Corporate sponsorship in sports

Companies pay money to organizers of different sporting events in order to advertise their company, which is refereed to as a positive phenomenon. In my opinion, I agree that it is a positive factor in hosting these events. However, I also believe that there are negative aspects of corporate sponsorship in spots. First of all, ticket sales and broadcasting revenues alone can’t pay enough money to the athletes. With the money they get from the sponsors, they don’t have to worry about their finances. Secondly, I believe that in many sporting events, sponsors donate important instruments and countless other materials in form of logistic support, which helps the athletes, their teams and the hosts in the competition. The fact that they are helping out in setting up this grand spectacle for people to enjoy brings in a lot of public sympathy to the company. Can you imagine an F1 race without the energy drink and car manufacturers making the cars and lending expert personnel in these races? Racers simply wouldn’t be able to afford the fuel expenses, let alone owning such an expensive car on their own to race with. Last but not the least, it links the company with the most successful competitors in the world of sports. The ones that are the most successful usually attract the fans and their fans will blindly buy the products that their most favorite athletes endorse. This will translate into more revenue for the enterprise and turn it into a globally recognized brand, thereby returning the investment they made on signing the popular individual as the face of their campaign. However, we need to keep in mind that even the most successful people have their flaws and sometime, they make mistakes. Since they are linked to the company, their misbehavior will also reflect poorly on the company and their downfall will simply tarnish the legacy of the company for a long time, if not for good. On top of that, we must realize that shady companies also push their inferior product into the market by cashing in on the success of someone who has no experience or knowledge whatsoever regarding the quality of the things that he’s endorsing on a regular basis. In conclusion, I would like to point out that it’s nearly impossible to roll out any extravaganza these days without the funding from various business entities. Everything in life has it’s pros and cons and as long as we can make sure that no athlete is getting taken advantage of in the form of a long, underpaid, exploitative contract, corporate endorsement is a good thing, even though the main objective is simply making profit off of it.