• March 5, 2012

Company sponsorship of the National Football League (NFL) is effective in engaging fans and transforming attitudes critical to making purchasing decisions, according to a research paper presented at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston.

“Companies with official sponsorship of the NFL  receive a significant lift among NFL fans compared to non-fans,” said Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., the Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Retail Marketing at Baylor University’ Hankamer School of Business and co-author of the study.The study analyzed the effects of time (12 quarters), sponsorship (5 official vs. 15 nonsponsors) and fan affinity (30.6% fan vs. 69.4% non-fan) on brandknowledge, esteem, relevance and differentiation.

The study used 16,000 consumers who provided data over the course of three years on five official sponsors of the National Football League, along with 15 of their chief competitors (three in each category). Each of the official sponsors was at least in the fourth year of their sponsorships at the beginning of the study and all remain as official sponsors.

Market categories included banking, beer, credit cards, pizza and telecommunications. Passionate fans have more positive attitudes toward the official sponsors of the NFL than do less passionate fans.

Over time, the official sponsors of the NFL improve their brand positioning vis-à-vis competitors.
If the consumer is coming to “know” a brand more through its NFL relationship, they are picking up many of the NFL’s positive brand attributes. This works both ways (e.g., when leagues are in trouble).

Esteem is the key pillar to identify a fan of a team or a league. Esteem rubs off on the sponsoring brand, thereby helping reduce churn through increased loyalty. Consumers are often willing to forgive transgressions or setbacks of an esteemed brand compared to one that is less esteemed.