Sponsors In The Sports Industry

Sport consumers can be grouped into three categories: sponsors, spectators and participants. Spectators are consumers who observe the event. In other words, they are the one’s watching the sporting event. Obviously, the participants are consumers who take part in the sporting event; they are the one’s “playing” the sport. Sponsors are consumers (usually business organizations) that choose to sponsor sports. Each type of sport consumer is equally important in its own way. The sport industry, as we know it, would not exist without spectators (Shank & Lyberger, 2015). They either attend the sporting event or they watch, listen, or follow the sporting event through some form of the media. Just like there are different categories of sport

However, being that the media’s influence has grown significantly, the focus has shifted to pleasing the media broadcasting the sporting event to consumer not in attendance (Sung, Son & Choi, 2017). With the expanded television/media coverage came a new crop of spectators: social viewers, opportunistic viewers, and star-struck spectators. Social viewers use sporting events as a means for social interaction. They typically use it as a tool to meet people or be seen by people that matter. Corporations often use the sporting event as a place to meet with clients. These type of spectators are usually not loyal to any team or club. Opportunistic viewers usually watch the sporting event on the television or Internet. The typically only attend the sporting event if a good opportunity presents itself. Star-struck spectators are those that follow a “star” rather than the team or sport. Social viewers, opportunistic viewers, and star-struck spectators differ greatly from traditional spectators in that they tend not to be the fanatics of

This is due in part to emotions having a powerful effect on thought, decision, and actions. Strong emotional responses are central to the sport consumption experience (Kwak et al, 2011). Some believe that watching a sporting event in person evokes more of an emotional response than watching the event on television or listening to the event on the radio. There is a great deal of emotion response to watching a sporting event on television compared to watching some other type of show on television. This is because of the competitive element involved in sports. The research also suggests that emotion can act as information and can serve as a motivator of information. For example, the success of a consumer’s team or club causes either negative feelings or positive feelings. Those feelings either warn the consumer away from the team or draws the consumer toward the team. This means the consumer might quit following the team if it is unsuccessful or like the team more if it is