Sponsorship sales is not only a sport, but an institutional business as well: evidence from two professional football clubs in Latin-America
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Navarro Picado, José Francisco
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Abstract
El propósito del artículo es identificar el impacto que tiene la institucionalización,
la legitimidad, los comportamientos de aprendizaje y otras características
organizacionales, sobre los esfuerzos que realizan los clubes deportivos al intentar
firmar contratos de patrocinio. Se realizó comparación exploratoria de dos clubes de
futbol profesional, uno chileno y el otro costarricense. Utilizando una metodología
narrativa, el club costarricense fue analizado por observación, a lo largo de un
período colaborativo de 2 años, mientras que el club chileno se analizó utilizando
entrevistas a profundidad y una revisión de literatura histórica. El análisis reveló que
los comportamientos organizacionales tienen un impacto en la cantidad de contratos
de patrocinio, tanto de una temporada como de varias temporadas. Se devela que la
institucionalización y la legitimidad son un primer paso en este tipo de relaciones,
y que por sí solas, se consideran una herramienta de mercadeo. Adicionalmente, se
observa que, tanto el aprendizaje organizacional, como las estrategias de consecución
de recursos contribuyen en el proceso de firma de contratos de patrocinio, no obstante,
debe existir un nivel básico de legitimidad e institucionalización. En concordancia con
la Teoría Institucional, la Ecología y el Aprendizaje Organizacional, se evidencia un
claro patrón de comportamiento de estos dos clubes profesionales, cada uno dentro de
su entorno. Estos comportamientos, que hasta donde sabemos nunca se han analizado
antes, produjeron y mantuvieron legitimidad, al tiempo que mostraron un efecto
directo en la firma de contratos de patrocinio de una o varias temporadas.
The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of institutionalization, legitimacy, learning behaviors, and other organizational characteristics on the efforts made by sport clubs signing sponsorship contracts. An exploratory comparison of two professional football clubs, playing in the First Division, of Costa Rica and Chile was performed. Using a narrative methodology, the Costa Rican team was analyzed through observation during a two-year collaboration period, and the Chilean team was analyzed through in-depth interviews and an analysis of the historical literature. The analysis revealed that organizational behaviors impact the clubs’ amount of sponsorship contracts and multi-season contracts. It also revealed that institutionalization and legitimacy work as a first latter in the relationship, and that by themselves it should be considered a marketing tool. Additionally, it was observed that both learning behaviors and resource seeking strategies contribute to successfully sign sponsorship contracts, but a baseline level of legitimacy and institutionalization should exist. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Ecology, and Organizational Learning a clear role model was evidenced within the ecosystem of two professional football clubs, each on a different Latin American country. These behaviors, which up to our knowledge has never being analyzed before, yielded and sustained legitimacy, while showing a direct effect on sponsorship single-season and multi-season contracts.
The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of institutionalization, legitimacy, learning behaviors, and other organizational characteristics on the efforts made by sport clubs signing sponsorship contracts. An exploratory comparison of two professional football clubs, playing in the First Division, of Costa Rica and Chile was performed. Using a narrative methodology, the Costa Rican team was analyzed through observation during a two-year collaboration period, and the Chilean team was analyzed through in-depth interviews and an analysis of the historical literature. The analysis revealed that organizational behaviors impact the clubs’ amount of sponsorship contracts and multi-season contracts. It also revealed that institutionalization and legitimacy work as a first latter in the relationship, and that by themselves it should be considered a marketing tool. Additionally, it was observed that both learning behaviors and resource seeking strategies contribute to successfully sign sponsorship contracts, but a baseline level of legitimacy and institutionalization should exist. Drawing on Institutional Theory, Ecology, and Organizational Learning a clear role model was evidenced within the ecosystem of two professional football clubs, each on a different Latin American country. These behaviors, which up to our knowledge has never being analyzed before, yielded and sustained legitimacy, while showing a direct effect on sponsorship single-season and multi-season contracts.
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Keywords
Institutional Theory, ECOLOGY, RESOURCE DEPENDENCE APPROACH, Organizational Learning, SPONSORSHIP, MARKETING, FOOTBALL