SPONSORSHIPS IN THE HIGHEST DUTCH FOOTBALL LEAGUE An exploratory study of the motives/goals of sponsors in the highest Dutch professional football league and the degree of their involvement. 25-04-2015 University of Twente The Netherlands Master Thesis Business Administration Master Track: Innovation & Entrepreneurship Supervisor: Dr. J. van Benthem Second reader: Dr. M.R. Stienstra Marcus Dogan Noordelijke Esweg 105 7558 MN Hengelo S 0209651
[email protected] Acknowledgements This thesis is written as a completion to my master degree in International Business Administration at the University of Twente. This study is about sponsorships within the Dutch professional football sector. Various professional football clubs from the highest league of Holland participated in this thesis. In addition, sponsors of these clubs have also participated. Without the help of some people I could not have done this work. Therefore, I want to thank those people for their help. First of all the people around me; family and friends who were at all times ready for me to motivate me. This support has helped me to stay focused and achieving my goal. I also want to thank my supervisors, Jann van Benthem and Martin Stienstra. They were always ready to help me when I had questions. They sent me in the right direction when needed. Their constructive criticism has led to improved quality of my thesis. Marcus Dogan Enschede 25-04-2015 |Sponsorships in the highest Dutch Football League| 2 |Marcus Dogan| University of Twente| Abstract The last few years the football industry is struggling with professional football clubs which are in financial distress.