — even though it may be portrayed as otherwise in media coverage. The women in our study discussed how male athletes receive substantial financial and brand-specific compensation for their sponsorship deals. In contrast, the women felt like they just had to be grateful for whatever they had been given.</p>
<p>While positive change has been seen, especially surrounding this year’s Women’s World Cup, there is still much work to be done by women’s soccer organizations and corporate sponsors to create a more equitable sporting future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dawn Trussell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Sport Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Harris does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While positive change has been seen, especially surrounding this year’s Women’s World Cup, there is still much work to be done by organizations governing women’s professional sports.Laura Harris, Research Assistant, Sport, Allyship, and Inclusion Lab, Brock UniversityDawn Trussell, Professor of Sport Management & Chancellor's Chair for Research Excellence, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1955822022-12-07T17:41:45Z2022-12-07T17:41:45ZWhy sports sponsorship is unlikely to save cryptocurrency firms from ‘crypto winter’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499532/original/file-20221207-4016-dw8lkz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=210%2C108%2C3973%2C2726&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Los Angeles' Crypto.com Arena -- home to the LA Lakers basketball team -- was known as Staples Center when sponsored by the US office supplies retailer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/los-angeles-november-2022-crypto-arena-2233395419">Pamela Brick / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you have been watching the Fifa World Cup in Qatar closely, you will have noticed the advertising on the hoardings around the pitch. Alongside the usual names – Adidas, Coca-Cola, Visa – there are some new ones, including <a href="https://crypto.com/company-news/crypto-com-unveiled-as-fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-official-sponsor">Crypto.com</a>, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency and payment platform. </p>
<p>Crypto firms’ <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-crypto-celebrity-endorsements/">use of celebrities</a> has become notorious of late but many are also starting to sponsoring sports events, teams and venues. It’s not a new phenomenon for industries to rely heavily on sponsorship as a communications strategy. Tobacco led the way in the 1990s, then beer brands took the lead, followed by telecommunications, airlines and sports betting companies more recently. </p>
<p>But investing heavily in sports sponsorship may not be the best way for individual firms to build strength. This is especially the case as crypto companies continue to succumb to the “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/what-is-crypto-winter/">crypto winter</a>”, with market values falling dramatically and firms <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/12/05/bybit-to-lay-off-30-of-staff-amid-crypto-winter">laying off staff</a>.</p>
<p>In October, publicly listed <a href="https://www.sporttechie.com/nba-signs-coinbase-as-exclusive-cryptocurrency-sponsor#:%7E:text=Coinbase%20has%20signed%20a%20multi,2K%20League%20and%20USA%20Basketball.">cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase signed</a> a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/01/crypto-deals-help-fuel-nba-sponsorship-money-to-1point6-billion-.html#:%7E:text=Among%20the%20NBA's%20crypto%20deals,and%20merchandise%2C%20according%20to%20IEG.">reported US$192 million (£157 million)</a> four-year deal to become the exclusive cryptocurrency platform partner of the NBA, WNBA and various other basketball leagues. Last year, Crypto.com <a href="https://frontofficesports.com/behind-the-scenes-of-the-blockbuster-crypto-com-arena-deal/">paid US$700 million</a> for the largest naming rights deal in sports history to rename the Staples Center in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Blockchain.com now <a href="https://news.bitcoin.com/blockchain-com-inks-multi-year-deal-with-dallas-cowboys-star-quarterback-dak-prescott/">sponsors the quarterback of US NFL team the Dallas Cowboys</a>. As its “exclusive digital asset partner”, the crypto company said the player, Dak Prescott, would appear in television ads, signage and radio spots to bring his “personal brand firepower to introduce crypto to a broader audience”. </p>
<p>It isn’t just American sports that cryptocurrency companies have been sponsoring. Crypto platform Tezos <a href="https://www.manutd.com/en/partners/global/tezos">sponsors Manchester United soccer kits</a>. Professional golfer Ian Poulter has <a href="https://www.sportbusiness.com/news/liv-golfs-poulter-strikes-okx-sponsorship-deal/#:%7E:text=English%20golfer%20Ian%20Poulter%20has,at%20St%20Andrews%20in%20Scotland.">struck a sponsorship deal</a> with cryptocurrency exchange OKX. And 80% of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-01/crypto-s-hold-on-formula-1-sponsoring-gets-tested-in-singapore#:%7E:text=Around%2080%25%20of%20F1%20teams,OKX%20sponsored%20Formula%20One%20racecar.&text=Zak%20Brown%2C%20head%20of%20McLaren,new%20sponsor%20or%20trend%20emerges.">Formula 1 teams</a> have at least one cryptocurrency sponsor. Now one of the largest sports shows on earth, the Fifa men’s World Cup, is getting in on the act.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1600074963381325825"}"></div></p>
<p>There are a couple of reasons why cryptocurrency companies are increasingly sponsoring big sporting events, teams and arenas recently:</p>
<h2>Sports often have a vast global audience</h2>
<p>Cryptocurrency brands are using the massive reach of sports to grow awareness of a relatively new industry. The cryptocurrency industry wants to educate people about these complex products, but also humanise the intimidating technology aspect. </p>
<p>One way to do that is to get a well-known (and loved) athlete, team or area to endorse a product. Several <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/327152326.pdf">studies</a> have shown that celebrities can influence consumer choices, <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/268591256.pdf">depending on the product</a> involved. Interestingly, some research shows <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/345088323.pdf">technology is better promoted by experts</a>.</p>
<p>But a classic example of successful sports sponsorship is when <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/what-contract-details-michael-jordan-nike-all-need-know">Nike sponsored Michael Jordan</a> in rookie season in 1984 in a deal worth US$500,000 a year, a huge amount at the time. The company’s goal at the time was to make <a href="https://fadeawayworld.net/nba-media/in-1984-nike-hoped-to-make-3-million-in-jordan-sales-during-4-years-in-2022-they-make-3-million-selling-jordans-every-5-hours">US$3 million</a> in Jordan sales over four years. Nike rapidly became the most popular shoe brand in the US after this deal and today makes that amount every five hours.</p>
<h2>Sports fans align with crypto’s target market</h2>
<p>Cryptocurrency companies are sponsoring sports where the demographic of the events matches their users. Traditionally, firms would use adverts to promote their products, but in today’s market many sports are shown on paid, online streaming services with no adverts. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/media/trackers/do-brits-pay-attention-to-tv-ads">recent UK poll</a> found that only 4% of TV viewers are very likely to pay attention to adverts. So cryptocurrency firms may get more attention by advertising on kits, hoardings or stadiums.</p>
<p>Avid sports fans are <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018814/sports-fans-usa-gender/">typically male</a> and below the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018802/sports-fans-usa-age/">age of 44</a>. Recent figures have shown that <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/google-analytics-bitcoin-demographics/">90%</a> of cryptocurrency users are also white males, while <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1018802/sports-fans-usa-age/">94%</a> of crypto buyers are under 40 years old. These reports are supported by research that surveyed a group of German investors and found that cryptocurrency users tend to be <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162521005059#tbl0002">young and male</a>, but also well educated and well off.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two young white men holding a phone and cheering." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499317/original/file-20221206-15-z5d85z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Are they cheering their sports team or checking their crypto wallets?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/two-excited-friends-roommates-watching-tv-453616765">Antonio Guillem</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Does it work?</h2>
<p>Returns from sports deals are difficult to measure, plus industry figures argue that <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/hundreds-millions-spent-marketing-crypto-sports-fans-wasted/">cryptocurrency firms need to be strategic</a> when it comes to investing in other firms, but also in the type of sponsorship they go for. Slapping a logo on anything may not be a great strategy, but integrating the industry into the sporting world could boost recognition among its core market and lead to long-term success.</p>
<p>Cryptocurrencies have been the news recently with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cryptocurrencies-why-binances-failed-ftx-rescue-deal-could-mean-crypto-winter-is-coming-194313">collapse of FTX</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ftx-contagion-will-be-ugly-within-crypto-but-probably-less-damaging-to-the-wider-world-194376">possible contagion</a> that could have across the wider market. Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, has come out of this fiasco quite well. It highlighted FTX’s trading activities in early November, before the exchange – along with several other crypto companies – was found to be very illiquid and to have insufficient reserves. </p>
<p>To encourage more transparency in this area, Binance has since <a href="https://www.binance.com/en/support/announcement/binance-releases-proof-of-reserves-system-0c7a786cbe8c4e108f3301385ab61e39">released its proof of reserves system</a>, which details its assets. Last June, Binance founder, Changpeng Zhao, tweeted that the exchange had turned down sponsorship deals but planned to significantly up its headcount. In the same month, Crypto.com announced 260 employee layoffs, equating to a 5% cut of its workforce. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1537013824666095617"}"></div></p>
<p>More recently, Zhao retweeted his June post alongside news that Binance is now aiming to build <a href="https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1594670668582305794">a workforce of 8,000 employees</a> by the end of 2022. </p>
<p>These tweets suggest that he also sees the danger in cryptocurrency firms over-exerting themselves in terms of sponsorships at the expense of shoring up their businesses. Considering <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/business/ftx-sports-sponsorships.html">current crypto events</a>, it seems he might be right.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195582/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Urquhart owns some cryptocurrencies.</span></em></p>Cryptocurrency customers and sports fans have crossover demographics, but an advertising splurge could distract from solving deeper problems.Andrew Urquhart, Professor of Finance & Financial Technology, ICMA Centre, Henley Business School, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1935232022-11-02T03:55:57Z2022-11-02T03:55:57ZWhy New Zealand must consider restricting alcohol sponsorship of broadcast sports as part of a wider law reform<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492901/original/file-20221102-16-omja7y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=131%2C323%2C7856%2C4550&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Icruci</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For those concerned about the public health impacts of alcohol, the government’s recent <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/communities-given-greater-powers-reduce-alcohol-harm">policy announcement</a> was perhaps a little “glass half empty” to be cause for outright celebration.</p>
<p>As Justice Minister Kiri Allan <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130321208/alcohol-laws-set-for-change-with-government-addressing-booze-industry-imbalance">outlined</a>, the government’s review of alcohol laws will start by implementing only one of the reforms proposed in Green MP <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/stars-are-aligning-alcohol-harm-minimisation-bill-leaps-out-of-biscuit-tin/737IIXSFIAXUOPP5KSS36PVBKM/">Chlöe Swarbrick’s</a> Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill. </p>
<p>That reform will remove a legal appeal process that the alcohol industry has used to hinder or exclude community input into decisions around alcohol availability. But the government would not commit to the second wing of the private member’s bill, to remove alcohol sponsorship of broadcast (mainly professional) sports.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1586789602450231296"}"></div></p>
<p>We hope the government will address this key issue. Because behind Swarbrick’s bill are some unpalatable truths: alcohol is a leading cause of <a href="https://www.cancer.org.nz/cancer/reducing-your-cancer-risk/alcohol-and-cancer-risk/">cancer</a>, <a href="https://www.hpa.org.nz/research-library/research-publications/alcohol-and-mental-wellbeing-an-evidence-summary-0">mental illness</a>, <a href="https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/shocking-link-between-alcohol-and-suicide-found">suicide</a>, <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-zealands-alcohol-toll-8000-premature-deaths-70-billion-social-cost/5LBJBWYYSNR6PNE37FNPTRFCME/">child brain damage</a> and many <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8/fulltext">social harms</a>. In Aotearoa, alcohol contributes to an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennie_Connor/publication/272835369_The_burden_of_disease_and_injury_attributable_to_alcohol_in_New_Zealanders_under_80_years_of_age_Marked_disparities_by_ethnicity_and_sex/links/54f485820cf2f28c1361ca7a.pdf">estimated 800 deaths</a> each year and costs the economy about <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/106343048/alcohol-harm-more-than-triple-the-cost-of-all-treaty-claims-so-far--economist">NZ$7.85 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Here we outline the case for both changing the appeals process and restricting alcohol sponsorship of broadcast sports.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-athletes-just-shut-up-and-play-ball-no-society-is-changing-and-sport-sponsorship-must-too-192959">Should athletes just shut up and play ball? No – society is changing and sport sponsorship must too</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The case for removing appeals</h2>
<p>Under existing legislation, local councils can develop Local Alcohol Policies (LAPs) to allow community involvement in deciding how alcohol should be sold in their areas.</p>
<p>LAPs can specify the number (if any) and location of new alcohol outlets, as well as the hours and conditions (such as storefront advertising) of sale.</p>
<p>However, large companies often block LAPs using their right of appeal. The country’s two major supermarket companies have <a href="https://www.ahw.org.nz/Portals/5/Resources/Fact%20Sheet/2022/Factsheet_Alcohol_Harm_Minimisation_Bill_2022.pdf">appealed 86% of LAPs</a>, while bottle stores have appealed 72% of them. </p>
<p>These appeals have resulted in many councils abandoning or watering down their policies. Seven years and <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/10/30/kiri-allan-reveals-how-alcohol-laws-will-change/">NZ$1 million later</a>, Auckland council is still without an LAP – along with Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A chart of alcohol outlets in Wellington City" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492673/original/file-20221031-23-qrefk5.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Alcohol outlets in Wellington City, showing the highest availability (darkest colour) compared to the least availability (lightest colour).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Thus, community attempts to influence the location and density of alcohol outlets have been rendered ineffective. This makes the government’s commitment to even the playing field a welcome announcement.</p>
<h2>The case for changing alcohol sponsorship</h2>
<p>The bill also adopted recommendations from two government-initiated reviews, by the <a href="https://www.lawcom.govt.nz/sites/default/files/projectAvailableFormats/NZLC%20R114.pdf">Law Commission in 2010</a> and the <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/ministerial-forum-on-alcohol-advertising-and-sponsorship-recommendations-on-alcohol-advertising-and-sponsorship-dec14.pdf">Ministerial Forum on Advertising and Sponsorship</a> in 2014, to place restrictions on alcohol sponsorship of sport.</p>
<p>Sports sponsorship is the primary driver of children’s exposure to alcohol marketing in Aotearoa. A New Zealand study called Kids’ Cam, where children wore automated cameras over four days, found children were exposed to alcohol marketing via <a href="https://academic.oup.com/alcalc/article/53/5/626/5056455">sports sponsorship 1.4 times per day</a> on average. Māori and Pacific children are exposed to <a href="https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/8265">four or five times more alcohol sponsorship</a> than New Zealand European children.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Images from the Kids’ Cam project showing children’s exposure to alcohol marketing via alcohol sponsorship." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492667/original/file-20221031-27-19zhng.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Images from the Kids’ Cam project showing children’s exposure to alcohol marketing via alcohol sponsorship.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Alcohol marketing, including sponsorship, increases the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/add.13591">risk of children drinking</a> at earlier ages, drinking more once they start and drinking more hazardously. As such, alcohol marketing is considered <a href="https://doi.org/10.15288/jsads.2020.s19.113">a causal factor</a> for alcohol consumption. Put simply, alcohol marketing drives consumption. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nz-children-see-more-than-40-ads-for-unhealthy-products-each-day-its-time-to-change-marketing-rules-120841">NZ children see more than 40 ads for unhealthy products each day. It's time to change marketing rules</a>
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<h2>Alcohol sponsorship is a small part of revenue</h2>
<p>Opponents commonly suggest that sponsorship restrictions will destroy community sport and affect the financial viability of professional sport. But these arguments don’t bear close scrutiny. </p>
<p>Firstly, the bill is designed to restrict broadcast sports only. Many community sports should not feel any direct impacts of restrictions.</p>
<p>Secondly, the total value of all alcohol sponsorship of sport, including community sports, was <a href="https://www.ahw.org.nz/Portals/5/Resources/Fact%20Sheet/2022/Factsheet_Alcohol_Harm_Minimisation_Bill_2022.pdf">NZ$21 million</a> in 2014. This equates to <a href="https://figure.nz/chart/kIpNw1H5r3cVIesv-N1PaXO3K1mlk0s6W">less than 1%</a> of all revenue generated by sports and recreation in Aotearoa. </p>
<p>As of September 2022, Sport New Zealand had no updated information of any kind on the value of alcohol sponsorship or sponsorship in general. Despite this, the organisation recently advised the minister for sport and recreation, Grant Robertson, that a sponsorship ban “would have a profound impact on the ability of some organisations to continue to provide sport and recreation opportunities”. </p>
<p>The Sport New Zealand advice contained no figures to support this statement. It also referred to revenue that would not be impacted by the bill (sponsorship of clubrooms, for example). In the past, Robertson and some of his cabinet colleagues voted in favour of various bills proposing more restrictive measures on alcohol marketing than the current member’s bill.</p>
<h2>Sponsorship can be replaced</h2>
<p>The sponsorship revenue from the alcohol industry could be replaced by an increase in the existing alcohol levy by around two cents per beer.</p>
<p>A two-cent levy increase assumes no other sponsors would replace alcohol sponsors. However, when tobacco sponsorship changed in the early 1990s through a sponsorship replacement program, <a href="https://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/ea5ef2c0e4ab8ac485256caa0065e3eb/eb6c262573e2867a4c2566470012a221/$FILE/Brief%20History%20of%20Tobacco%20Control%20in%20New%20Zealand.pdf">around 50% of all tobacco sponsorship</a> was replaced immediately. </p>
<p>The range and number of industries sponsoring sports have increased since the 1990s. Globally, the alcohol industry contributes <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/269785/sports-sponsorship-deals-worldwide-by-industry-sector-in-2009/">only 2.1% of all sports sponsorship revenue</a>. </p>
<p>Available evidence in Aotearoa suggests a similar contribution. Only three of the top ten national sports organisations (rugby, cricket and golf) have an alcohol sponsor. In each case, the alcohol sponsor is not a principal sponsor, suggesting its relative contribution is smaller than that of other companies.</p>
<h2>Time for evidence-based policy</h2>
<p>While some sports organisations may struggle with losing <em>any</em> sponsorship revenue, the claims that community or professional sports would fold is not supported by the available evidence. </p>
<p>By contrast, there are decades of longitudinal evidence demonstrating the harms of alcohol marketing, including sponsorship. The body of evidence has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to <a href="https://movendi.ngo/news/2021/12/14/new-who-report-alcohol-best-buys-with-second-highest-return-on-investment/">classify restrictions on marketing</a> as one of the three best policies to reduce alcohol-related harm.</p>
<p>There is limited evidence to support the argument that sports organisations will suffer unduly, particularly when considered in the context of an appropriate and modest increase in an existing alcohol levy.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alcohol-marketing-has-crossed-borders-and-entered-the-metaverse-how-do-we-regulate-the-new-digital-risk-183334">Alcohol marketing has crossed borders and entered the metaverse – how do we regulate the new digital risk?</a>
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<p>Looking ahead, <a href="https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/pubhealthexpert/public-health-solutions-series-public-policy-options-to-address-alcohol-related-harm-in-aotearoa/">further action is also required</a> to decrease the affordability of alcohol (through a minimum unit price or tax), reduce its availability (through reduced outlets and hours of operation) and introduce more comprehensive marketing restrictions, particularly online.</p>
<p>But the proposed restrictions outlined in the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Harm Minimisation) Amendment Bill are a good start to alcohol reform in Aotearoa. If the government wants to tackle alcohol-related harm, restricting alcohol sponsorship of broadcast sport is an evidence-based policy response to the country’s most harmful drug.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193523/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Chambers receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand and from a donation from the GAMA Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Boden receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Matthew Hobbs receives funding from the New Zealand Health Research Council, Cure Kids/A Better Start National Science Challenge and IStar. He was also previously funded as a researcher by the New Zealand Ministry of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Bowden receives funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Cure Kids, the Laura Fergusson Trust, and A Better Start National Science Challenge.</span></em></p>Sports sponsorship is the main way children are exposed to alcohol marketing. It increases their risk of drinking at earlier ages, drinking more once they start and drinking more hazardously.Tim Chambers, Senior Research Fellow in the Health Environment & Infection Research Unit (HEIRU), University of OtagoJoseph Boden, Professor, University of OtagoMatthew Hobbs, Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Co-Director of the GeoHealth Laboratory, University of CanterburyNicholas Bowden, Research fellow, University of OtagoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1030822018-09-12T23:50:44Z2018-09-12T23:50:44ZWomen in sports: double standards a double fault<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235925/original/file-20180912-144467-w17fk7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C12%2C4031%2C2980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Naomi Osaka is the first Japanese woman to claim a Grand Slam singles title. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.naomiosaka.com/en/">Naomi Osaka</a> has made history as the first Japanese woman to claim a Grand Slam singles title after defeating Serena Williams in the final of the US Open. </p>
<p>However, her defining performance was overshadowed by controversy around sexism and double standards in sports. As our current research suggests, female and male athletes are held to different standards - and this also <a href="https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summer-days/audio/2018628550/sporting-infamy-marketing-athletes-bad-attitude">filters through to endorsement deals</a>. “Bad boy” sports stars with an anti-hero or rule-breaker image are generally welcomed by sponsors, but female athletes aren’t treated the same. </p>
<h2>The Grand Slam</h2>
<p>Osaka’s opponent, Serena Williams, was looking to win her 24th Grand Slam singles title, one year after giving birth. The feat would have equalled the record of <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/0/margaret-courts-australian-open-boycott-controversy/">controversial Australian Margaret Court</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235926/original/file-20180912-144470-25q782.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Osaka undoubtedly dominated her opponent, but what people will remember is Williams’ outburst of frustration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Opinions about this incident have been <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/09/209380/serena-williams-us-open-meltdown-sexism">divided across the globe</a>. <a href="https://www.billiejeanking.com">Billie Jean King</a>, a strong advocate of women’s rights in sports, tweeted: </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1038613218296569856"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6151635/Australian-newspaper-Herald-Sun-eviscerated-racist-cartoon-Serena-Williams.html">Global outrage</a> followed a sketch by Mark Knight, the editorial cartoonist of the Herald Sun, which depicted Williams as a baby and Osaka as white, misrepresenting both athletes. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-herald-suns-serena-williams-cartoon-draws-on-a-long-and-damaging-history-of-racist-caricature-102982">The Herald Sun's Serena Williams cartoon draws on a long and damaging history of racist caricature</a>
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<h2>Double standard in sports</h2>
<p>Differences between permissible on-court decorum of female and male athletes have been called into question, prompted by the severe umpire calls towards Williams’ behaviour as well as penalties against French player Alizé Cornet earlier in the tournament for briefly taking off her shirt on court after realising it was on backwards. </p>
<p>This incident came days after the <a href="http://www.fft.fr/">French Tennis Federation</a> announced a new dress code that will <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/09/serena-williams-again-bears-brunt-double-standards-tennis">ban Serena Williams’ catsuit</a>. Designed to help prevent blood clots that threatened her health after giving birth, the suit was deemed to be disrespectful of the game. </p>
<p>Several celebrities and athletes have argued for a redefinition of women’s tennis oriented towards strength, power and athleticism. Former top-five tennis player and Miami Open tournament director, <a href="http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2018/01/james-blake-hired-as-tournament-director-of-miami-open/71202/">James Blake</a>, alluded to contradictory gendered reactions to <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/tennis/106962781/in-her-anger-in-defeat-serena-williams-starts-an-overdue-conversation">athletes expressing their anger and frustration</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The sport definitely has a double standard when it comes to perception. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Several comments noted “boys will be boys” reactions to male tennis players such as <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/sport/tennis/1005258/Novak-Djokovic-Cincinnati-Masters-Milos-Raonic-Marin-Cilic-Sky-Sports-Greg-Rusedski-Croft">Novak Djokovic</a> and <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tennis/2018/09/01/dominic-thiem-gives-smashed-racket-delighted-young-fan-losing/">Dominic Thiem</a> when these <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/09/serena-williams-again-bears-brunt-double-standards-tennis">players misbehaved by destroying a racquet on court</a>. </p>
<h2>Marketability of male and female athletes</h2>
<p>Over the past decades, female athletes in tennis have been fighting for equal pay. Some gains have been made, but equity is far from achieved. Prize money in tennis is only equal in Grand Slam tournaments. More than 70% of male professional tennis players in the world’s top 200 have <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2018/09/09/opinion-why-serena-williams-fight-should-make-us-all-feel-uncomfortable">earned more than their female counterparts</a>. </p>
<p>Tennis is not an isolated case. According to the <a href="https://www.womeninsport.org/">Women’s Sports and Fitness Federation</a>, women’s sport only gets <a href="https://www.womeninsport.org/about-us/visibility-for-womens-sport/">7% of media coverage</a> and barely 0.4% of commercial investment goes to women-only sport. Substantial pay disparity has also been evident in the football world cup, with men receiving US$28.6m in prize money, while the women’s tournament only receives US$820,000.</p>
<p>Notable discrepancies have also also been observed in terms of sponsorship opportunities, with <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2129995-biggest-anti-heroes-in-sports#slide0">women underrepresented in endorsement deals</a>. In order to secure a sponsorship deal, athletes are expected to behave in an exemplary manner on and off the court and have to shoulder the immense pressure of being positive role models. In Williams’ case, this is particularly true as <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2129995-biggest-anti-heroes-in-sports#slide0">attacks on her have been personal</a> and her suitability as a role model was called into question. </p>
<p>Nike’s reaction to <a href="http://www.brittonmdg.com/the-britton-blog/nike-gender-double-standard">Maria Sharapova’s drug suspension</a>, in contrast to its response to Tiger Woods’ infidelity scandal or Kobe Bryant’ rape accusation, highlights equity issues among consumers and sponsors. </p>
<h2>Villain or rogue</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1362/026725799784870379">Research</a> has demonstrated that celebrity endorsements are based on credibility and attractiveness. The main premise of endorsement decisions is based on the transfer of positive associations between the endorser and the brand. However, several sources have noted differences between how male and female athletes are evaluated in terms of marketable qualities. </p>
<p>Female athletes are more often judged on <a href="http://time.com/6714/medals-arent-enough-female-olympians-still-have-to-sell-sexiness-2/">attractiveness and physical appearance</a>, while male athletes are judged primarily on performance and skill. </p>
<p>For example, at the 2015 Australian Open, after becoming the first Canadian woman to qualify for the semi-final at a major tennis tournament, <a href="http://www.voicesofyouth.org/en/posts/the-fifa-women-s-world-cup-and-double-standards-in-sport">Eugenie Bouchard</a> was asked by the on-court announcer to “give us a twirl”. </p>
<p>Similarly, the <a href="http://www.wnba.com/">Women’s National Basketball Association</a> holds makeup seminars for rookie players to ensure women secure the sponsorship deals they need to play. The evidence suggests marketability of female and male athletes does indeed revolve around different meaning transfers.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-sports-fans-need-villains-66725">Why sports fans need villains</a>
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<p>In an era where brands are searching for athletes that are different and unique, there’s been an increased interest in athletes with intriguing personalities. Research has in the past demonstrated the appeal of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-sports-fans-need-villains-66725">hero defeating the villain</a>, but recently controversial <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/IJSMS-02-04-2001-B005">athletes with a rogue image</a> have gained appeal to specific target markets. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJSMS-02-2017-0012">Our current work</a> examines the role of anti-heroes in sports and how breaking the rules can have positive effects for sponsoring companies, even making an athlete more attractive. Positive sentiments such as fearlessness and intrigue are often associated with bad boys, while the perceptions of a bad girl is not so favourable. The “lovable bad boy” has <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/stevens/ct-life-stevens-monday-serena-williams-double-standard-0910-story.html">no female equivalent</a>. </p>
<p>No matter which side of the fence you may sit on with regards to the events between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, the conversation about women in sports is long overdue, albeit, unfortunately, at the expense of the current US Open women’s singles champion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103082/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sexism in sport plays out on and off the field. Differences in marketable qualities for endorsement deals as well reactions to male versus female athletes behaving badly are evidence of this.Marilyn Giroux, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyJessica Vredenburg, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/888582018-01-17T08:28:44Z2018-01-17T08:28:44ZWe are only starting to figure out the value of sponsoring sports<p><a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/196864/global-sponsorship-spending-since-2007/">US$62.8 billion is spent on sports sponsorship</a> globally, and this is only increasing. But until recently, there <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Terje_Slatten/publication/305407558_The_Sponsorship_Motive_Matrix_SMM_A_Framework_for_Categorising_Firms%27_Motives_for_Sponsoring_Sports_Events/links/58b83d8eaca27261e51cd55e/The-Sponsorship-Motive-Matrix-SMM-A-Framework-for-Categorising-Firms-Motives-for-Sponsoring-Sports-Events.pdf">hasn’t been much evidence</a> that sponsorship is actually effective. </p>
<p>This is risky - without a business case for sponsorship, companies will likely limit or withdraw their support in the long run, which may threaten the very existence of sports. </p>
<p>Until recently, there have been little more than rules of thumb and <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=VCSTgmbK5VMC&pg=PA93&dq=example+of+sport+sponsorship+and+emotional+sponsor+decisions&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwin5Nm7mYjYAhVCo5QKHaYtC9oQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q=example%20of%20sport%20sponsorship%20and%20emotional%20sponsor%20decisions&f=false">anecdotal evidence</a> about sponsorship. These showed that company executives and directors sponsor sports so they can get good good seats, for example. </p>
<p><iframe id="Tpwz6" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Tpwz6/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Sponsorship has been hard to measure because of the complex variables involved and their interaction. These include competitors’ advertising and promotions, economic conditions and the quality and extent of the advertising in connection with the sponsorship (getting players to appear in commercials, for instance).</p>
<p>To make matters worse, there is <a href="http://www.pmsa.net/_resources/webinars/PromotionResponse.pdf">generally a lag</a> between a promotional activity and the effect showing up in increased awareness and sales. Seeing a real impact also often requires several “exposures” - for instance, a long-term partnership with a sport or team. </p>
<p>Researchers are starting to build the case for sports sponsorship, showing it <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.21702/abstract">increases employee morale</a>, for example. My colleagues and I created the <a href="https://www.sportsanalytics.com.au/">Sponsorship Power Index</a>, to try to track sponsorship objectives such as sales and brand awareness. We have proven that factors like the length of the sponsorship, the brand fit with the event, and the amount spent on “activation” (advertising the sponsorship) correlate with sponsorship success.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-and-why-economics-is-taking-over-sports-88574">How and why economics is taking over sports</a>
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<p>Our key insight was that sponsorship is similar to a kind of financial instrument, a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/futurescontract.asp">futures contract</a>. Futures contracts are agreements between two parties that fix the price of an asset (like shares or currencies) for a future transaction. For instance, an airline might sign a contract to buy fuel at a certain price in a year’s time.</p>
<p>One way to measure sponsorship is to replicate how futures contracts are valued on the share market. This is achieved by constructing an index comprised of any variables that might predict the value, such as economic trends, market demand and historic performance. </p>
<p>For our index, we used data on social media mentions, brand prominence (based on third party surveys), sales and advertising expenditure, and data from the sport being sponsored. All of this is turned into a single number that can then be compared against a benchmark, to assess how a particular sponsorship is doing. Now, we can compare sponsorship against similar deals, a portfolio of sponsorships, or even sponsorship of a particular event. </p>
<p>For example, Coca-Cola sponsors the Winter Olympics, and might select some key performance indicators including sales, brand awareness, brand mentions and the amount spent on advertising the sponsorship. The index will then assess whether this event’s sponsorship is performing as well, better or worse than the last Olympics.</p>
<h2>The other case for sponsorship</h2>
<p>Other studies are also finding benefits from sponsorship beyond raising brand awareness and increasing sales. A <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.21702/abstract">British study</a> found that sponsoring the Olympic games increased employee pride in the company and organisational culture.</p>
<p>Employees of the sponsoring companies responded positively to their company supporting values of goodwill, community and peace. There is also a feeling of prestige and elevated status among employees of organisations sponsoring the Olympics. </p>
<p>But these benefits are not only seen when sponsoring something as big as the Olympics. They also accrue from sponsorship of the local club or school sports programs.</p>
<p>Of course, companies can sponsor causes through sporting events. Take the <a href="https://www.pinktest.com.au/">pink cricket test match</a> held in Sydney every January. This game aims to raise awareness and funds for the McGrath Foundation. Not only are the stumps and uniforms pink throughout the test, but sponsors like Mastercard issue a pink debit card linked to donations, in addition to sponsoring the event.</p>
<p>Cause-related sponsorship has become so big that Coca-Cola has even <a href="https://www.demos.co.uk/files/FinalScorePoster.pdf">developed its own metrics</a> that measure community (for example staff morale and community cohesion), infrastructure (for example number of recycled bottles and recycling bins) and behaviour (like impact upon health-related choice).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-sponsorship-lends-halo-to-supplements-and-sports-drinks-31961">Sport sponsorship lends halo to supplements and sports drinks</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/is-sports-sponsorship-worth-it">recent McKinsey study</a> found that many brands don’t have a decision-making process in place to decide on sponsorships. This reflects the sorry state of sponsorship measurement - there was little evidence or guidance on how to do it well.</p>
<p>But as we can see, the <a href="http://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1379413096_Nufer%20and%20Buhler.pdf">research</a> is starting to support the case for sponsoring sports, and it is becoming sophisticated enough that brands can specifically target and track where they put their money.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Jane Kelly is an executive director of Sports Analytics Pty Ltd
The author has received two previous ARC grants, one of which relates to sports sponsorship impacts
The author is the Deputy Chairman of the Brisbane Lions AFL Football Club </span></em></p>Millions are spent on sports sponsorship in Australia each year, but we are only just starting to figure out whether it is worth it.Sarah Jane Kelly, Senior Lecturer, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/643302016-08-25T10:03:19Z2016-08-25T10:03:19ZDitching their deal with disgraced Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte puts Speedo out in front<p>At the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/rio-olympics-2016">Rio Olympics</a>, American Ryan Lochte won gold as part of the US men’s <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/swimming-mens-4-x-200m-freestyle-relay-final">4 x 200 metre freestyle relay</a> team. That medal, his 12th, made him the <a href="https://swimswam.com/ryan-lochte-becomes-2nd-decorated-male-olympic-swimmer-history/">second most successful male Olympian swimmer</a> of all time. </p>
<p>A few days later, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-lochte-police-idUSKCN10T07K">he was accused</a> of urinating in public, vandalising a petrol station, and making up stories about being robbed at gunpoint by a gang of Brazilians in the city. Lochte’s spectacular fall from grace led to serious consequences for the former world record holder. He faces career sanctions, was publicly castigated by Brazilian politicians, and <a href="http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/ryan-lochte-dropped-by-first-major-sponsor-since-robbery-debacle/">lost an estimated US$1m</a> in sponsorship.</p>
<p>The domestic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/19/ryan-lochte-olympics-rio-us-media-dumbest-bell">US media also had a field day</a>, with the <a href="http://nypost.com/2016/08/18/ryan-lochte-is-everything-the-world-hates-about-americans/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_medium=SocialFlow&sr_share=twitter">New York Post</a> printing the frontpage headline: “Liar, liar, Speedo on Fire”. The New York Post went on to say that the 32-year-old was “The Ugly American” and typified “everything the world hates about Americans”. </p>
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<p>Shortly after that Speedo headline, the swimwear manufacturer and long-term sponsor of Lochte <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/speedo-usa-drops-sponsorship-ryan-lochte-amid-scandal/story?id=41571638">announced that their relationship with him was over</a>. The company said it would instead donate a US$50,000 portion of Lochte’s fee to <a href="https://secure.savethechildren.org.uk/donate/?utm_campaign=stc&utm_medium=ppcbing&utm_source=bingps8&sissr=1">Save The Children’s</a> charity work in Brazil, and <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/speedo-usa-drops-sponsorship-ryan-lochte-amid-scandal/story?id=41571638">said of the swimmer</a>: “We cannot condone behaviour that is counter to the values this brand has long stood for.” </p>
<p>They added: “We appreciate his many achievements and hope he moves forward and learns from this experience.” </p>
<p>Since Speedo’s decision, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-lochte-idUSKCN10X1LL">three more of Lochte’s sponsors have followed suit</a>. A common theme in the reasons given by all four companies was the insinuation that Lochte’s behaviour did not fit with their respective brands. In marketing terms, a brand is affected by what is called the “totality of perceptions” – everything a potential customer knows, sees, feels and hears about an organisation.</p>
<p>In the expensive world of athlete endorsements, organisations such as Speedo attempt to capitalise on the positive public attention and emotional ties generated by an athlete’s successes. The hope is that these associations then transfer to people’s perceptions of their product. </p>
<p>So if the emotional response that an athlete triggers is negative, as in Lochte’s case, we can hardly blame sponsors for wanting to terminate the relationship to minimise the potential damage to their own brands. Sponsors will also want to sever their ties before such perceptions become stable and enduring, and take the opportunity to reassert their own brand identities. </p>
<p>Speedo has done this extremely effectively. </p>
<p>To begin with, research suggests that athlete endorsements can both positively impact sponsor <a href="http://www.journalofadvertisingresearch.com/content/52/2/149">sales</a> and <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11294-008-9144-0/fulltext.html">market value</a>. Put simply, the better an athlete does, the more stuff the sponsor will sell and the more money the sponsor will be worth.</p>
<p>Speedo cannot have failed to notice that Lochte’s performance at the London 2012 games (five medals in total, three of them in individual events) was significantly better than his performance at Rio 2016 (one medal in the four-man relay). </p>
<p>At 32, he is also eight years older than the average member of the American men’s swimming team, suggesting that his major sporting achievements are probably behind him. From a purely business perspective, then, Speedo’s decision therefore seems justified. Fewer medals means fewer bathing suits sold. </p>
<p>The decision to dump Lochte also brought Speedo a priceless amount of publicity. Their reaction was covered by media <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37159288">outlets across the globe</a>, who also mentioned the company’s donation of part of Lochte’s endorsement fee to charity.</p>
<h2>A gold medal in PR</h2>
<p>The fact that Speedo has been so widely talked about has reminded both the swimming and non-swimming public that the company still exists. The statement announcing the end of the deal reiterated or introduced to the public how Speedo wish to be perceived. The donation to Save the Children, as well as guaranteeing traction in the media, served to both provide a counterpoint to the athlete’s behaviour, and distinguish Speedo from their competitors. </p>
<p>For the cost of a press release and a relatively small charitable donation, Speedo achieved massive media penetration, and a global assertion of their brand values. They could only have dreamed of such an impact if they had spent millions on a carefully calculated marketing campaign. </p>
<p>The overall effect is even more impressive if you consider that Speedo’s deal with Lochte was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/22/ryan-lochte-speedo-sponsorship-ended-rio-2016-olympics">reportedly due to expire this year anyway</a>. And although levels of publicity surrounding the organisation will wane as interest in the swimmer and his shenanigans dissipates, Speedo have used their brief opportunity effectively. </p>
<p>Lochte, meanwhile, who had aimed to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, is left with no lucrative endorsements, and the prospect of serious punishments from the US Olympic Committee and USA Swimming. He may have a good collection of medals to look at – but after his latest performance, Speedo are the clear winners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Kenyon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The swimwear company has made the most of a messy situation.Jamie Kenyon, Lecturer in Sport Management, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/637472016-08-12T20:10:49Z2016-08-12T20:10:49ZHow the IOC effectively maintains a gag order on nonsponsors of the Olympics<p>If you’re one of the <a href="http://www.statista.com/statistics/287966/olympic-games-tv-viewership-worldwide/">billions of people</a> around the world following the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in any form, you’re probably aware of its most talked-about sports moments. Simone Biles of the United States (with dual Belizean citizenship) confirming her spot as the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/12/sports/olympics/simone-biles-womens-gymnastics-all-around-gold.html">world’s best gymnast</a>. The Fiji men’s rugby team’s <a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/fiji-wins-first-ever-mens-rugby-sevens-gold-medal">emotional gold medal win</a> – the first in their country’s history. French gymnast Samir Ait Said’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/rio-2016-french-gymnast-samir-ait-said-suffers-shocking-broken-leg-in-mens-gymnastics-qualifying-a7176811.html">horrible leg injury</a> during the men’s qualifying rounds. </p>
<p>You may also have noticed a <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-social-media-define-the-success-of-the-olympic-games-63021">flood of social media posts</a> using hashtags like #Rio2016, #Olympics or #TeamUSA. Given that the 2016 Olympic Games have been dubbed the “<a href="http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/on-social-media-the-summer-olympics-have-already-begun/637472">most watched and talked-about Games on social media yet</a>,” this isn’t surprising. What may be, though, is the silence of most companies regarding the games. </p>
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<p>Whether on television or the internet, the vast majority of businesses are blocked from nearly any mention of the 2016 Olympic Games – whether in conjunction with promoting their own products or even just saluting their national teams. The reason for this silence is rooted in U.S. <a href="http://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mjlst/vol14/iss2/5">trademark law</a> and other laws <a href="http://scholarcommons.sc.edu/scjilb/vol9/iss2/7">around the world</a> created solely to protect the Olympics. </p>
<p>As a trademark law professor and director of Drake University Law School’s Intellectual Property Law Center, I believe these laws have been stretched too far. As currently applied, it’s hard for companies, especially small businesses, to know when their activities are illegal. And it’s increasingly difficult to obtain permission to do the right thing. </p>
<h2>Olympic properties under lock and key</h2>
<p>The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which organizes the Olympic Games, owns many <a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2012/03/article_0003.html">Olympic-related trademarks</a> – commonly referred to as the “Olympic properties.” These include the interlaced ring symbol, flag, anthem, motto, emblems, mascots, the word “Olympic” and other Olympic-related terminology. As one might imagine, this list could include hundreds, or thousands, of items. While there is no official count, the IOC provides some <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/THE%20IOC/IOC_guide_media_web%2029.11.13.pdf">guidance regarding permitted uses</a>. </p>
<p>In the U.S., <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/brand-usage-guidelines">protected trademarks include</a> the Olympic rings, torch designs, the words “Olympic,” “Paralympic” and “Pan American” as well as any other word or symbol that suggests an association with the USOC, the American team or the Olympic Games themselves. A recent search of the United States Trademark Electronic Search System reveals more than 200 trademarks, including “Olympian,” “future Olympian,” “road to Rio,” “rumble in Rio,” “train like an Olympian,” “let the games begin” and “go for the gold.”</p>
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<p>These trademarks are protected through the same domestic trademark laws that apply to any other entity doing business in a country. Most companies protect their trademarks to identify and distinguish themselves in the marketplace. If anyone uses that protected trademark without permission, a company has to sue and prove that consumers are likely to be confused by that unauthorized use. </p>
<p>But the IOC has also obtained unique, heightened protections that don’t extend to other companies. First, a 52-country <a href="http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/nairobi/">international agreement</a> guards the interlaced ring symbol against commercial use without the IOC’s consent. Each signatory nation can receive a portion of the revenues generated domestically if the IOC does consent to specific uses of the symbol. Between the 1988 Seoul Games and 2004 Athens Games, <a href="http://www.herrick.com/content/uploads/2016/01/501af2f1c2ecb013fa9a12be49882f90.pdf">more than US$300 million</a> was generated in licensing royalties, some of which went to the host countries.</p>
<p>Second, countries that host the games often create new, special laws to safeguard the Olympic properties above and beyond other existing law. These laws <a href="http://www.inta.org/TrademarkBasics/FactSheets/Pages/ProtectionofOlympicTrademarks.aspx">prohibit certain marketing tactics</a> by companies that aren’t official sponsors. Any new law typically provides much broader protection than basic trademark law and makes it easier to stop unauthorized activities. One day before Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic Games, Brazil enacted the Olympic Act; it <a href="http://illinoisjltp.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Bacalao.pdf">includes language</a> that specifically protects the Olympic properties from unauthorized uses.</p>
<h2>Don’t cross the IOC</h2>
<p>The IOC is notorious for its aggressive protection of the Olympic properties. Its stated purpose for this <a href="https://stillmed.olympic.org/Documents/THE%20IOC/IOC_guide_media_web%2029.11.13.pdf">fierce vigilance stems from</a> a desire to make sure “the integrity and value of the Olympic properties are respected.” </p>
<p>This stance also extends to country-specific Olympic organizations. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC), for example, has stated it’s intensely protective of its Olympic properties because it does not receive federal money to support athletes; it’s left to generate funds <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/brand-usage-guidelines">primarily through licensing, sponsorships and partnerships</a> based on the properties. </p>
<p>Unlike in other countries, American Olympic athletes are not financially supported by the government. There are no comprehensive statistics about how much these athletes get paid from the USOC, but media report their <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/olympic-executives-cash-in-on-a-movement-that-keeps-athletes-poor/2016/07/30/ed18c206-5346-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html">salaries are paltry</a>. One study found that half of elite American track and field athletes make <a href="http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2014/06/23/pro-track-athletes-make-little/11282551/">less than $15,000 a year</a>.</p>
<p>Fierce patrolling of the Olympic trademarks has led to significant clashes between the IOC, USOC and the public. In perhaps the most famous American case, the USOC <a href="http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1503&context=plr">successfully sued</a> San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. in 1982 to stop it from using the word “Olympic” in its Gay Olympic Games. The USOC has also threatened lawsuits against and forced name changes for the <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2005-08-13-ferretagilitytrials_x.htm">Ferret Olympics</a>, <a href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/985506/posts">Rat Olympics</a> and <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121755420607703167">Olympets</a>, among others.</p>
<p>So who can actually use Olympic properties legally? Regular people, news entities and official sponsors are in the clear. TV companies have paid more than <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/olympics-rio-2016/opinion/rio-2016---the-richest-games-ever-2053926">$4 billion </a>to broadcast the 2016 Olympic Games. This year, the 11 official sponsors are poised to make <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/rio-2016-olympic-games-richest-ever-usain-bolt-mo-farah-a7171811.html">more than $9 billion in marketing revenue</a>, and much of this value comes from keeping everyone else out.</p>
<p>Other businesses and brands, including an athlete’s individual sponsors, are severely restricted. The IOC <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/how-olympics-new-advertising-rules-will-impact-athletes-and-brands-rio-172372">did change its rules this year</a> to allow athletes, for the first time, to tweet about their nonofficial sponsors and do <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/11/news/companies/usoc-olympics-ads-sponsors/">generic commercials</a> that do not refer to the Olympics or use any Olympic properties. Olympic track star Allyson Felix, for example, has tweeted her ad for Bounty paper towels in this manner. </p>
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<h2>Cease and desist your retweets</h2>
<p>Even with these changes, the IOC and USOC make it difficult for nonsponsoring businesses. Just weeks before the 2016 Olympic Games began, ESPN revealed that the <a href="http://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/17120510/united-states-olympic-committee-battle-athletes-companies-sponsor-not-olympics">USOC sent reminder letters</a> to businesses that have endorsement deals with Olympic athletes but which are not official sponsors of the games. The letters reiterated that such companies “may not post about the Trials or Games on their corporate social media accounts,” including using “hashtags such as #Rio2016 or #TeamUSA.”</p>
<p>In addition, unless the company is news-oriented, it is not allowed to speak about Olympic results, share photos taken at the Olympics, or retweet or share anything from official Olympic social media accounts.</p>
<p>Oiselle, an athletic wear company, is one nonofficial sponsor that recently <a href="http://www.courant.com/business/hc-olympics-twitter-ban-20160811-story.html">found itself at odds with the USOC</a>. It received a takedown letter from the USOC after posting a photo of Kate Grace, a runner with an Oiselle endorsement deal, when she won the 800-meter race at the summer trials. According to the company’s CEO, such behavior is frustrating for smaller companies who contribute to individual athletes but cannot afford to be an official Olympic sponsor – that club is limited to 11 deep-pocketed multinationals <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/sponsors">including McDonald’s and P&G</a>. It also harms athletes without big endorsement deals, who could better capitalize on their success if the boundaries were relaxed.</p>
<p>Most American Olympic athletes have day jobs and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-olympic-athletes-pay-the-electric-bill-63157">scramble to make a living</a> while pursuing their sport. While protecting Olympic trademarks helps keep the properties valuable, these aggressive tactics keep companies with real connections to Olympic athletes from participating in the excitement of the Olympic Games. Maybe loosening control a bit would allow more money to get to the athletes themselves. After all, it’s their amazing accomplishments that add the real value to the Olympic Games.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shontavia Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Olympic organizers are known for fiercely protecting their many related trademarks. It helps maintain their value – but to whose advantage?Shontavia Johnson, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Drake UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/615052016-07-12T19:44:49Z2016-07-12T19:44:49ZUnhealthy sport sponsorship continues to target kids<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129642/original/image-20160707-30718-ro19st.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research has found eight out of nine food and beverage sponsors of kids sport are bad for you. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/69582358@N06/14319680256/">Flickr/#sung-min</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the final month of the countdown to the Olympic Games, our sports stars are probably not eating and drinking the Games sponsors’ foods. Again, <a href="https://theconversation.com/olympics-sponsorship-supporting-sport-or-funding-fat-8054">as in previous Olympics</a>, the Olympic Games sponsors are Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Cadburys, whose foods and drinks are not good choices for athletes due to their lack of nutrition and high levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats.</p>
<p>Unhealthy sponsorship of sport filters all the way down through sport from the elite level to Saturday morning kids’ clubs.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1753-6405.12541/abstract">New research</a> released by Cancer Council NSW has revealed eight out of nine food and beverage sponsors of children’s sports development programs in Australia are classified as unhealthy. Brands including McDonald’s, Schweppes, Gatorade and Nutrigrain are all competing for brand exposure in kids’ sport. </p>
<p>Junior development programs are modified versions of popular adult sports, designed to increase children’s participation in sports and encourage more children to be active. Beyond just providing physical activity, these programs should promote healthy behaviours, instead of undermining the healthy lifestyle the programs aim to promote.</p>
<p>Besides logo placement on website homepages, we found sponsorship gave companies naming rights to the development program (such as Nippy’s Spikezone – Nippy’s is a brand of flavoured beverages and Spikezone is kids’ volleyball), branded participant packs (such as Milo in2cricket and McDonald’s for Platypus Lagoon swimming) and branded equipment (McDonald’s for junior cricket and basketball).</p>
<p>While the study was done in 2015, this year the sponsorship landscape for children’s sports looks just as unhealthy. At the time of the study McDonald’s was sponsoring three separate junior sports programs across the country. </p>
<p>In 2016, while no longer a sponsor of Little Athletics nationally, <a href="https://mcdonalds.com.au/learn/responsibility/maccas-community">McDonald’s</a> is still involved in Little Athletics across five states, provides branded sports equipment to <a href="https://mcdonalds.com.au/maccas-on-your-team">junior basketball and cricket</a>, provides participant packs and sponsors swimming in Queensland and is a naming rights partner for the South Australian National Football League junior development program. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129643/original/image-20160707-30705-1e7v052.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sponsorship doesn’t just mean a logo on the website, but naming rights and equipment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwardell/164993088/">John Wardle/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Schweppes, Gatorade and a local confectionery company are among state Little Athletics sponsors. Surf-lifesaving sponsors include Schweppes and Nutrigrain.</p>
<p>Our study follows on from a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26149255">2015 study</a> that looked at sponsors on websites of state and national adult sports and found 10% of sponsors on adult sports sites were unhealthy. The 2015 study found only 14 of 53 different sports organisations in Australia didn’t have “unhealthy” sponsors.</p>
<h2>The influence of advertising on children</h2>
<p>Children are a major target market for advertising, as they influence their parents’ spending, have their own independent spending habits and have the potential to become brand-loyal and life-long customers. </p>
<p>Sponsorship of development programs offers companies another avenue to expose children to their brand and foster a connection between children and their brand.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23308400">Australian study</a> of five- to 12-year-olds found they associated team sports with the products and messages promoted via the sports’ sponsors. </p>
<p>Sponsorship and branding within sports can influence product recall and enhance children’s attitudes towards that sponsor. <a href="https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1479-5868-8-95">Interviews of 10- to 14-year-olds</a> found they think of food and drink companies that sponsor their club and favourite team as “cool”. They even said they’d like to return the favour to these sponsors by buying their products.</p>
<h2>Reducing the impact of unhealthy food marketing on children</h2>
<p>In recent years we have seen the closure of the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1314a/14bd086">National Preventive Health Agency</a>. The agency was set up to drive preventive health policy and programs focusing on obesity, tobacco and harmful alcohol consumption. </p>
<p>One consequence has been the withdrawal of funding to sporting organisations that allowed them to have alcohol-free sponsorship. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/aug/14/surfing-australia-turns-to-lion-lager-after-anti-alcohol-ad-funding-dries-up">Some reports</a> suggest these funding cuts have pushed sports to rely again on alcohol sponsorship in the absence of other public funding. </p>
<p>The good news is many sponsors of children’s sports development programs are not food or drink sponsors. It is encouraging that only 11 out of 246 sponsors were food, drink, alcohol or gambling companies. This indicates that many sports are able to seek alternative sponsors. Other major sponsors of kids’ sports development programs included airlines and banks. </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation <a href="http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/marketing-food-to-children/en/">has made recommendations</a> to reduce children’s exposure to and the power of marketing of foods high in fat, added sugars or salt, including marketing in children’s settings. </p>
<p>Currently, there is no Australian regulation that limits or restricts the type of companies allowed to sponsor children’s sport. Sponsorship of children’s sport should be included in food marketing regulation to reduce the impact unhealthy food marketing has on children. </p>
<p>In the absence of regulation, these companies should exercise responsible marketing practices and withdraw from sports sponsorship so sports consistently promotes healthy messages to those participating and watching. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Wendy Watson, Senior Nutrition Project Officer, Cancer Council NSW, and Clare Hughes, Nutrition Program Manager, Cancer Council NSW, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61505/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathy Chapman has received grant funding from Cancer Institute NSW and Ministry of Health and is Director of Cancer Programs at the Cancer Council NSW.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bridget Kelly receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Cancer Council NSW. </span></em></p>Unhealthy sponsorship of sport filters all the way down from the elite level through to Saturday morning kids’ clubs.Kathy Chapman, PhD candidate in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of SydneyBridget Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/601292016-05-31T13:39:40Z2016-05-31T13:39:40ZCome on Wales – outrage over Mars support for England football team is storm in a tea-break<p>Welsh football fans are up in arms. They are calling for a boycott of Mars bars after claims that the confectionery super company has “snubbed” Wales and its fans by flaunting its support for England in the forthcoming European championships. </p>
<p>The problem is that for Euro 2016 Mars has pledged allegiance to the England team to the exclusion of Northern Ireland and Wales – who have, remember, qualified for their first major tournament since 1958. Welsh fans protest that themed Mars bars are offensive to the sensibilities of football fans across the country. On Twitter there were some calling for the removal of said bars from Welsh stores.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"735560000291102721"}"></div></p>
<h2>Sweet nothings</h2>
<p>Unlike many of my compatriots, I refuse to be offended by this.
This is manufactured outrage, nurtured, developed to satisfy the demands of a 24-hour news culture. The actual wrapper (probably deliberately) carries no reference to any particular team and, as I argued on BBC Radio Wales when interviewed about the issue, once again the mainstream media merely trawled Twitter to find examples of indignation. There are obvious dangers in overplaying this: a few raised voices on social media does not an upset nation make. </p>
<p>This is relevant because, as the <a href="http://www.podcastpeldroed.cymru/gareth-bale-the-26-year-old-welsh-goat/">excellent Leon Barton states</a>: “Welsh nationalist sentiment runs far higher amongst the nation’s football fans than it does in the general populace.”</p>
<p>That said, it’s undeniable that some were genuinely offended and saw Mars’ actions as arrogant and provocative. Proof again, if further proof were needed, that England was seen as the whole of Britain and that Wales did not matter one iota.</p>
<h2>Old enemies</h2>
<p>For me, this row is about cultural identity. And though, as Raymond Williams pointed out some time ago, in terms of the relationship between England and Wales, we have moved on somewhat from the old perspectives of England as conqueror, coloniser, exploiter and big neighbour, some tensions still exist. From time to time these surface and illustrate that Welsh identity is still defined in opposition to Englishness.</p>
<p>But this is a situation is not unfamiliar to Mars. Before the World Cups of 2006 and 2010 similar stories broke in Scotland. In 2010 they were criticised by the <a href="http://www.associationoftartanarmyclubs.com/">Association of Tartan Army Clubs</a> for “changing the packaging artwork to feature a St George’s Cross and the Auld Enemy’s Three Lions badge”.</p>
<p>In response to the current furore a spokesman for Mars UK said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our new #Believe campaign is all about tapping into the excitement and buzz of the biggest football tournament of the year. We have a partnership with The FA, but the spirit of the #Believe campaign extends beyond that, to Wales and across the home nations, to encourage fans to get behind their country and show that they #Believe they have what it takes to do well.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is an evasive, not to say patronising, piece of PR – but it actually gets to the heart of the matter. Mars is hoping that all UK supporters buy their chocolate and support as they say, “their country”. Mars is not explicitly anti-anyone – but it is, most definitely, pro-England. They have a partnership with the English FA which began in 2009.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124311/original/image-20160527-859-tqw1pf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Believe? In whom, ask Welsh people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Jewell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mars is at present one of England’s “official supporters” (alongside the likes of Nike, Lucozade, M&S and, interestingly, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-3321424/Lidl-signs-multimillion-pound-deal-FA-England-football-team-s-official-supermarket-sponsor.html">German supermarket Lidl</a>) who pay a seven-figure sum each year to guarantee the use of the official Three Lions emblem on packaging and England players in promotional campaigns. Such deals are lucrative for the FA. The lead sponsor of England is Vauxhall and in 2011, the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12160434">FA and Vauxhall signed a three-and-a-half-year agreement</a> that Marketing Week magazine claimed was worth “<a href="http://www.marketingweek.com/2011/01/11/vauxhall-confirms-england-sponsorship/">up to £6m a year</a>”.</p>
<h2>Size matters</h2>
<p>Mars has spent widely on its England publicity. The flagship of the campaign is a Henry V-style pastiche featuring Harry Kane, Danny Welbeck and Jamie Vardy. </p>
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</figure>
<p>In the one-minute ad we see various signifiers of English culture make their way across the Channel to the bemusement of a few stereotypical Frenchmen. It’s supposed to be light-hearted, of course, but the main intention is to tap into the goodwill and expectancy of fans ahead of the tournament. Mars wants to place itself at the centre of the fan experience – the theory is that the sporting environment, live or otherwise, delivers the consumer to the advertiser in precisely the right state of mind to be receptive to persuasive messages and constant presence.</p>
<p>The unpalatable fact for those in Wales who are disappointed at Mars’ behaviour is that it probably doesn’t matter at all to the company. England are Mars’ concern and the Scottish episodes in 2006 and 2010 indicate that the company is prepared to live with a little flak if it can reach its target audience.</p>
<p>Private companies are generally motivated by little more than the making of money – they have no moral obligation to act as cultural arbiters. Mars pay England a lot of money for access and the inescapable fact is that there are more than 50m people in England and only 3.1m in Wales. That’s the bottom line.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60129/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The controversy over the confectioner’s campaign ahead of the European championship is a media beat-up.John Jewell, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/536892016-01-26T14:46:51Z2016-01-26T14:46:51ZHow damaging is an Adidas decision to pull its athletics sponsorship?<p>Adidas has reportedly decided to terminate its sponsorship deal with the IAAF, the governing body of world athletics, amid negative publicity around allegations of doping and corruption. The 11-year deal was set to end in 2019, and according to the BBC, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/35385415">Adidas paid US$33m</a> for the right to be associated with sports ranging from the marathon to the long-jump – a deal worth as much as US$8m a year in terms of cash and products. </p>
<p>Neither Adidas nor the IAAF have directly confirmed or denied the reports. The German sportswear giant said it had a clear anti-doping policy was therefore “in close contact with IAAF to learn more about the reform process”. The IAAF, meanwhile, has said it is in close contact with all of its sponsors.</p>
<p>The apparent withdrawal comes at a time when the IAAF is on its knees after the World Anti-Doping Agency <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-athletics-doping-report-piles-more-pressure-on-iaaf-but-there-mustnt-be-an-over-reaction-52991">reported</a> that corruption was endemic within world atheltics’ governing body. Sebastian Coe, IAAF’s president since 2015, has robustly defended athletics and the organisation amid a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/dec/11/iaaf-lamine-diack-presidency-athletics">swirling tide of claims, allegations and rumours</a>. Adidas pulling out would be a major blow both to him and to the sport over which he presides.</p>
<p>However, Adidas’ reported decision is something of a surprise. The sports brand remained loyal to FIFA during an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32897066">ongoing corruption probe</a> into football’s governing body. The longstanding nature of Adidas’ relationship with FIFA may be one reason for such loyalty, unlike its relatively recent links with the IAAF, which may explain why it is said to be jumping ship. </p>
<p>At the same time, the IAAF’s problems run much deeper than those of FIFA, with incidents on the track and off it having <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2016/jan/14/athletics-doping-scandal-wada-releases-part-two-of-report-live">become increasingly apparent</a>. Many sponsors have previously shown a reluctance to terminate deals in light of athletics’ problems, so one possible scenario is that Adidas is keen to shield itself from any further damaging revelations.</p>
<p>Nor should one forget the “Coe factor” in all of this. Coe brought a 38-year relationship with Nike to his role as IAAF president, an association that attracted widespread criticism. Some felt that his role as a brand ambassador (for which he was paid £100,000 a year) would compromise his presidency, and create <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/11/26/iaaf-president-seb-coe-severs-controversial-nike-sponsorship">a potential conflict of interest</a>. He ultimately terminated the deal, stating that he had only ended his association with Nike because of a perceived conflict of interest rather than a proven one.</p>
<p>While this debate unfolded, Nike’s name sat centre-stage of the controversy. Adidas bosses surely can’t have been pleased about this, especially as their sponsorship was already becoming embroiled in the emerging doping scandal. </p>
<p>Even so, early termination of a sponsorship deal is a massive strategic call for any business, especially at this level of sport. This suggests that company chiefs are clear in their minds that there is a business case for withdrawal: probably to mitigate some of the reputational damage the company has already suffered, almost certainly to stop consumers associating the Adidas name with <a href="https://theconversation.com/athletics-doping-report-should-spark-radical-rethink-on-drugs-in-sport-50376">doping</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-athletics-doping-report-piles-more-pressure-on-iaaf-but-there-mustnt-be-an-over-reaction-52991">corruption allegations</a>.</p>
<p>A decision by Adidas to terminate its deal would be no apocalypse for the IAAF. Former president Lamine Diack previously sold the control of the IAAF’s sponsorship rights to a Japanese company, Dentsu. It is Dentsu that sold the rights to Adidas and it will take any financial hit that an Adidas sponsorship termination brings. That said, athletics is damaged goods and early termination will tilt the balance of power in sponsorship negotiations away from the sport and towards prospective sponsors. </p>
<h2>Era defining</h2>
<p>Don’t bet on there being a mass outbreak of morality though. With a high-profile sponsorship property such as world athletics now up for grabs, it is likely that several of the world’s leading sports apparel brands will be taking a close look at filling the gap. </p>
<p>As the case of Puma and the South African Football Association proved a couple of years ago, just because one company takes the moral high ground doesn’t mean its rivals will too. Puma ended its sponsorship <a href="https://theconversation.com/puma-leaps-out-of-south-africa-amid-rising-market-morality-19999">over fixing claims</a> only for Nike to replace it. Similarly, it is inevitable that the likes of Nike will be <a href="http://sport.bt.com/more-sport-hub/more-sport/nike-expected-to-be-given-chance-to-replace-adidas-as-iaaf-sponsor-S11364035896530">monitoring the current situation</a> very carefully.</p>
<p>Whoever the new sponsors ultimately may prove to be, the revelations could well be era defining. For years, many critics have been calling on sponsors <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-sponsors-may-be-the-only-ones-who-can-reform-fifa-42507">to take direct action</a> against sports and any governing bodies deemed to have been corrupt, immoral or even just badly run. Viewed in these terms, Adidas’ decision may be a tipping-point, where the morals of the marketplace begin to dominate corporate decision making. After all, why would any company hang around a sport so tarnished that it might, in the eyes of consumers, become tarnished in the same way?</p>
<p>Adidas may become the first of many sponsors to reflect the wishes of their customers by terminating unpalatable sponsorship deals. And, with the Olympic Games a matter of months away, the pressure is on for them to be a clean games – and for the IAAF to get its affairs in order.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53689/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Why Adidas pulled its sponsorship of the IAAF, the governing body of world athletics.Simon Chadwick, ‘Class of 92’ Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/500892015-11-02T13:19:25Z2015-11-02T13:19:25ZHow Dr Dre picked up the ball and ran with it despite Rugby World Cup’s tight marketing scrum<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100508/original/image-20151102-16514-sg4z0a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C1020%2C686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heads you win.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/slnguyen/4294018523/in/photolist-7xrY78-b8nUfn-b8nTTT-aCR5e2-beXcNP-7vSQGY-b8nTv4-b8nTGF-7u5UHa-7vSQGW-7vSQH7-aCUWfG-8V2wad-8XGvv8-7xrXz2-7xrWYB-b8nUwP-wx2ipB-7xrWmH-aer1UZ-b8nU3k-b8nTCi-b8nTja-b8nTyD-b8nToz-b8nTYt-b8nTrX-aCR5mM-99n5Fz-9V3CAA-ctntXd-eeomAT-eewSHJ-aCUWn1-aucPju-aCUWpb-aDMsPA-98dqBS-o8bNZD-b2obit-bhbiGM-bVocxF-8jsvV3-aAFUuo-o9XFZD-nQrMYm-onNGVk-aMFgbX-94CL63-aMFjPi">Sean Nguyen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The favourites New Zealand chalked up their second successive Rugby World Cup victory in a competition dominated by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-beautiful-south-how-australia-and-new-zealand-dominated-the-rugby-world-cup-49965">southern hemisphere</a> teams. But who were the winners among the global corporations seeking to stand out in the marketing scrum? The tournament sought to keep its doors closed to the kind of unofficial marketing that leaves official sponsors furious, but an American rapper may have rattled their cages.</p>
<p>The RWC is now firmly established as a top ten world sporting event that can boast a hike in <a href="http://www.novagraaf.com/en/news?newspath=/NewsItems/en/don-t-get-into-a-fight-with-the-rugby-world-cup-2015-organisers">sponsorship revenue of more than 50%)</a>. Huge leaps have been made to <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/09/24/italy-sees-largest-rugby-world-cup-interest-spike-outside-top-10-ranked-sides">give the sport global scale</a>.</p>
<p>You could see the practical impact of this as deep-pocketed sponsor Emirates airline’s brand appeared on match officials’ shirts, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-england-cant-lose-from-hosting-the-rugby-world-cup-47788">a first for the tournament</a>, and a move which illustrates a willingness to create new marketing assets. </p>
<h2>Swing lower</h2>
<p>However, despite the largely sold out stadia, the biggest crowds, and the narrowest winning margins (although still some 30 points), TV sponsors were still facing 25% advertising value losses <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/10/05/rugby-world-cup-brands-play-down-commercial-losses-england-s-lacklustre-exit">due to England’s early exit.</a></p>
<p>It wasn’t for want of trying. Official sponsor Land Rover, surely the ideal rugby vehicle, ran extensive grass roots game vignettes emphasising its rugged, real and authentic dimensions. As part of the pre-tournament hype, it even floated a bespoke Defender in an oval balloon down the river Thames. </p>
<p>Heineken’s £20m sponsorship propelled it to the top of the <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/09/22/heineken-tops-rwc2015-digital-engagement-non-sponsor-guinness-comes-second">competition’s digital engagement rankings</a>, closely followed in second place by non-sponsor and close competitor Guinness with its “made of more” campaign, with Land Rover taking fifth spot. Also in the top ten were non-official sponsors O2, using an evocative approach dubbed <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/10/05/rugby-world-cup-brands-play-down-commercial-losses-england-s-lacklustre-exit">“wear the rose - make them giants”</a> that claimed 5m acts of shirt wearing support. </p>
<p>The biggest surprise to most would have been a Dr Dre brand coup as it rode on the coat-tails of a genuine tournament hero with a campaign titled “the game starts here” and starring All Blacks captain Ritchie McCaw. The Beats headphone, speaker and music streaming business which Dr Dre founded is now owned by Apple, but the company <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/jul/31/dr-dre-beats-olympic-brand-police">has form in ambush marketing</a>. It is an alluringly effective strategy for a youth-culture-focused brand no doubt. Using the highly recognisable Kiwi skipper allowed Beats to achieve a stand-out top ten ranking without signing up for an official sponsorship package.</p>
<h2>Giants felled</h2>
<p>England’s long-term telecoms sponsor, O2, got into that top 10 despite having to give up its Twickenham stadium sponsorship for the 44-day-long tournament. It did though <a href="http://news.o2.co.uk/?press-release=o2-gives-rugby-fans-chance-to-earn-one-of-50000-official-england-rugby-shirts">give away 50,000 O2-branded shirts</a>, adding to the 150,000 that are sold each year. You might even have some pity for them as that “wear the rose” campaign featuring oversized cartoons of celebrity players to tap into powerful emotional nationalism, came to a rather sudden halt as England crashed out embarassingly.</p>
<p>O2 might have foreswarn ambush marketing, but it wasn’t left entirely to chance. Bespoke anti-ambushing legislation wasn’t introduced but the RWC organising body England 2015 did pre-purchase the outdoor outlets <a href="http://www.udl.co.uk/docs/default-source/default-document-library/ambush-marketing.pdf?sfvrsn=2">around their venues</a>, effectively establishing a 500m advertising exclusion zone. </p>
<p>The RWC also relied on trade mark protection, rather than what some have criticised as the draconian legislative measures <a href="http://www.onechoix.com/ambush-marketing-what-it-means-for-the-2015-rugby-world-cup-and-euro-2020">used by the Olympic movement</a> at London and for next year in Rio, and in so doing avoiding negative coverage and legal costs. Some hold the view that tighter sponsor rights protection actually makes it more likely that mega sports events will be ambushed; think of the notorious antics of <a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">Paddy Power, Bavaria Beer and Pepsi</a>. Seven out of the ten most shared World Cup adverts were unofficial at FIFA’s 2014 premier football event.</p>
<h2>Bounced out</h2>
<p>And so the main sponsors kept the ambushes at bay, but maybe didn’t eradicate them completely. I noticed hostess teams outside Twickenham handing out megaphones featuring branding from power company SSE, which were confiscated by the stadium security. SSE was a sponsor of UK commercial broadcaster ITV’s coverage of the World Cup, but it was not an official sponsor per se.</p>
<p>Guinness, sponsor of all four home nation teams and yet ousted from the stadium experience by Henieken, sought to harness its credentials with rugby supporters directly at pubs and bars. It tried to get 500,000 people to try Guinness with an omni-channel roadblock media buying strategy aimed at hitting every screen and giving away 10,000 point of sales kits to landlords and owners.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Samsung put itself in the background in a campaign that leant on comedy for impact.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another non-sponsor, Samsung, grabbed attention with its school of rugby campaign featuring comedian Jack Whitehall and former England captains Martin Johnson and Laurence Dallaglio. Their humorous content strategy heavily pared back on the Korean tech brand’s visibility. Blink and you might have missed it. </p>
<h2>Sponsorship form</h2>
<p>Perhaps, after all, the biggest surprise was on the field as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/19/south-africa-japan-rugby-world-cup-2015-match-report">Japan beat South Africa</a>. Very modest evidence of England 2015 ambush ads probably signals a win for RWC management’s effort to protect exclusive sponsorship rights. Consumers don’t differentiate of course, and in that halo of confusion there was some success in related, but not infringing, marketing from Guinness, Samsung, and O2.</p>
<p>The thing is, they all have serious, long standing pedigrees as official sports sponsors. And in truth the RWC probably won’t be too bothered that some potential sponsors for the game stole a little of their thunder this time around. Bearing that in mind, it was perhaps only Beats by Dr Dre that ruffled the tournament’s carefully orchestrated protectionist feathers. So who will step up to take on the lawyers and stadium bouncers at next year’s Brazilian Olympics?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Justin O'Brien does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The attempt to hand-off unofficial advertising during the RWC failed.Professor Justin O'Brien, MBA Programme Director, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/461742015-08-24T16:17:36Z2015-08-24T16:17:36ZHow Russia has devoted its energy to the beautiful game<p>As the new European football season starts and the tiresome FIFA corruption scandal rumbles on, most of us are inevitably preoccupied either by who will win the coming season’s titles or how the governing body will cope with the pressure. But there is an intriguing, and strengthening, agenda hidden behind both the new season and FIFA’s ongoing travails – global energy supplies.</p>
<p>In their <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-ugly-game-by-heidi-blake--jonathan-calvert-book-review-10231887.html">recent book The Ugly Game</a>, Heidi Blake and Jonathan Calvert discuss what it seems to take for a nation to win the right to host football’s World Cup. Notwithstanding the levels to which all the bidding nations seemingly stooped in the race for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, Blake and Calvert highlight a couple of specific episodes that reveal how deeply embedded football is in global geopolitics and, more specifically, energy supplies.</p>
<h2>Deal makers</h2>
<p>The first episode describes how, while it was seeking the support of the Thai FIFA Executive Committee, Qatar agreed a 20-year gas deal with the government of Thailand. In 2011, one year after the Middle East nation’s success in its bid to host the 2022 tournament, Qatargas delivered its maiden cargo to Thailand’s first and only Liquified Natural Gas receiving terminal, Map Ta Phut. Since then, Qatargas has supplied Thailand with 27 more cargoes.</p>
<p>In the second episode, Blake and Calvert observe that in the midst of the horse trading for support during <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/fifa/11686691/Brazil-delegate-comfirms-illicit-World-Cup-vote-trading-between-backers-of-Spain-and-Qatar-bids.html">FIFA’s problematic 2010 double World Cup vote</a> there emerged an agreement for Qatar and Russia – the world’s two largest natural gas suppliers – to exploit deposits that had been located beneath the Yamal Peninsula in Siberia.</p>
<p>There is an argument that such incidents amount to simple coincidence – <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/05/qatar-yamal-lng-idUKL6N0BXH2Y20130305">recent reports in fact</a> indicate that Qatar has decided against taking its involvement in the project any further. However, Blake and Calvert’s observations add further credence to the idea that football is increasingly taking centre-stage in the global geopolitics of international energy supplies. In particular, the authors note that several members of the 2018 Russian bid committee were former employees of Gazprom.</p>
<h2>Gas giant</h2>
<p>Gazprom is both the world’s largest extractor of natural gas and one of its biggest corporations. Formerly Russian state-owned, <a href="http://www.gazprom.com/about/history/company/">Gazprom was created in 1989</a> and then later partly privatised, although the country’s government retains a majority ownership stake. Despite sanctions against Russia, which have hit Gazprom’s business in recent years, the company <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0078c61c-52d5-11e4-a236-00144feab7de.html#axzz3j4Fy5HJs">still supplies around one-third</a> of the European Union’s gas and actively operates in countries such as Brazil, Germany, Iran and Nigeria.</p>
<p>Gazprom has an <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/be5b2017943e416e98eef2fc29740df8/world-cup-center-gazproms-sponsorship-empire">impressive array of relationships</a> across football – ranging from deals with FIFA and UEFA, <a href="http://grantland.com/the-triangle/gazprom-zenit-st-petersburg-and-the-intersection-of-global-politics-and-world-football/">through to ownership of Zenit Saint Petersburg</a>, its reported interest in buying Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade and sponsorship contracts with Schalke of the German Bundesliga and Chelsea of England’s Premier League. This has recently <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/be5b2017943e416e98eef2fc29740df8/world-cup-center-gazproms-sponsorship-empire">led some commentators</a> to question what Gazprom is seeking to achieve from such deals, especially as the corporation does not sell gas directly to domestic customers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92082/original/image-20150817-25727-1gjbhk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schalke stars plug Russian gas in Germany.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dsteffek/4714217565/in/photolist-8bzADc-aa4UQs-gs7fx-bkAboN-dnF2UK-dnF7Ks-dnF3nx-dnF7o1-tp6U-9q1MHr-bpewD-dnF7Fh-dnF7vw-dnF3vx-dnF7Bo-dnF7yw-vUAFpp-8bCz8h-8bzzk8-8bCMRf-8bCRyq-8bzjiT-8bCAvS-8bCPtE-8bCNNW-8bCytW-8bCNpq-8bzyHZ-8bzgta-8bCzZ5-8bCxbf-8bCzGb-8bCQqQ-8bCBaY-8bzzCT-8bzBee-8bzf9x-8bCSRG-8bCSy1-8bCMe5-8bCMxo-8bCLXE-wby1ki-wbxx8n-wbxxnk-hCdKev-hCcWg3-hCcuC1-8bCxQw-8bzwF6">dsteffek</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Consider the Schalke deal; the club signed a shirt sponsorship contract with Gazprom in 2007, a move which at the time led <a href="http://www.11freunde.de/liveticker">German football magazine 11Freunde</a> to claim the club’s move was “like having sex without a condom”. Schalke is based in Gelsenkirchen, northern Germany, which is part of the country’s industrial heartland, the Ruhrgebiet. Many would argue that Schalke is emblematic of German football’s culture and of its industrial roots.</p>
<h2>Serbian routes</h2>
<p>As one of the biggest consumers of Russian gas, in 2005 the Germans agreed to collaborate with the Russians in building <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/18/energy-gazprom-pipeline-idUKL5N0Z42OB20150618">the North Stream gas pipeline</a>. The pipeline, which begins in Russia and terminates in Germany, was inaugurated in 2011. <a href="http://www.css.ethz.ch/publications/pdfs/RAD-81.pdf">One view</a> is that Gazprom’s deal with Schalke was a means through which to influence German opinion, particularly at governmental levels. As an interesting aside to this, it is worth noting that the North European Gas Pipeline Company (later renamed Nord Stream AG) which owns North Stream is incorporated in Zug, Switzerland – coincidentally the home of FIFA, of which Gazprom is a partner.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92085/original/image-20150817-5124-68hiat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Red Star fans light up the stadium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dzindzer/4971458850/in/photolist-ff9tn6-8zf2rq-8zf28h-7yw7yK-7Z4E6r-kbGSx-6evajk-9yXx4M-9z1AfC-9yXytB-ozP1-9oCJDJ-ndCT6S-8zj2vL-7szdUL-7svfAi-7szdMh-9oCMiW-9oCKYW-dxZ9xD-7Z4Dpa">dezindzer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>History may now be repeating itself, as Gazprom has for some time been flirting heavily with <a href="http://www.crvenazvezdafk.com/en.html">Red Star Belgrade</a> (Serbia’s most famous club) to the extent that the Russian corporation <a href="http://keirradnedge.com/2014/09/02/gazprom-poised-for-red-star-takeover/">may yet buy the club</a>. This should come as no surprise to anyone as Russia has long been seeking a route for its mooted <a href="http://www.rt.com/business/218635-gazprom-owner-south-stream/">South Stream gas pipeline</a>, a project of which Gazprom became the 100% owner in late 2014. Serbia was at one time a country through which South Stream could have passed, but it has been struggling to reconcile its aspirations to become a member of the European Union with a desire to remain close to Russia. Alongside that, Gazprom’s attempts to influence Serbia’s position through the purchase of Red Star have remained up in the air.</p>
<h2>Life, death and oil</h2>
<p>In the meantime, Gazprom has continued its headlong march into football. It’s rotational signage and animated television adverts have become a staple of UEFA Champions League games, while the company’s logo has started to become prominent on FIFA properties as a result of the Russian corporation’s 2013 partnership deal with football’s world governing body. Such deals have taken Gazprom into the boardrooms and corporate hospitality suites of football’s aristocracy, facilitating easy access to the politicians and officials who make the types of energy decisions Gazprom no doubt wants to affect. Football has clearly become a focal point for the fossil fuel diplomacy of countries across the world – Qatar and Russia are not alone in using football for this purpose. </p>
<p>Whatever the outcome of proceedings against FIFA officials, the activities of those such as Gazprom already reveal that those among us who still think that football is all about the game, are guilty of an increasingly naïve assumption. Indeed, one is reminded yet again of former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly’s words about football being more important than life and death. Seems like he was right after all: in the 21st century it is increasingly about oil and gas, international energy supplies and global geopolitics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
What does Gazprom hope to achieve with its deep and generous relationship with football?Simon Chadwick, ‘Class of 92’ Professor of Sports Enterprise, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/425072015-05-29T05:44:10Z2015-05-29T05:44:10ZWhy sponsors may be the only ones who can reform FIFA<p>That FIFA officials, past and present, are embroiled in investigations for an array of bribery, fraud and money laundering is both shocking and unsurprising. This is not the first time that FIFA has been associated with governance failure and lack of accountability. The way the organisation is set up means that pressure from sponsors could be the only way that things will change.</p>
<p>FIFA has long been seen as a self-servient institution; reluctant to allow any external involvement in its activities. Individuals <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/93DJKjEXhVLY5LyK73iFvN/Fifas-structure-is-typical-of-organized-crime-Andrew-Jenni.html">such as the campaigning journalist Andrew Jennings</a> have sought for many years to expose repeated failings in world football’s governing body. So, while some sponsors have severed their ties with FIFA, most have stuck with them, with much to gain from FIFA’s global market share.</p>
<h2>A profitable non-profit</h2>
<p>A non-profit organisation, FIFA lays claim to existing for the public interest and to holding an important place in global civic society. Its <a href="http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/generic/02/58/14/48/2015fifastatutesen_neutral.pdf">objectives</a> range from narrow football-specific purposes through to rather abstract intentions such as improving the game of football constantly and promoting it globally “in the light of its unifying, educational, cultural and humanitarian values”. </p>
<p>But FIFA is also one of the most successful multinational enterprises in the world, having successfully expanded into emerging markets and has even started making <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/us-soccer-americaasmainstreamsportfifaworldcup.html">inroads into the lucrative US market</a>. It is also highly profitable, with the 2014 World Cup helping FIFA post a record revenue of US$2 billion last year and US$337m in profits coming from the four-year cycle <a href="http://www.worldsoccer.com/news/fifa-reveal-2bn-revenue-and-record-profit-360460#xVUFit4vw0Oe9ZLr.99">leading up to the finals in Brazil</a>. </p>
<h2>Accountability</h2>
<p>FIFA’s primary accountability is to its national member associations and regional federations. These stakeholders are the principal financial beneficiaries of the organisation’s commercial success. They are also the groups responsible for electing the FIFA officials who are in control of distributing the organisation’s financial rewards. In these circumstances it is not difficult to see the limitations in conventional systems of hierarchical and independent accountability.</p>
<p>But given the organisation’s repeated failures, one frustration has been the unwillingness of other commercial sponsors and partners to play a more active role in seeking to improve governance, transparency and accountability. Considering the amount they contribute to FIFA’s total revenues (<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-fifas-finances-tell-us-about-its-sponsor-relations-27842">nearly a third</a>), they should have some clout.</p>
<p>FIFA’s corporate sponsors are a veritable who’s who of powerful multinationals: Visa, McDonalds, Adidas, Budweiser, Coca-Cola. Their response to scandals that have occurred over the years – whether it is the conditions of workers involved in building World Cup infrastructure or bribery and corruption – have tended toward <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/fifa-key-sponsors-visa-adidas-and-cocacola-pile-on-pressure-in-wake-of-corruption-scandal-10280496.html">public statements</a> expressing “disappointment” and “desire for change”. </p>
<h2>‘Voice’ and ‘exit’</h2>
<p>Multinational sponsors are, of course, at risk from their relationships with FIFA. They therefore have a direct stake in FIFA’s performance, reputation and standing. But, until there is any prospect of this impact on their own financial performance or status, sponsors have seemingly been content with economist Albert Hirschman’s notion of <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674276604">governance by “voice” and not “exit”</a>. </p>
<p>This is the idea that companies (as well as customers and civilians) have the choice of voicing their dissatisfaction in a business relationship or severing ties with (exiting) it. FIFA’s sponsors have always opted with the “voice” option, restricting their attempts at influence to dialogue, instead of stronger action. Unfortunately, however, FIFA’s track record suggests that this has been a dialogue of the deaf.</p>
<p>Ostensibly Visa’s more concrete <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/28/fifa-crisis-blatter-calls-resign-sponsors-disappointment">threat to exit</a> following the latest scandal may turn out to be highly significant in FIFA’s reform. They wouldn’t be the first to leave, however. In 2014 Emirates and Sony both decided <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/25/us-sony-soccer-fifa-idUSKCN0J90R020141125">not to renew their sponsorship contracts</a> amid the last corruption probe. </p>
<p>So far, other top tier sponsors <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/may/27/coca-cola-corruption-world-cup">Coca-Cola</a> and <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/adidas-statement-on-arrest-of-fifa-officials-2015-5">Adidas</a> have merely voiced concern. Decisions to take the more dramatic route of severing ties with FIFA are of course predicated on the objectives of these multinationals and their accountability to their own shareholders. </p>
<p>But what is emphatically clear now is that there is a growing business risk from their association with FIFA. Together with the charges being pursued by US and Swiss prosecutors, ironically it may well be market accountability that will provide the most likely route to lasting reform of this supposedly public interest organisation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Morrow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is a growing business risk for sponsors from being associated with FIFA and they are better placed than UEFA even to push for reform.Stephen Morrow, Senior Lecturer in Sport Finance, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319612014-09-23T07:03:36Z2014-09-23T07:03:36ZSport sponsorship lends halo to supplements and sports drinks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/59756/original/4snjzqpx-1411440743.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Spectators can attribute the positive qualities of the sport they're watching to the supplements and sports drinks being promoted.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vijay_chennupati/6931254009">vijay chennupati/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sporting bodies shouldn’t unconditionally accept sponsorship from nutritional supplements and sports drinks companies because a link with sports lends undue credibility to these unproven products. <a href="http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2014/07/29/medethics-2014-102147">In an article</a> just published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, my colleague and I argue such sponsorship misleads the public into thinking the products are inevitably good for health, fitness, and well-being. </p>
<p>Sport sponsorship – and its promotional cousin celebrity endorsement – can deliver massive mutual benefits. Consider the <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/2918/how-nike-landed-michael-jordan">Nike–Michael Jordan relationship</a>: basketball participation expanded, and Jordan became the world’s most recognisable athlete while Nike became the planet’s dominant sports shoe supplier.</p>
<p>But sponsorship can also be problematic. </p>
<p>During the 1970s and 1980s, for instance, the tobacco industry embedded itself in sport, and often paid for the naming rights for events and leagues. In the light of incontrovertible evidence that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer and other ill health, governments <a href="http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/D0FEA695F541BA92CA257BF0001C1AAF/$File/prohibition-act.pdf">banned direct and indirect advertising</a> of tobacco products. </p>
<p>The vacuum this left was quickly filled by multinational food and beverage companies, such as Coca Cola, Nestle, and McDonald’s, alongside alcohol brands. These are by no means health-promoting products, and despite their link with sports, don’t add to their legitimacy.</p>
<p>But sponsorship by nutritional supplement and sports drinks companies is more complicated. These products appear to encourage healthy living, and exercise, and both are linked to the ethos of sport, which is to <a href="http://www.nutritionaustralia.org/national/resources/sports-nutrition">fine-tune the body’s capacity to perform</a>. Amino acids help build muscle, for instance, while high-energy drinks can stall the onset of fatigue.</p>
<p>Still, there’s a problematic side to the regular use of supplements and sports drinks; the health and performance benefits of many of the products remain unproven. </p>
<p>While a beverage with high levels of caffeine might provide a short-term energy boost, its effect can be severely moderated by the dose, the time when it’s taken, and the nature of the sporting activity. And while multivitamin capsules are promoted as immune system <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/nutrition/supplements/supplements_in_sport">stimulants and energy boosters</a>, supporting evidence is thin.</p>
<p>Supplements and sports drinks can also have serious health implications. Advertising implies these products are benign but large doses of caffeine can trigger <a href="https://theconversation.com/energy-drinks-a-trigger-for-heart-attacks-and-stroke-7036">irregular heart rhythm</a>, and lead to anxiety attacks. And a <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/05/31/136722667/pediatricians-warn-against-energy-and-sports-drinks-for-kids">daily diet of energy drinks</a> can lead to obesity and diabetes because of their sugar content.</p>
<p>To athletes, supplements also <a href="http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0003/lmb.html">pose a risk of doping</a> as they sometimes contain prohibited substances. Ingesting prohibited substances lead to sanctions regardless of any intention or knowledge of their presence.</p>
<p>These problems are compounded when the products are <a href="http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/v32/acr_vol32_48.pdf">linked to sponsorship deals</a> because spectators attribute the positive qualities of the sport they’re watching to the product being promoted. The link can lead to a seamless association whereby the product (in this case nutritional supplements and sport drinks) comes to be seen as not only as integral to sport, but also part of the overall experience.</p>
<p>By accepting their sponsorship, various sporting codes lend unwarranted credibility to products that would not otherwise be seen as beneficial or healthy. The issue has already prompted disquiet among sporting authorities, and many <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/197432/AIS_Statement_on_Supplements_Sold_by_Network_Marketing_Companies.pdf">sports organisations have publicly distanced themselves</a> from claims about their endorsement of supplement use. </p>
<p>The American Dietetic Association, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11145214">issued a joint statement</a> highlighting how supplements only benefit specific sports (creatine use for high-intensity sports, such as weight lifting and sprinting, for instance). They also point out that the majority of the supplements on the market fall into the category of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergogenic_aid">ergogenic aids</a> that do not perform as claimed.</p>
<p>Similarly, the <a href="http://www.irishrugby.ie/downloads/IRFU_supplements_the_young__FINAL.pdf">Irish Rugby Football Union recently noted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the increased popularity of such products, across all ages and all sports, may be due to a lack of understanding of the claims made by manufacturers, many of which are not backed up by scientific evidence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/en/questions-answers/supplements">the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) says</a> the use of dietary supplements is cause for concern because their manufacture and labels aren’t regulated. And this could mean supplements contain undeclared substances that are prohibited under anti-doping regulations.</p>
<p>These statements stand in stark contrast to the ubiquitous supplements and drinks sponsorship of sports teams and events. </p>
<p>The unease sporting authorities feel about endorsing these products is cause for caution about nutritional supplements and sports drink consumption and sponsorship. While it may not be sufficient for sporting codes to ditch such sponsorship, it should warn them against entering arrangements without first undertaking a “due diligence” test.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Stewart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sporting bodies shouldn’t unconditionally accept sponsorship from nutritional supplements and sports drinks companies because a link with sports lends undue credibility to these unproven products. In an…Bob Stewart, Professor in the School of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292212014-07-17T19:58:53Z2014-07-17T19:58:53ZSexuality and swimmers: why Thorpe’s story made a splash<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54066/original/nd2kwdyg-1405563526.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ian Thorpe in 2012. In 2014, do sponsors still only back certain sporting stereotypes that support social norms? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/ Ben Macmahon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ian Thorpe is unpopular with some critics, despite a largely <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-openly-gay-public-figures-like-ian-thorpe-matter-they-sure-do-29149">positive reaction</a> when he came out last weekend. The issue is money. </p>
<p>Stories are <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/swimming/deal-or-no-deal-why-thorpe-kept-quiet-20140713-3bv2m.html#ixzz37PBSzSzu">circulating</a> that he was warned prior to the 2000 Olympic Games about the financial impact on the Canadian swimmer Mark Tewksbury, who came out in 1998 (six years after he won gold at 1992 Olympics) and lost a “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/swimming/deal-or-no-deal-why-thorpe-kept-quiet-20140713-3bv2m.html#ixzz37Y5aM0tT">six-figure speaking contract</a>”. So Thorpe stayed where he was. </p>
<p>When Thorpe resumed training in the hope of selection for the 2012 Olympics, his fellow swimmers <a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/more-sports/australian-swimmers-angry-at-money-spent-on-comebacks-of-ian-thorpe-michael-klim-and-libby-trickett/story-e6frf56c-1226296133329?nk=4853ec0d880d74bb9beaa6241b16e810">allegedly demanded</a> their governing body reveal the payment involved in this comeback amid rumours of “six-figure handshakes”.</p>
<p>Swimming Australia was in a tight spot, with ratings drooping and prime-time TV coverage imperilled. So if payments were made, they were presumably an investment in star power to <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/a-pool-full-of-sponsor-gold-for-ian-thorpe/story-e6freuy9-1226298572500">regain media attention</a> and boost revenues.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54068/original/nyf88gj4-1405564444.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michael Parkinson and Ian Thorpe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/ Network Ten</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Much of the frenzy surrounding last Sunday’s <a href="http://tenplay.com.au/search-results?q=ian%20thorpe&type=&show=">television interview</a> with Michael Parkinson has also been to do with dollars as Ten Network, who screened it, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/did-early-start-to-ian-thorpe-interview-cost-channel-10-20140714-zt6nr.html">apparently agreed</a> to hire Thorpe as a commentator on the Commonwealth Games as a <em>quid pro quo</em>.</p>
<p>So how badly has Thorpe jeopardised sponsorship opportunities with his coming-out announcement?</p>
<p>The stakes are considerable. By 2005, US celebrity endorsements amounted to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/mar.20205/abstract">over a billion dollars</a>. Such investments are predicated on the assumption that audiences imagine they can <a href="http://hij.sagepub.com/content/13/4/362.refs">magically transfer</a> star qualities onto themselves by purchasing commodities associated with their idols, from shoes to supplements.</p>
<p>Inevitably, though, things go wrong with a system based on tests of desire, denial and physicality. There is an almost taken-for-granted oscillation between athletes’ good and bad conduct: high-performance dietary supplements versus illegal drugs, sexual display in advertisements as opposed to extra-marital affairs in private, club loyalty and disloyalty. </p>
<p>Because the body is the currency of sport, its passions and unreliability mark it out for disappointment and excess as much as fulfilment and success. And bodies become old, creaky and uncompetitive.</p>
<p>We know almost too much about sporting celebrities, most notably what their bodies look like <em>in extremis</em>: dirty, sweaty, teary, demoralised, undressed, furious, joyous, unguarded, unconscious and otherwise injured. Athletes’ vulnerabilities grow all too apparent, magnified with each replay and diagnosis.</p>
<h2>Sexuality in the pool</h2>
<p>Thorpe’s situation intersects with the historic identification of swimming with homoeroticism, as per English artist Duncan Grant’s famous 1911 painting <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/grant-bathing-n04567">Bathing</a>, which shows young men frolicking naked in the waters. </p>
<p>Swimming is regarded as masculine because of its self-sufficiency and demands for fitness, strength, and skill. But the sport’s lack of violence <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1571_reg.html">marks it out</a> from body-contact games.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54069/original/vyxbgwd6-1405564630.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Olympic swimmers diving into the pool in London, 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Atos</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Elite male swimmers are outlined in form-hugging briefs or bodysuits, hair trimmed for minimal drag, lean, leggy, ducking, diving, turning, and speeding, seemingly oblivious to the gaze of others and the actions of fellow-competitors. Bug-eyed in goggles, their muscles strain with each eruption from the water.</p>
<p>The uncomfortable sense of the male body straining while almost naked can lead to some interesting practices of compensation in the media. </p>
<p>In the past, the BBC has seen the perils to conventional masculinity <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Television_coverage_of_sport.html?id=4SMMAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y">incipient here</a>: instructions to its camera operators for the 1976 Games emphasised the need to capture swimmers’ “straight lines” in order to suggest “strength, security, vitality and manliness” rather than the “grace and sweetness” of “curved lines”.</p>
<p>And gay men in the pool?</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=748&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54070/original/x39m77fc-1405564955.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=940&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Greg Louganis (right) with his companion arrive to the AIDS Solidarity Gala in Vienna, Austria, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/ Georg Hochmuth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>American Bruce Hayes, an “out” swimmer who won relay gold at the 1984 Olympics, was a key figure in Levi Strauss’ 1998-99 dockers campaign. The champion diver Greg Louganis did not lose support from Speedo or other sponsors when he came out. </p>
<p>Just this week, prompted by Thorpe’s interview, the ASB Bank in New Zealand announced that its sponsorship contracts will all now <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10265419/ASB-adds-diversity-clause">guarantee diversity</a>.</p>
<p>But the issue of sexuality and sponsors is multi-sided. This year’s Sochi Winter Games faced controversy because of host country Russia’s ban on public discussion of gay rights. Human Rights Watch and many other non-government organisations, such as Amnesty International and the Russian LGBT Network, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/31/russia-pressure-escalates-sochi-corporate-sponsors">wrote a letter</a> of complaint to the ten key Olympic sponsors, most of whom met with them. </p>
<p>But with over 80% of Russians supposedly in favour of the law, this <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2014/01/06/Olympics/Olympics-activism.aspx?hl=sponsorship%20gay%20athlete&sc=0">presented difficulties</a> to corporations that saw a large emergent consumer market and felt overwhelming greed.</p>
<p>So Thorpe, the closet, and money have quite a history. Their future may be much shorter. Part of that — an end to secrecy — he will no doubt welcome. The other part — financial uncertainty — he may not. But ultimately, sponsorship issues could arise from Thorpe being yesterday’s hero rather than being gay. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29221/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby Miller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ian Thorpe is unpopular with some critics, despite a largely positive reaction when he came out last weekend. The issue is money. Stories are circulating that he was warned prior to the 2000 Olympic Games…Toby Miller, Professor of Cultural Policy Studies, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/281752014-06-19T05:03:20Z2014-06-19T05:03:20ZFor Sony and Coke, the real World Cup challenge is the battle for 6 billion eyeballs<p>By now, the names Moy Park, Oi and Yingli are deeply embedded in your brain, right? And, you know what they are, where they are from and what they do, agreed? Or are you struggling with them: perhaps these names are meaningless to you, or maybe you have seen them somewhere but can’t quite remember where.</p>
<p>The very clued up among you will of course be able to identify Moy Park as a European organic food producer, Oi as a Brazilian telecommunications company and Yingli as a Chinese solar panel manufacturer. </p>
<p>More significantly, for the time being at least, these names are to be seen every day on a rotational sign pitchside at the World Cup in Brazil. If you remembered the names without being prompted, then that’s part of the job done for these corporations. Yet even if you needed reminding to recall them, it is still part of the job done.</p>
<p>Moy Park, Oi and Yingli are all sponsors of this summer’s tournament, and each are seeking to take advantage of the watching eyeballs that the world’s biggest sporting event brings with it. When England played Italy in a first-round game, television viewing figures peaked at 15.6m in Britain alone. More than a billion people watched the final of the last World Cup, in South Africa; almost <a href="http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6758280/least-1-billion-saw-part-2010-world-cup-final">half the world’s population</a> watched some of the tournament.</p>
<p>That’s an awful lot of eyes, for which each of these companies will have paid FIFA somewhere between $10m and $25m per year. In addition to tournament sponsors, FIFA also has deals with a series of global partners, each of which pays between $25m and $50m per year for their World Cup deals. You will know the names of these corporations, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Sony and so on.</p>
<p>Aside from making our eyeballs ache, what else do such corporations get from their association with the World Cup? Certainly, there are image benefits; after all, the tournament is A Big Deal in every possible sense. In sponsorship, firms often look for what is known as “image transfer”, and the competition’s glamour, drama and excitement make it an obvious fit for the likes of Hyundai.</p>
<p>As if the optical strain was not enough, sponsors are also engaging in additional “activation” spend. To understand activation in relation to World Cup advertising it is best to think of Visa or adidas as having bought a Ferrari with their initial sponsorship deal. But a fast car is pointless without petrol to make it run. In this case, the petrol is the endless competitions, promotions, and television adverts that have been bombarding us for the past few weeks (with still more to come).</p>
<p>Whether or not you have noticed or have been affected by the endless images of Messi and Ronaldo, or favela kids eating burgers while ramped-up on fizzy drinks would make for an interesting discussion. Yet the major sponsors spend massively on activation, with <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=407462&fileId=S0021849905050312">estimates of total spend</a> ranging from $1 spent on activation for every $1 of contract value, to $2 dollar spent on activation for every $1 of contract value. That’s right, Coke could spend a further $100m trying simply to make their World Cup sponsorship work better for the corporation.</p>
<p>Part of this is corporate hospitality; what better way to entice prospective customers and reward loyal ones than by treating them to a game or two, with champagne and strawberries thrown in for good measure? One estimate highlights the importance of sporting events to the corporate hospitality industry, with around <a href="http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/analysis/marketing-tactics/experiential/putting-the-wow-factor-into-hospitality/4007431.article">85% of total expenditure</a> being focused on them. Nice for the beneficiaries, yet nice too for the sponsors who use the World Cup as a foundation for building their businesses.</p>
<h2>Not your usual tournament</h2>
<p>It all sounds so easy and so straightforward, especially for those corporations that have the money to pay for a World Cup sponsorship deal. But it is not, for so many reasons. To begin with, this is a World Cup like no other, the tournament having already been subject to cynicism, protest, and attack by groups such as Occupy Brazil. Indeed, a recent Coca-Cola sponsored trophy tour event was <a href="http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10063">targeted by protesters</a>. </p>
<p>This is not good for a sponsor’s image, reputation or engagement with customers. Added to this, ongoing corruption issues at FIFA have cast sponsors in such a bad light that some of them have started making public statements <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/08/fifa-sponsors-play-hard-ball-over-world-cup-corruption-allegations">questioning football’s governance standards</a>.</p>
<p>There is also the perpetual problem for sponsors of recognition. Just because people see your name at a World Cup, does it mean they remember the association? And even if they do, does it necessarily mean that people will buy the products these corporations produce? Indeed, how many of you intend to rush out after the World Cup Finals are over and buy yourself some Yingli solar panels?</p>
<p>Ignorance among many customers about which companies are actually official World Cup sponsors, allied to the ever-inflating values of FIFA sponsorship deals (which effectively exclude many corporations from the chance of ever sponsoring the cup) has created the conditions for a further threat to sponsorship: <a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">ambush marketing</a>.</p>
<p>Some of you may already have been the unwitting victim of an ambush; if you have seen the “Beats by Dr Dre” movie epic, laughed at a Paddy Power advertising campaign, or marvelled at Nike’s Pixar-like football cartoon, then you have been in on an ambush. Such activities are intended to distract customer attention away from and undermine the World Cup deals of official sponsors. In doing this Dre, Paddy and Nike threaten the potential return on investments made by Visa, Hyundai, adidas and the rest of the FIFA pack.</p>
<p>When you therefore watch yet another World Cup game, and your eyeballs start spinning as the rotational signage turns, keep in mind that Moy Park, Oi and Yingli don’t want you to forget them. If you can maintain control of at least one eye though, you should take a look at the stock markets. </p>
<p>If the World Cup really is the commercial opportunity that Emirates Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, Budweiser and the rest would have us believe, then we should be seeing the share price of official sponsors moving on an upward trajectory. </p>
<p>But as the ambushers attack and the protesters rise-up, it may be that the sponsors start to question whether eyeballs alone are enough to justify their investment in this year’s World Cup. The battle is therefore not just on the pitch or the streets of Rio, it is happening pitch-side in Brazil too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By now, the names Moy Park, Oi and Yingli are deeply embedded in your brain, right? And, you know what they are, where they are from and what they do, agreed? Or are you struggling with them: perhaps these…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/277072014-06-19T04:12:55Z2014-06-19T04:12:55ZBrands are big winners in the ‘first social media World Cup’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51609/original/28wcrt9j-1403147051.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coca Cola is a major sponsor of the World Cup, but non-sponsors are capitalising on the tournament too.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/daniandgeorge/14289299264">George/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2014 <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/world-cup-2014">World Cup</a> has already seen a significant volume of Twitter conversation across a number of (English language) keywords, including <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23joinin&src=typd">#joinin</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23WorldCup&src=tyah">#worldcup</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Brazil2014&src=tyah">#Brazil2014</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23worldcup2014&src=typd">#worldcup2014</a>, as well as the Twitter-marketed international hashtags: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Brasil2014&src=typd">#Brasil2014</a> (Spanish)</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Br%C3%A9sil2014&src=typd">#Brésil2014</a> (French)</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23wm2014&src=typd">#wm2014</a> (German)</li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Copa2014&src=typd">#Copa2014</a> (Portugese) </li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mm2014&src=typd">#mm2014</a> (Finnish). </li>
</ul>
<p>And unsurprisingly, riding this wave of hashtags are the brands that look to profit from the tournament – whether they’re official sponsors or not.</p>
<p>With the launch of a new interface designed to promote World Cup discussion, Twitter is actively encouraging users to flag support for their national team and to participate in World Cup discussion through Twitter.</p>
<p>On the opening day of the games Twitter presented a new layout, as well as a step-by-step process encouraging people to tweet their support for their team and change their profile image: </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51356/original/4sfrgrh3-1403001413.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Users are presented with a new interface.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After clicking “Let’s go!” on the page above, users are escorted through a number of personalised set up pages; from selecting their national team and changing their profile picture:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51355/original/3t7zypcj-1403001394.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=713&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After selecting your team, you are invited to change your profile.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>… through to following favourite players, and even preparing a tweet using the #WorldCup hashtag and the account of your national team:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=262&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51354/original/r27xc2mq-1403001393.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Players of the national team selected are suggested.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=220&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=220&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=220&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51353/original/9gvkkpwx-1403001387.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A pre-formatted tweet.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these are obvious promotional tools, they have likely contributed to the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffick/2014/06/12/brazils-neymar-adds-300k-new-twitter-followers-after-dominating-world-cup-opener/">increase in followers</a> for many players, as well as the Twitter activity around the <a href="http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/world-cup-2014-is-already-bigger-on-facebook-twitter-than-oscars-1201220010/">tournament in general</a>. </p>
<p>While the BBC’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27778386">Gary Lineker</a> on Tuesday described Brazil 2014 on air as “the first social media world cup”, South Africa 2010 also saw <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/124530948/World-Cup-Research-Search-And-Social-Media-During-The-World-Cup">plenty of social media activity</a>. However the impact of social media on traditional media coverage is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/15/phil-neville-commentary-world-cup-bbc-twitter-england-italy">particularly prominent in the UK</a> at the moment. </p>
<p>Twitter has also been documenting the tournament through its <a href="https://blog.twitter.com">blog</a> and tweets from the <a href="https://twitter.com/TwitterData">TwitterData</a> account. For researchers, replicating such analysis is difficult as World Cup-related tweets frequently exceed the limit of 1% of tweets that be freely accessed through the Twitter API. Despite this, there are a few notable stories from week one.</p>
<h2>Brands seek to capitalise on World Cup audience</h2>
<p>While it’s clear that the World Cup is a brand marketing exercise, the lead up to the tournament demonstrated how the brand is being appropriated for marketing purposes on social media, far beyond the official sponsors. </p>
<p>And while using the World Cup brand in traditional media may see offending companies <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/the-law-page/canadian-olympic-committee-threatens-to-sue-north-face-for-trademark-infringement/article16439709/">hit with a lawsuit</a>, using the social media hashtag appears to be a risk worth taking.</p>
<p>FIFA have not taken trademark infringement lightly either, officially <a href="http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1284242/fifa-issues-world-cup-warning-free-riding-brands">releasing a warning</a> in March stating that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The contribution of FIFA’s commercial affiliates is vital to the success of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and we therefore ask companies to refrain from attempts to free-ride on the huge public interest generated by the event.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet according to <a href="http://www.prweek.com/article/1297965/20th-world-cup-social-media-strategies-brand-war-rooms">Alex Benady</a> from PR Week:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>FIFA, players, the media, the FA and other national associations, and of course brands with no contractual relationship with the World Cup, will all be working their social media networks for all they are worth.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Supporting this, the 20th most popular retweet in the week leading up to the World Cup using English keywords was the following from (unaffiliated) British company Fragrance Direct:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=632&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51359/original/hyjc5rwb-1403001574.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=794&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Screenshot: Twitter.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other brands, sponsors and otherwise are also heavily represented in the most frequent retweets:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51351/original/vfw9nfvn-1403001340.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top total retweets containing generic World Cup hashtags (brands in green): June 5-12.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The top 25 tweets above contain many brands (including FIFA sponsors such as Adidas, Budweiser and EA Sports, as well as non-sponsors such as Goldman Sachs and Fragrance Direct), able to associate with the World Cup brand on social media on an equal basis. </p>
<p>While the brands may see this as merely interacting with a current event, for those at FIFA and for paying sponsors, this may well appear as <a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">ambush marketing</a>. </p>
<p>Such trends extended into the first week of the tournament, with the top retweets over the first week notably also dominated by big brands and television networks:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51349/original/87zw8n5r-1403001266.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Brands represented in top total retweets containing match hashtags: June 12-16.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">QUT Social Media Research Group</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Top 10 matches</h2>
<p>With the first round underway, we can also see which matches (and teams) are receiving the most attention on Twitter:</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=166&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51350/original/rc6hj5hy-1403001335.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Top 10 most mentioned match hashtags during Round 1 (excludes games of June 16).</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This tells an interesting visual story of not only the top matches but also how the worldwide audience is using Twitter during the World Cup. </p>
<p>While the top match to date is (perhaps predictably) the opener of the tournament – Brazil vs Croatia – the presence of England vs Italy as the second may speak both to the audience participating in the hashtag conversation and the international interest in the game itself. </p>
<p>As the tournament continues, it will be interesting to correlate tweet volume with television audiences worldwide, as those figures become available, and to consider whether the teams with the most historic World Cup success, or FIFA Ranking, are those receiving the most attention this time around, both on Twitter and on television.</p>
<h2>Other stories from around the web</h2>
<p>Elsewhere on the web, analysis of both social media and statistical data around the world cup is gathering steam. Kimono Labs have launched what they claim to be the <a href="http://www.kimonolabs.com/worldcup/docs?utm_source=Kimono%2BUsers&utm_campaign=73371575dc-3rd_mailing&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_05012cd17a-73371575dc-168141773">first open World Cup API</a>, while the Regressing Blog on Deadspin features a round-up of the <a href="http://regressing.deadspin.com/heres-what-the-top-prediction-models-say-about-the-worl-1589841233">top prediction models</a> on the web. </p>
<p>Also of interest this week is the <a href="http://cartodb.com/v/worldcup/brazil-croatia/#/1/-43/49/0">CartoDB visualisation</a> of Twitter activity around the World Cup opening match, and Twitter’s own visualisation of the increase in Neymar’s followers, part of their <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2014/bravscro-7-worldcup-twitterdata-points-you-need-to-know">extensive coverage of the opener</a> which also includes the <a href="https://twitter.com/Predictaroo">Predictaroo</a>.</p>
<p>We’ll be back after Round 2 with some more from the ground in Europe and Brazil, as well as the latest data from our Twitter Machines, and a look at how TV stations are using Twitter in the early stages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 2014 World Cup has already seen a significant volume of Twitter conversation across a number of (English language) keywords, including #joinin, #worldcup, #Brazil2014 and #worldcup2014, as well as…Darryl Woodford, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Queensland University of TechnologyKatie Prowd, Research Assistant, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/235552014-02-21T16:47:34Z2014-02-21T16:47:34ZIOC rules at Sochi go too far with ban on black armbands<p>During the Sochi Games, much has been written about “<a href="https://theconversation.com/models-messi-and-wacky-races-the-art-of-ambush-marketing-22622">ambush marketing</a>”, and its applications at, and around, the Olympics. At Sochi2014, there have already been many examples of non-sponsors exploiting the worldwide interest in the Games, from <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/02/10/sochi-audi-ad/">Audi’s</a> (or an Audi fan’s) use of the misfiring rings at the opening ceremony to <a href="http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/winter-olympics/2014/1016390-zippo-drop-cheeky-olympic-torch-facebook-campaign-after-accused-of-ambush-marketing">Zippo’s</a> claim to have “saved the Olympics” during the torch relay. </p>
<p>These spontaneous responses to real-time events have demonstrated how the commercial rights associated with the Games are being protected. The official sponsors are paying huge sums of money to be linked with the Olympics; they do not want their association with the “greatest show on earth” to be “ambushed” or devalued, nor to see their own campaigns ridiculed or undermined. To that end, the specialist legislation introduced by states hosting the Olympics (for example, the relevant sections of the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/12/contents">London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006</a>) is designed to protect the value of the Olympic brand – and therefore, the value of being associated with the Olympic Games. </p>
<p>These associations are, after all, highly lucrative; it was announced last week that <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/SB-Blogs/On-The-Ground/2014/02/SochiSiteTOPprice.aspx">Samsung</a> is the first of the IOC’s Olympic Partner sponsors to renew their association with the organisation, at a cost of $200m for the eight years from 2016-2024.</p>
<p>These arrangements are necessary because of the IOC’s requirement in Rule 50 of the <a href="http://www.olympic.org/olympic-charter/documents-reports-studies-publications">Olympic Charter</a> that all Olympic venues are “clean” and free from advertising, and that athletes do not endorse non-sponsors’ products during the games period of 30 January to 23 February 2014, under Rule 40. Rule 40 provides that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Except as permitted by the IOC executive board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This rule has led to some strange activities, likened to the airbrushing of Soviet propaganda, where some websites of manufacturers of equipment for Olympic athletes have had to resort to “<a href="http://bolle.com.au/athletes/athletes.html">digitally blurring</a>” pictures of athletes for fear of falling foul of these regulations.</p>
<p>What is less well-known is that the prohibition on non-official endorsements extends to preventing any of “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda … in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”, and that any athlete breaking Rule 50(3) is subject to disqualification. </p>
<p>Despite the widespread disquiet about Russia’s so-called “anti-gay law”, the threat of disqualification from the Games has ensured that there have been <a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/olympics-athletes-protest-homosexual-russia-sochi/25256287.html">few overt protests</a> and few uses of the pro-LGBT rainbow colours by athletes during competition. Rule 50, however, goes far beyond preventing clearly political statements – and it has had some surprising and bizarre results.</p>
<h2>By the book</h2>
<p>The request from the Ukrainian Olympic Committee that their athletes be allowed to wear <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/19/ioc-bans-ukraine-black-armbands-sochi-olympics">black armbands</a> as a mark of respect to those who have died during the current violence in the country was refused by the IOC. Such a demonstration was always likely to be perceived as overtly political, as it could be used by either side to claim support from the nation’s athletes for their cause.</p>
<p>Unless it could be stated unequivocally that this was a mark of respect for all of the dead from both sides during the <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/russia-trades-blame-with-eu-and-us-over-bloodshed-in-ukraine-as-death-toll-mounts/article16955387/">Olympic Truce</a>, it could be all too easily misinterpreted and misused for political ends back in Ukraine.</p>
<p>But it is not just those killed during political battles that cannot be honoured at the Olympics. It would appear that even athletes who have died whilst trying to reach the Games cannot be publicly mourned by their friends and teammates. <a href="http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/thesochinetwork/heartless-ioc-bans-memorial-sticker-tributes-skier-sarah-111618164.html">Sarah Burke</a> was killed just over two years ago whilst training for the ski half-pipe. She was a pioneer of her sport, and her contemporaries considered her instrumental in ensuring that their discipline was recognised as an Olympic event. </p>
<p>Some of her friends, both within the Canadian team and across the skiing world, would normally wear stickers on their helmets to commemorate Sarah and her role in gaining acceptance for her sport. The IOC, however, regard even this as a breach of Rule 50; the only badges that can be displayed on your body, your kit or your equipment are those of your manufacturer, your National Olympic Committee, and the Games themselves.</p>
<p>Whereas there is a clear (albeit contested) justification for the restrictions placed on ambush marketing, and the IOC does not want their Games to be hijacked by political posturing (except perhaps by the hosts themselves?), forbidding reference to an athlete who would almost undoubtedly have been a medal contender were it not for her tragic death is surely a stretch of Rule 50’s intended remit. </p>
<p>In combination, Rule 50, the terms of the athletes’ participation agreement, and the anti-ambush marketing laws in place at each edition of the Olympic Games amount to a powerful set of restrictions on athletes’ freedom of speech. The IOC has said it will revisit its rules on athlete endorsement in the future; perhaps it should also revisit the restrictions placed on non-commercial endorsement at the same time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During the Sochi Games, much has been written about “ambush marketing”, and its applications at, and around, the Olympics. At Sochi2014, there have already been many examples of non-sponsors exploiting…Mark James, Professor of Law specialising in sports law and Olympic Law, Northumbria University, NewcastleGuy Osborn, Professor of Law, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226222014-01-30T19:08:38Z2014-01-30T19:08:38ZModels, Messi and wacky races: the art of ambush marketing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bavaria beer gets some unofficial airtime.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martin Rickett/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40235/original/z8x6dhpd-1391106675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bavaria beer gets some unofficial airtime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martin Rickett/PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be much to link Lionel Messi’s choice of drink with a Black Sea beach resort, a former holiday destination of Russian communist leaders.</p>
<p>And yet over the next six months, both the Argentinian footballer and Sochi, host city of the impending Winter Olympics, are likely to become focal points for one of the world’s fastest emerging commercial battles.</p>
<p>Pepsi recently signed Messi and a host of other top players to its “superstar 2014 football squad” in a bid to attack its closest and bitterest rival, Coca-Cola in the run-up to this summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Coke may be the tournament’s official drink, but Pepsi hopes its superstars will mean football fans will spend June buying blue cans, not red.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/1227538/">What Pepsi is doing</a> is known as ambush marketing. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tie.20447/abstract">Ambush marketing</a> entails rival corporations and brands deliberately attempting to persuade or mislead consumers into thinking they have some kind of association with a sporting mega-event, without the rival corporations actually paying a fee to the likes of FIFA or the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Sporting mega-events are the classic battlefields, and 2014 is set to be a big year.</p>
<p>Ambush marketing is a relatively new commercial phenomenon that emerged at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, after the IOC changed the way in which it sold sponsorship deals. From cutting lots of deals for relatively small amounts of money, the IOC moved to a model of selling a small number of deals to a select few global corporations for huge sums. Since then many other sports governing bodies have followed the IOC’s lead, with FIFA’s World Cup sponsorships the most obvious case.</p>
<p>In pursuing such a model, the IOC and FIFA have in essence created an exclusive enclave of corporations and brands that, in the IOC’s case, receive legal protections in return for their substantial sponsorship investment in an event.</p>
<p>For brands that miss out on such deals, or those that simply cannot afford it, ambushing is another way to reap some of the benefits of an official sponsorship deal. Sport is increasingly littered with cases of ambushing, some of them very high profile. </p>
<p>In 2010, Dutch beer brand Bavaria smuggled female models, dressed as Denmark fans, into a World Cup game in Cape Town. Midway through the game, the women undressed to reveal Bavaria branded orange dresses. When they were ejected from the stadium and later arrested, the story attracted <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jun/16/fifa-world-cup-ambush-marketing">international attention</a> – job done for Bavaria.</p>
<p>This wasn’t Bavaria’s first successful World Cup ambush, either. Four years previously the brewer had given out bright orange lederhosen to Dutch supporters. When organisers realised the trousers carried Bavaria’s brand, they ordered everyone to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jun/19/marketingandpr.worldcup2006">remove their trousers</a> during a match against the Ivory Coast. While Dutch football fans watched the game in their pants, Bavaria beer soaked up the publicity.</p>
<p>But it is bookmakers Paddy Power that has raised the art of ambushing to new heights. Its most notable success came at the London 2012 games, when it creatively <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/news/9427094/London-2012-Olympics-Locog-forced-in-to-u-turn-over-Paddy-Power-ambush-marketing.html">side-stepped ambushing legislation</a> by running posters declaring official sponsorship of “the largest athletic event in London”. The event actually sponsored by Paddy Power? An egg and spoon race held in a French village, also called London.</p>
<h2>Siding with the sponsors</h2>
<p>How sporting mega-events, the organisations that own them (like the IOC and FIFA), and official sponsors respond to the threat posed by Pepsi, Bavaria, Paddy Power and their ilk is a crucial issue.</p>
<p>Sponsorship managers will often preach the mantra that if the connection between brand and consumer is strong enough, then official sponsors need have no worry that consumers will be distracted by the shock tactics of deviant rivals.</p>
<p>But others nevertheless advocate a more assertive – some might even say draconian – response to the threat of ambushing. Sports authorities have unsurprisingly sided with those who pay their bills and as such, all nations hosting Olympic Games, both summer and winter, must pass legislation protecting official sponsors. </p>
<p>This raises all kinds of issues, but most notably that the consumption of products and brands which rival the official sponsors’ is not allowed. </p>
<p>At the last World Cup in Germany, cans of Bavaria beer were confiscated from fans as American brand Budweiser is the tournament’s official beer. During the London 2012 games, food at Olympic venues could only be purchased at McDonald’s outlets, again the official sponsor. Many spectators complained that prices were exorbitantly high and that choice was poor.</p>
<p>In Vancouver, ambushing laws were employed in an even more restrictive way, as anti-Olympic activist Chris Shaw of the University of British Columbia was pursued under the legislation. Eventually Shaw took legal action against the local organisers (a case that he won), but not before he had been <a href="http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/somebodys-watching-you">routinely stopped by the police</a>.</p>
<p>Both Sochi and Brazil have already seen social unrest and disputes over civil liberties. Yet moves to protect official sponsors will fuel the sense of injustice. Not only will ambushers and their marketing activities be firmly dealt with, but anyone seeking to exercise their rights to publicly consume a rival brand or product may find their consumption severely restricted too.</p>
<p>So, if you like Coca-Cola it is going to be a good year for you. But if you choose instead to sip a Pepsi with Messi in Sochi or Brazil, be warned that the experience may be rather less positive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
On the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be much to link Lionel Messi’s choice of drink with a Black Sea beach resort, a former holiday destination of Russian communist leaders. And yet over the next six…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/216612014-01-17T14:51:28Z2014-01-17T14:51:28ZHi-tech turnstiles and smart boots will kick sporting giants onto internet of things<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39314/original/8d9x9wtz-1389965169.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's Intel inside Neymar.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Milligan/PA </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Neymar scored for FC Barcelona against Villareal in a recent Spanish La Liga game, it was a momentous occasion. As the Brazilian international turned to celebrate, he pulled up his shirt to reveal Intel’s logo on its inside. This was the first time during a game that the world had seen evidence of Barca’s recently signed <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25357026">US$25m sponsorship deal</a> with the American tech corporation.</p>
<p>Given that 100m people or more are likely to have seen the logo, this was an immediate return on investment for Intel who are one of several tech giants recently taking an interest in sport. Last July, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys signed a US$20m stadium <a href="http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/9508990/dallas-cowboys-say-complex-renamed-att-stadium">naming rights deal with AT&T</a>. The previous month, Yahoo reached an agreement with the San Francisco 49ers to become “the exclusive online sports content, social networking and photo and video sharing partner” of the American football team’s new stadium. </p>
<p>One view of such deals is that they are simply “of their age”, just as tobacco in the 1970s, alcohol in the 1980s, financial services in the 1990s and online gambling in the 2000s sought out sponsorship opportunities in sport. Now in the second decade of the 21st century, Intel’s deal with Barca could merely be seen as an obvious relationship between two global brands, both seeking to build profile, presence and market share.</p>
<p>However, there is something rather different about the Intel/Barca deal. Whereas sports sponsorship used to be about a sticker on a car or a name on a shirt, industry professionals now talk about relationships, strategic alliances and partnerships. Moreover, outcomes are now couched not just in financial terms alone, but also in terms of competence building and “win-win” scenarios.</p>
<p>And this is where the real, fundamental point of interest lies in the Intel/Barca deal: whether we realise it or not, we are now living in the midst of a new industrial revolution.</p>
<h2>Internet of things</h2>
<p>At the heart of this revolution is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-internet-of-things-16542">internet of things</a>, the process of connecting everyday objects to the internet. These objects can indeed be any “thing”, from a fridge to an elevator, a pint of milk to a pair of shoes.</p>
<p>So what of Neymar, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Barca’s flow of goals? The internet of things surely has something to tell us about Intel’s sudden interest in Spanish football. </p>
<p>As a fan, have you ever wondered how many kilometres a player like Neymar runs during a game? How often do you think he kicks with his left foot or his right foot? How many calories does he burn? </p>
<p>As a kit manufacturer like Nike, as Neymar turns and stretches, how does his shirt pull and twist? Could his shirt be designed and made in a way that helps Neymar play better? And if there is a fault in his shirt, could there be some form of early warning about the fragility of the garment?</p>
<p>And here’s the key: imagine Intel working with Barca and Nike to create a shirt that incorporates smart technology. This shirt could then continuously broadcast real-time data – calories burned, for example – which are then transmitted directly to the handsets of fans sat at the Nou Camp watching a game. The potential goes way beyond this though – for instance, imagine the day when a shirt is able to carry a camera broadcasting live footage as Neymar sticks a winner in the net.</p>
<p>At the same time, additional data could be transmitted to Nike technicians sat back at headquarters in Oregon, who can use it as the basis for modifying kit and designing better equipment. Meanwhile, for the Barca performance analysts sitting pitch-side, the “smart shirts” could generate a constant flow of data helping them identify player strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement. </p>
<p>Perhaps Neymar’s boots might also carry smart technology, and the performance analysts can change their set-up during the game by electronically sending instructions back to the boots (something the fans might also be able to access on their handsets).</p>
<p>This is the internet of things in action, and this would seem to be the real essence of recent deals signed by Intel, Yahoo, AT&T and the rest. By 2020, it is estimated that there will be <a href="http://slashdot.org/topic/datacenter/gartner-calls-internet-of-things-a-3-8-trillion-new-era/">30 billion connected devices</a> in the world. Some even believe the number <a href="http://share.cisco.com/internet-of-things.html">could be far higher</a>.</p>
<h2>Competing off the pitch</h2>
<p>For Barca, “Intel Inside” puts them at the forefront of a new age in which the data generated by shirts, shorts, boots, the seats fans sit on, the drinks machines used at half-time, the turnstiles people pass through and so forth are all linked through the internet of things. </p>
<p>Understanding and responding to this deluge of data will be key. Just as in other sectors of business, sports teams that don’t pay attention to this development will fall behind their rivals.</p>
<p>Competitive advantage in this new age will be secured by catering to the individual needs of every person sat in a stadium; by attaining levels of player and equipment performance achieved through the generation and understanding of ever more sophisticated streams of data; and by allowing all stakeholders to engage and interact with players, teams and games in a way that enables them to simultaneously fulfil a whole range of needs and wants.</p>
<p>So, keep in mind that the next time you watch a game on television and a cliché-prone commentator exclaims “the defenders really are making Neymar sweat”, thanks to Intel and others it could well be that we can check on our handsets the extent to which this is actually the case.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21661/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Chadwick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When Neymar scored for FC Barcelona against Villareal in a recent Spanish La Liga game, it was a momentous occasion. As the Brazilian international turned to celebrate, he pulled up his shirt to reveal…Simon Chadwick, Professor of Sport Business Strategy, Coventry UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/145032013-05-21T02:24:48Z2013-05-21T02:24:48ZBorn to bet? Four Corners on the Tom Waterhouse media effect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24171/original/9m9v95zp-1369098860.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The role played in 'normalising' gambling in sport and society by the likes of online bookmaker Tom Waterhouse was examined by the ABC's Four Corners program.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Paul Miller</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last night, ABC’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2013/05/16/3760902.htm">Four Corners</a> investigated Tom Waterhouse’s heavily marketed entrance to the online Australian sports wagering industry. </p>
<p>Along the way it showed the ways in which the gambling industry has insinuated itself into the Australian media, and posed several questions of public importance.</p>
<h2>Is there such a thing as rampant promotion in a media age?</h2>
<p>Jeff Kennett, former Victorian premier and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/jeff-kennett-conflicted-in-support-for-pokies/story-fn59niix-1226147337189">ex-president of AFL club Hawthorn</a>, said saturation of televised sport by gambling sponsorship was sending a message that “not only is it alright to bet but you’re a mug if you don’t”. </p>
<p>This captures a broader shift towards media interactivity. We can now vote for contestants of reality shows; we can call for a chance to win the $1,000 cash give away on morning television; and we can tweet to “join in the conversation” with Q&A panellists. </p>
<p>Gambling becomes one more form of media interactivity - an exciting way to participate in live screen spectacles watched by millions worldwide. Through the interactive technology of computers, tablets and mobile phones, online gaming consumers bet on other kinds of events from elections to global stockmarket movements. </p>
<p>This is good for business, but how does it affect the cultural values we attach to sport as participants and spectators? As gambling shifts from a subcultural practice and occasional leisure activity to become part of everyday media consumption patterns, it becomes a significant way of defining our identities:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What kind of gambling products do I prefer? What is my gambling style? Am I content to pick a winner or am I someone who prefers more “exotic” choices?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Should we be concerned about the exposure of children to gambling through televised sports?</h2>
<p>This question highlights one of the most emotive issues raised by the TV ubiquity of Tom Waterhouse. It has prompted the Greens to develop federal legislation <a href="http://richard-di-natale.greensmps.org.au/gambling-promotion-sport">preventing gambling advertising</a> during children’s viewing times. </p>
<p>Waterhouse stands out from other online gambling operators as a savvy negotiator of celebrity culture. His <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cUR6egIZn0">television advertisements</a> literally place him alongside the legends of the sporting stadium, but as a member of a parallel breed: the celebrity bookmaker. He boasts his pedigree:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was born a Waterhouse. I was born to bet. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Embodying his brand with a fixed smile capable of surviving the most ferocious journalist scrum, Waterhouse invites audience identification in ways that Olympian sporting figures cannot. We can <em>all</em> bet, right? Certainly, Waterhouse’s <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/tom-waterhouse-put-on-the-bench-at-channel-9/story-e6frexnr-1226608038939">controversial appearances</a> as panel “participant” and field “commentator” on Channel 9’s rugby league coverage convey to young audiences that betting is a valued mode of participation in sport. </p>
<p>Yet refreshingly absent from Waterhouse’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnwdpk1DCrs">“mummy’s boy”</a> advertising persona is the “boys will be boys” theme monotonously pursued by his competitors, where women <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2rKUPMj_G4">seem to exist</a> for the sole purpose of applauding the punting expertise of very tipsy young men.</p>
<h2>Can corruption be avoided when professional sport is bankrolled by gambling industries?</h2>
<p>Sports journalist Peter FitzSimons characterised the penetration of gambling into live televised sports as nothing less than a “corruption of the soul of sport”. This was echoed in interviews with other public figures worried about conflicts of interest when sporting, media and gambling industries converge. </p>
<p>It may be legal for someone to hold a trainers’ license and someone to hold a bookmakers’ license in the same family, and for jockeys and other sportsmen to frequent brothels owned by major punters. But this doesn’t make these scenarios conducive to ethical sportsmanship. </p>
<p>When the sums of money generated by live televised sport are so enormous that club officials and individual players have allegedly turned to performance enhancing drugs to stay at the top of their game, perhaps the very soul of sport is in danger. What happens to the integrity of sport when a fumbled ball or a missed goal can provide a player on the low-to-middle range of salary with an income stream commensurate with his team’s stars?</p>
<h2>How well is the self-regulation of gambling industries serving punters and audiences?</h2>
<p>When pokies first arrived in suburban pubs in the 1990s they attracted relatively little notice. It took over a decade for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/public-health-experts-support-pokies-reforms-1921">public health issues</a> involved in their consumption to become widely visible and taken up in parliament by advocates such as by Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie. </p>
<p>Will the incursion of wagering sponsorship and odds announcements into live televised sport precipitate similar problems for a generation yet to come of gambling age? </p>
<p>Or has this horse already bolted?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Nicoll's research is not funded by gambling industries or the ARC.</span></em></p>Last night, ABC’s Four Corners investigated Tom Waterhouse’s heavily marketed entrance to the online Australian sports wagering industry. Along the way it showed the ways in which the gambling industry…Fiona Nicoll, Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/140262013-05-10T22:29:35Z2013-05-10T22:29:35ZHigh performance chocolate milk: why most sports supplements are more spin than substance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23483/original/9tw45gsm-1368147238.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">They may be well-marketed, but how effective are 'sports' drinks like Gatorade in aiding performance and helping recovery?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">mgstanton</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Endurance athletes, from weekend warriors to the elite, seek nutritional post-exercise products to enhance training and speed recovery. But for athletes, the challenge of negotiating the massive range of post-exercise supplements is increasingly overwhelming, and for some it is downright confusing.</p>
<p>There are a lot of products on the market. Need to replace electrolytes? A quick review revealed over 20 companies selling liquid/powder electrolyte drinks, another ten companies pushing electrolyte tablets you can add to water, and I certainly cannot leave out the heavily <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11932-007-0038-3">debated salt tablet</a>. </p>
<p>Need to refuel with protein too? There are approximately 20 options aimed at endurance athletes and another 25 high protein replacement drinks geared toward gaining muscle and/or weight loss.</p>
<p>Not sure which is best? Then <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmsrC9S9_g">Michael Phelps</a> or many of the other celebrity endorsers pushing nutritional supplements can explain how the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQi6d4YU96Q">“latest and greatest” supplement</a> should be a part of your post-exercise regimen. Need better (or more convincing) proof? There is the (quasi) scientific evidence boasted on adverts to support the use of such products, or, the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcs1Rku4es4">advice of the fitness “expert”</a> who bases his or her advice on such quasi-scientific evidence.</p>
<p>Of course there’s the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=carbohydrate%2C+fat%2C+and+protein+intake+after+exercise">real science</a>, which is readily available to the consumer, but doesn’t seem to make the same impact. Perhaps the science is too advanced for the layperson and it adds to the consumer’s confusion. While elite athletes have coaches or sport nutritionists to advise them of the latest science and proper post-exercise regimen, how does the recreational endurance athlete survive the often divergent messaging?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, in their efforts to surpass the competition, product marketers have created so much clutter and mixed messaging that endurance athletes struggle to understand what product is best (or even necessary). For example, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHTHS0_fNCo&list=PL82000D3127D313C5">marketers have convinced athletes</a> that leading and expensive post-exercise recovery drinks are superior to and enhance performance better than a more <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23075563">cost-effective chocolate milk option</a> found at your local grocer. Rather, the truth is chocolate milk is an effective supplement for endurance athletes.</p>
<p>Recent exercise science research has shown that endurance athletes receive optimal recovery from nutrition with a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14971430">balance of the macronutrients protein, carbohydrate, and fat</a>. </p>
<p>In addition to replenishing glycogen stores, endurance athletes must also consider electrolyte replacement. Until recently, Gatorade - arguably the leader in this realm - for example, have only provided the athlete with a sugary electrolyte replacement with no protein option. Gatorade’s “G Series” now includes <a href="http://www.gatorade.com/%23gseries%3Fs=gseries-recover-compare">protein recovery products</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23488/original/m2mrjj8v-1368148398.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is a humble glass of chocolate milk just as effective at post exercise recovery as expensive sports supplements and drinks?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unbeknown to most athletes, the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18618137">low-fat chocolate milk option</a> not only provides a rich source of protein, but also the valued electrolytes necessary for rehydration. But it’s not just about what athletes should be using, but also the timing for when it is consumed. The timing of consumption in order to support performance is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3577439/">heavily researched and debated</a>. While this has had incredible impact in the sport science world, it can certainly add to confusion among consumers that don’t understand the science (or the debate) within the sport science community.</p>
<p>This shows just how much marketers know about selling us supplements. However, what does the athlete think, or know? Looking at what sources of information athletes seek and how they perceive sport supplement marketing is fascinating, and there is still a need for more research in this area. </p>
<p>Interestingly, runners and triathletes <a href="http://journals.humankinetics.com/jsm-back-issues/jsm-volume-27-issue-1-january/coping-with-a-cluttered-marketplace-athlete-choice-of-products-to-support-training">seek information</a> from training books and articles, sport-specific websites, magazine advertisements, event trade shows, and friends and family. They tend to be indifferent to celebrity endorsements when considering post-exercise supplementation. Despite the fact that they clearly seek the scientific evidence, they do not fully understand the science based on how they choose post-exercise products.</p>
<p>Notably, the media choices listed above (and the mixed messages often communicated through these mediums) do influence product choice as do factors such as sport type and a higher volume of training hours. Triathletes seem to better understand that longer training hours require a protein-carbohydrate supplement. Runners, however, tend to just reach for the electrolyte drink, despite the evidence that they too require a carb-protein source to replenish glycogen.</p>
<p>So what can we learn from understanding athletes’ product choices? Research tells us that media plays a big role in influencing product choices. Therefore, scientists need to better disseminate the evidence using various media as a vehicle to better arm athletes with the tools to sort fact from marketing fiction.</p>
<p>The confusion over the flood of supplements on the market is also part of the problem athletes face in knowing what they can take, when they should take it and why. For elite athletes, this information overload underlines the crucial role of sports scientists and coaching staff in providing accurate information. </p>
<p>These athletes depend on their experts to not only supply them with the information that will enhance their performance, but also <a href="http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0003/lmb.html">prevent them from ingesting a product</a> that contains ingredients on a banned performance enhancing drug list. </p>
<p>For the rest of us at more amateur levels, it’s anyone’s guess as to how we are supposed to know what supplements we should be taking. </p>
<p>Chocolate milk anyone?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brianna Newland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Endurance athletes, from weekend warriors to the elite, seek nutritional post-exercise products to enhance training and speed recovery. But for athletes, the challenge of negotiating the massive range…Brianna Newland, Research Associate at the Institute for Sport, Exercise & Active Living and Honorary Fellow in Event Management, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/99092013-02-26T19:30:41Z2013-02-26T19:30:41Z‘As a matter of fact, I’ve got it now’: alcohol advertising and sport<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20654/original/mqjsq4rs-1361857422.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alcohol, tobacco, and fast-food industry sponsorship of sport sends the wrong message to the population.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sport is generally a healthy activity that transmits important societal values, such as fairness, perseverance, and teamwork. Unfortunately, it’s also the primary vehicle for marketing alcohol to the general population. </p>
<p>At its best, sport can provide participants and fans with a sense of identity, pride and self-esteem. But a visitor to Australian shores would be forgiven for thinking that sport is a subsidiary of the alcohol, fast food and gambling industries. </p>
<p>Indeed, <a href="http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2009/08/20090831/This-Weeks-News/A-B-Shifts-Approach-To-Sports-Ties.aspx">the majority</a> of alcohol advertising and sponsorship both in terms of frequency and time of advertising, and in alcohol marketing expenditure, occurs in and around sport. In 2009, two of the world’s largest alcohol producers, Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller, spent approximately $350 million and $212 million, respectively, on television advertising during US sporting events alone. We are unable to obtain figures for Australia. </p>
<p>There are several reasons for the alcohol industry using sport for the promotion of alcohol consumption.</p>
<p>First, placement of alcohol sponsorship and advertising in large televised sporting events allows the alcohol industry to bypass regulations prohibiting alcohol advertising during times when large proportions of children may be watching television. </p>
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<p>Victoria Bitter’s sponsorship of Australian cricket, for instance, means that children are exposed to alcohol advertising from ten in the morning to the end of play. And it’s difficult to miss the alcohol brands on signage and boarding around Australian sport stadiums. Or, the VB signs either side of the electronic score board each time a third umpire decision is needed.</p>
<p>Another feature that attracts the alcohol industry is sport’s ability to evoke strong emotion and social identification. Products presented within these sporting contexts are more likely to be remembered, liked and chosen.</p>
<p>Pairing a healthy activity, such as sport, with an otherwise unhealthy product, such as alcohol or fast food, makes that product seem less unhealthy and more acceptable and normal. Many of us will remember tobacco advertising in sport but I suspect that even smokers wouldn’t welcome that back.</p>
<p>Simply put, alcohol advertising and sponsorship in sport works in terms of increasing sales, and of course, alcohol consumption. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20649/original/c669hkpx-1361856806.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Para Olympians Justin Eveson and Brad Ness at a Bundaberg Rum event in Perth ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony McDonough/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/3/229.abstract%20">Reviews of research</a> on the association between exposure to alcohol advertising and subsequent drinking intentions and behaviours shows that exposure to, and/or recall of, alcohol advertising and sponsorship by children and adolescents predicts their future drinking expectancies, norms, drinking intentions, and hazardous drinking behaviours. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16530613">A study</a> from the United States also found that ownership of alcohol-branded merchandise by children and adolescents (such as football shirts and sport caps) was associated with their early initiation of drinking. Similarly, alcohol industry sponsorship of sportspeople has been <a href="http://alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/content/46/2/210.full.pdf">found to be associated</a> with more <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02371.x/full">hazardous drinking levels</a> among Australian, New Zealand and UK sportspeople. </p>
<p>Beyond these outcomes, alcohol industry advertising and sponsorship in sport and other settings, creates a culture where children perceive alcohol consumption as a normal everyday part of life. And they see it as something associated with sporting success or indeed, being Australian. </p>
<p>Given the known relationship between alcohol advertising and youth drinking, researchers who assess drinking norms, peer influence and parental influence as predictors of young people’s drinking, are in effect measuring people’s exposure to alcohol advertising and sponsorship. </p>
<p>Most of us didn’t grow up in a culture void of alcohol advertising and sponsorship, which makes it difficult for us to imagine sport without them. But given the high rates of hazardous drinking and associated problems in young people (violence, suicide, motor accidents), we probably don’t need to be giving them more encouragement to drink. The same was true for tobacco advertising and sponsorship in sport and few would now question the wisdom of banning such promotion. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20659/original/dpwggnrc-1361858012.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">New South Wales coach Ricky Stuart (centre) speaks to his team after their defeat by Brisbane at the State of Origin 3 in July 2012.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Hunt/AAP</span></span>
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<p>The alcohol industry’s <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/09595230601037026/full">self-regulation of advertising</a> has been shown to not work, and stronger regulation is clearly needed. Effective action is possible.</p>
<p>France has had a complete ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship since 1991. Sport has not suffered and alcohol consumption has decreased in the past 20-odd years. Indeed, France even hosted the 1998 FIFA World Cup with this ban in place and enforced. </p>
<p>Similarly, Norway and Turkey have strong restrictions on alcohol advertising in sport, and South Africa is currently drafting a bill to ban all alcohol advertising and sponsorship in sport. It would be simple to do the same in Australia. </p>
<p>Naturally, “big sport” (<a href="http://www.afl.com.au/">AFL</a>, <a href="http://www.nrl.com/">NRL</a> and <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/">cricket</a>) and the alcohol industry will object to the removal of alcohol advertising and sponsorship, citing that grassroots sport will suffer. But the experience of nations where bans have been imposed suggests otherwise, such as Norway and France.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://anpha.gov.au/internet/anpha/publishing.nsf">Australian National Preventative Health Agency</a> has successfully negotiated the removal of alcohol sponsorship from most of Australia’s major sporting codes (<a href="http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/">Football Federation of Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.netball.asn.au/">Netball Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.swimming.org.au/">Swimming Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.basketball.net.au/">Basketball Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.cycling.org.au/">Cycling Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.hockey.org.au/">Hockey Australia</a>). But <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/">AFL</a>, <a href="http://www.nrl.com/">rugby league</a> and <a href="http://www.rugby.com.au/">union</a> and <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/">cricket</a> are resisting change. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/20653/original/8xs6tbkq-1361857289.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Danny Beasley rides Fashionsafield home to victory at the 2005 Tooheys New Easter Carnival at Sydney’s Randwick racecourse in 2005.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sam Mooy/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Sport in Australia could still be funded by the alcohol, tobacco, and fast-food industries, but through the ring-fencing of a small portion of the tax gathered from their sales. This would allow sport to thrive without the downside of also promoting unhealthy products to our children. </p>
<p><em>This is the fifth part of our series looking at alcohol and the drinking culture in Australia. Click on the links below to read the other articles:</em></p>
<p><strong>Part One:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-alcohol-consumption-in-australia-10580">A brief history of alcohol consumption in Australia</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Two:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-acceptance-of-alcohol-allows-us-to-ignore-its-harms-10045">Social acceptance of alcohol allows us to ignore its harms</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Three:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/my-drinking-your-problem-alcohol-hurts-non-drinkers-too-12424">My drinking, your problem: alcohol hurts non-drinkers too</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Four:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/alcohol-fuelled-violence-on-the-rise-despite-falling-consumption-9892">Alcohol-fuelled violence on the rise despite falling consumption</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Six:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/advertisings-role-in-how-young-people-interact-with-alcohol-9986">Advertising’s role in how young people interact with alcohol</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Seven:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-alcohol-and-big-tobacco-boozem-buddies-9668">Big Alcohol and Big Tobacco – boozem buddies?</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Eight:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-foetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorders-9871">Explainer: foetal alcohol spectrum disorders</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Nine:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/alcohol-warning-labels-and-valuable-label-real-estate-9813">‘Valuable label real estate’ and alcohol warning labels</a></p>
<p><strong>Part Ten:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/forbidden-fruit-are-children-tricked-into-wanting-alcohol-12457">Forbidden fruit: are children tricked into wanting alcohol?</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9909/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerry O'Brien receives funding from the ARC, ANPHA, and VicHealth. He also has a honorary position with the University of Manchester in the UK.</span></em></p>Sport is generally a healthy activity that transmits important societal values, such as fairness, perseverance, and teamwork. Unfortunately, it’s also the primary vehicle for marketing alcohol to the general…Kerry O'Brien, Head of Behavioural Studies, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.