Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2016
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

More Effective Sports Sponsorship—Combining and Integrating Key Resources and Capabilities of International Sports Events and Their Major Sponsors

By: Ragnar Lund and Stephen A. Greyser
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:37
ShareBar

Abstract

Organizations in the field of sports are becoming increasingly dependent on sponsors for their value creation and growth. Studies suggest that sports organizations (rights-holders) often fail to exploit the full potential of such sponsorship partnerships. The aim of the case study reported here is to explore key dimensions of value creation in sponsorship relationships from the perspective of a sports organization. The case study was constructed on the basis of interviews with an organization in the administrative structure of European football, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and its major international sports event, the European Championships (EURO). Interviews were also conducted with two of its sponsors and five independent experts. The interviews were conducted beginning in 2003, over the four EURO project life cycles starting in 2000, with a primary focus on the tournaments taking place in 2016. We explore different types of sponsorship relationships based on their direct and indirect value creation function for the sports organization and propose key capabilities that are required for the sports organization to successfully integrate, coordinate, and combine resources with its major sponsors. Key capabilities that are explored in this context are collaborative, absorptive, adaptive, and learning capabilities. The ability of sport organizations to share and absorb knowledge from their partners and to integrate this knowledge into their planning and management processes was critical. The study shows how knowledge-sharing routines supported resource integration between sponsorship partners. There are few in-depth case studies on sponsorship management from the perspective of sports entities.

Keywords

Sponsorship; "Sports Organizations,; Case Study; Europe; Business Relationships; Collaborative Marketing; Value Co-creation; Relationship Portfolio Management; Value Creation; Cases; Marketing; Sports; Sports Industry; Europe

Citation

Lund, Ragnar, and Stephen A. Greyser. "More Effective Sports Sponsorship—Combining and Integrating Key Resources and Capabilities of International Sports Events and Their Major Sponsors." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-139, June 2016.
  • Read Now

About The Author

Stephen A. Greyser

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2024
    • Faculty Research

    Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime

    By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz
    • June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
    • Faculty Research

    Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime

    By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz
    • 2023
    • Faculty Research

    LALIGA—From a Soccer Competition Organizer to a Global Player in the Sports and Entertainment Industry

    By: Stephen A. Greyser, Kenneth Cortsen and Juan Fuentes Fernández
More from the Authors
  • Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz
  • Major League Baseball: Changing the Rules of America's Pastime By: Stephen A. Greyser, Mac Levin and Brent Schwarz
  • LALIGA—From a Soccer Competition Organizer to a Global Player in the Sports and Entertainment Industry By: Stephen A. Greyser, Kenneth Cortsen and Juan Fuentes Fernández
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.