ABSTRACT
The proliferation of event sponsorship opportunities, the amount of money flowing from marketers into event sponsorship, and the development of a body of academic literature dedicated to investigating and cataloging various sports event sponsorship effects all attest to its acceptance by marketers as a viablemarketing communication technique (Cornwell &Maignan, 1998). To date, there has been little academic research assessing public attitudes toward event sponsorship, especially as it relates to sports events. In contrast, public satisfaction with advertising is frequently assessed and the results widely disseminated (Shavitt, Lowrey, & Haefner, 1997). Studies may have been undertaken by sponsoring companies to guide their marketing decisions, but results were considered proprietary. Perhaps what is needed in the burgeoning world of sport sponsorship is a review of consumer attitudes concerning sports event sponsorship activities. Providing this type of review is the objective of this research.
