Neanderthals: The Sponsorship Of Professional Sports

The word sport has been defined by the oxford dictionary as being ‘an activity involving physical exertion and/or skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment’. And the word business has been defined by the oxford dictionary as ‘an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial or professional activities’. Both words very rarely used to be stated in the same sentence let alone by the same social classes, however they have now become synonymous with each other and spoken by people of all walks of life.

The earliest signs of where sport has been seen dates all the way back to the Neanderthals, more specifically their hunters and gathers. “The first sport was spear throwing”

Sponsorship deals fall into two categories, kit manufacturers like Nike and New Balance and corporate such as Chevrolet or Barclays. The main reason that companies spend millions to sponsor sports events and sports teams in particular is due to the massive amounts of brand exposure that they will receive. Manchester United, the joint biggest sports club in the world recently signed a 7 year, $558million sponsorship deal to have the brand Chevrolet displayed on their shirts. This not only provided the club with financial aid but whenever someone buys a Manchester united kit, no matter where they are in the world, they will see the Chevrolet brand. Another reason as to why businesses are so persistent in sponsoring the very best is because of the status people hold athletes to. Cristiano Ronaldo, the current best footballer in the world, gets sponsored $21.7 a year by Nike to be a brand ambassador and wear their clothing as often as possible. He even wears Nike football boots. When young children go to buy their sports equipment they will opt to buy the Nike football boots as they have seen the best player in the world, Ronaldo, wear them and so they will feel as though if they dress like him, they will play like him. The biggest way for a company to maximise their brand exposure through sponsorships is to try and tie down athletes to 360 deals. A 360 deal is when both the player and the team that they play for are both sponsored by the same company. This is very rare to come about however is the most lucrative when done so. A prime example of this is Barcelona football player Neymar, both the player and club are sponsored by Nike. This means that Neymar will only ever be seen wear Nike products which means more global brand exposure. A corporate sponsorship on the other hand, is when a league/cup or stadium gets