The Role of Sponsorships in Intercollegiate Athletics

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The Role of Sponsorships in Intercollegiate Athletics

Foreword

The reality of college athletics today is that most athletic departments are not profitable. These departments are run with a mentality sometimes quite separate from the educational mission of the university where winning at any cost is the ultimate goal.

As athletic department expenses rise there is a need for increased revenue. One major trend that has been seen throughout sports is the increase in sponsorships. For many colleges this has become a viable and important revenue stream, although only adding marginally to the bottom line at most schools.

With the prevalence of sponsorships in intercollegiate athletics today many questions arise. What brought about the increase usage of sponsorships? Exactly what is the athletic department doing to earn its money from sponsors? How effective are these sponsorships for the businesses that pay significantly for them? Have sponsorships added to the increase commercialization of college athletics? Do certain sponsors not fit with the educational mission of the university? What different approaches to sponsorships do various universities take? What are the future trends for sponsorships and where does it end?

All these questions lead up to one over-arching query: what is the appropriate role of sponsorships in intercollegiate athletics? This paper will provide a discussion of all the previous questions helping to provide insight to this final inquiry. The practicalities of the current economic environment within athletic departments necessitate the existence of sponsorships as they are a valuable source of revenue despite the fact that they add to the commercialization of college sports. It is up to each ...

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...g, 29 (4), 13-24

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Muret, Don (1998) “For Colleges, Some Sponsorships are more Equal than Others,” Amusement Business, 110 (25)

Naughton, J. (1996, September 6) “Exclusive Deal with Reebok brings U. of Wisconsin Millions of Dollars and Unexpected Criticism,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 65

Outside the Lines (2003, April 2) “Beer Advertisements,” ESPN

Rosner, Scott & Shropshire, Kenneth (2001) “The Cleansing of Collegiate Licensing Deals,” The Licensing Journal, 23-24

Rovell, Darren (2002, December 20) “Schools Now Paying Any Price to Win,” ESPN.com

Rovell, Darren (2003, October 21) “Selling Losing Programs Never Easy,” ESPN.com

Sports Business Journal’s 2003 League Report (2003, October 6) 6 (24), 33-35

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