ABSTRACT
How has sponsorship become a major marketing and communications platform? The case of Levi’s sponsorship of the San Francisco 49ers NFL stadium opens the discussion on the value of sponsoring. Detailed are trends in sponsoring, worldwide sponsorship spending and the structure of the sponsorship industry. Top agencies in sponsoring are described, as are the evolving entrepreneurial industries spawned by the rise in partnerships. The communications evolution is never ending, and there are major changes on the horizon. An increasing resistance to commercialization, advances of content delivered over the top, directly to consumers via streaming, and the rise of influencer marketing will all shape sponsoring going forward.
