| To date, very little has been written about grassroots sport sponsorship and even less on Fortune 500 corporations' perception of this marketing strategy. While corporate objectives and strategies, as they apply to the sponsorship of professional, collegiate, and Olympic sport have been discussed in numerous studies, a transfer of results to grassroots sport cannot be made because of differences such as event size, dollars involved, prestige, cultural influence, and sponsorship history. This study, therefore, was executed in order to (a) investigate the role that grassroots sport sponsorship plays in the marketing strategy of large corporations; (b) identify existing and future criteria in this relationship; (c) identify issues and trends affecting present and future grassroots sport sponsorship; and (d) provide both corporations and grassroots sport organizations with useful and practical information to increase the success of corporate sponsorship of grassroots sport. In an effort to gain an in-depth, multidimensional picture about this talked about, yet untested phenomenon, a phenomenological heuristic research method was utilized. Information on sponsorship, philanthropy, sport marketing, and corporate marketing strategies comprised the literature review. Fourteen key informants representing corporations, sport marketing companies, grassroots sport marketing companies, grassroots sport organizations, and a publishing company were interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended questionnaire guide. Informants explained how corporate sponsorship objectives and criteria, trends in the literature, as well as additional information not previously researched, impact grassroots sport sponsorship. Informants agreed that grassroots sport sponsorship by large corporations is on the rise, that it is playing an increasingly important role for corporations, and that the potential for this marketing strategy to achieve corporate objectives is high. The success of these sponsorships, however, was found to be contingent upon how grassroots sports organizations/events meet crucial corporate criteria. This information is delineated herein. Implications and recommendations for both corporations and grassroots sports organizations, as well as questions for future research, are discussed as well. |
