While scholarly attention has been placed on activation, evaluation, and motivation for sponsorship in intercollegiate and professional sport, few studies have examined the use of corporate sponsorship in interscholastic athletics (Fortsythe, 2000; Hall & Gibson, 2004; Pierce & Clavio, 2009). The purpose of this study was to identify the salient factors in determining which schools are likely to solicit corporate sponsorship.
Method
A stratified random sample of 2,500 interscholastic athletic directors was stratified by the number of athletes in each state. Internet resources were utilized to collect email addresses, and athletic directors were contacted via email to complete an online survey using Survey Monkey, which yielded 360 usable surveys (14.4% response rate).
Analysis/Results
57.1% of the respondents reported using corporate sponsorship. Logistic regression was used to identify salient factors in determining which schools are likely to solicit sponsorship. The nine variables included in the model were: number of sports, enrollment, participation rate, geographic location (rural, urban, suburban), location in the U.S (Northeast, South, Midwest, West), type of school (public, private), fundraising (yes/no), participation fees (yes/no), and school board funding (increased or decreased). The inclusion of variables improved the ability to predict the use of sponsorship (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit X2=7.98, p = .436), explained 37% of the variance (Nagelkerke R2= .367), and successfully predicted 75.7% of the cases. Schools engaging in fundraising activities were 8.2 times more likely to also solicit corporate sponsorship, schools with at least 20 sports were 3.2 times more likely to utilize sponsorship than schools with less than 13 sports, and schools in the South demonstrated the greatest likelihood of corporate sponsorship while schools in the Northeast were the least likely to use sponsorship.
The most often cited reasons for not soliciting sponsorship were that the athletic department had yet to develop a plan (53%) and that sponsorship was not permitted (35%). ANOVA revealed that schools with at least 20 sports reported a greater intent to pursue sponsorship in the future than schools with less than 13 sports, and schools that charge a participation fee and engage in fundraising also reported a greater intent to pursue sponsorship in the future.
Conclusions
The use of fundraising, the number of sports offered, and location in the U.S. were significant predictors of the use of sponsorship, while schools leaning toward the pursuit of sponsorship in the future are those that already engage in fundraising and charge a participation fee.