ABSTRACT
Sponsorship is defined as ‘an investment, in cash or in kind, in an activity, in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that activity’ (Meenaghan, 1991: 36). Colapinto and Benecchi (2014) observe that elite athletes and international competition are of lucrative value to corporate sponsors. Sport enjoys the largest share of global sponsorship (Parker and Fink, 2010), worth an estimated US$53 billion (Meenaghan, 2013). One reason for this may be found in Amis and Slack’s (1999: 251) observation that sport sponsorship is ‘an effective tool with which to alter and enhance a company’s image and reputation’. For the sponsor, the ultimate goal is to become almost synonymous with the party that it is sponsoring.
