Articles in this issue:

• SMQ 27.3 Podcast

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• Industry Insider: Chip Wile

  Matt Bernthal

  An interview with Chip Wile, President of Daytona International Speedway.Read more

• An Experimental Approach to Assessing the Effectiveness of Official Sponsor Designations in an Ambush Marketing Scenario

  Eric Brownlee

  T. Christopher Greenwell

  and Anita Moorman

  One of the benefits of being an official sponsor is the right to use the term “official sponsor” to differentiate a company’s association with a property from other companies (non-sponsors). Official sponsors may pay a premium for those designations; however, there is uncertainty as to whether or not those designations are effective. This study utilizes scenarios simulating official Major League Baseball (MLB) team sponsorship, official MLB sponsorship, and no official association with MLB or the team to assess the effect of these statuses on purchase intentions. Results from a sample of...Read more

• The Link Between Brand Equity and On-Field Performance in Professional Sports: An Exploratory Study

  Stefan Hattula

  This research explores the relationship between brand equity and on-field performance in professional sports. Based on data from 1,781 German soccer matches, the result of this exploratory study suggest a positive but diminishing impact of brand equity on performance; that is, increases in brand equity stimulate on-field performance more at lower levels than comparable improvements at higher levels of brand equity. The findings help managers and marketing executives of sports clubs justify financial branding investments to their shareholders. However, they also call for a careful...Read more

• Can Concessions Take You Out to the Ballpark? An Investigation of Concessions Motivation

  Mark A. Slavich

  Lisa Rufer

  and Gregory P. Greenhalgh

  As sport facilities place greater emphasis on their concession offerings, the outcome of these improvements is of interest. With previous research examining concessions as part of service quality, the current study explored the possible motivating ability of concessions in the minor league baseball (MiLB) context. Utilizing factors from the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC) and Scale of Event Quality in Spectator Sports (SEQSS), an online survey assessed fans’ motivations to attend MiLB games. Results indicated neither food nor beer motivated spectators to attend sporting...Read more

• Sponsorship of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games: An Empirical Examination of the Reactions to Local Sponsors and Rival Brands

  Rui Biscaia and Claudio Rocha

  This study examines awareness, congruence, attitudes, and purchase intentions of three local sponsors of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and their strongest rival brands, and tests the relationships among congruence, attitudes, and purchase intentions of both actual sponsors and their rivals. Data were collected through an online questionnaire (n = 621). Results indicated that awareness was significantly higher for only one of the sponsors. Neither congruence nor attitude toward the brand were higher for local sponsors when compared to their rival brands. Purchase intentions were significantly...Read more

• A Conceptual Framework for Retro Marketing in Sport

  Zach Scola and Brian S. Gordon

  Retro marketing has become a staple in sport marketing practices. Teams and leagues are attempting to connect their fans to the past in a magnitude of ways. Despite the influx of retro marketing in sport, there has been no examination of it to date. This study examined the various usages of retro marketing in sport and through an inductive approach created a framework that categorized and broadly defined each usage. The five practical areas of retro marketing in sport were constructed: imagery, merchandising, venue, gameday promotions, and advertising. The authors shaped and framed retro...Read more

• Do the NFL's Ticket Allocation Practices Create Economic Injury to Consumers: A Review of Recent Litigation

  Adam Cocco