Sponsorship sales is not only a sport, but an institutional business as well: evidence from two professional football clubs in Latin-America.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of institutionalization, legitimacy, learning behaviors and other organizational characteristics on the efforts made by sport clubs signing sponsorship contracts. An exploratory comparison of two professional First Division football clubs of Costa Rica and Chile was performed. Using a narrative methodology, the Costa Rican team was analyzed through observations over a two-year collaboration period, and the Chilean team was analyzed through in-depth interviews and an analysis of historical literature. The analysis revealed that organizational behaviors impact the clubs’ amount of sponsorship and multi-season contracts. It also revealed that institutionalization and legitimacy work at a first level in the relationship and that, of themselves, should be considered marketing tools. It was also observed that although both learning behaviors and resource-seeking strategies contribute to successfully executing sponsorship contracts, a baseline level of legitimacy and institutionalization should nevertheless exist. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Ecology, and Organizational Learning, a clear role model was evidenced within the ecosystem of two professional football clubs, each in a different Latin American country. These behaviors which, to our knowledge, have never being analyzed before, yielded and sustained legitimacy, while exercising a direct effect on single-season and multi-season sponsorship contracts.Keywords:
Institutional Theory, Ecology, Resource Dependence, Organizational Learning, Sponsorship, Marketing, Football, SoccerReferences
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