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PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL SPONSORSHIP IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE AND THE GERMAN BUNDESLIGA by ANDRE WOLFGANG BUHLER A thesis submitted to the University of Plymouth in partial fulfilment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Plymouth Business School Faculty of Social Science and Business August 2006 ANDRE WOLFGANG BVHLER PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL SPONSORSHIP IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE AND THE GERMAN BUNDESLIGA Abstract This research project looks at professional football sponsorship from three different perspectives: the clubs' perspective (sponsorship as an income stream for professional football clubs), the sponsors' perspective (sponsorship as a marketing tool for companies), and a joint perspective (sponsorship as an inter-organisational relationship between professional football clubs and their sponsors). The English Premier League and the German Bundesliga serve as the subject of research owing to their extraordinarily sound reputation in commercial terms. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods was used in order to answer the research questions which derived from an extensive literature review. First, qualitative in-depth interviews with representatives of English Premier League and German Bundesliga clubs and their sponsors as well as sponsorship experts were carried out in order to gain a broader understanding of the phenomenon under scrutiny. Consequently, seven principal research propositions and six hypotheses were formulated relating to the size of the football business, the importance of sponsorship as an income stream, motives and objectives of sponsors, and the importance and dimensions of relationship quality. Then, two content analyses were carried out (including an analysis of more than 500 clubs' and sponsors' websites and I 06 televised football games) in order to identify as many football sponsors of English Premier League and German Bundesliga clubs as possible. The research propositions were then tested in a quantitative survey incorporating all English Premier League and German Bundesliga clubs as well as 460 sponsors. Parametric as well as non-parametric tests were applied at this stage. The findings of the research partially confirmed previous studies. More importantly, new insights have been uncovered. For example, new dimensions of relationship quality in the context of professional football sponsorship have been identified. This study therefore has both theoretical and practical implications for professional football clubs, sponsoring companies and prospective researchers in the field of (professional) football sponsorship. The study also contributes significantly to existing knowledge about the football business, sponsorship and relationship marketing. University of Plymouth Library Item No. qtJDti-~11-~Y Sh:lfmark 'fHfJlJ l% · J~lf DUI-f L ·- iii AUTHOR'S DECLARATION At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Graduate Committee. The research project has been the subject of several guest lectures at Niirtingen University (Germany) and the School of International Business at Reutlingen University (Germany). The following authored and co-authored papers and articles have been published or submitted to date. Publications: Biihler, A. W. (2003) 'Mehr als ein Ful3ballklub', Stuttgart er Zeitung, 9 December 2003, p. 31 Biihler, A.W. (2004) 'Monopoly mit echtem Geld', Siiddeutsche Zeitung, 25 February 2004,p.31 Biihler, A.W. (2004) 'Sponsoring in der FuBballbundesliga- Eine Analyse der Akteure zu Beginn der Saison 2004/2005 ', Absatzwirtschaft onlil1e, (online) Biihler, A.W. (2005) 'England will aufholen', SPONSORs, January 2005, pp. 33-34 Biihler, A.W. (2005) 'Fans und Fanverhalten im ProfifuBball: Ein Vergleich zwischen England und Deutschland' in Schewe, G. and Rohlmann, P. (eds) Sportmarketing, Schorndorf, Verlag Hofmann, pp. 221-236 Biihler, A. W. (2006) 'Football as an international business- an Anglo-German comparison', European Journal for Sport and Society, 3 (1) (in press) Forthcoming publications: Biihler, A.W., Heffeman, T.W. and Hewson, P.J. (2006) 'The Soccer Club- Sponsor Relationship: Identifying the Critical Variables for Success', International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship Biihler, A. W. and Nu fer, G. (2006) 'The Nature of Sports Marketing', working paper series, University of London Nufer, G. and Biihler, A. W. (2006) 'Lessons from Sports: What Corporate Management Can Learn from Sports', working paper series, University of London iv Conference/symposium papers: Biihler, A.W. (2006) 'Die gesellschaftliche und wirtschaftliche Bedeutung des FuBballs in England und Deutschland' in Kriiger, M. and Schulze, B. (eds) FujJba/1 in Geschichte rmd Gese/lschaft, Hamburg, Czwalina Verlag, pp. 31-99 Biihler, A. W. (2006) 'Professional Football Sponsorship- The Research Project', in Barton, A. and Lean, J. (eds) Proceedings ofthe Plymouth Business School and School ofSociology, Politics and Law Postgraduate Symposium 2006, Plymouth, University ofPlymouth, pp. 54-74 Biihler, A.W., Heffeman, T.W. and Hewson, P.J. (2006) 'The impact of trust and commitment on satisfaction in the professional soccer club- sponsor relationship', EMAC2006 Biihler, A.W. and Heffeman, T.W. (2006) 'The impact of trust and commitment on the success of professional soccer sponsorship', ICCB 2006 Biihler, A. W. (2006) 'The impact of commitment, trust and satisfaction on the relationship quality between professional soccer clubs and their sponsors', EASM Congress 2006 Biihler, A.W. (2006) 'Die Beziehungsqualitiit zwischen Sponsoringpartnem - dargestellt am Beispiel des deutsch-englischen ProfifuBballs', Sportokonorniekongress Cologne 2006 Word count of main body of thesis: 87,924 Date ..... .JrJ.o.fl.l..r:YL ............................ V PREFACE With this research project one of my dreams came true as it enabled me to combine my favourite areas of interest: sports and marketing. I am very grateful to have been able to carry out research in such a highly fascinating area and in a country where people not only play and watch football, but live football in the true sense of the meaning. However, it has to be emphasised that this study focuses on sponsorship at professional football club level and consequently excludes other forms of football sponsorship such as sponsorship of events (e.g. the World Cup tournament or the UEFA Champions League), associations (e.g. the English Football Association) or individuals (e.g. players, managers, officials). In order to gain a comprehensive picture, Anglophone and German-speaking information sources were used. All direct quotations from German literature and interviews have been translated into English to the best of my ability. My Director of Studies, Professor David Head, who happens to have a perfect command of the German language, checked all of them and declared the translations as being accurate. Doing a PhD (especially in a foreign country) is not only an academic process but also a personal one. At this point of time, I am very grateful for the experiences I have gained within the last three years and the people I have met. I would like to take the opportunity to thank especially Cesar & Ena, Hussein, Kelvin, James and Troy for their friendship. Apart from the staff members at the Plymouth Business School, who were friendly, helpful and good fun, I would like to thank two people in particular: Dr. Jasmine Williams and Professor David Head. Jasmine, on the one hand, proved to be a perfect second supervisor and managed to arouse my interest in empirical research. She is responsible for the fact VI that I actually started to enjoy statistical analysis. I am looking forward to continuing our discussion on whether sports marketing is different from other forms of marketing over the coming years. David, on the other hand, proved to be a perfect first supervisor and Director of Studies by encouraging me whenever motivation was needed. We both enjoyed the fact that we had to talk about football on a regular basis. I would also like to thank my examiners, Dr. Simon Chadwick (one of UK's leading academics in sports business research at Birkbeck College- University of London) and Dr. John White (an expert in relationship marketing at the University of Plymouth Business School), for their suggestions and therefore for improving the quality of the final draft of my thesis. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank my parents. The last three years would not have been possible without their help and support. Herzlichen Dank! Therefore, I would like to dedicate this thesis to them and to all the people who think that doing a PhD in football is pure fun. It is indeed - in a serious way. VII CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The literature on football, sponsorship and (professional) football sponsorship 3 1.1.1 Football 4 1.1.2 Sponsorship 8 1.1.3 (Professional) football sponsorship 10 1.2 The nature of this thesis and the context of research 13 1.2.1 The nature ofthis thesis 13 1.2.2 The context ofresearch (i.e. the business offootball) 14 1.3 Rationale for choosing the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga 18 1.4 The structure of this thesis 19 Chapter 2 Sponsorship as an income stream for professional football clubs 24 2.1 The key income streams of English Premier League and German Bundesliga clubs 24 2.2 Sponsorship in English and German football 27 2.2.1 Sponsorship in general 27 2.2.2 Sponsorship in the

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