Sports Marketing & Sponsorship - FIFA/CIES International University ...

● OCTOBER 2009 ● VOLUME ELEVEN NUMBER ONEInternational Journal ofSports Marketing& SponsorshipResearch PapersThe value of competition: competitive balance 7as a predictor of attendance in spectator sportsAn investigation into the effects of sporting 25involvement and alcohol sponsorship onunderage drinkingExamination of the causal effects between the 46dimensions of service quality and spectatorsatisfaction in minor league baseballThe crucial ‘where’ of motorsport marketing: 60is motorsport now “a race out of place”?Sustaining the race: a review of literature 80pertaining to the environmental sustainabilityof motorsportwww.imrpublications.com

International Journal ofSports Marketing& SponsorshipSubscriptionsThe International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship(ISSN: 1464-6668) is published quarterly. Annual subscriptions:Standard print: £145 US$260 €215Standard pdf: £115 US$205 €170Library/multi-site print: £495 US$885 €730Library/multi-site pdf: £395 US$705 €580All prices include post and packagingFor all subscription details please contact:SubscriptionsInternational Marketing ReportsThe Coach House2 Upper York StreetBristol BS2 8QNUnited KingdomTel: +44 (0) 117 924 5549www.imrpublications.comEmail: info@imrpublications.comBack issuesA limited stock of printed back issues is available. Contact IMRfor information. Back issues in electronic format are available viathe website www.imrpublications.comInformation appearing in the International Journal of Sports Marketing &Sponsorship is the sole responsibility of the contributor or advertiser concerned.Accordingly, the publisher, the editorial board, commissioning editor, reviewersand other agents acting on behalf of the publisher accept no responsibility orliability whatsoever from the consequences of any inaccurate or misleadingdata, opinions or statements.© 2009 International Marketing ReportsAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior writtenpermission of International Marketing Reports Ltd.Production Editor: Kate Targett Designer: Karen PainterPrinted and bound in the UK by Cambrian PrintersPublished in Association withwww.imrpublications.com● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship

New reports from IMRDriving Business Through SportPart 3:Activation & Case Studies by Simon RinesFull analysis of all sponsorship types and marketingdisciplines, with an in-depth case study for each section.Part 1:Part 2:European Sports Marketing DataStrategy & ResearchPrice: £285 €340 $485DiscountBUY ALL THREE PARTS :£550 €795 $1075“A comprehensiveand enlightening guideto best practice... no seriouspractitioner or student ofthe industry can afford tobe without it”Greville Waterman, Managing Director, Sports MediaCorporate SocialResponsibilityand SportsSponsorshipby Steve HemsleyAnalysis of the growingimportance of sport toCSR programmes: strategies, risks and benefits.The report includes expert comment and casestudies from around the world.Price: £285 €340 $485“A compelling and well arguedcase for why business engagementin sport should be a key part ofany company’s approach”Mallen Baker, Founding Director, Business RespectOrder now: +44 (0) 117 924 5549info@imrpublications.comTwenty20 Vision:The CommercialFuture of Cricketby David SmithAnalysis of the rationale,business models andimpact of the Twenty20format. The report includes the most extensivecommercial cricket data ever published, with a50-page section on sponsorship, TV rights andmatch attendance from around the world. Majorcase studies from Standard Bank and YorkshireCCC highlight best practice among sponsors andrights holders. Price: £285 €340 $485“An excellent and comprehensiveanalysis of how cricket has reinventeditself... a must for anyone involved inthe business of sport”Nigel Currie, Director, Brand Rapport2 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

ContentsAbstracts 4●●●●●●Research papersEditorial board 6● ●●●●●Editorial policy 97EditorialÒA ban on alcohol sponsorshipcould have a drastic impact on thesports and marketing industriesÓ●●●●●●Michel Desbordes, Editor 5● ● ●●●●Examination of the causal effects between thedimensions of service quality and spectatorsatisfaction in minor league baseballGi-Yong Koo Rob Hardin Steven McClung Taejin JungJoseph Cronin Clay Vorhees Brian BourdeauResearch among 10 South Atlantic League teamsto identify areas of service quality which have adirect influence on fan and spectator perceptions 46The crucial ÔwhereÕ of motorsport marketing: ismotorsport now Òa race out of placeÓ?●●●●●●CONTENTSPaul J. TranterMark LowesResearch papersThe value of competition: competitive balanceas a predictor of attendance in spectator sportsMichael A. LevinRobert E. McDonaldFor the primary business-to-consumer spectatorsports product, league management of thecompetitiveness among teams can influencethe value of competition 7●●●●●●The importance of location for the legitimacyof the sport of motor racing Ð and the legacyfor places that are linked to our national identityand our protected environments 60●●●●●●Sustaining the race: a review of literature pertainingto the environmental sustainability of motorsportGreg DingleWhat is sustainability, and how is motorsportreported to be adapting to become leaner,cleaner and greener? 80●●●●●●An investigation into the effects of sportinginvolvement and alcohol sponsorship onunderage drinkingFiona DaviesWould banning alcohol sponsorship of sporthave significant effects on drinking behaviour?Results of research by gender among14 and 15 year olds 25●●●●●●PsycINFO citation database& Social Science Citation IndexThe Journal is indexed in the PsycINFO citationdatabase www.apa.org/psycinfo and theSocial Science Citation Indexhttp://scientifc.thomsonreuters.com/products/ssci● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship 3

AbstractsABSTRACTSThe value of competition: competitive balance asa predictor of attendance in spectator sports 7Michael A. LevinRobert E. McDonald●●●●●●This paper investigates the role of competitive balanceamong teams in a league in predicting attendance atspectator sporting events. It also controls for thedemographic and economic characteristics of theleagueÕs markets, and changes in the number of teamsin the league. The research relies on a sample thatincludes 707 non-major professional team seasonalwin-loss records (12,956 games) from five sports,aggregated into 75 seasons to develop a modelconsistent with extant literature.Sports organisations must continuously assess howbetter to meet or exceed consumer expectations andperceptions of their experience in order to maintainand increase the number of spectators and loyal fansattending their sporting events. This study aims toenhance our understanding of which characteristics ofa service attribute will best define its quality andimpact on spectator behaviour by understanding thecausal relationship between perceived service quality(PSQ) and satisfaction.The crucial ÔwhereÕ of motorsport marketing:is motorsport now Òa race out of placeÓ? 60Paul J. TranterMark Lowes●●●●●●An investigation into the effects of sportinginvolvement and alcohol sponsorship onunderage drinking 25Fiona Davies●●●●●●Concerns about underage drinking have led to calls fora UK ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport. Such a banwould have severe financial consequences for manysports, so should not be implemented without thoroughconsideration of its likely effectiveness. This studyinvestigating the alcohol consumption intentions of 14and 15 year olds showed that boys who were involvedin sport were more likely both to drink alcohol and toget drunk, with awareness of sponsorship enhancingthe likelihood of these behaviours. Girls involved insport, however, showed more negative attitudes thantheir peers towards alcohol. Evidence from studies ontobacco sponsorship suggests that health-relatedmarketing communications and the use of low-alcoholor non-alcohol brands for sports sponsorship could bemore effective than a ban in changing the culture.Examination of the causal effects between thedimensions of service quality and spectatorsatisfaction in minor league baseball 46Gi-Yong Koo Rob Hardin Steven McClung Taejin JungJoseph Cronin Clay Vorhees Brian Bourdeau● ● ● ● ● ●The location of motorsports events is an integral partof the marketing of the sport of motor racing and of allits attendant commercial interests. Case studies of themajor motorsports events staged in public streetcircuits in Australia are used to illustrate how thelocations have particular symbolic significance thatadds legitimacy to the sport of motor racing, and themessages and impacts associated with these events.The paper examines the wider significance of allowingspecial public spaces in cities to be used formotorsports events.Sustaining the race: a review of literature pertainingto the environmental sustainability of motorsport 80Greg Dingle●●●●●●This paper discusses motorsport from the viewpoint ofenvironmental sustainability amid growing concernsabout the impact of human activity on theenvironment. It reviews the literature that positionsmotorsport in a global environmental context andexplores the often used but rarely defined concept ofsustainability. The author suggests that whilemotorsport is a significant sporting activity foreconomic and social reasons, there are considerabledoubts as to whether it is currently managed andmarketed in an environmentally sustainable way.4 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

EditorialAlcohol and sport: whatÕs the score?On 8 September 2009 the British Medical Association(BMA), a professional body representing UK doctors,called for a ban on the marketing of alcohol in the UK 1 .Although marketing was only one aspect of the BMAplan to curb alcohol-related health issues, the mediafocus was on the relationship between sport andalcohol and its impact on young people.In recent years France has legislated to ban alcoholsponsorship in sport, while Cricket Australia has beenunder increasing media pressure over the Fosters Groupsponsorship of the national team. Estimates suggeststhat a ban on alcohol sponsorship could have a drasticimpact on the sports and marketing industries with a£180 million shortfall for the UK advertising industry 2and AU$300m less for sport in Australia.In this edition, Fiona Davies investigates the potentialimpact of alcohol sponsorship on youth involved insport. Her paper highlights the importance of culturaldiscourses that permeate sporting involvement in theUK. She finds that Òa ban on alcohol sports sponsorshipwould have little effect on youth alcohol consumption,unless it was part of a much larger campaign designedto break the longstanding links between sport andalcohol in the masculine culture of the United KingdomÐ and there is no indication at present that thegovernment is considering such radical actionÓ.Davies suggests that marketing practitioners shouldstill seek to promote their brands through sport but indoing so provide a platform for non- or low-alcoholicbeverages and messages of responsible drinking.Alcohol aside, competitive balance in sport producesa quality that is highly valued by fans and consequentlyby corporate partners. Levin and McDonaldÕs studyshows that the most constant variables for attendanceare fan income and the likelihood that any team mightwin. The paper recommends marketing tactics toaddress issues of competition, and suggests that leagueadministrators have a responsibility to improve balance.Koo et al investigate perceived service quality aspectsof fan and spectator satisfaction. By managing thecustomer experience within the sports arena, marketerscan increase attendance and generate greatersatisfaction. However, the number of attributes thatimpact on perceived service quality is significant, andthe paper seeks to understand which factors marketersshould focus upon.The final two articles take a critical look at motorsportin the context of sustainability and environmental goodpractice. Tranter and Lowes investigate ÔplaceÕ marketingand the importance of public spaces to the marketing ofmotorsports events in particular. The authors take acritical view of the positioning of motorsport in Australia,given its conspicuous consumption, and suggest thatconcerns over environmental and other issues warrantconsideration. Dingle presents a review of motorsport inthe context of literature on environmental sustainability.Although at first glance motorsport and sustainabilitymay not be well matched, Dingle highlights examples ofreported developments towards best practice.Professor Michel Desbordes, EditorEmail: michel.desbordes1@wanadoo.frEDITORIAL1. Triggle, N. (2009) ÔDoctors want booze marketing planÕ, BBC News, accessed 11 September.2. Sweeney, M. (2009) ÔAlcohol advertising ban would ÒdevastateÓ media industriesÕ, The Guardian, accessed 11 September.● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship5

Editorial boardEditor Professor Michel DesbordesISC School of Management, Paris, France & University Paris Sud 11, FranceTel: +33 (0)1 69 15 61 57 Fax: +33 (0)1 69 15 62 37 Email: michel.desbordes1@wanadoo.frEDITORIAL BOARDDEPUTY EDITORPaul KitchinUniversity of Ulsterpj.kitchin@ulster.ac.ukCASE STUDY EDITORSProfessor Stephen GreyserHarvard Business School, USsgreyser@hbs.eduDr Frank PonsUniversitŽ Laval, Canadafrank.pons@fsa.ulaval.caINTERVIEWS EDITORProfessor David SnyderState University of New York, USsnyderd@cortland.eduDr Geoff DicksonAuckland University of TechnologyNew Zealandgeoff.dickson@aut.ac.nzProfessor Harald DollesGGS-Heilbronn, GermanyUniversity of Gothenburg, Swedenharald.dolles@handels.gu.seSvend ElkjaerSport Marketing Network, UKsvend@smnuk.comDr Francis FarrellyMonash University, Australiafrancis.farrelly@buseco.monash.edu.auNigel GeachSports Marketing Surveys, UKnigelg@sportsmarketingsurveys.comCharles NixonCambridge Marketing Colleges/Chartered Institute of Marketing, UKcharles@marketingcollege.comDr Francesc PujolUniversity of Navarra, Spainfpujol@unav.esDr Pascale QuesterUniversity of Adelaide, Australiapascale.quester@adelaide.edu.auMike ReynoldsSportsmatch, UKmike@sportsmatch.co.ukDr AndrŽ RichelieuLaval University, Canadaandre.richelieu@mrk.ulaval.caBOOKS EDITORDr John BeechCoventry University, UKj.beech@coventry.ac.ukEDITORIAL PANELDr Carlos BarrosInstituto Superior de Economiae Gestao, Lisboncbarros@iseg.utl.ptDr Cheri BradishBrock University, Canadacbradish@brocku.caDr Sue BridgewaterWarwick Business School, UKsue.bridgewater@wbs.ac.ukProfessor Simon ChadwickCoventry University, UKsimon.chadwick@coventry.ac.ukDr Laurence ChalipUniversity of Texas, USlchalip@mail.utexas.eduProfessor Dae Ryun ChangYonsei University, South Koreadrchang@yonsei.ac.krProfessor Bettina CornwellUniversity of Queensland, Australiab.cornwell@business.uq.edu.auNigel CurrieChairman, European SponsorshipAssociation (ESA), UKncurrie@brand-rapport.comDr Paolo GuenziBocconi University, Italypaolo.guenzi@sdabocconi.itAdrian HitchenSponsorMetrix Ltd, UKadrian.hitchen@lineone.netMartin HornDDB Needham, USmartin.horn@ddb.comProfessor Hooi Den HuanNanyang Technological University, Singaporeadhhooi@ntu.edu.sgProfessor Frank GoErasmus University, Netherlandsfgo@rsm.nlDr Jorg HenselerNijmegen University, Netherlandsjoerg@henseler.comProfessor Thierry LardinoitESSEC, Francelardinoit@essec.frJamie MagrawSweat the Assets, UKjamiemagraw@hotmail.comDr Heath McDonaldDeakin University, Australiaheath.mcdonald@deakin.edu.auProfessor Tony MeenaghanUniversity College Dublin, Irelandtony.meenaghan@ucd.ieProfessor James SantomierSacred Heart University, USsantomierj@sacredheart.eduDr Nicola Stokburger-SauerUniversity of Mannheim, Germanysauer@bwl.uni-mannheim.deProfessor Trevor SlackUniversity of Alberta, Canadatrevor.slack@ualberta.caProfessor Sten SšdermanUniversity of Stockholm, Swedensod@fek.su.seDr David StotlarUniversity of Northern Colorado, USdavid.stotlar@unco.eduProfessor Alan TappUniversity of the West of England, UKalan.tapp@uwe.ac.ukDr Linda TrenberthBirkbeck College, University of London, UKl.trenberth@bbk.ac.ukDr Des ThwaitesUniversity of Leeds, UKdt@lubs.leeds.ac.ukIgnacio Urrutia de HoyosIESE Business School, Spainiurrutia@iese.eduProfessor Herbert WoratschekUniversity of Bayreuth, Germanyhj.woratschek@uni-bayreuth.de

The value of competition: competitive balanceas a predictor of attendance in spectator sportsKeywordsconsumer valuenon-major professional sportscompetitive balanceattendanceMichael A. LevinAssistant Professor, Otterbein CollegeDepartment of Business, Accounting and EconomicsWesterville, OH 43081-2006, USATel: +1 614 843 1299Email: mlevin@otterbein.eduRobert E. McDonaldAssociate Professor, United Supermarkets. Professor of Marketing,Rawls College of Business, MS 42101, Texas Tech UniversityEmail: mcdonald@ba.ttu.eduAcknowledgementsDennis B. Arnett, David J. Berri, E. Malchman, Simon ChadwickPeer reviewedAbstractThis paper investigates the role of competitive balanceamong teams in a league in predicting attendance atspectator sporting events. It also controls for thedemographic and economic characteristics of theleague’s markets, and changes in the number of teamsin the league. The research relies on a sample thatincludes 707 non-major professional team seasonalwin-loss records (12,956 games) from five sports,aggregated into 75 seasons to develop a modelconsistent with extant literature. The authors find thatcompetitive balance and average income in theleague’s markets are significant predictors of leaguewideattendance.RESEARCH PAPERExecutive summaryThe overarching purpose of this research project is toexamine the effectiveness of sports leaguemanagement in providing an entertainment experiencethat is valued by consumers. A primary goal for sportsmanagers must be to offer a product that consumerswill value, which in turn increases the value ofsponsorship. This paper investigates whether fansvalue management efforts to supply an interestingproduct over time. This paper tests seven independentvariables to predict attendance. Of these sevenvariables, league managers have the ability to manageonly two: to balance the competitiveness of the teamsin the league and to manage changes in leaguestructure in the form of rate of change, expansion and● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship7

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERcontraction. Control variables concerning the economicand demographic characteristics of the league’smarkets were also included.The sample, non-major professional sports league,offers a unique opportunity to isolate the effects ofcompetitive balance. Other factors, such as star playeror players, distance between markets, media attentionand school spirit, are not present in these leagues.Based on the results aggregated from five non-majorprofessional sports leagues, competitive imbalanceand average income are significant predictors ofattendance. Fans do value, over time, a competitivegame. Offering a bat night or team calendar giveawayor nickel beer may not be sufficient to drawconsumers to games on a regular basis. Leaguemanagers must also ensure that each team has areasonable chance to win. Competitive balance mayserve as a proxy for the league management’seffectiveness.Macro factors, including population and income, arealso important. League managers must look beyondan available facility and a willing owner and considerwhether a market has the conditions necessary tosupport a franchise. Finally, league stability was not apredictor of attendance. Attendance was not affectedby the addition or subtraction of teams in a league.IntroductionDuring the latter half of the 20th century, spectatorsports have grown from a casual pastime to a majorpart of world culture on which consumers andbusinesses spend a significant amount of money.Ozanian (2004a, 2004b, 2004c, 2005) estimatesthe annual revenues of the four major North Americansports leagues in the US and Canada – Major LeagueBaseball (MLB), National Basketball Association(NBA), National Football League (NFL) and NationalHockey League (NHL) – to be $14.6 billion, and thecollective value of the four leagues to be $47.14billion. Furthermore, Deloitte Touche values the top 20soccer clubs, all based in Europe, at €3 billioncollectively (Parkes, 2006). They also estimate thevalue of the English Premier League at $1.35 billionand Italian Serie A at $1.73 billion (Karrar, 2006).Additionally, the Australian Football League (2005)reported league-total revenues of $415.9 million(Australian dollars) following the 2005 season. Sporthas become big business. As such, it is important forscholars and managers to understand factors andconditions that can lead to successful sporting events,teams or leagues.This paper looks at spectator sports from afundamental marketing perspective, that of managingcustomer value. As with any business, spectator sportsmust offer a product or service that has value to themarket. Major professional leagues and their membersgenerate revenue by offering a number of business-tobusiness(B2B) products to corporate markets,including rights to television and radio broadcasts,event and facility sponsorship, and product licensing(O’Reilly & Nadeau, 2006). Fundamental to the valueof these products is the number of consumers whoview the competition in person and via media, i.e. thesuccess of the business-to-consumer (B2C) product.The consumption of the sporting event – i.e. thenumber of tickets sold and the number of people whowatch the game on television or listen to it on theradio – is in part a function of the value thatconsumers place on the event as an entertainmentoption relative to alternatives (Deighton, 1992). Abusiness that offers value to customers moreeffectively than its competitors can achieve greaterfinancial rewards (Hunt, 2000; Hunt & Morgan,1995, 1996, 1997).The number of people who consume the game ormatch will increase as the expected value of thecompetition increases. This has implications for thevalue of the B2B products, as their value to corporatecustomers is a function of the number of people whowatch the game. For example, it follows that if morepeople attend a game, then the value of sponsorshiprights will increase because sponsors will reach alarger audience. Therefore, it is critically important forsports promoters to understand how to provide8 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionentertainment that consumers value. This paperfocuses on the primary B2C spectator sports product,the event or game, to show that league managementcan influence the value of competitions by managingthe competitiveness of its member teams. The paperdemonstrates that competitive balance, or competitionbetween evenly matched teams, creates higherentertainment value for customers, as indicated by ahigher percentage of tickets sold. The central thesis isthat competition between evenly matched teamspromises greater uncertainty of outcome, creatingmore suspense, and therefore higher entertainmentvalue for consumers. All other things being equal,consumers will buy products that offer higher value.Thus ticket sales volumes are an indication of thevalue that consumers place on the competition.There has been a great deal of academic andmanagerial interest in understanding and predictingfan attendance for international events (e.g. theOlympics), leagues (e.g. English rugby union) andteams (e.g. New York Yankees). Baimbridge (1997,1998) looks at predictors affecting attendance at theOlympics and the Union of European FootballAssociations’ championship. Schmidt and Berri(2003) review season-long measures for severalleagues, including the Bundesliga, Germany’s topsoccer league. Boyd and Krehbiel (2003) examinefactors related to game attendance for MLB teams.Similarly, Dobson et al (2001) and Meir (2000) focuson issues connected to match attendance forprofessional rugby. Garcia and Rodriguez (2002) andPeel and Thomas (1992) examine predictors ofindividual match attendance for the Spanish andEnglish football leagues respectively.This paper investigates the aggregate effect ofcompetitive balance among teams in a league on theleague’s seasonal attendance. It also controls for therole of exogenous variables that may influenceattendance, such as market demographic andeconomic conditions, as well as changes in thenumber of teams in the league. By focusing on nonmajorprofessional leagues, the analysis is conductedin isolation from attendance-influencing factors suchas national media, star player appeal, heavymerchandising programmes (e.g. as found atAmerican and European professional and Americancollegiate levels), and the school spirit and traditionalrivalries at collegiate level. This research utiliseslongitudinal data from five non-major professionalleagues to examine the effects of competitive balanceover multiple seasons.The paper presents a review of past studies offactors that influence attendance, followed by aconceptual framework of attendance and proposedhypotheses. The empirical study is described, followedby a report of results and discussion of the findings.Professional sportIn one of the earliest studies of demand, Jones (1969)conceptualises several possible determinants ofattendance including past ticket sales and winningpercentages. Using two seasons of MLB, Noll (1974)develops one of the first models that incorporatesdemographic variables. Baade and Tiehen (1990)extend this model by using 17 MLB seasons to refinethe variables in Noll’s model. In both studies, marketsize and market income were found to be statisticallysignificant in predicting attendance, as were teamstandings within the league and competition fromother spectator sports.Subsequent studies investigate various factors thatinfluence attendance at a game including betting odds(Knowles et al, 1992; Peel & Thomas, 1996),perceived probability of home team success (Borland& Lye, 1992; Hynds & Smith, 1994; Peel & Thomas,1992; Welki & Zlatoper, 1994), timing of promotions(Boyd & Krehbiel, 2003), game day atmosphere (Meir,2000) and changes in league structure (Dobson et al,2001). Among research that focuses on seasonalattendance data, factors that influence fan demandinclude winning seasons (Wells et al, 2000), marketincome (Robinson & DeSchriver, 2003), team location(Jones & Ferguson, 1988) and impact of playerperformance (Greenstein & Marcum, 1981; Paul,2003). Factors that influence attendance at regularlyscheduled international tournaments include perceivedRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship9

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERquality of matches (Baimbridge, 1997) anduncertainty of winning an Olympic medal (Baimbridge,1998). Many studies in the extant literature focus onconsumer characteristics, including the examination ofseveral factors that support the development andmaintenance of fan loyalty. These loyalty factorsinclude fan and team gender (Fink et al, 2002),perceived value (Kim et al, 2007), media (Zhang etal, 1998) and fan identity (Arnett & Laverie, 2000;Laverie & Arnett, 2000).This paper shifts the focus to the fan’s perspective ofproduct value, i.e. what makes a good game. Certainlyfans enjoy seeing their team win, but they also enjoythe excitement of a close game, where the opponentsare evenly matched. If a team consistently performswell relative to its competitors, games are likely to beless suspenseful. In the aggregate, from the leagueperspective, which do fans value more, a consistentlystrong performance by one team or a suspensefulgame? What are the implications for the entireleague’s attendance when the teams are evenlymatched? Overall, does the league’s seasonalattendance increase when one team dominates, orwhen the teams are more evenly balanced?Using a marketing perspective and building on theextant literature (Baade & Tiehen, 1990; Noll, 1974),we investigate these questions by examining the effecton attendance of game outcome doubt, as indicatedby the league’s competitive balance. Through anempirical analysis of longitudinal, archival datagathered from five different sports, this studyinvestigates three categories of factors that might affectattendance: (1) the competitive balance among teamsin the league; (2) the demography of the league’smarkets; and (3) the volatility of the league’smembership.Marketing management perspectiveThis section will build on prior research efforts tounderstand sports leagues and their role increating and maintaining a product that has valueto consumers, i.e. an exciting contest. The modelincludes three categories of factors that maypredict fan attendance levels.First, the level of competitiveness among the teamsin the league is posited to be an indication of thevalue of the games anticipated by fans. When teamsare evenly matched, the outcome of the contest isuncertain. This builds suspense and may make theperformance more enjoyable for the fans. One caninfer that matches between more competitive teamswill lead to higher attendance, yielding higherrevenues through ticket sales, sponsorships, licensingagreements and the sale of media rights (Manasso,2008).Second, certain demographic variables inherent inleague markets may influence the likelihood of fanattendance at matches. Specifically, the number ofpeople who live in a given market, their disposableincome and their rate of employment may affectattendance. Consumer marketers use factors such asthese to segment markets and identify the bestsegments to target.Third, deletion of financially weak teams and theaddition of teams in underserved markets may affectattendance. This process is akin to the management ofa portfolio of brands or strategic business units.CompetitivenessA fundamental premise of marketing is that all thingsbeing equal, customers are more likely to buyproducts that offer a higher perceived value. Therefore,attendance would probably be influenced by thequality of the game. One quality that fans value insporting events is suspense, i.e. that the outcome ofthe game should be in doubt because the competitorsare evenly matched. Therefore, the first factorinvestigated is the effect of competitiveness onattendance. We operationalise competitiveness ascompetitive balance, which we define as the degree towhich teams in a league are evenly matched (Baird,2004; Bennett & Fizell, 1995; Quirk & Fort, 1992;Scully, 1989). To determine the competitive balancein the league, competitive imbalance is calculated bycomparing the actual win-loss records of the league tothe theoretical, perfectly balanced league, where every10 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionteam has an equal number of wins and losses,i.e. a .500 record (Berri et al, 2004; Schmidt & Berri,2003). If competitiveness does indeed indicate theperceived value of sports league products, we wouldexpect a decrease in league attendance as competitiveimbalance grows.Competition among businesses is a common,perhaps even fundamental, subject of businessstrategy research (e.g. Hunt, 2000). In the spectatorsports industry, however, leagues offer to the market akind of competition as their product (Neale, 1964).This notion of competition distinguishes spectatorsports from other forms of entertainment such astheatre, movies or American professional wrestling(Deighton, 1992; Holt, 1995). The competitionconsidered here pits opponents in a contest thatcustomers pay to witness. Each competitor does itsbest to outperform the other in order to win the game.Opponents can be two individuals, such as boxers, alarge number of individuals, such as golfers, orteams, such as in football. While competitors mustcooperate in order to produce the event, customersare not likely to value the sport if they perceive thatthe outcome of the match is predetermined. Beyondagreement of the rules and presentation of thecontest, teams cannot cooperate on the outcome ofthe competition. This would eliminate the essentialelement of doubt about the outcome and dramaticallyreduce the suspense of the competition and therebyits value to the spectator (Deighton, 1992). This inturn would be likely to decrease the demand for theproduct.Since the coordination of sporting events is quitedifficult, teams often form leagues, in part to developa schedule of competitions that typically culminate ina championship. Thorne et al (2001, p. 76) describea league as a group involved in a “contractualrelationship among several clubs or teams of onesingle sport, with the primary purpose of organisingcompetition”. The league plans for all members toparticipate in an equal number of events, establishesthe schedule of events for the upcoming season anddevelops a format to determine the league’s champion.In this manner, the individual team owners cooperatein creating a schedule of production and delivery fortheir collective and co-produced market offerings.Besides setting the schedule, a league creates andenforces a set of rules to ensure fair competition, andmarkets the sport for all team owners through suchvehicles as media contracts, sponsorships andlicensing. In essence, a league is an alliance ofindependently owned organisations working togetherto produce and market a series of competitions stagedfor the entertainment of the alliance members’customers – their fans (Lambe et al, 2002).Outcome uncertainty leads to a more excitingseason and, consequently, a higher perceivedentertainment value (Whitney, 1988). By limiting eachteam’s player resources, a league can strive tomaintain a competitive balance among its members,thereby providing higher perceived value to its fans.One method is the redistribution of player resources byusing such tools as salary caps, luxury taxes anddrafts (O’Reilly & Nadeau, 2006; Sloane, 1997).These tools tend to distribute the pool of player talentthroughout the league. This helps to increase thehomogeneity of talent among the various teams in theleague, which in turn reduces the opportunity forsome teams to have player-based advantage on thefield. The result is that the teams tend to be moreevenly matched, producing more competitive, andtherefore more valuable, contests.Fans are more likely to attend a game when theoutcome is in doubt than when the outcome isperceived as a foregone conclusion (Deighton, 1992;Whitney, 1988). Leagues with a dominant team orleagues with fans that perceive the outcome to be aforegone conclusion suffer in two ways. First, fewerfans will attend the games and teams will sufferfinancially. Second, the value of teams’ broadcast,sponsorship and licensing rights will be lower becauseof the lower reach. Although each team within aleague wants to win the championship, it is in thebest interests of all teams in the league to ensure acompetitive product that fans will find attractive. Aleague with more competitive balance will achieveRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship11

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERsuperior financial rewards through higher attendanceand higher revenue from the sale of broadcast,sponsorship and licensing rights (Hunt, 2000).Factors affecting fan demandSports marketing literature has traditionally studiedfactors that affect fan demand from the consumerperspective. Laverie and Arnett (2000) and Arnett andLaverie (2000) use consumer behaviour theories toexamine attendance as a function of fan identity. Finket al (2002) research the role of fan and team gendersto explain attendance. Robinson and DeSchriver(2003) look at the demographic differences betweenthe fans of two teams competing in the NationalProfessional Soccer League. DeSchriver (1999) andWells et al (2000) research consumer factors thatinfluence fan attendance for one season and twosingle seasons respectively of American football,among schools that compete in the National CollegiateAthletic Association (NCAA) Division II. Noll (1974)and Baade and Tiehen (1990) include race as apredictor variable. Meir (2000) examines fan reactionto the league management’s marketing strategies.Based on a survey of team general managers andusing principal component analysis, Hansen andGauthier (1989) identify 10 factors that affect eithergame or season attendance. Kim et al (2007) andZhang et al (2003) follow a similar approach, askingresidents about factors that determine their attendanceat sporting events.Although these studies focus on importantcharacteristics of consumers of sporting events thatmay affect attendance, with the exception of Hansenand Gauthier, and Meir, there has been little researchon the factors that a team’s management, or itsleague’s management, could control in order to affectattendance. O’Reilly and Nadeau (2006) investigateleague expansion as a predictor of team revenue, butno study has been identified that includes changes inleague membership as a predictor variable ofattendance. Because much of the sports marketingliterature has focused on the consumer, thisperspective has shaped theoretical discussions. Thispaper looks at how the league can strategicallyimprove the entertainment value of its competitionsto consumers in order to increase attendance andrevenues.Outcome doubtPast research has demonstrated that uncertainty aboutthe outcome of a game is a component of predictiveattendance models. Borland and Lye (1992) and Peeland Thomas (1988, 1992, 1996) look at attendanceat a particular match as a function of outcomeuncertainty. Borland (1987) reviews the long-termeffect on attendance of a dominant team. Baimbridge(1997) and Hynds and Smith (1994) examine therole of doubt in an international athletics tournament.Noll (1974) and Baade and Tiehen (1990) attempt toinclude doubt by using several indicators, includingthe concentration of championships and the end-ofseasongap between the division winner and otherteams in that division. In each of these studies, doubtor match uncertainty is statistically significant inexplaining attendance. Zhang et al (2003) develop afactor to measure fans’ perceived attractiveness of amatch. Whitney (1988) shifted the research focusfrom match attendance to league attendance byinvestigating league championship uncertainty. Heargues that a league with a dominating team, or aleague with a non-competitive team, would experiencea decline in league attendance. Following this work,we use the league as the unit of analysis because it ismost appropriate to the study of the aggregate,strategic impact of competitive balance.AttendanceAttendance is treated in various ways in the literature.Wells et al (2000), Peel and Thomas (1996), Baadeand Tiehen (1990), Greenstein and Marcum (1981)and Noll (1974) use total league attendance whileothers employ match attendance (Baimbridge, 1997;Borland and Lye, 1992; Dobson et al, 2001; Knowleset al, 1992; Paul, 2003; Peel & Thomas, 1992;Jones & Ferguson, 1988; Welki & Zlatoper, 1994).Hansen and Gauthier (1989) use both game and12 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionseason attendance. Laverie and Arnett (2000) studyregular season attendance for one team. Boyd andKrehbiel (2003) use attendance at home games for sixMLB teams over five seasons. O’Reilly and Nadeau(2006) and Cocco and Jones (1997) treat attendanceas a predictor of revenue generated by a franchise.Zhang et al (2003) examine fans’ likelihood to attendor watch a game.This work focuses on predictors of seasonalattendance on a league basis. The use of season-longattendance figures is a control for anomalies that mayaffect attendance at an individual contest. Data isdrawn from five leagues representing five differentsports. This presents some issues for themeasurement of attendance. Total attendance will varygreatly from league to league because of the variationin the number of teams in the league, the number ofgames played in a season, and the capacity of eachvenue (O’Reilly & Nadeau, 2006). Averageattendance, expressed as a ratio of total leagueattendance divided by total home, regular seasongames played, will also vary greatly from league toleague. Venue capacity can also influence attendance,from league to league and even from team to team. Toovercome this variable, we use the percentage of theseason-long seating capacity (ATTEND) as theindicator of attendance.ATTEND is measured as a ratio of the averageattendance for a league divided by the average venuecapacity for a league. The formula for the ATTENDdependent variable appears as:where the sum of attendance for season w is dividedby the sum of home games for season w and the sumof venue capacity for team i playing in season wdivided by the total number of teams n for season w.This measure will allow for a better comparison of twoor more leagues that have heterogeneous venue sizes,numbers of teams and season lengths.One concern with this approach is the inherent limitof the ATTEND dependent variable. No arena orstadium can have more than 100% filled capacity,possibly leaving some unsatisfied demand. For thisstudy, the data indicate that this potential issue doesnot seem to be problematic, since average attendanceis only 55%, with a standard deviation of 14%.Competitive balanceAs stated above, a key responsibility of a sports leagueis to manage the perceived value of the games playedby the league members. The league meets thisresponsibility by attempting to provide excitingcontests – those which hold the outcome in doubt foras long as possible. The league can strive to achievethis goal by placing limits on member teams’ abilitiesto hoard player talent (O’Reilly & Nadeau, 2006). Forexample, the league could impose a salary cap toforce wealthier teams to trade expensive, talentedplayers. It could also liberalise free agency rules toencourage player movement, or institute a draft thatallows the worst-performing team to select first fromthe pool of incoming player talent. If the league isunable to maintain a competitive balance, then theoutcome uncertainty of games reduces. As aconsequence of this decreased uncertainty, theperceived entertainment value of the league’s gamesmay decrease (Deighton, 1992).Hypothesis 1: League attendance will benegatively associated with the competitiveimbalance in the league.In addition to competitive balance, the impact onattendance of certain economic characteristics of thevarious markets that the league serves should beconsidered, specifically: market size, market wealthand market unemployment.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship13

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERMarket characteristicsAs the market population increases, the potentialcustomer base increases as well (Baade & Tiehen,1990; Fort, 2003; Hansen & Gauthier, 1989;Noll, 1974). In larger markets, therefore, it is likelythat a team will draw more fans to a game. Weoperationalise market size for a league as the totalpopulation of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs)served by the league’s teams.Hypothesis 2: League attendance will be positivelyassociated with the size of the population in theleague’s markets.Because entertainment is considered a luxurypurchase (not an essential purchase like food andshelter), attendance at games should be influenced bythe disposable income in the market. Therefore, weexpect that attendance will be higher in leagues thatserve wealthier markets (Baade & Tiehen, 1990; Fort,2003; Hansen & Gauthier, 1989; Noll, 1974). Weoperationalise market wealth as the average income ofthe MSAs served by the league.Hypothesis 3: League attendance will be positivelyassociated with the average income of the leaguemarkets.Hypothesis 4: League attendance will beassociated with the unemployment rate for eachrespective league.Membership volatilityAs membership of the league changes, either throughexpansion, contraction or relocation, a resultinginstability could have an impact on league attendance.Fans in new markets may be attracted to the teambecause of the novelty of a new entertainment option.Dropping a poorly performing team (presumably onewith low attendance) from the league should have animmediate impact, increasing the average leagueattendance, if at the expense of total attendancefigures. Furthermore, a team that struggles to drawfans could improve attendance by moving to a bettermarket. Overall, change is expected to have a positiveeffect on attendance. Therefore, we developed thefollowing hypothesis:Hypothesis 5: The number of new markets anddeleted markets relative to the total number ofteams in the league will have a positiveassociation with average league attendance.MethodologyAttendance at spectator sports events requires theexpenditure of both money and time. The availabilityof each will vary with unemployment, but in oppositedirections. Higher unemployment translates into moredisposable time to attend games, but unemploymentalso decreases the disposable income available to buytickets. Given these conflicting directions, it isuncertain as to what net effect, if any, unemploymentwill have on attendance. Therefore, we investigate arelationship between unemployment and attendancebut do not predict the direction of this relationship. Wedefine unemployment as an average of the annualunemployment rates of each of the league’s MSAs.This study will test the relationship of five variables:competitive imbalance (CI), market population (POP),average market income (INC), market unemployment(UNEMP), and the rate of team turnover (TURNOVER)to average attendance (ATTEND). Since the league isthe unit of analysis, all variables will be measured atleague level.Competitive balanceResearchers’ uses of different proxy variables for doubtor uncertainty of a competition’s outcome has variedby methodology. Peel and Thomas (1992, 1996) usebetting odds as a proxy. Borland and Lye (1992)employ the number of victories needed to clinch a14 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionplayoff spot and the number of wins by each team atthe time of the match. Greenstein and Marcum(1981) select the home team’s winning percentage atthe time of the match. Baade and Tiehen (1990) andNoll (1974) rely on the number of games below firstplace that non-division winners finished.For this study we are interested in the role ofuncertainty of outcome on the anticipated value of theperformance as perceived by the fans (Berri et al,2004; Quirk & Fort, 1992; Schmidt & Berri, 2003;Scully, 1989). The underlying assumption is thatattendance is an indicator of the value fans place onthe competition as a market offering. Competitivebalance will serve as a proxy for doubt in this study.We posit that the more evenly matched the teams inthe league, the greater the doubt of the outcome ofgames. Conversely, the higher the competitiveimbalance, the less uncertainty there will be regardingthe outcome.Quirk and Fort (1992, p.244) provide insight intohow competitive balance is measured. Conceptually, ifperfect competitive balance exists, then each team inthe league would win 50% of its schedule contests.The more imbalanced the league, the more themember teams’ records will deviate from 50%.Following Berri et al (2004), Quirk and Fort (1992)and Schmidt and Berri (2003), the formula forcompetitive imbalance appears as:Competitive balance is rarely achieved because teamspossess heterogeneous resources and the teams applythose resources differently (Hunt, 2000). This mayinclude better or worse players, coaches and facilitiescompared with other teams in a given league. Chancemay be a factor in a particular contest’s outcome, butthe role of chance will diminish over the season. Bystudying competitive balance for the entire season,outcome variations in individual games due to chancebecome less of a concern statistically.Population and incomeIn proposed models of demand determinants for asporting event, Baade and Tiehen (1990), Fort(2003), Greenstein and Marcum (1981), Noll (1974),O’Reilly and Nadeau (2006) and Siegfried andEisenberg (1980) include market population andmarket income, arguing that both would positivelyrelate to attendance. The US Census Bureau definesand measures the population of MSAs. This unit levelgenerally includes the county population in excess ofcity limits, and some MSAs include multiple counties.This paper uses the MSA population figures as moreaccurate representations of market size for US teams.A similar figure was found for Canadian markets viaCANSIM. The average income of the league’s markets(INC) is calculated as the total personal income of theserved MSA divided by the MSA population. By usingthis average income as opposed to the total income,we are able to compare different sized markets(Ferguson et al, 1991; Jones & Ferguson, 1988;Jones et al, 1996; Rivers & DeSchriver, 2002).RESEARCH PAPERwhere n equals number of teams for season w and gequals the number of games played by n teams forseason w. Team winning percentage (Pct.) equals thenumber of wins by a team for season w divided by thetotal number of games played in a season.UnemploymentThe MSA unemployment rate (UNEMP) isoperationalised as the average annual unemploymentrate of the league’s markets. The unemployment ratefor a particular MSA would affect only that team’sattendance. However, if several markets report higheror lower unemployment rates, then it couldsignificantly affect the league’s attendance. Thisshould be especially salient in regional leagues.● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship15

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERTurnoverThe rate of team change (TURNOVER) is based on theabsolute total change in the number of teams in theleague relative to the previous season’s leaguepopulation. TURNOVER is calculated by the followingformula, where Nn equals the number of teams addedto the league since last year, Nd equals the number ofteams deleted from the league since last year, andNw-1 represents the number of teams that competedduring the prior season.O’Reilly and Nadeau (2006) propose that theinclusion of expansion of leagues will affect a team’srevenue. Less expansion improves the heritage factor,which should contribute to the team’s revenue. Amongmajor professional leagues in North America, such asthe NFL, expansion is carefully considered. Indeed,the last NFL team to declare bankruptcy was morethan 40 years ago, while the last NFL team to movewas more than five years ago.Among non-major professional leagues in NorthAmerica, such as the Arena Football League (AFL),expansion efforts amount to a prospective ownerwilling to pay the expansion fee and sign an arenalease. For the AFL’s 2007 season a new team wasadded while another changed markets. TURNOVER ismore suitable than expansion for this study’s samplebecause it better reflects the behaviour of the leagues.SampleThis study extends studies of the major professionalsports leagues previously sampled, and investigatesdemand in non-major professional sports leagues(NMPLs). As in Robinson and DeSchriver (2003), weuse Masteralexis’ (1998) delineation of major andminor professional leagues, which is developed fromJohnson’s (1995) typology. The use of NMPLsenables the study of the proposed model without theinfluence of many of the marketing factors commonto major league professional sports (O’Reilly &Nadeau, 2006). For example, NMPLs do not draw asmany fans as the four American major professionalleagues nor professional football leagues in othercountries. NMPLs have shorter radii in terms ofmarket size, and generally do not pay salaries that arecomparable with those of the major professionalsports leagues. Unlike their major leaguecounterparts, NMPLs do not enjoy the benefit ofnational broadcast of live games; they rely heavily onthe gate or on tickets bought by consumers.Furthermore, while fan loyalty is expected to affectattendance at NMPLs, it is not likely to be asinfluential as the loyalty engendered by school spiritin college athletics. Therefore, NMPLs provide adomain for study where the effects of competitiveimbalance are not confounded by factors that arepresent in major professional and collegiate sports.Along with live, nationally televised games, themajor professional leagues enjoy a high level of thirdpartycontrolled communication (O’Reilly & Nadeau,2006). Dedicated sports cable networks televisehighlights and host programmes that provide extensivecoverage of major professional leagues. Metropolitandaily newspapers devote significant amounts of spaceto stories about major professional leagues. NMPLslack access to such third-party controlledcommunication, relying more heavily on self-generatedcommunication such as print and broadcastadvertisements.The data used in this study come from the ArenaFootball League (AFL), the Central Hockey League(CHL), the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), theNational Lacrosse League (NLL) and the Northern(baseball) League (NL). All statistics are computedfrom league inception through the 2002-03 seasons.Four of these five leagues, the NL, CFL, MISL andNLL, have international competitions similar tofootball’s World Cup. The AFL, MISL and NLLrepresent the highest level of their respective sports:indoor American football, indoor soccer and indoorlacrosse. The other two leagues, the CHL and the NL,16International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionhave no formal associations with respective majorleague organisations in hockey and baseball – i.e. theyare not minor leagues, comprised of farm teams.Minor leagues, those with formal associations withmajor league organisations such as those found inbaseball, basketball and hockey, focus on playerdevelopment rather than league championships. Inturn, management’s concern is on the athlete’sprogress as opposed to team performanceoptimisation. Team managers in NMPLs focus onwinning the league.DataThis study uses archival data gathered from multiplesources to test the proposed model. Total attendance,arena capacity, changes in the number of teams andtotal number of home games were gathered fromleague websites and media guides. The attendancepercentage data were transformed to address theheteroscedasticity inherent in the variance of fractionaldata (Downward & Dawson, 2000). Using leaguewin-loss records collected from league websites andmedia guides, we compute the necessary numeratorand denominator to derive the annual CI for eachleague. MSAINC, UNEMP and POP were gatheredfrom the Regional Economic Accounts, which is partof the US Department of Commerce website. ForCanadian markets, the same data were retrieved fromthe CANSIM website, which is maintained by theCanadian government. Canadian dollars wereconverted to US dollars based on historical exchangerates provided by the US Federal Reserve Bank. Thedata were then aggregated on an annual basis foreach league. INC was measured in thousands ofdollars. To control for the different units of thevariables, all resulting data for the eight independentvariables were standardised. The standardised scoresalso allow for better comparisons between and withinleagues. In total, 707 team seasonal records,representing 12,956 games, were compiled, alongwith the demographic data for those 665 marketyears,to generate 75 league seasons of aggregateddata for analysis (Table 1).TABLE 1 Summary of sampleLEAGUEARENA FOOTBALLLEAGUECENTRAL HOCKEYLEAGUEMAJOR INDOORSOCCER LEAGUENATIONALLACROSSE LEAGUENORTHERNLEAGUETOTALAnalysisSEASONS171119171175GAMES128436743668671365912956TEAMSEASONALRECORDS201111187122The data were analysed using ordinary least squareregression, with a one-year lag. The lag is to accountfor the effect of the previous year’s league standingson the current year’s attendance. The proposed modelis: ATTEND = β 0 – β 1 (CI) + β 2 (UNEMP) + β 3 (INC)+ β 4 (POP) + β 5 (TURNOVER)based on regression with a one-year lag (Downward &Dawson, 2000; Baade & Tiehen, 1990; Noll, 1974).The results indicate that both competitive balance(t = -3.24, p < .01) and average market income(t = 3.01, p < .01) were significantly related toattendance, supporting hypotheses 1 and 3. CI wasnegatively related to attendance as expected. As CIbecomes greater than 1, which represents a perfectlybalanced league, attendance decreases. Averageincome was positively related to attendance asexpected. UNEMP, POP and TURNOVER were notfound to be significant predictors of attendance, sohypotheses 2, 4, and 5 are not supported. The finalmodel appears as ATTEND = - 0.34 CI + .31 INC(Table 2). The model is a fair predictor of attendance,86707RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship17

The value of competitionTABLE 2 Alternative modelsDiscussionRESEARCH PAPERCIINCPOPUNEMPTURNOVERNTEAMDTEAMR 2MSEPROPOSEDMODELESTIMATE-0.374 **0.326 *-0.155-0.081-0.0040.2510.898Significance: *- p

The value of competitionTABLE 3 Model parameter estimatesATTENDCITURNNTEAMDTEAMPOPUNEMPINCATTENDCITURNNTEAMDTEAMPOPUNEMPINCMEANST DEV1,000-0.338 **-0.032-0.074-0.141-0.023-0.208-0.318 **55.0914.391,000-0.1770.0480.122-0.147-0.0980.0171.190.361,0000.578 ***-0.221-0.1820.185-0.329 **0.461.36Significance: *- p

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERconfounded by other factors not present in the leaguesstudied here, the impact on the value of broadcast,sponsorship and licensing rights may be amplified inthe major leagues because of the number of fans anddollars involved.ConclusionsFans like a good game, one in which the outcome isuncertain for a good long time. Such a game isexciting, and fans value excitement. An indication ofthe value fans place on suspense, or doubt, is the linkdemonstrated here between competitive balance andattendance. Fans are more likely to attend a game thatpromises to be exciting because the teams are evenlymatched.This paper helps extend our understanding of thevalue that fans place on spectator sports. Furthermore,this study indicates that tickets for spectator sports areluxury purchases, and as such, more will be sold inwealthier markets. Both of these variables can beinfluenced by the actions of the league administrators.By taking a marketing approach to creating customervalue through team strength and locationmanagement, the leagues can have a positive impacton ticket sales.For the sports marketer, this study may notrepresent ground-breaking revelations. However, itdoes provide some empirical support for an approachtowards the management of the professional sportsleague. First, rather than taking a parochial, teamview, the team manager (i.e. president, generalmanager, club secretary) should consider a broaderleague view, because competitiveness of the entireleague matters. By working with representatives fromall league members, the team manager can ensure amore competitive league by enacting rules regardingthe allocation of players (i.e. draft), the movement ofplayers (i.e. free agency, transfer fee) and schedulingof matches. Although each team manager hopes tofield the strongest team in terms of talent, according toour analysis, the league may be better off ensuringthat the entire league appears competitive.Second, the team manager and the league itselfbenefit from a more competitive league. In the longterm, fans may lose interest if one team continues todominate the league. Attendance may remain strongfor the dominant team, but attendance may fall for theother teams, resulting in lower overall attendance forthe league. Firms seeking promotional partners mayonly consider the dominant team, leaving theremaining teams without promotional partners.Furthermore, the value of the league’s media rights,sponsorships and licensing may decrease.Third, the model presented in this study may serveas a guide for decisions related to pricing andpromotion. The Atlanta Braves, a team competing inMLB, uses a model for just such a purpose(Manasso, 2008). The model supports businessdecisions in that it enables the team and itsconcessionaire to optimise staffing levels. The teamcan also use the model to identify upcoming gameswhere heavier promotions and pricing discountsshould be used to increase attendance. Although MLBrepresents a major professional sports league, littlereason exists why other leagues including NMPLscannot use such a model.Our model may represent a step towards a leaguebasedmodel that predicts attendance based, in part,on competitive factors. This model could guide teamsin less competitive leagues to better allocate theirpromotional resources and activities. In thosesituations, teams could develop more promotionalactivities such as kids’ nights, ball nights etc. Inaddition, league management could possibly set lowerprices for games that feature less competitive teamsand higher prices for games featuring morecompetitive teams. Many American colleges use ademand-based pricing schedule, charging severaltimes the price of one game for a match against anarchrival team.Finally, a league with a higher degree ofcompetitiveness may be able to better negotiate withfirms for league-wide promotions. League-widepromotions ensure that all teams benefit from a more20 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitioncompetitive competition. Thus all team managers maygain from increased competitiveness among leaguemanagers in the form of higher attendance andincreased sponsorship activity. These benefits mayhelp all teams achieve a degree of profitability.This study was conducted with data from NMPLs,and as such these findings may not be generalisableto major professional leagues or amateur sportsleagues. However, by using the sample frame ofNMPLs, we were able to isolate the effects ofcompetitive balance from other factors that mayinfluence attendance, such as media coverage andstar player attraction in major professional leagues,and fan identity in college sports.Since this study used exclusively archival data, theresearch was limited by the availability of that data.Other league-related predictor variables of interestinclude the percentage of the season’s games playedat weekends and the prices of tickets. We suspect thatweekend games see higher attendances than gamesplayed during the week because of the greater amountof disposable time available to customers at theweekend. Since this data was only available for twoleagues, NLL and AFL, it was not included here.Historical ticket price data are nearly non-existent forthe leagues studied here. We could derive a leagueaverage ticket price for the most recent season.However, ticket prices from as recent as five years agoare not readily available. As price is one of theelements of the marketing mix, its effects should bestudied in future marketing research.Finally, this study shows that people value leaguemanagement efforts to provide a suspenseful outcome.This study is consistent with conclusions from otherstudies on recreational pursuits (Arnould & Price,1993) as well as major professional sports leagues(Holt, 1995). As fans demonstrate consistentconsumption, sponsors follow. Sponsors allocatepromotional dollars to effectively and efficiently reachlarge numbers of consumers. A properly managedsports league will have a large audience (i.e. fans)because the league can attract them by offering acompelling product. Regardless of individual or teamsport, non-major or major professional league, thecreation and maintenance of a compelling productremains the top marketing goal for leaguemanagement.© 2009 International Marketing ReportsBiographiesMichael A. Levin (PhD Texas Tech University) is anassistant professor of marketing at Otterbein College.His research interests include effectiveness andefficiency at the individual, organisational and societallevels. His work has appeared in MarketingManagement Journal.Robert E McDonald (PhD University of Connecticut) isUnited Supermarkets Professor of Marketing at RawlsCollege of Business, Texas Tech University. Hisresearch interests include strategy, organisationallearning, innovation, non-profit organisations, brandingand the scholarship of teaching and learning. Hiswork has appeared in the Journal of World Business,the Journal of Advertising and the Journal ofMacromarketing.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship21

The value of competitionRESEARCH PAPERReferencesArnett, D.B. & Laverie, D.A. (2000) Fan characteristics andsporting event attendance: examining variance in attendance,International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship 2(3),219-238.Arnould, E.J. & Price, L.P. (1993) River magic: extraordinaryexperience and the extended service encounter, Journal ofConsumer Research 20(1), 24-45.Australian Football League (2005) Club financial review.Retrieved from: http://afl.com.au.Baade, R.A. & Tiehen, L.J. (1990) An analysis of major leaguebaseball attendance 1969-1987, Journal of Sport and SocialIssues 14(1), 14-32.Baimbridge, M. (1997) Match attendance at Euro 96: was thecrowd waving or drowning? Applied Economic Letters 4(9),555-558.Baimbridge, M. (1998) Outcome uncertainty in sportingcompetition: the Olympic Games 1896-1996, AppliedEconomics Letters 5(3), 161-165.Baird, K. (2004) Dominance in college in football and the role ofscholarship restrictions, Journal of Sports Management 18(3),217-235.Bennett, R.W. & Fizell, J.L. (1995) Telecast deregulation andcompetitive imbalance: regarding NCAA division I football,American Journal of Economics and Sociology 54(2), 183-199.Berri, D.J., Schmidt, M.B. & Brook, S.L. (2004) Stars at thegate: the impact of star power on NBA gate revenues, Journal ofSports Economics 5(1), 33-50.Borland, J. (1987) The demand for Australian Rules Football,Economic Record 63(182), 87-89.Borland, J. & Lye, J. (1992) Attendance at Australian RulesFootball: a panel study, Applied Economics 24(9), 1053-1058.Boyd, T.C. & Krehbiel, T.C. (2003) Promotion timing in majorleague baseball and the stacking effects of factors that increasegame attractiveness, Sports Marketing Quarterly 12(3),173-183.Cocco, A. & Jones, J.C.K. (1997) On going south: theeconomics of survival and relocation of small market NHLfranchises in Canada, Applied Economics 29(11), 1537-1552.Deighton, J. (1992) The consumption of performance, Journalof Consumer Research 19(3), 362-372.DeSchriver, T. (1999) Factors affecting spectator attendance atNCAA division II football contests, International Sports Journal3(2), 55-65.Dobson, S., Goddard, J. & Wilson, J.O.S. (2001) Leaguestructure and match attendances in English Rugby League,International Review of Applied Economics 15(3), 335-351.Downward, P. & Dawson, A. (2000) The Economics ofProfessional Team Sports. New York: Routledge.Ferguson, D.G., Stewart, K., Jones, J.C.H. & LeDressay, A.(1991) The pricing of sports events: do teams maximise profit?The Journal of Industrial Economics 29(3), 297-310.Fink, J.S., Trail, G.T. & Anderson, D. (2002) Environmentalfactors associated with spectator attendance and sportconsumption behaviour: gender and team differences, SportMarketing Quarterly 11(1), 8-19.Fort, R. (2003) Sports Economics. Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice Hall.Garcia, J. & Rodriguez, P. (2002) Determinant of football matchattendance revisited: empirical evidence from the SpanishFootball League, Journal of Sports Economics 3(1), 18-38.Greenstein, T.M. & Marcum, J.P. (1981) Factors affectingattendance of major league baseball: team performance, Reviewof Sport & Leisure 6(2), 21-34.Hansen, H. & Gauthier, R. (1989) Factors affecting attendanceat professional sports events, Journal of Sports Management3(1), 15-32.Holt, D.B. (1995) How consumers consume: a typology ofconsumption practices, Journal of Consumer Research 22(3),1-16.Hunt, S.D. (2000) A General Theory of Competition. ThousandOaks, CA: Sage Publications.Hunt, S.D. & Morgan, R.M. (1995) The comparative advantagetheory of competition, Journal of Marketing 59 (April), 1-15.Hunt, S.D. & Morgan, R.M. (1996) The resource-advantagetheory of competition: dynamics, path, dependencies, andevolutionary dimensions, Journal of Marketing 60 (October),107-114.Hunt, S.D. & Morgan, R.M. (1997) Resource-advantage theory:a snake swallowing its tail or a general theory of competition?Journal of Marketing 61(October), 74-82.Hynds, M. & Smith, I. (1994) The demand for test matchcricket, Applied Economic Letters 1(7), 103-106.22 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

The value of competitionJohnson, A.T. (1995) Minor League Baseball and LocalEconomic Development. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.Jones, J.C.H. (1969) The economics of the National HockeyLeague, Canadian Journal of Economics 2(1), 1-20.Jones, J.C.H. & Ferguson, D.G. (1988) Location and survival inthe National Hockey League, The Journal of IndustrialEconomics 36(4), 443-457.Jones, J.C.H., Stewart, K. & Sunderman, R. (1996) From thearena into the streets: hockey violence, economic incentives andpublic policy, American Journal of Economics and Sociology55(2), 231-243.Karrar, T. (2006) Premier league becomes ultimate toy for richboys. Retrieved from: http://sports.yahoo.comKim, S., You, E. & Pedersen, P.M. (2007) Market segmentationin the K-League: an analysis of spectators of the Koreanprofessional soccer league, International Journal of SportsMarketing and Sponsorship 8(2), 141-158.Knowles, G., Sherony, K. & Haupert, M. (1992) The demand formajor league baseball: a test of the uncertainty of outcomehypothesis, The American Economist 36(2), 72-80.Lambe, J.C., Spekman, R.E. & Hunt, S.D. (2002) Alliancecompetence, resources, and alliance success: conceptualisation,measurement, and initial test, Journal of the Academy ofMarketing Science 30(2), 141-58.Laverie, D.A. & Arnett, D.B. (2000) Factors affecting fanattendance: the influence of identity salience and satisfaction,Journal of Leisure Research 32(2), 225-246.Manasso, J. (2008) Brave’s new tool: a way to predictattendance. Retrieved from http://atlanta.bizjournals.comMasteralexis, L.P. (1998) ‘Professional sport’ in Masteralexis, L.,Barr, C.A. & Hums, M.A. (eds) Principles and Practice of SportManagement, 275-306. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers.Meir, R. (2000) Fan reaction to the match day experience: acase study in English professional rugby league football, SportsMarketing Quarterly 9(1), 34-42.Neale, W.C. (1964) The peculiar economics of professionalsports: a contribution to the theory of the firm in sportingcompetition and in market competition, The Quarterly Journal ofEconomics 78(1), 1-14.Noll, R.G. (1974) ‘Attendance and price setting’ in Noll, R. (ed.)Government and the Sports Business, 115-157. WashingtonDC: The Brookings Institute.O’Reilly, N.M. & Nadeau, J.P. (2006) Revenue generation inprofessional sport: a diagnostic analysis, International Journal ofSport Management and Marketing 1(4), 311-330.Ozanian, M.K. (2004a) The business of football. Retrieved from:http://www.forbes.com/2004/09/01/04nfland.htmlOzanian, M.K. (2004b) The business of hockey. Retrieved from:http://www.forbes.com/2004/11/10/04nhland.htmlOzanian, M.K. (2004c) The business of basketball. Retrievedfrom: http://www.forbes.com/2004/12/08/04nbaland.htmlOzanian, M.K. (2005) The business of baseball. Retrieved from:http://www.forbes.com/2005/04/06/05mlbland.htmlParkes, R. (2006) Football money league: changing of theguard. Retrieved from: http://www.deloitte.co.uk/RegistrationForms/PDFs/DeloitteFootballMoneyLeague2006.pdfPaul, R.J. (2003) Variations in NHL attendance: the impact ofviolence, scoring, and regional rivalries, American Journal ofEconomics and Sociology 62(2), 345-364.Peel, D.A. & Thomas, D.A. (1988) Outcome, uncertainty andthe demand for football, Scottish Journal of Political Economy35(3), 242-249.Peel, D.A. & Thomas, D.A. (1992) The demand for football:some evidence on outcome uncertainty, Empirical Economics17(2), 323-331.Peel, D.A. & Thomas, D.A. (1996) Attendance demand: aninvestigation of repeat fixtures, Applied Economics Letters 3(6),391-393.Quirk, J. & Fort, R. (1992) Pay Dirt: the Business of ProfessionalTeam Sports. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Rivers, D. & DeSchriver, T. (2002) Star players, payrolldistribution, and major league baseball attendance, SportsMarketing Quarterly 11(3), 164-173.Robinson, M.J. & DeSchriver, T.D. (2003) Consumer differencesacross large and small market teams in the national professionalsoccer league, Sport Marketing Quarterly 12(2), 80-87.Rogers, E.M. (1962) Diffusion of Innovations. New York:Free Press.Schmidt, M.B. & Berri, D.J. (2003) On the evolution ofcompetitive balance: the impact of an increasing global search,Economic Inquiry 41(4), 692-704.Scully, G.W. (1989) The Business of Major League Baseball.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Siegfried, J.J. & Eisenberg, J.D. (1980) The demand for minorleague baseball, Atlantic Economic Journal 8(2), 59-69.Sloane, P. (1997) The economics of sport: an overview(editorial), Economic Affairs 17(3), 2-7.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship23

The value of competitionThorne, D., Wright, L.B. & Jones, S.A. (2001) The impact ofsports marketing relationships and antitrust issues in the UnitedStates, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 20(1), 73-83.Wells, D.E., Southall, R.M. & Peng, H.H. (2000) An analysis offactors related to attendance at division II football games, SportMarketing Quarterly 9(4), 203-210.Welki, A.M. & Zlatoper, T.J. (1994) US professional football: thedemand for game-day attendance in 1991, Managerial andDecision Economics 15(5), 489-495.Whitney, J.D. (1988) Winning games versus winningchampionships: the economics of fan interest and teamperformance, Economic Inquiry 26(4), 703-724.Zhang, J.J., Pease, D.G. & Smith, D.W. (1998) Relationshipbetween broadcasting media and minor league hockey gameattendance, Journal of Sport Management 12(2), 103-110.Zhang, J.J., Lam, E.T.C. & Connaughton, D. (2003) Generalmarket demand variables associated with professional sportconsumption, International Journal of Sports Marketing andSponsorship 5(1), 33-55.RESEARCH PAPER24 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

An investigation into the effects of sportinginvolvement and alcohol sponsorship onunderage drinkingKeywordsalcoholsponsorshipsports cultureunderage drinkingFiona DaviesLecturer in Marketing, Cardiff Business SchoolAberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff CF10 3EUTel: 02920 875700Email: daviesfm@cf.ac.ukPeer reviewedAbstractConcerns about underage drinking have led to calls fora UK ban on alcohol sponsorship of sport. Such a banwould have severe financial consequences for manysports, so should not be implemented without thoroughconsideration of its likely effectiveness. This studyinvestigating the alcohol consumption intentions of 14and 15 year olds showed that boys who were involvedin sport were more likely both to drink alcohol and toget drunk, with awareness of sponsorship enhancingthe likelihood of these behaviours. Girls involved insport, however, showed more negative attitudes thantheir peers towards alcohol. It is argued that boysinvolved in sport are socialised into a traditionalmasculine alcohol and sports culture, which isreinforced by sponsorship. Evidence from studies ontobacco sponsorship suggests that health-relatedmarketing communications and the use of low-alcoholor non-alcohol brands for sports sponsorship could bemore effective than a ban in changing the culture.RESEARCH PAPERExecutive summaryIn the light of increasing concerns about underagedrinking in the UK, alcohol marketers have to defendtheir sponsorship activities against calls for bans orrestriction. Alcohol sponsorship of sport, in particular,is seen as making inappropriate connections betweenhealthy pursuits and products which, if usedirresponsibly, can cause much harm. The position iscomplicated by the historical links between alcoholand sport in the traditional masculine culture of theUK, which alcohol sponsorship both capitalises onand perpetuates. However, sponsors make a largefinancial contribution to UK sport, and many also try● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship25

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERto promote a message of responsible drinking. A banwould have severe consequences for sport, so shouldnot be implemented without evidence that it wouldhave a noticeable effect on underage drinking.Evidence for effects on product (as opposed tobrand) perceptions from sponsorship is mainly frominvestigations of tobacco sponsorship, and is limitedand inconclusive. A study was therefore designed toexamine such effects in the context of alcohol.Following a series of focus groups with 14 and 15year olds, a questionnaire investigating sportinginvolvement, alcohol consumption and awareness andknowledge of sponsorship was drawn up andadministered to a sample of 322 pupils of a similarage. Multiple regression analysis, using the Theory ofReasoned Action framework, was used to test forsignificant predictors of young people’s self-perceivedlikelihood that they would a) drink alcohol and b) getdrunk, on the weekend following questionnairecompletion. For boys, being involved in sport predictedgreater likelihood both of consuming alcohol and ofgetting drunk, while adding sponsorship awareness tothe equation further improved predictions ofconsumption. For girls, attitudes towards alcohol werethe most significant predictor of both behaviours;sporting involvement was not a significant predictor ofeither. Sponsorship awareness showed no main effectin predicting girls’ intentions, but enhanced the effectof positive attitudes towards alcohol.Involvement in sport thus brings boys into a culturein which the use of alcohol plays a significant part,and they are influenced by this whether or not theynotice sponsors. Sponsorship by alcohol companiesplays a part in perpetuating the norms of that cultureand reinforcing positive attitudes towards alcoholconsumption. There is no evidence of sportinginvolvement, or moderate drinking messages bysponsors, acting as an incentive for boys to moderatetheir drinking. The girls in this study are less involvedin sport but have more favourable attitudes to alcohol,which are the major predictors of greater likelihoods ofdrinking and getting drunk.Solely banning alcohol sports sponsorship wouldhave minimal effect on levels of underage drinking; aserious attempt to weaken the links between alcoholand sport would require wide-ranging measures tostimulate cultural change. Health-related marketingcommunications should be used to highlight thedetrimental effects of alcohol on sporting performanceand send the message that alcohol and sport do notmix. The use of low-alcohol and non-alcohol brandsfor sports sponsorship would allow alcohol marketersto send a more socially responsible message while stillpromoting their corporate and brand identities.IntroductionWith tobacco sponsorship now banned in the UK andrecent restrictions on junk food advertising, alcoholmarketers are becoming increasingly concerned aboutthe future of their sponsorships, especially against thebackground of rising public concern about the extentof underage drinking. The previously voluntary codesof practice on alcohol advertising have already comeunder the jurisdiction of the Advertising StandardsAuthority, but so far sponsorship has remainedunregulated. However, as far back as 2001 the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) was calling for all MemberStates of the European Union to “strengthen measuresto protect children and adolescents from exposure toalcohol promotion and sponsorship” (WHO/Europe,2001), while the Europe-wide study by Anderson andBaumberg (2005) recommends the development of apan-European policy on alcohol marketing, with theultimate aim being “no advertising on TV and cinema,no sponsorship, and limitation of messages andimages only referring to the quality of the product”(p416). The European Sponsorship Association (ESA)riposte to this report denies any links betweensponsorship and alcohol misuse, cites the impact thata sponsorship ban would have on sport and otheractivities, and states its belief that alcohol companiesare already acting responsibly (ESA, 2006).26 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipSponsorship regulation is perceived as a relatively easymeasure that the government could take in order to beseen as addressing public concerns while actuallyavoiding the more radical social issues underlyingyoung people’s abuse of alcohol.A major problem in this debate is that there is littleempirical evidence in support of either position. Thebody of work on sponsorship (see Walliser (2003) andCornwell (2008) for reviews of major research areas)has focused on its effects at the brand level ratherthan the product category level, so there is little dataon the impact of heavy use of sponsorship by aparticular industry. Furthermore, the alcohol industrycan be considered a special case in that the regulationof its advertising makes it more reliant on sponsorshipas a promotional tool, while restricting the extent towhich a brand image can be conveyed throughintegrated marketing communications. There areobvious similarities to the situation that existed in theUK regarding the tobacco industry, before tobaccosponsorship was banned. In both situations, a majorconcern is the effect of promotional activities uponthose who are too young to buy the product legally.This paper now goes on to discuss the reasons thathave been advanced for and against a sponsorshipban, and consider the findings of the few studies thathave investigated the impact of marketingcommunications on a product category. It then focuseson sports sponsorships, to which the alcohol industryis the third largest contributor behind sports goodscompanies and the hotel, travel, leisure and restaurantsector (Mintel, 2006). Results are presented of anempirical study carried out to investigate links betweenyoung people’s sporting involvement, awareness ofsports sponsors and their attitudes and behaviourtowards alcohol. Although alcohol brands sponsorother activities as well as sport, the sporting arenawas chosen for three reasons: the extent of alcoholsponsorship; the cultural links in the UK betweenalcohol and sport; and the incongruity which someperceive in the sponsorship of healthy pursuits by aproduct cited as the third highest risk to health indeveloped countries (Alcohol Concern, 2007a).Alcohol sponsorship: the argumentsThe main reasons put forward for banning alcoholsponsorship in the UK relate to increasing concernsabout underage drinking. The latest figures fromAlcohol Concern (2007b) show that from 2002 to2005, 58-60% of 11-15 year olds were drinkingalcohol, with a drop to 54% in 2006. The amountsconsumed by those who drink have increased from aweekly mean of 5 units in the 1990s to 10 units in2006; boys drink more than girls, but in recent yearsthe amount drunk by boys has stabilised, while theamount drunk by girls continues to rise. Immediateconsequences of teen drinking include anti-socialbehaviour, absence from school due to the effects ofdrink, and an increase in hospital admissions forunderage drinkers, while the full extent of the longtermconsequences may yet be unknown. Studies byGonzalez (1989), Chou and Pickering (1992) andGrant and Dawson (1997) indicate positiveassociations between early alcohol use and alcoholrelatedproblems in adulthood. The ‘gateway theory’(Welte & Barnes, 1985; Kandel et al, 1992; Golub &Johnson, 2001) proposes that alcohol use increasesthe likelihood of progression to other drugs, whileWhite (2006) believes that excessive alcohol use inthe teenage years, before the brain is fully developed,may cause irreversible damage to brain development.Finally, recent UK figures on alcohol-related livercirrhosis (which takes on average 10-15 years todevelop) show that its occurrence among 25-34 yearolds has doubled in the past 10 years (Alcohol Policy,2007). These are certainly good reasons for wishingto reduce underage drinking. While accepting thatthere are many social and cultural factors affecting theextent to which a young person uses alcohol, agenciessuch as Alcohol Concern believe that external mediainfluences cannot be discounted, and that themeasures proposed by Anderson and Baumberg(2005) should be implemented.With particular reference to sport, it can be arguedthat in the light of increased knowledge about thedetrimental effects of alcohol upon sportingRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship27

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERperformance and the many sportsmen whose careershave been affected by alcohol problems, linkingalcohol and sport sends the wrong message. Evensmall quantities of alcohol may impact on sportingperformance through impairing coordination andmotor ability, inducing dehydration, interfering withthe body’s temperature regulation, lowering bloodsugar levels or impairing judgment (Edwards, 2000,p.10; Stainback, 1997, pp.49-63). Most medicalcoaching advice is that serious athletes shouldabstain from alcohol, or at least consume onlyminimal amounts (e.g. Berning, 1996), yet there arefrequent reports of alcohol-fuelled behaviour by highprofilesportsmen. Williams (2000) describes some ofthe difficulties faced by coaches in moderating thedrinking of young footballers in the face of suchexamples.However, opponents of a sponsorship ban do notaccept that alcohol sponsorship is a factor inencouraging underage drinking. They believe that theproblems are social, caused by the irresponsibility ofthose who insist on drinking to excess, and youngpeople’s disregard for the law (Kolah, 2007). Therecent banning of tobacco sponsorship caused greatdifficulties for sports such as snooker, which reliedheavily upon such sponsorship, and a ban on alcoholsponsorship would affect almost all UK sports in someway. While prominent teams and events such asLiverpool FC or the John Smith’s Grand Nationalmight be prestigious enough to be able to attractalternative sponsors, it could well be the less highprofilesports and events which would suffer most,thus decreasing sporting opportunities for youngpeople. This would be a high price to pay if no effectswere seen upon alcohol consumption. Moreover,McDaniel and Mason (1999) found greater publicacceptance for an association of beer with sport thanfor an association of tobacco with sport; although theysuggest this might show respondents were notsufficiently concerned about the public health risks ofalcohol, it might also indicate that a sponsorship ban,and any possible consequences, would not be wellreceived by the public.Lancaster and Lancaster’s (2003) meta-analysis ofstudies on tobacco advertising certainly casts doubt onwhether a sponsorship ban would have any effect.Their analysis of full or partial advertising bans ontobacco showed that in only 29% of cases wasconsumption significantly reduced; their belief,supported by a similarly low rate of positive correlationbetween tobacco advertising and consumption, is thatadvertising bans have little or no influence on tobaccodemand because the advertising itself has minimalinfluence. Dorsett and Dickerson (2004) also found nostatistical relationship between UK alcohol advertisingand consumption. Although their research onlyincluded persons over 18, their conclusions aresupported by Martino et al (2006), whose study ofYear 8/9 pupils (aged 12-14) showed that peers andimportant adults were the greatest influencers ofalcohol-related beliefs, with advertising reinforcingpositive attitudes only in those who were alreadydrinkers.Two experimental studies (McDaniel & Heald, 2000;Christensen, 2006) have considered sponsorship linksbetween healthy pursuits and unhealthy products.Both found that incongruence was perceived, withChristensen stating that because there were largedifferences in both emotional and attitudinal responsesto sponsor (tobacco) and sponsee (sports event), thepartnership would be rejected in the consumer’s mindand no change would take place in their response tothe sponsor. McDaniel and Heald suggest usingmarketing communications techniques rather thanbans to negate any effects from an unhealthy productsponsor, for instance highlighting the incongruity of anunhealthy product sponsorship through public serviceadvertising, or ensuring that sporting organisationswith unhealthy product sponsors balanced this withthe communication of health-related messages. Thistype of strategy has to some extent been adopted bysponsors keen to be seen as promoting responsibledrinking: for instance Coors, owner of the Carlingbrand, which sponsors Glasgow Celtic and GlasgowRangers, have featured the managers of these clubs inalcohol responsibility advertisements (Murden, 2004);28 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipDiageo, owner of many sponsoring brands, helps todevelop educational materials on alcohol awareness(Diageo, 2007); UK alcohol websites now drawattention to the fact that alcohol should be usedresponsibly and is only appropriate for adults; andmany alcohol companies contribute to the DrinkawareTrust, whose mission is “campaigning and educatingto reduce alcohol harm” (Drinkaware Trust, 2007).Product category effects frommarketing communicationsWhile no previous studies have investigated therelationships between sponsorship awareness andalcohol use, many of the arguments put forward in thedebate on tobacco sponsorship are relevant. Tobaccomarketers also refuted links between their advertisingand sponsorship and young people’s smoking, statingthat the tobacco market was mature and thatpromotional activities only encouraged brandswitching. Hastings and Aitken (1995) pointed out thekey flaw in that argument – that the tobacco marketwas not a single market but several, one being themarket of young smokers, which had to be continuallyreplenished in order for the industry to survive. Thesame applies to the alcohol market – the alcoholindustry needs young people to take up drinking, andin a highly competitive market, each company wantsthem to drink their brands. Even if no young persondrank illegally, a pragmatic marketer would ensurefamiliarity with brands aimed at the 18-24 marketbefore young people reached that age.Ledwith (1984) found that secondary schoolchildrenwere most aware of cigarette brands which wereassociated with sponsorship of televised sport, whileAitken et al (1986a) found that around a third of lateprimary schoolchildren and more than half ofsecondary schoolchildren were aware of cigarettebrand sports sponsorships. However, the latter foundno significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers.This would indicate that sponsorship doesraise the brand profile, but does not provide evidenceto link this awareness to use of either the brand or theproduct category. In contrast, studies investigatingchildren’s perceptions of tobacco advertising (DiFranzaet al 1991; Aitken et al, 1986b; Alexander et al,1983) found that non-smoking children with a morefavourable view of cigarette advertising were morelikely to become smokers. Thus there may be somedifference between the effects of advertising andsponsorship – young people exposed to alcoholsponsorship without associated persuasive advertisingmay not be drawn towards alcohol.Kelly et al (2002) found that image advertising(advertising with visuals, as opposed to text only) fortobacco and alcohol brands positively influencedyoung people’s views about the attractiveness of theproduct category. As sponsorship only consists ofshowing the name and possibly brand logo, it couldbe thought of as analogous to a text advertisementand thus non-influencing; however, visual cuesprovided by the context (e.g. attractive or admiredsportsperson wearing the sponsor’s shirt; sponsorname on fast, sleek racing car) might produce apositive image which could then be transferred to theproduct category.Evidence for a link between sponsorship awarenessand behaviour comes from Charlton et al (1998),who investigated the sporting preferences, cigarettebrand knowledge and smoking status of 12-13 yearold boys, and found that those who named motorracing as their favourite televised sport weresignificantly more likely to name the sponsoringbrands Marlboro and Camel. A year later, the boyswere again asked about their smoking status; asignificantly greater percentage of those who preferredmotor racing had become regular smokers (12.8% asagainst 7.0% of others).Turning to the current debate on food advertising tochildren, Ambler (2006) concluded, after reviewingstudies commissioned by the UK Food StandardsAuthority and the UK Advertising Authority’s FoodAdvertising Unit, that the promotion of particular foodbrands to children does not have any effect on productcategory consumption or on overall diet.It can thus be seen that the evidence for productcategory effects, particularly those related toRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship29

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERsponsorship, is limited and inconclusive. The currentstudy specifically considers product category effectsrelated to alcohol sponsorship of sport. Beforedescribing the research, the next section of this paperexplains why so many alcohol brands are involved insuch sponsorships in the UK.Alcohol, sport and sponsorshipA main objective of sponsorship is to enhance theimage of the sponsoring brand (Cornwell & Maignan,1998), through association with an activity, individual,team or event towards which the target market alreadyhas a favourable attitude and from which a desirableimage may be transferred to the brand. Meenaghanand Shipley (1999) found that sports sponsorship ingeneral was associated with the values “healthy,young, energetic, fast, vibrant, [and] masculine”; theseare useful associations to have for an alcohol brand,counteracting the negative links of alcohol to antisocialbehaviour and addiction.One of the key determinants of effective transfer ofimage and positive consumer response to sponsorshipis perceived fit or synergy between sponsored propertyand sponsoring brand (Speed & Thompson, 2000;Gwinner & Eaton, 1999; Kinney & McDaniel, 1996;Koo et al, 2006). In the case of alcohol and sport, thisis provided by the long history of cultural linksbetween the two in the UK (Collins & Vamplew,2002); even before the Industrial Revolution, pubsand their grounds were used as sporting venues andmany brewers were active sportsmen who supportedcommunity sport in a spirit of social responsibility. Thepub and sport also share a tradition of masculineculture, and both sport and alcohol are associatedwith release from work, relaxation and letting go ofinhibitions (Collins & Vamplew, 2002). The massiverise in televised sport has provided additionalopportunities for pubs and clubs, who can attractsupporters to watch important matches in a sociableatmosphere (Eastman & Land, 1997).It is not surprising, therefore, that alcohol marketerssee sports teams and events as ideal sponsorshipproperties, and that 33 alcohol companies areinvolved in a total of 61 sponsorship deals withvarious UK sports (Mintel, 2006). Regulation ofalcohol advertising, which prohibits association ofalcohol with youth culture, sexual success,attractiveness, daring or toughness, also increases theprimacy of image transfer through sponsorship indeveloping a positive image for alcohol brands.Research questionsIf sponsorship of sport by alcohol companiesinfluences young people towards drinking alcohol,then it is to be expected that, in the absence of anyother relevant influences, those who are more awareof sports sponsorship are more likely to drink alcohol.However, if sponsors are sending out a clear messageon underage drinking, this may deter young peoplefrom consuming alcohol. Even if they do drink onoccasion, they may respond to responsible drinkingmessages and therefore be less likely to drink toexcess.To be exposed to alcohol sports sponsorship, ayoung person must have some interest in orinvolvement with sport, and even before sponsorshipis considered, cultural influences towards drinkingalcohol after playing sport and while watching sportmay lead young sportspeople and sports fans towardsdrinking. As the sporting involvement precedesexposure to sponsorship, it seems logical that theresearch should investigate first whether this is thecase, before testing for the influence of sponsorship.Our first two research hypotheses are therefore:H1: Young people who are more involved insport are more likely to drink alcohol.H2: Young people who are more involved insport are more likely to drink to excess.The next question is whether exposure to alcoholsponsorship in the sporting context has an effect ondrinking behaviour, additional to any effect found to be30 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 1 Characteristics of the sampleGENDERTYPE OF SCHOOLMALEFEMALEPRIVATECHURCHWELSH MEDIUMLOCAL AUTHORITY (LOWER SOCIO-ECONOMIC AREA)LOCAL AUTHORITY (HIGHER SOCIO-ECONOMIC AREA)NUMBER1611333556588263%55%45%12%19%20%28%21%HIGHESTSPORTING LEVELREACHEDREPRESENT COUNTRYREPRESENT COUNTY, REGION OR CITYREPRESENT CLUB/SCHOOLNO REPRESENTATION/NOT COMPETITIVETOTALNUMBER2035137100MALE14247942FEMALE6115858TOTAL%7%12%47%34%RESEARCH PAPERassociated with sporting involvement. The followinghypotheses are therefore proposed:H3: Awareness of sponsorship affects thelikelihood of drinking alcohol, over and above anyeffects of sporting involvement.H4: Awareness of sponsorship affects thelikelihood of getting drunk, over and above anyeffects of sporting involvement.MethodologyThe research population for this study was Year 10(14/15 year old) pupils in a medium-sized Welsh citywhich, in common with most UK cities, has seriousconcerns about the alcohol-fuelled behaviour of someof its young people. The literature would indicate thatat this age the vast majority have drunk alcohol atsome time, with a significant minority drinkingregularly and/or binge-drinking. Following focusgroups at which attitudes and beliefs about alcohol,alcohol use, opinions on sponsorship and knowledgeof sport sponsors were discussed, a questionnairesurvey was piloted and then administered to a sampleof young people. In order to survey a wide crosssectionof the age group, a stratified samplingprocedure was adopted, with a total sample of 322participants being selected from two local authorityschools in contrasting socio-economic areas, onechurch school, one private school and one Welshmedium school. After removing questionnaires wherekey questions had been omitted, 294 usablequestionnaires were used for analysis. Thecharacteristics of the sample are shown in Table 1.The questionnaire comprised three parts, relating tosport, alcohol and sponsorship. First, a series ofquestions investigated the respondent’s level ofinvolvement with sport, both as a participant and as aspectator, as follows:● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship31

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPER1. In a typical week, on how many days do you takepart in one or more sports?2. How important is it to you to take part in sport?3. How important is it to you to perform well insport?4. In an average week, on how many days do youwatch sport on television?5. How many live sporting events have you attendedin the last three months?6. What is the highest level you have reached in anycompetitive sport?Questions 2 and 3 were coded on a 7-point Likertscale, Question 5 from 0 (none) to 5 (more than 10),and Question 6 from 0 (non-competitive) to 3(representing country). Responses to these questionswere aggregated to produce an index of sportinginvolvement (Cronbach alpha = 0.77).The alcohol section was based around theframework of the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen &Fishbein, 1980), which has been used in manystudies as a model for predicting alcohol use (e.g.Schlegel et al, 1977; Laflin et al, 1994; Trafimow,1996; O’Callaghan et al, 1997; Collins, 2002). Thistheory states that the likelihood of a person carryingout any behaviour (e.g. drinking alcohol) can bepredicted from his/her attitude towards that behaviourand his/her subjective norms relating to thatbehaviour. Subjective norms measure the extent towhich significant others (parents, friends, etc.)influence behaviour; they are operationalised as (thelikelihood that X would approve of this behaviour) x(how motivated the person is to comply with what Xthinks they should do), where X is a significant otherperson or group. Later modifications to the theoryinclude the addition of other predictors relevant tospecific studies; in the context of drinking alcohol,Rimal and Real (2005) included descriptive norms, orthe extent to which respondents subscribed togenerally held beliefs (e.g. “students are frequentconsumers of alcohol”).Participants in this study were asked to rate thelikelihood that they would a) drink alcohol and b) getdrunk on the forthcoming weekend, and their attitudestowards these behaviours. Although it is only therespondents’ perceived likelihood of drinking that isbeing measured, Shim and Maggs (2005) discoveredthat for college students, intentions to drink correlatedwell with actual behaviour. Attitudes were measuredon a scale adapted from that used by Ajzen andFishbein (1980, pp.261-267) and Oliver andBearden (1985) to measure attitude toward the acts(Bruner et al, 2001, p.61), with two items beingreverse coded.Drinking alcohol is:Bad 1___2___3___4___5___6___7 GoodWise 1___2___3___4___5___6___7 FoolishHealthy1___2___3___4___5___6___7 UnhealthyUnpleasant 1___2___3___4___5___6___7 PleasantAttitude towards getting drunk was measured in asimilar way. Despite previous studies having achievedacceptable Cronbach alpha values for this scale, thisstudy did not, highlighting the ambivalence ofattitudes towards alcohol. As the measure ‘Bad…Good’ had highest average correlation with othermeasures, this single statement was chosen as theattitude measure for analysis. Respondents were alsoasked to evaluate a range of outcomes, obtainedduring focus group sessions, of drinking alcohol andgetting drunk; the correlations of the summed outcomeevaluations with the chosen attitude statement rangedfrom 0.432 to 0.559, comparing favourably withstudies cited by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980).Finally, in this section respondents were asked torate the extent to which significant others (parents,32 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 2 Comparison of mean responses, by genderGENDERNMEANSTD.DEV’NEQUAL VARIANCEASSUMED?LEVENE’S TEST FOREQUALITY OF VARIANCESFSIG.T-TEST FOREQUALITY OF MEANST df SIG.DAYS TAKINGPART IN SPORT **MALEFEMALE1611334.022.711.7971.613ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED1.077.3006.5226.589292289.968.000.000IMPORTANCE OFTAKING PART **MALEFEMALE1611325.224.161.6651.689ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.058.810-5.379-5.371291278.261.000.000IMPORTANCE OFPERFORMING WELL**MALEFEMALE1591315.364.191.6971.844ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED1.157.283-5.637-5.592288267.487.000.000DAYS WATCHSPORT ON TV **MALEFEMALE1611333.141.442.2161.373ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED52.804.0007.7398.076292272.015.000.000LIVE EVENTS INLAST 3 MONTHS **MALEFEMALE1611331.25.861.120.906ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED15.545.0003.2993.365292291.882.001.001HIGHESTSPORTING LEVEL **SPORTING INVOLVEMENT(FACTOR SCORE)**LIKELIHOOD OF DRINKINGTHIS WEEKENDMALEFEMALEMALEFEMALEMALEFEMALE1591331571301591301.06.74.38-.453.353.87.876.797.987.8132.2252.435ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMEDASSUMEDNOT ASSUMEDASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.0834.8133.466.774.029.0643.2993.3277.6537.7931.9061.889290287.973285284.993287264.565.001.001.000.000.058.060RESEARCH PAPERLIKELIHOOD OF GETTINGDRUNK THIS WEEKEND**MALEFEMALE1571312.373.231.9392.401ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED23.149.0003.3613.298286248.666.001.001DRINKING ALCOHOLBAD/GOOD **MALEFEMALE1591323.514.051.7021.610ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED4.059.045-2.740-2.755289284.076.007.006GETTING DRUNKBAD/GOOD *MALEFEMALE1581322.953.521.9742.006ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.012.912-2.446-2.442288277.282.015.015NOTICE SPONSORSAT LIVE EVENT **MALEFEMALE1581325.284.561.8781.809ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.310.578-3.296-3.308288282.225.001.001NOTICE TVSPONSORS **MALEFEMALE1581325.584.631.6821.696ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.002.966-4.788-4.785288278.104.000.000SPONSORSCORRECT **MALEFEMALE1611338.146.113.6883.584ASSUMEDNOT ASSUMED.002.9694.7584.771292284.396.000.000** Difference significant at 1% level * Difference significant at 5% level● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship33

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 3 Summary of correlations for boysRESEARCH PAPERL’HOOD OF DRINKINGL’HOOD OF GETTING DRUNKATTITUDE TOWARDS DRINKING ALCOHOLATTITUDE TOWARDS GETTING DRUNKSUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR DRINKINGSUBJECTIVE NORMS FORGETTING DRUNKSPORTING INVOLVEMENTSPONSOR AWARENESSSPONSOR RECOGNITIONpftcpftcL’HOODOFDRINKING1.752.482.464.439.431.339.148.360.431.331.233.136.229.121L’HOODOFGETTINGDRUNK.7521.413.570.306.353.373.247.442.376.345.189.239.206.100ATTITUDETOWARDSDRINKINGALCOHOL.482.4131.489.357.356.395.297.372.431.331.233.024.018.048ATTITUDETOWARDSGETTINGDRUNK.464.570.4891.265.364.370.308.525.434.478.430.136.088.143SUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR DRINKINGpf.439.306.357.2651.435.524.381.554.341.466.386.431.353.356.364.4351.362.272.386.843.340.303.339.373.395.370.524.3621.481.517.386.918.542.148.247.297.308.381.272.4811.362.268.442.901.091 .119 .090 -.034-.041 .098 -.016 -.097.042 .136 .077 .072tcSUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR GETTING DRUNKpf.360.442.372.525.554.386.517.3621.419.478.430.431.376.431.434.341.843.386.268.4191.349.318.331.345.331.478.466.340.918.442.478.3491.536.233.189.233.430.386.303.542.901.430.318.5361.136 .131 .104 -.058.088 -.083 .018 .113-.018 .138 .125 .044tcSPORTINGINVOLVE-MENT.136.239.024.136.091.119.090-.034.136.131.104-.0581.345.400SPONSORAWARE-NESS.229.206.018.088-.041.098-.016-.097.088-.083.018.113.3451.292SPONSORRECOG-NITION.121.100.048.143.042.136.077.072-.018.138.125.044.400.2921TABLE 4 Summary of correlations for girlsL’HOOD OF DRINKINGL’HOOD OF GETTING DRUNKATTITUDE TOWARDS DRINKING ALCOHOLATTITUDE TOWARDS GETTING DRUNKSUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR DRINKINGSUBJECTIVE NORMS FORGETTING DRUNKSPORTING INVOLVEMENTSPONSOR AWARENESSSPONSOR RECOGNITIONpftcpftcL’HOODOFDRINKING1.819.424.535.316.356.241.041.426.349.245.044-.022-.048L’HOODOFGETTINGDRUNK.8191.428.509.225.345.131-.008.403.413.218.025.003-.072ATTITUDETOWARDSDRINKINGALCOHOL.424.4281.619.318.379.039.208.347.360.034.242-.211.010-.067ATTITUDETOWARDSGETTINGDRUNK.535.509.6191.202.356.160.111.373.435.196.125-.026.124-.084SUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR DRINKINGpf.316.225.318.2021.308.285.130.709.210.356.345.379.356.3081.289.203.353.879.241.131.039.160.285.2891.263.268.139.041.008.208.111.130.203.2631.150.113.141.072-.007.009-.005.132.129-.052-.127-.074.794.120.134.046-.133.217.918-.205.041-.057tcSUBJECTIVE NORMSFOR GETTING DRUNKp1f.426.403.347.373.709.353.268.150.349.413.360.435.210.879.139.113.245.218.034.196.141.132.794.217.044.011.242.125.072.129.120.918.368-.065 -.045 .094 -.253.133 -.027 .143 .065.028 -.040 -.071 -.003t.340c.180.368 1 .105 .095.340 .105 1 .219.180 .095 .219 1SPORTINGINVOLVE-MENT.022-.003-.211-.026-.007-.052.134-.205-.065-.045.094-.2531.158.220SPONSORAWARE-NESS-.005-.038.010.124.009-.127.046.041.133-.027.143.065.1581.163SPONSORRECOG-NITION-.016-.050.056.057.118.042-.133-.057-.027-.006-.071-.003.220.1631Correlations shown in bold italics are significant at 5% level, those shown in italics are significant at 1% levelSubjective norms: p= parents, f = friends, t = teachers, c = sports coaches34International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 5 Test of partial correlations with sponsor awareness, allowing for likelihood of drinkingGENDERMALEFEMALEATTITUDE TOWARDS DRINKING ALCOHOLATTITUDE TOWARDS GETTING DRUNKATTITUDE TOWARDS DRINKING ALCOHOLATTITUDE TOWARDS GETTING DRUNKBIVARIATE CORRELATIONWITH AWARENESSOF SPONSORS.018.088.010.124PARTIAL CORRELATION WITHAWARENESS OF SPONSORS, CONTROLLINGFOR LIKELIHOOD OF DRINKING.123.127-.002.118No correlations were significant at 5% level.friends, teachers and sports coaches) would approveof their drinking or getting drunk, and how motivatedthey were to comply with each of these referents.These measures were multiplied to obtain a subjectivenorm for each category of referent. In line with thefindings of Kuther (2002) that the effects of parentaland peer group subjective norms on alcohol use areindependent rather than cumulative, subjective normsfor different referents were kept separate rather thanbeing combined into one measure.The sponsorship section asked the extent ofagreement with the following two statements:When I attend a live sporting event, I usuallynotice who the sponsors are.When I watch a sporting event on television, Iusually notice who the sponsors are.Those were averaged into one measure of selfperceptionof sponsorship awareness. Respondentswere then asked to select the correct sponsors for aseries of sporting teams and events (Appendix 1).Measures obtained were the number of sponsorscorrectly identified (maximum 16) and the number ofalcohol sponsors correctly identified (maximum 4).Initial findingsMale and female sub-samples showed significantdifferences on means for almost all measures exceptthose relating to subjective norms (Table 2). Girls weremore likely to drink and get drunk, and had a morepositive attitude towards these behaviours, Boys weremore heavily involved in sport, took more notice ofsponsors and recognised more sponsors (alcohol andnon-alcohol). Therefore, further analysis was carriedout on the two sub-samples separately.For both males and females, a large number (35%males, 28% females) indicated they would be“extremely unlikely” to drink this weekend; these arelikely to be non-drinkers or young people who drinkonly very occasionally. While the male distribution wasrelatively even over the other scale categories, thefemale distribution looked more ‘U-shaped’, with 25%stating they were “extremely likely” to drink thisweekend. 56% of males and 45% of females were“extremely unlikely” to get drunk.The numbers of sponsors recognised varied between0 and 16 (maximum possible) for boys, and 0 and 13for girls. The correlation between total sponsorsrecognised and alcohol sponsors recognised was 0.72for boys and 0.78 for girls, both significant at 1%level, therefore there is no reason to believe there ismore or less awareness of alcohol sponsors than ofany other sponsor category. There was a significantcorrelation (0.29, significant at 1% level) for boysbetween self-perception of awareness and the numberof sponsors correctly recognised, but for girls thiscorrelation was smaller (0.16, significance 0.06). Forboys, levels of sporting involvement (both as playerand as spectator) were highly correlated (1%significance) with self-perceived awareness andRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship35

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERrecognition of sponsors; for girls the correlation ofsporting involvement with recognition was significant,but splitting sporting involvement into ‘player’ and‘spectator’ elements revealed that this was due solelyto spectator involvement.For boys, both sporting involvement and sponsorawareness were significantly correlated with likelihoodof both drinking alcohol and getting drunk, and withattitude to getting drunk. However, neither sponsorawareness nor the number of sponsors recognised(whether considering all sponsors or alcohol sponsorsonly) had significant correlation with attitudes towardsdrinking alcohol and getting drunk. For girls, sportinginvolvement had a significant negative correlation withattitude to drinking alcohol, while neither sponsorawareness nor total number of sponsors recognisedshowed significant correlation with attitudes orbehaviours. The number of alcohol sponsorsrecognised was correlated (0.21, 1% significance)with likelihoods both of drinking and getting drunk.The lack of correlation between attitudes andsponsor awareness suggests that sponsor awareness isnot instrumental in attitude formation. Yet it is possiblethat such an influence would only occur after someinterest in drinking had begun, so a partial correlationanalysis was carried out between attitudes andsponsor awareness, allowing for drinking behaviour.The correlations for boys increase slightly, while thosefor girls decreased, but correlations are still notsignificant for either gender. It is possible that youngpeople, who are informed in school about the healthrisks associated with alcohol, perceive theincongruence between a healthy pursuit and anunhealthy product, and so, as suggested byChristensen (2006), sponsorship does not lead toattitude change. Alternatively, attitude change mayoccur at the brand rather than the product level. Alongitudinal study would be required to investigatefully the effects of increased sponsorship awarenesson attitudes.Tables 3 and 4 summarise correlations for boys andgirls respectively, while Table 5 shows the partialcorrelation results.Analysis of effects of sporting involvementA basic multiple regression analysis was performed topredict likelihood of drinking that weekend fromattitude towards drinking alcohol and subjective normsrelating to drinking alcohol that weekend. As it ispossible that subjective norms affect attitudes,interactive terms were included in the regression, butnone was in fact significant. A correspondingregression was performed to predict likelihood ofgetting drunk that weekend. The R 2 values andsignificant predictors, as shown in the first columns ofTables 6 to 9, confirm that young people of bothgenders are more likely to drink or get drunk if theyhave a positive attitude towards that behaviour, andtheir ‘significant others’ are more approving (or lessdisapproving) of that behaviour. For each regression,attitude is more important than any individualsubjective norm. Having established that the Theory ofReasoned Action makes valid baseline predictions inthis context, Hypotheses 1 and 2 were tested byadding sporting involvement as an additional predictorvariable in these two regressions. Again, interactiveterms were included. The second column of each ofTables 6 to 9 shows R 2 values and significantpredictors.For the male sub-sample, taking sportinginvolvement into account increased the predictiveability of the regression equation. Thus for boys only,being involved in sport is a significant predictor oflikelihood of drinking alcohol and getting drunk.Moreover, the interactive term (SI x ATT) is alsosignificant, indicating that being involved in sportstrengthens positive attitudes towards thesebehaviours. The main effect of attitude is lower forboth behaviours than when sporting involvement isnot included. For the female sub-sample, however, R 2has remained the same; being involved in sport hasno significant influence on girls’ likelihood of drinkingalcohol or getting drunk. Attitude remains the strongestpredictor of drinking behaviour. Hypotheses 1 and 2are therefore accepted for boys only, which appears toconfirm the enduring importance of the cultural linksbetween alcohol, sport and masculinity.36 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 6 Summary of hierarchical multiple regressions for predicting boys’ likelihood of drinking this weekendPREDICTION FROMATTITUDES ANDSUBJECTIVE NORMSPREDICTION WITH ADDITION OFSPORTING INVOLVEMENTPREDICTION WITH FURTHERADDITION OF SPONSORAWARENESSPREDICTION WITH ADDITIONOF SPONSOR RECOGNITIONINSTEAD OF SPONSORAWARENESSR 2.37PREDICTORS.ConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcPredictors shown in bold italics aresignificant at 5% level, those shown initalics are significant at 1% level.Att = Attitude towards drinking alcoholSNp = Subjective norm for parents(similarly for friends, teachers, coaches)SI = Sporting InvolvementAw = Sponsor AwarenessRe = Sponsor Recognition* denotes interactive term,e.g. SI*Att is the interactive term formedby the product of Sporting Involvementand Attitude towards drinking alcoholβ.28.25.25.10-.07-.04.10.14-.10Sig t.053.000.003.001.265.356.624.192.168.292R 2.42IncR 2.05PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcβ.19.25.29.10-.02-.07.07.16-.13.19.29-.12-.09.03-.05Sig t.017.021.003.000.242.881.447.353.113.176.008.001.186.326.752.630R 2.46IncR 2.04PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcAwAw*AttAw*SIAw*SNpAw*SNfAw*SNtAw*SNcβ.14.26.32.12.02-.06.03.13-.08.05.24-.16-.01.02-.05.17.26.11.01-.14-.05-.001Sig t.014.100.006.002.279.886.520.663.208.455.596.007.143.921.812.640.025.002.141.925.141.654.995R 2.42IncR 2.05PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcReRe*AttRe*SIRe*SNpRe*SNfRe*SNtRe*SNcβ.15.24.35.10.01-.09.06.14-.06.20.32-.10-.11.02-.05.05.07-.04.05-.13.03-.13Sig t.010.096.010.000.271.912.374.391.190.544.010.001.318.269.878.632.549.450.575.618.177.791.149RESEARCH PAPERAnalysis of effects of sponsorshipIn order to test hypotheses 3 and 4 – whetherawareness of sponsorship affected likelihood ofdrinking or getting drunk, over and above any effectsof sporting involvement, a measure of awareness, withassociated interactive terms, was added as anadditional independent variable. Two measures ofawareness were available: one the self-perception ofawareness of sponsorship, and the other the objectivemeasure of the number of sponsors correctlyrecognised. Each was added separately to theregression equation described above, and the final twocolumns of Tables 6 to 9 show the results.These are interesting, as self-reported measures ofawareness are shown to have significant main andinteractive effects, while actual recognition of sponsorsshows no main effect and interactive effects for onlyone of the four regressions. Recognition of sponsors isshown to diminish the effect of attitude and parentalnorms on girls’ likelihood of getting drunk; however,attitude remains by far the most significant predictor ofintentions in this case.● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship37

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 7 Summary of hierarchical multiple regressions for predicting girls’ likelihood of drinking this weekendPREDICTION FROMATTITUDES ANDSUBJECTIVE NORMSPREDICTION WITH ADDITION OFSPORTING INVOLVEMENTPREDICTION WITH FURTHERADDITION OF SPONSORAWARENESSPREDICTION WITH ADDITIONOF SPONSOR RECOGNITIONINSTEAD OF SPONSORAWARENESSRESEARCH PAPERR 2.24PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcPredictors shown in bold italics aresignificant at 5% level, those shown initalics are significant at 1% level.Att = Attitude towards drinking alcoholSNp = Subjective norm for parents(similarly for friends, teachers, coaches)SI = Sporting InvolvementAw = Sponsor AwarenessRe = Sponsor Recognition* denotes interactive term,e.g. SI*Att is the interactive term formedby the product of Sporting Involvementand Attitude towards drinking alcoholβ.28.12.18.15-.10-.12-.05.10.01Sig t.053.000.189.063.086.302.204.576.291.882R 2.23IncR 2-PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcβ.27.18.25.07-.08-.10-.03.08-.04-.01-.08.07.10-.15-.06Sig t.332.022.082.027.524.428.311.770.453.686.947.449.486.337.150.561R 2.29IncR 2.06PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcAwAw*AttAw*SIAw*SNpAw*SNfAw*SNtAw*SNcβ.30.26.21.02-.05-.11.03.11-.18-.06-.19.11.14-.25-.20-.05.27.004-.20-.16.13.22Sig t.504.009.099.082.879.626.301.744.290.129.567.125.307.226.047.067.648.029.978.045.173.213.036R 2.21IncR 2-.02PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcReRe*AttRe*SIRe*SNpRe*SNfRe*SNtRe*SNcβ.20.19.25.03Sig t.451.149.062.036.814-.03 .812-.10 .365-.01 .943.06 .601-.11 .388-.01 .962-.12 .333.07 .520.12 .304-.19 .102-.08 .454-.02 .872-.11 .131-.004 .970.13 .171-.09 .360-.03 .771.06 .543Self-perceived awareness shows stronger effects –for boys, a significant main effect on both predictions,and an interactive effect for likelihood of drinkingalcohol, enhancing the effect of attitude. Thepredictive ability of the regression for drinking alcoholis increased, but this is not the case for the regressionrelating to getting drunk. For drinking alcohol, theaddition of awareness as a predictor makes the maineffect of sporting involvement non-significant (this maybe explained by the significant correlation betweenthese variables for boys, as previously noted), butsporting involvement still plays a part as it enhancesthe effect of attitude. For girls, awareness shows nomain effect, but increases predictive ability of bothregressions through interactive effects on attitude andsubjective norms. However, for both regressions forgirls, attitude is the only predictor significant at 1%level. Hypotheses 3 and 4 are therefore accepted forboth boys and girls.38 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 8 Summary of hierarchical multiple regressions for predicting boys’ likelihood of getting drunk this weekendPREDICTION FROMATTITUDES ANDSUBJECTIVE NORMSPREDICTION WITH ADDITION OFSPORTING INVOLVEMENTPREDICTION WITH FURTHERADDITION OF SPONSORAWARENESSPREDICTION WITH ADDITIONOF SPONSOR RECOGNITIONINSTEAD OF SPONSORAWARENESSR 2.38PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcPredictors shown in bold italics aresignificant at 5% level, those shown initalics are significant at 1% level.Att = Attitude towards drinking alcoholSNp = Subjective norm for parents(similarly for friends, teachers, coaches)SI = Sporting InvolvementAw = Sponsor AwarenessRe = Sponsor Recognition* denotes interactive term,e.g. SI*Att is the interactive term formedby the product of Sporting Involvementand Attitude towards drinking alcoholβ.33.16.13.16.01.01.08.14-.04Sig t.002.000.064.098.063.863.945.319.124.636R 2.42IncR 2.04PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcβ.25.20.09.13.116.03.05.09-.05.22.19-.05-.02.04-.14Sig t.000.010.027.260.139.274.770.537.316.540.002.041.606.795.681.217R 2.42IncR 2-PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcAwAw*AttAw*SIAw*SNpAw*SNfAw*SNtAw*SNcβ.25.21.10.10.15.05.04.05-.06.15.20-.05-.02.03-.20.17.01.03.03-.06.02.08Sig t.000.014.036.266.404.223.555.654.567.508.070.078.687.885.805.103.025.928.713.792.536.847.505R 2.41IncR 2-.01PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcReRe*AttRe*SIRe*SNpRe*SNfRe*SNtRe*SNcβ.28.21.18.19.14-.06-.01.06-.14-.06-.05.04-.04-.14.07-.05Sig t.002.010.044.078.13 .197.11 .329-.002 .985.01 .153.16 .110-.07 .420.019.156.579.958.592.221.482.575.628.749.214.514.604RESEARCH PAPERDiscussionThe results show different patterns for boys and girls.For boys, it appears difficult to disentangle the effectsof sponsorship awareness from the effects of beinginvolved in sport. Involvement in sport brings boysinto a culture in which alcohol plays a significantpart, and they are influenced by this whether or notthey notice sponsors. Sponsorship by alcoholcompanies appears to reinforce these norms. Theseresults show no evidence that sporting involvement,or moderate drinking messages by sponsors, act asan incentive for boys to moderate their drinking. It isalso noticeable that, particularly for predictions ofdrinking alcohol, the significance of attitude as apredictor lessens noticeably as predictors relating tosport and sponsorship are added, thus indicating theextent of influence of external factors on behaviour.The lack of correlation of either sporting involvement● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship39

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipTABLE 9 Summary of hierarchical multiple regressions for predicting girls’ likelihood of getting drunk this weekendPREDICTION FROMATTITUDES ANDSUBJECTIVE NORMSPREDICTION WITH ADDITION OFSPORTING INVOLVEMENTPREDICTION WITH FURTHERADDITION OF SPONSORAWARENESSPREDICTION WITH ADDITIONOF SPONSOR RECOGNITIONINSTEAD OF SPONSORAWARENESSRESEARCH PAPERR 2.32PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcPredictors shown in bold italics aresignificant at 5% level, those shown initalics are significant at 1% level.Att = Attitude towards drinking alcoholSNp = Subjective norm for parents(similarly for friends, teachers, coaches)SI = Sporting InvolvementAw = Sponsor AwarenessRe = Sponsor Recognition* denotes interactive term,e.g. SI*Att is the interactive term formedby the product of Sporting Involvementand Attitude towards drinking alcoholβ.34.23.18.07-.08-.02.004.03-.12Sig t.093000.009.038.404.299.801.965.750.156R 2.31IncR 2-.01PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcβ.46.16.15-.05-.002.01.01.04-.15-.01.16-.06.03-.17.11Sig t.139.000.122.180.649.982.941.930.656.096.951.156.588.811.110.205R 2.33IncR 2.02PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcAwAw*AttAw*SIAw*SNpAw*SNfAw*SNtAw*SNcβ.48.21.10-.04-.02.01.01.05-.16.04.11-.01.03-.17.10.13.18.20-.03-.18.04.09Sig t.070.000.060.393.736.824.937.912.539.083.632.358.921.785.113.280.210.086.112.720.071.666.364R 2.37IncR 2-.06PREDICTORSConstAttSNpSNfSNtSNcAtt* SNpAtt* SNfAtt* SNtAtt* SNcSISI*AttSI*SNpSI*SNfSI*SNtSI*SNcReRe*AttRe*SIRe*SNpRe*SNfRe*SNtRe*SNcβ.39.18.13-.06-.01.02.06-.01-.18.02.21-.10-.04-.14.11-.11-.19.11-.15.11Sig t.308.002.079.238.622.891.829.510.917.084.792.066.333.706.218.197.270.062.301.089.235-.002 .982-.03 .783or sponsor awareness with attitudes, but the presenceof interactive effects between these variables andattitudes when predicting drinking behaviour,suggests that their role is not in forming attitudestowards alcohol, but in reinforcing or validatingpositive attitudes.In contrast, for girls, in every regression but one,attitude is the most highly significant predictor ofalcohol-related behaviour. Involvement in sport has noimpact on their drinking, either to restrain orencourage it. This may be because the sports whichinterest them are less associated with alcohol, or thatthey do not wish to subscribe to the traditional malesporting culture, even when they have an interest intraditionally more masculine sports. Awareness ofsponsorship does enhance positive attitudes towardsalcohol and has some small influence on the impactof subjective norms, but it has no main effect.40 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipThese results do not indicate that banning alcoholsponsorship of sport would have significant effects onyoung people’s drinking behaviour. Girls are lessinvolved in sport but have more favourable attitudes toalcohol, which are the major predictor of greaterlikelihoods of drinking and getting drunk. Boys withsporting interests appear to be influenced towardsdrinking and drunkenness by the traditional machosporting culture rather than the presence of alcoholsponsorship. Alcohol sponsorship does play a part inperpetuating and normalising this culture, and so hassome additional influence, but banning it would havelittle effect on the traditional male practices of drinkingafter playing sport, watching matches with a beer inhand and so on. Sponsorship acts as a reinforcer ofattitudes which are already held, rather than creatingattitudes and instigating behaviour directly. It wouldappear that a ban, on its own, would have little effectapart from drying up a valuable source of sportingrevenue. However, the types of measures suggested byMcDaniel and Heald (2000), using marketingcommunications to challenge such established attitudes,could at least promote an alternative point of view.Limitations and suggestions for further researchIn this study, a self-perceived measure of awarenesshas been used. It is possible that young people maybe influenced subconsciously by repeated exposure tosponsorship, and in that case the self-perceptionwould not be a true measure. The questions onrecognition of sponsors were intended to provide acorroborative measure – yet, although there was apositive correlation between recognition andawareness, using the recognition measure rather thanthe perception of awareness gave less significantresults. It is possible that, in trying to cover arepresentative range of sports, the recognitionquestions were too general. Further studies should becarried out specific to particular sports, confirming therelative extent to which involvement in the sport andsponsor awareness contribute to drinking intentionsand behaviour.It was also considered that young people mightdevelop an interest in drinking prior to becomingaware of sponsors, and that this would subsequentlylead them to greater awareness of alcohol sponsors. Inthat case, the correlation between awareness ofalcohol sponsors and drinking behaviour would not becausal; both awareness and drinking behaviour wouldstem from a prior interest in drinking, rather than frominvolvement in sport. The study attempted to take thisinto account by using measures of awareness andrecognition of a range of sponsors, not just alcoholsponsors. However, this explanation could wellaccount for the significant correlation between alcoholsponsor recognition and girls’ drinking behaviour; therecognition of sponsors is occurring because ofknowledge of the sponsoring brand rather than aninterest in the sponsored sporting team or activity. Amore rigorous investigation of this aspect would bebeneficial, and would be best carried out by alongitudinal study which traced children’s andteenagers’ changing awareness of, and attitudestowards, both alcohol and sporting interests. Thiswould also be useful in investigating whether, howand in what circumstances attitudes towards alcoholare affected by sponsorship.In view of the findings of Christensen (2006), itwould also be worthwhile to investigate the attitudinaland emotional responses of various UK audiences(e.g. adolescents, sportspeople, sports fans) to alcoholsponsors and a range of sports personalities, teamsand events. Such a study could indicate how muchincongruity is currently perceived in alcohol sportssponsorship, and thus inform the content of healthrelatedmarketing communications in this area.Finally, the study casts little light on anyconnection of female drinking with sport and itssponsorship by alcohol companies. It would beinteresting to study girls who take part in the moretraditionally masculine sports, such as football andrugby, which are particularly associated with adrinking culture, to investigate whether they conformto the norms of that culture.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship41

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERConclusionsThe results of this study indicate that a ban on alcoholsports sponsorship would have little effect on youthalcohol consumption, unless it was part of a muchlarger campaign designed to break the longstandinglinks between sport and alcohol in the masculineculture of the UK – and there is no indication atpresent that the government is considering suchradical action. The findings of Lancaster and Lancaster(2003) and McDaniel and Heald (2000) wouldindicate that public service advertising highlighting thedetrimental effects of alcohol on sporting performance,and a requirement for sporting events that alcoholsponsorship should be balanced by health-relatedmarketing communications, could be more effectivethan a ban in challenging the alcohol and sportculture. Nevertheless, alcohol companies should bewary. Restrictions on junk food advertising have beenbrought in, even though there is disagreement as towhether these will do anything to counter obesity.A ban on alcohol sports sponsorship would be arelatively easy measure for the government toimplement, to show that they are taking concernsabout alcohol seriously. If evidence of the effectsof alcohol on the health and social fabric of theUK becomes strong enough, at some time,consideration might even be given to implementingthe full raft of measures advocated by Andersonand Baumberg (2005).Forward-thinking alcohol marketers could actstrategically now to put themselves in a favourableposition in either of these circumstances. Sending outresponsible drinking messages may not be sufficient tosave their sponsorship from a ban, but many alcoholcompanies market non-alcoholic wines or beers, suchas Kaliber or Stella Artois NA. Using such a product tosponsor their sporting properties would send a sociallyresponsible message to young sports fans andparticipants, generating favourable PR such as thatgiven to Niquitin when it initiated sponsorship of theBMW-Williams Formula 1 team (Kleinman, 2003).Sportsmen known to be teetotal or to drink responsiblycould be used to promote the brand and the messagethat alcohol and sport do not mix. Yet a brand nameand logo which clearly identified the association of thenon-alcoholic brand to other brands in the company’sportfolio could ensure that the sponsorship wasinstrumental in promoting the whole set of brands.© 2009 International Marketing ReportsBiographyFiona Davies is a lecturer in marketing at CardiffUniversity and is a competitive runner and duathlete.She has published extensively in a range of academicjournals, including Journal of Business Research,European Journal of Marketing and Journal ofMarketing Communications. Her research interests arein sponsorship, particularly in sport and its effects onconsumer attitudes and behaviour.ReferencesAitken, P.P., Leathar, D.S. & Squair, S.L. (1986a) Children’sawareness of cigarette brand sponsorship of sports and games inthe UK, Health Education Research 1(3), 203-211.Aitken, P.P., Leathar, D.S. & Squair, S.L. (1986b) Children’sopinions on whether or not cigarette advertisements should bebanned, Health Education Journal 45(4) 204-207.Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1980) Understanding Attitudes andPredicting Social Behaviour. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Alcohol Concern (2007a) Health Impacts of Alcohol. Factsheetretrieved November 2007 from:http://www.alcoholconcern.org.ukAlcohol Concern (2007b), Young People’s Drinking. Factsheet.Retrieved November 2007 from:http://www.alcoholconcern.org.ukAlcohol Policy (2007) Cirrhosis in young people doubles overlast decade, 21 March. Retrieved November 2007 from:http://www.alcoholpolicy.net/health/index.html42 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipAlexander, H.M., Callcott, R., Dobson, A.J., Hardes, G.R., Lloyd,D.M., O’Connell, D.R. & Leeder, S.R. (1983) Cigarette smokingand drug use in school children: IV - factors associated withchanges in smoking behaviour, International Journal ofEpidemiology 12(1), 59-66.Ambler, T. (2006) Does the UK promotion of food and drink tochildren contribute to their obesity? International Journal ofAdvertising 25(2), 137-156.Anderson, P. & Baumberg, B. (2005) Alcohol in Europe: aPublic Health Perspective. London: Institute of Alcohol Studies.Berning, J.R. (1996) Alcohol and athletic performance, GatoradeSports Science Institute. Retrieved March 2007 from:www.gssiweb.com/reflib/refs/84/0000000200000025.cfmBruner II, G.C., James, K.E. & Hensel, P.J. (2001) MarketingScales Handbook: a Compilation of Multi-item Measures, VolumeIII. Chicago: American Marketing Association.Charlton, A., While, D. & Kelly, S. (1998) Boys’ smoking andcigarette-brand-sponsored motor racing, The Lancet 351 (9099)376.Chou, S.P. & Pickering, R.P. (1992) Early onset of drinking as arisk factor for lifetime alcohol-related problems, British Journal ofAddiction 87, 1199-1204.Christensen, S.R. (2006) Measuring consumer reactions tosponsoring partnerships based upon emotional and attitudinalresponses, International Journal of Market Research 48(1), 61-80.Collins, C.A. (2002) The influence of message framing andprevious alcohol consumption on attitudes, perceived norms,intentions, and behaviour related to alcohol use in a collegesample, Doctoral Thesis, University of Kansas.Collins, T. & Vamplew, W. (2002) Mud, Sweat and Beers: ACultural History of Sport and Alcohol. Berg.Cornwell, T.B. (2008) State of the art and science insponsorship-linked marketing, Journal of Advertising 37(3),41-55.Cornwell, T.B. & Maignan, I. (1998) An international review ofsponsorship research, Journal of Advertising 27(1), 1-21.Diageo (2007) The impact of alcohol on society; the social costsof misuse. Retrieved November 2007 from:http://www.diageo.com/enrow/CorporateCitizenship/Theimpactofalcoholinsociety/DiFranza, J.R., Richards, J.W., Paulman, P.M., Wolf-Gillespie,N., Fletcher, C., Jaffe, R.D. & Murray, D. (1991) RJR Nabisco'scartoon camel promotes Camel cigarettes to children, Journal ofthe American Medical Association 266(22), 3149-3153.Dorsett, J. & Dickerson, S. (2004) Advertising and alcoholconsumption in the UK, International Journal of Advertising23(2), 149-171.Drinkaware (2007) Homepage. Retrieved November 2007 from:www.drinkawaretrust.org.ukEastman, S.T. & Land, A.M. (1997) The best of both worlds:sports fans find good seats at the bar, Journal of Sport andSocial Issues 21(2), 156-178.Edwards, G. (2000) Alcohol: The Ambiguous Molecule. London:Penguin Books.European Sponsorship Association (2006) ESA resistssponsorship ban for alcohol, Press Release 15 September.Retrieved November 2007 from:www.europeansponsorship.org/pressDetail.asp?id=151Golub, A. & Johnson, B.D. (2001) Variation in youthful risks ofprogression from alcohol and tobacco to marijuana and to harddrugs across generations, American Journal of Public Health91(2), 225-232.Gonzalez, G.M. (1989) Early onset of drinking as a predictor ofalcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems in college,Journal of Drug Education 19, 225-230.Grant, B.F. & Dawson, D.A. (1997) Age at onset of alcohol useand its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence:results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol EpidemiologicSurvey, Journal of Substance Abuse 9, 103-110.Gwinner, K.P. & Eaton, J. (1999) Building brand image throughevent sponsorship: the role of image transfer, Journal ofAdvertising 28(4), 47-57.Hastings, G.B. & Aitken, P.P. (1995) Tobacco advertising andchildren’s smoking: a review of the evidence, European Journalof Marketing 29(11), 6-17.Kandel, D.B., Yamaguchi, K. & Chen, K. (1992) Stages ofprogression in drug involvement from adolescence to adulthood:further evidence for the gateway theory, Journal of Studies inAlcohol, 53, 447-457.Kelly, K.J., Slater, M.D. & Karan, D. (2002) Imageadvertisements’ influence on adolescents’ perceptions of thedesirability of beer and cigarettes, Journal of Public Policy andMarketing 21(2), 295-304.Kinney, L. & McDaniel, S.R. (1996) Strategic implications ofattitude-toward-the-ad in leveraging event sponsorships, Journalof Sport Marketing 10(3), 250-261.Kleinman, M. (2003) NiQuitin CQ to sponsor BMW Williams F1team, Marketing, 17 April: 3.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship43

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipRESEARCH PAPERKolah, A. (2007) Why legislators are wrong to call time onalcohol brands’ involvement in sponsorship. Sponsorship News,13 March.Koo, G., Quarterman, J. & Flynn, L. (2006) Effect of perceivedsport event and sponsor image fit on consumers’ cognition,affect, and behavioral intentions, Sport Marketing Quarterly15(2), 80-90.Kuther, T.L. (2002) Rational decision perspectives on alcoholconsumption by youth: revising the theory of planned behavior,Addictive Behaviors 27, 35-47.Laflin, M.T., Moore-Hirschl, S., Weis, D.L. & Hayes, B.E. (1994)Use of the theory of reasoned action to predict drug and alcoholuse, The International Journal of the Addictions 29(7),927-940.Lancaster, K.M. & Lancaster, A.R. (2003) The economics oftobacco advertising: spending, demand, and the effects of bans,International Journal of Advertising 22(1), 41-65.Ledwith, F. (1984) Does tobacco sports sponsorship ontelevision act as advertising to children? Health EducationJournal 43(4), 85-88.McDaniel, S.R. & Heald, G.R. (2000) Young consumers’responses to event sponsorship advertisements of unhealthyproducts: implications of schema-triggered affect theory, SportManagement Review 3(2), 163-184.McDaniel, S.R. & Mason, D.S. (1999) An exploratory study ofinfluences on public opinion towards alcohol and tobaccosponsorship of sporting events, Journal of Services Marketing13(6), 481-499.Martino, S.C., Collins, R.L., Ellickson, P.L., Schell, T.L. &McCaffrey, D. (2006) Socio-environmental influences onadolescents’ alcohol outcome expectancies: a prospectiveanalysis, Addiction 101, 971-983.Meenaghan, T. & Shipley, D. (1999) Media effect in commercialsponsorship, European Journal of Marketing 33(3/4), 328-347.Mintel (2006) Sponsorship UK. London: Mintel.Murden, T. (2004) Old Firm’s goal is to promote safe drinking.Scotland on Sunday, 18 April.O’Callaghan, F.V., Chant, D.C., Callan, V.J. & Baglioni, A. (1997)Models of alcohol use by young adults: an examination ofvarious attitude-behaviour theories, Journal of Studies on Alcohol58(5), 502-507.Oliver, R.L. & Bearden, W.O. (1985) Crossover effects in theTheory of Reasoned Action: a moderating influence attempt,Journal of Consumer Research 12(3), 324-340.Rimal, R.N. & Real, K. (2005) How behaviors are influenced byperceived norms: a test of the theory of normative socialbehavior, Communication Research 82(8), 389-414.Schlegel, R.P., Crawford, C.A. & Sanborn, M.D. (1977)Correspondence and mediational properties of the Fishbeinmodel: an application to adolescent alcohol use, Journal ofExperimental Social Psychology 13, 421-430.Shim, S. & Maggs, J. (2005) A cognitive and behavioralhierarchical decision-making model of college students’ alcoholconsumption, Psychology and Marketing 22(8), 649-668.Speed, R. & Thompson, P. (2000) Determinants of sportssponsorship response, Academy of Marketing Science Journal28(2), 226-238.Stainback, R. (1997) Alcohol and Sport. Champaign, Illinois(cited in Collins and Vamplew, 2002).Trafimow, D. (1996) The importance of attitudes in theprediction of college students’ intentions to drink, Journal ofApplied Social Psychology 26(24), 167-188.Walliser, B. (2003) An international review of sponsorshipresearch: extension and update, International Journal ofAdvertising 22(1), 5-40.Welte, J.W. & Barnes, G.M. (1985) Alcohol: the gateway toother drug use among secondary-school students, Journal ofYouth and Adolescence 48, 329-336.White, A.M. (2006) Alcohol and the adolescent brain. RetrievedNovember 2007 from:http://www.duke.edu/~amwhite/Adolescence/index.htmlWilliams, R. (2000) Football: wild things. The Guardian, 12August: 1.World Health Organization/Europe (2001) Reducing alcoholharm to young people: Europe’s Health Ministers say “the timeto act is now!”. Press release EURO 03/01. Retrieved March2007 from: http://www.who.dk/cpa/pr01/pr0003e.htm44 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sporting involvement and alcohol sponsorshipAPPENDIX 1 Questions used to measure knowledge of sponsors(CORRECT ANSWERS, AT TIME OF STUDY, ARE IN BOLD TYPE)THE SHIRT SPONSOR OF CARDIFF FOOTBALL CLUB IS: (PLEASE CIRCLE YOUR ANSWER)BRAINS REDROW HOMES ARRIVA TRAINS ROCKPORT DON’T KNOWTHE SHIRT SPONSOR OF LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB IS:CARLING GUINNESS CARLSBERG GROLSCH DON’T KNOWTHE SHIRT SPONSOR OF CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB IS:VODAFONE DREAMCAST CARLSBERG EMIRATES DON’T KNOWTHE FOOTBALL PREMIERSHIP IS SPONSORED BY:CARLING COCA COLA BARCLAYS AXA DON’T KNOWTHE RUGBY UNION SIX NATIONS TOURNAMENT IS SPONSORED BY:LLOYDS TSB ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND BARCLAYS NAT WEST DON’T KNOWRESEARCH PAPERTHE SHIRT SPONSOR OF THE WELSH RUGBY UNION TEAM IS:ROCKPORT PRINCIPALITY RED DRAGON RADIO BRAINS DON’T KNOWTHE RALLY OF GREAT BRITAIN IS SPONSORED BY:FORD NETWORK Q RAC AA DON’T KNOWTHE GRAND NATIONAL IS SPONSORED BY:JOHN SMITHS BODDINGTONS JOHNNIE WALKER SMIRNOFF DON’T KNOWTHE LONDON MARATHON IS SPONSORED BY:MARS NIKE FLORA GUINNESS DON’T KNOWTHE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ATHENS 2004 HAD MANY SPONSORS.WHICH OF THESE COMPANIES WERE INVOLVED IN OLYMPIC SPONSORSHIP?(CIRCLE YOUR ANSWERS – YOU MAY SELECT AS MANY AS YOU WISH)MCDONALDS CARLSBERG SONY TAG HEUERAMERICAN EXPRESS KODAK PEPSI HEINEKENVISA SAMSUNG CARLING PANASONICBURGER KING SEIKO COCA COLA SMIRNOFF● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship45

Examination of the causal effects between thedimensions of service quality and spectatorsatisfaction in minor league baseballKeywordsservice qualityfan loyaltyeventscausal effectsRESEARCH PAPERGi-Yong KooDept of Kinesiology, Leisure & Sport ScienceEast Tennessee State UniversityPO Box 70654 Johnson City, TN 37614, USATel: +1 865 974 1272Fax: +1 865 974 8981Email: win@utk.eduRob Hardin University of TennesseeSteven McClung Mercer UniversityTaejin Jung SUNY OswegoJoseph Cronin Florida State UniversityClay Vorhees Michigan State UniversityBrian Bourdeau Auburn UniversityPeer reviewedAbstractSports organisations must continuously assess howbetter to meet or exceed consumer expectations andperceptions of their experience in order to maintain andincrease the number of spectators and loyal fansattending their sporting events. This study aims toenhance our understanding of which characteristics ofa service attribute will best define its quality andimpact on spectator behaviour by understanding thecausal relationship between perceived service quality(PSQ) and satisfaction.Executive summaryConsumer satisfaction and perceived service quality(PSQ) have been considered the primary interveningconstructs in the area of service marketing becauseultimately they lead to the development of consumerloyalty or ‘re-patronisation’ of a product or service. Anunderstanding of consumer perception of serviceattributes and its influence on PSQ and satisfaction aretherefore crucial to the success of serviceorganisations. This study uses Minor League Baseball(MiLB) to explore which characteristics of a particularservice attribute will best define its quality and itsimpact on spectator behaviour by understanding thecausal relationship between PSQ and spectatorsatisfaction.46 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsThe paper has two goals: to examine the effects ofservice quality dimensions on PSQ and to investigatethe mediated relationship between service qualitydimensions and spectator satisfaction.Questionnaires were administered over a six-weekperiod at South Atlantic League games during the2005 season, and the resulting 1,787 validquestionnaires were for data analysis.The findings indicate that in MiLB, ‘functionalattribute’ is the most important service qualitydimension that influences PSQ, followed by‘environmental attribute’ and ‘technical attribute’. ThePSQ is determined by spectator evaluation of servicedimensions, some of which are technical, some ofwhich are functional and some of which areenvironmental in nature. In addition, PSQ andsatisfaction are distinct latent constructs, and PSQ islikely to be an antecedent of spectator satisfaction inMiLB. The proposed relationship supports that PSQaffects spectator satisfaction.For sports marketers, five recommendations can bemade as a result of this study. First, sports marketersmust understand all aspects of the spectatorexperience of an event, from parking to concessions tothe event itself. All of these play a part in aconsumer’s decision to return to a venue. Second,sports marketers should keep utilising the quality ofhome team, rival team or players during the season inorder to attract and retain spectators, even though thequality of team performances cannot be controlled,because sports spectators are often affected by thecore product. Third, they should pay more attention toselecting, training and matching their employees forservice delivery. Fourth, sports marketers have controland input in the environmental area of service quality.Making sure the environment is conducive to apositive experience is important. Finally, sportsmarketers should consider PSQ as a means ofimproving satisfaction, and should make efforts todevelop strategies that facilitate and strengthenpositive satisfaction assessments.IntroductionMany scholars and service marketers have exploredconsumers’ cognitive and affective responses to theperception of service attributes in order to benefit byproviding what consumers need in an effective andefficient manner. Consumer satisfaction (e.g. Cadotteet al, 1987; Churchill & Surprenant, 1982; Fornell,1992; Oliver, 1997) and PSQ (e.g. Parasuraman et al,1985, 1988; Rust & Oliver, 1994; Zithaml et al,1996) have been considered the primary interveningconstructs in the area of service marketing becauseultimately they lead to the development of consumerloyalty or re-patronisation of a product or service. Thusan understanding of consumer perception of serviceattributes and its influence on PSQ and satisfaction arecrucial to the success of service organisations(Grönroos, 1982; Lehtinen & Lehtinen, 1982; Rust &Oliver, 1994; Theodorakis et al, 2001).Spectator satisfaction with a sports event experienceis critical to team support, attendance and revenue fororganisations in the multi-billion dollar sports industry.Sports organisations must continuously assess howbetter to meet or exceed consumer expectations andperceptions of the experience if they are to maintainand grow the number of spectators and loyal fansattending their events (Kennett et al, 2001). Therehave been many service quality studies in recreationand leisure (Howat et al, 1996; Kim & Kim, 1995;Papadimitriou & Karteroliotis, 2000) and muchscrutiny of the dimensions of ‘servicescape’ and itseffect on spectator satisfaction (e.g. Bitner, 1992;Wakefield & Blodgett, 1994, 1996; Hightower et al,2002). However, with the exception of Greenwell et al(2002), who examined the impact of multipleattributes of the service on the satisfaction of minorleague hockey spectators, relatively little attention hasbeen given to the other attributes of service, such asthe functional and technical attributes, in the contextof spectator sport. In addition, there has beenrelatively little research examining spectatorRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship47

Causal effectsRESEARCH PAPERperceptions of the attributes of the service in relationto PSQ and satisfaction, especially for MiLB.The purpose of this study, therefore, is two-fold: toexamine the effects of service quality dimensions onPSQ, and to investigate the mediated relationshipbetween service quality dimensions and spectatorsatisfaction in MiLB.The study employs three service quality dimensions,derived from Bitner’s (1992) environment attributeand Grönroos’ functional and technical attributes(Grönroos, 1982; Lehtinen & Lehtinen, 1982) in orderto evaluate spectator perception of service quality.Because the delivery of service quality is stillregarded as important for sports marketers to positionthemselves competitively (cf. Brown & Swartz, 1989;Parasuraman et al, 1988), this study aims todetermine which characteristics of a particular serviceattribute will best define its quality and impact onspectator behaviour through understanding of thecausal relationship between PSQ and satisfaction.The dimensions of service qualityConsumer perception of service quality is a complexprocess. Therefore, multiple dimensions of servicequality have been suggested (Brady & Cronin, 2001).One of the most popular models, SERVQUAL, used inservice marketing, was developed by Parasuraman etal (1985, 1988).SERVQUAL is based on the perception gap betweenthe received service quality and the expected servicequality, and has been widely adopted for explainingconsumer perception of service quality. Originally 10dimensions of service quality were proposed(reliability, responsiveness, competence, access,courtesy, communication, credibility, security,understanding the consumer, and tangibles). Laterthese were reduced to five (reliability, responsiveness,empathy, assurances and tangibles). There is generalagreement that the aforementioned constructs areimportant aspects of service quality, but manyscholars have been sceptical about whether thesedimensions are applicable when evaluating servicequality in other service industries (Finn & Lamb,1991; Cronin & Taylor, 1992). For example, Cronin &Taylor (1992) argued that the evaluation of servicequality based on the expectation-performance gapderived from Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) isinsufficient because much of the empirical researchsupported performance-based measures of servicequality. This has more explanatory power thanmeasures that are based on the gap betweenexpectation and performance (e.g. Babakus & Boller,1992; Babakus & Mangold, 1992; Churchill &Surprenant 1982). In addition, Kang & James (2004)argued that SERVQUAL focuses more on the servicedelivery process than on other attributes of service,such as service-encounter outcomes (i.e. technicaldimensions). In other words, the SERVQUALmeasurement does not adequately explain a technicalattribute of service. Thus many scholars have arguedthat the components of SERVQUAL could not fullyevaluate consumer perception of service quality incertain industries (Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Finn &Lamb, 1991).Grönroos (1984) suggested two attributes of servicewhich have been identified as dimensions of servicequality based on the conceptualisation of servicequality as between perceived service and expectedservice. As an extension of Grönroos’ model, Rust &Oliver (1994) provided a three-component modelexplaining service quality through service product,service delivery and service environment, while Brady& Cronin (2001) suggested three service qualitydimensions – service outcome, consumer-employeeinteraction and service environment. The notion ofservice product/service outcome and servicedelivery/consumer-employee interaction is consistentwith the idea of technical attribute and functionalattribute derived from Grönroos’ model.In the context of sport, Bitner (1992) indicated theimportance of the environmental attribute of service(ambient conditions, space/function, signs/symbolsand artefacts), frequently called ‘servicescape’. Theeffects of servicescape on sports consumer48 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsbehavioural responses (such as approach oravoidance, staying or returning) are also illustratedwithin this framework. Wakefield & Blodgett (1996)provide an extension to the conceptual perspective ofBitner (1992), developing the sub-dimensions ofenvironmental attribute to include layout accessibility,facility aesthetics, seating comfort, electronicequipment/displays and facility cleanliness. Theysuggest that service environment can play a major rolein enhancing spectator satisfaction because of theamount of time spectators spend observing andexperiencing the environment when attending an event(Kelley & Turley, 2001; Wakefield & Sloan, 1995;Wakefield et al, 1996). However, although there havebeen many academic and practical studies that havefocused on service environment, other serviceattributes have received relatively little attention,particularly for spectator sports (Bitner, 1992;Wakefield & Blodgett, 1994; Theodorakis et al, 2001;Wakefield & Sloan, 1995; Wakefield et al, 1996).This study utilises a three-factor model of functional,technical and environmental attributes as thedimensions of service quality in order to examine thehypothesised relationships. In particular, the conceptsof functional attribute and technical attribute arederived from the original work of Grönroos (1984); inaddition, the notion of environmental attribute comesfrom Bitner’s (1992) servicescape.Functional attributes may be formed whenspectators interact with people working in the arena orstadium and with other ancillary service objects (e.g.concessions, merchandise, in-game promotions).Technical attributes could be produced based on thequality of the core service, such as team performance,the competitiveness of the game, and the level of playthat the spectators observe (Kelly & Turley, 2001).Finally, the environmental attribute is considered to becritical in explaining the relationship between theperceptions of service attributes and interveningconstructs such as PSQ and satisfaction (Wakefield &Blodgett, 1994, 1996), because spectators constantlyinteract with the physical environment.Two of the primary goals of sports marketing are toincrease fan attendance and increase fan enjoyment atan event. Examining the role service quality plays inspectator satisfaction will enable sports marketers todetermine which aspects of service quality areimportant to the overall experience of their consumers.Perceived service quality and satisfactionPrevious research in service marketing has specifiedPSQ and satisfaction as distinct latent constructs(Bitner, 1990; Bolton & Drew, 1991; Cronin & Taylor,1992; Parasuraman et al, 1985, 1988). Oliver(1997) identified consumer satisfaction as both acognitive and an emotional judgment, including bothan end state and a process, whereas PSQ refers to aconsumer’s evaluative perception at a specific point intime. Cronin & Taylor (1992) also found that PSQ isan overall evaluation, while satisfaction is atransaction-specific measure. Thus, the majordifference between PSQ and satisfaction is that PSQ isoverall evaluation, something related to managerialdelivery of service, whereas satisfaction is theconsumer experience emerging as a reaction to serviceencounters (Anderson & Fornell, 1994; Cronin &Taylor, 1992; Sivadas & Baker-Prewitt, 2000). Thisstudy conceptualises satisfaction as a function ofoverall satisfaction with multiple experiences of theorganisation (Bolton & Drew, 1991) rather than thenarrower concept of service encounter satisfactionprovided by Bitner (1992).Understanding the antecedent role of PSQ insatisfaction is important for a service manager as eachlatent construct has a distinctive characteristic andcould determine whether a service manager shouldconcentrate upon providing different servicecomponents to stimulate consumer behaviouralintentions or focus on the importance of the emotionalsatisfaction evaluation (Brady & Robertson, 2001).The causal relationship between PSQ andsatisfaction has been discussed extensively in servicemarketing literature, because these two constituentsare regarded as comprehensive cognitive and affectiveRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship49

Causal effectsRESEARCH PAPERservice evaluations (Oliver, 1997). Despite researchresults of those for whom satisfaction is an antecedentof PSQ (Bitner, 1990; Bolton & Drew, 1991), moreresearch supports the alternative position thatsatisfaction functions as a result of PSQ. For instance,Parasuraman et al (1985, 1988) suggested that PSQaffects the level of consumer satisfaction. Cronin &Taylor (1992) considered PSQ to be a subordinateconcept of consumer satisfaction. Lentell (2000)pointed to this causal relationship by suggesting that ahigher level of service quality perception results inhigher consumer-satisfaction responses.This causal relationship has been applied in somesports-related areas. Taylor et al (1993) ascertainedthat PSQ has significant positive relationships withsports consumer satisfaction for the health club andthe golf course. As for particular dimensions of servicequality, the environmental attribute has been deemedto have a significant impact on spectator satisfaction;furthermore, perceptions of servicescape dimensionssignificantly influence satisfaction with an encounter ina spectator sports setting (Bateson & Hui, 1992;Wakefield & Sloan, 1995; Wakefield et al, 1996).There is still a lack in attention given to otherdimensions of service quality for explaining consumersatisfaction within a sports context (Lentell, 2000).This study employed the mediated effect model whichexplains the causal relationships between servicequality dimensions and consumer satisfactionmediated by PSQ. In addition, just as the relationshipof service quality dimensions, PSQ and satisfactioncould depend on the context of service encounter,these theoretical relationships should be furtherexplored within the context of spectator sport. Thisstudy, therefore, examines how the three attributes ofservice affecting spectators’ PSQ and satisfaction havebeen recognised as antecedents of consumerbehaviours such as staying at the event, spendingmoney and returning to MiLB events. The followingresearch hypotheses (RH) are proposed:RH 1 : The environmental attribute of service willhave a significant effect on PSQ in MiLBRH 2 : The functional attribute of service will havea significant effect on PSQ in MiLBRH 3 : The technical attribute of service will have asignificant effect on PSQ in MiLBRH 4 : PSQ will have a significant effect onspectator satisfaction in MiLBRH 5 : The environmental attribute of service willhave a significant effect on spectator satisfactionmediated by PSQ in MiLBRH 6 : The functional attribute of service will havea significant effect on spectator satisfactionmediated by PSQ in MiLBRH 7 : The technical attribute of service will have asignificant effect on spectator satisfactionmediated by PSQ in MiLBMethodologyData collection and participantsThe South Atlantic League is one of 19 leagues thatcomprise MiLB. The league consists of 16 teams splitinto two eight-team divisions. The researchers had thesupport of the South Atlantic League president, and allteams were asked to participate in the data collection.Ten teams participated, and the surveys were collectedover a six-week period in the 2005 season.Each team was responsible for administering thequestionnaires and returning them to the researchers.The team representative was given detailedinstructions for administering the questionnaire. Theintercept method was used to choose respondents andspectators were asked to complete the questionnaireas they were leaving the event. This is a common50 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectssampling technique for both retail and sports settings(Robinson & Carpenter, 2002; Wang & Heitmeyer,2006; Wesley et al, 2006; Maronick, 2007) and isused to target a specific audience, in this casespectators leaving an event (Reaves, 1992).Respondents were given the questionnaire and askedto complete it and a survey administrator collected thequestionnaire after completion. Completion of thequestionnaire was voluntary and respondents couldchoose to opt out of participating at any time duringthe administering of the questionnaire. The teamrepresentative forwarded the completed questionnairesto the researchers and 1,787 questionnaires wereused in the data analysis.MeasuresEach construct included in the study was evaluatedusing multi-item scales to analyse all relevantdimensions of the construct. The questionnaire wasconstructed in three parts.The first part of the questionnaire was designed toassess the attributes of service. The dimensions ofservice quality developed were rooted in the originaltheoretical concept of Bitner’s (1992) servicescape,and Grönroos’ (1984) technical and functional quality.The 14 items of service quality were applied toevaluate three dimensions of service quality. Forexample, statements used to measure theenvironmental attribute were: I am satisfied with a)appearance of the facility, b) comfort of the facility, c)convenience of the facility, and d) location of thefacility. In addition, statements used to measure thetechnical quality were: I am satisfied with a)competitiveness of the game, b) performance of theteam, c) team’s effort, and d) level of play. Finally,statements used to measure the functional qualitywere: I am satisfied with a) game day promotions, b)food and beverage concessions, c) merchandise thatwas available, d) service employees, e) contests thatwere held during the game, f) entertainment availableat the game. All dimensions in service quality weremeasured by 7-point Likert-type scales anchored by‘not satisfied at all’ (1) and ‘very satisfied’ (7).The second part of the survey consisted ofmeasures of cognitive and affective responses whichhave been used as assessments of service quality,such as PSQ and satisfaction. In order to measure thePSQ, Hightower et al’s (2002) 3-item scale wasslightly modified and applied to the study (e.g. thisorganisation provides excellent service; thisorganisation’s service is superior; this organisationprovides high-quality service). Satisfaction wasmeasured with a 3-item scale (e.g. I am satisfied withmy decision to visit this service provider; I am happywith my visit to this baseball game; I truly enjoyedmy visit to this facility) similar to those addressed byOliver (1980). All outcome constructs in the studywere measured by 7-point Likert-type scalesanchored by ‘strongly disagree’ (1) and ‘stronglyagree’ (7).Initial reliabilities of each latent construct rangedfrom .88 for the environmental attribute to .96 for thesatisfaction. Scale reliabilities exceeding a commontarget of .70 are shown to have an acceptable level ofreliability (Nunnally, 1978).Data analysisThe analysis of data was performed using SPSS 14.5and LISRL VIII (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1990). Aconfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed toidentify the construct validity for all latent dimensionsvia an evaluation of convergent and discriminatevalidity. Finally, the research hypotheses examining thedirect and indirect relationships among the dimensionsof service quality, PSQ and satisfaction were analysedusing Path Analysis with Maximum LikelihoodEstimation using LISREL.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship51

Causal effectsTABLE 1 Convergent and discriminant validity of the measuresFACTORLOADINGSAVEΦ 2RESEARCH PAPERTECHNICALATTRIBUTEFUNCTIONALATTRIBUTEENVIRONMENTALATTRIBUTEPERCEIVEDSERVICE QUALITYSATISFACTIONCOMPETITIVENESS OF THE GAMEPERFORMANCE OF THE TEAMTEAM’S EFFORTLEVEL OF PLAYGAME DAY PROMOTIONSFOOD AND BEVERAGE CONCESSIONSMERCHANDISE THAT WAS AVAILABLESERVICE EMPLOYEESCONTESTS THAT WERE HELD DURING THE GAMEENTERTAINMENT AVAILABLE AT THE GAMEAPPEARANCE OF THE FACILITYCOMFORT OF THE FACILITYCONVENIENCE OF THE FACILITYLOCATION OF THE FACILITYTHIS ORGANISATION PROVIDES EXCELLENT SERVICETHIS ORGANISATION’S SERVICE IS SUPERIORTHIS ORGANISATION PROVIDES HIGH-QUALITY SERVICEI AM SATISFIED WITH MY DECISION TO VISIT THIS SERVICE PROVIDERI TRULY ENJOYED MY VISIT TO THIS FACILITYI AM HAPPY WITH MY VISIT TO THIS BASEBALL GAME.80.84.88.88.70.69.79.79.80.76.82.90.85.68.93.94.94.91.96.95.72.58.67.87.88.16 - .54.25 - .54.19 - .56.23 - .70.16 - .70Note: Φ 2 indicates the squared phi correlation.ResultsConvergent and discriminant validity of the measuresA measurement model was used to assess whethermeasures of latent constructs that theoretically shouldbe related are related to each other, and whethermeasures of latent constructs that theoretically shouldnot be related are not related to measures of other latentconstructs (Hair et al, 1995). Items of all scaledconstructs were put into a measurement model andeach exogenous latent construct in the measurementmodel was evaluated by more than three indicators. Thescale of each latent variable is fixed by assuming thatthe variance of each latent variable is equal to one.The results of CFA indicate that the validity of eachobserved variable as a measure of the exogenouslatent construct was acceptable because the estimatedstandardised loadings were generally high, rangingfrom .68 to .96. The estimated correlations among theexogenous latent constructs were all positive, rangingfrom .41 to .84, which was consistent with previousliterature.For assessing construct validity, each latentconstruct was considered to possess convergentvalidity if a latent construct had 0.50 or greateraverage variance extracted (AVE; Fornell & Larcker,1981). It was also considered to exhibit discriminant52 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsTABLE 2 Standardised causal effects for the latent constructsOUTCOMEPERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY (R2 = .712)DETERMINANTTECHNICAL QUALITYFUNCTIONAL QUALITYENVIRONMENTAL QUALITYDIRECT.074.404.181CAUSAL EFFECTSINDIRECTTOTAL.074.404.181SATISFACTION (R2= .376)PERCEIVED SERVICE QUALITY.846. 846SATISFACTION (R2= .267)TECHNICAL QUALITYFUNCTIONAL QUALITYENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.063.341.153.060.341.153validity if the value of AVE of a latent construct wasgreater than the squared correlation (f 2 ) between thefactor and each of the other constructs (Lichtenstein etal, 1990).As shown in Table 1, the measure showedconvergent validity because the values of AVE weregreater than the common target of .50, ranging from.58 to .88 for all exogenous latent constructs (Fornell& Larcker, 1981; Hair et al, 1995). In addition, themeasure was considered to exhibit discriminantvalidity because the values of AVE for each exogenouslatent construct were greater than the squaredcorrelations (Lichtenstein et al, 1990). According tothe results of CFA, the latent constructs examined inthis study were acceptable in terms of convergent anddiscriminant validity, and could be used in thecomplete Structural Equation Model for further pathanalysis.Research hypotheses testSeven research hypotheses were constructed toexamine the relationship among the dimensions ofservice quality, PSQ and satisfaction, and were testedthrough a path analysis with Maximum LikelihoodEstimation. As shown in Table 2, the results of pathanalysis supported research hypotheses 1, 2 and 3,that each attribute of service will have a significanteffect on PSQ in MiLB.As the path coefficient (β =.074, t =2.17, p

Causal effectsFIGURE 1 Estimated standardised direct effects for the latent constructsTECHNICALQUALITY.074FUNCTIONALQUALITY.404PERCEIVEDSERVICE QUALITY.846SATISFACTIONENVIRONMENTALQUALITY.181RESEARCH PAPERattribute (t =5.07, p .90).Discussion and conclusionsThis study intended to examine the effects of theattributes of service on PSQ, and to investigate themediating effect of PSQ on the relationship betweenthe attributes of service and the level of fansatisfaction in MiLB. The results indicate thatenvironmental attribute, functional attribute andtechnical attribute are significant determinants of PSQ,giving support to RH 1 , RH 2 and RH 3 . Furthermore,results provide support for the positive causalrelationship between PSQ and spectator satisfaction,giving support to RH 4 , and the mediated relationshipbetween three service attributes and spectatorsatisfaction in MiLB, leading to support for RH 5 , RH 6and RH 7 .The findings were consistent with theconceptualisation of Grönroos (1984) that technicalattribute and functional attribute are determinants ofPSQ as well as the view of Rust & Oliver (1994) thatPSQ can be derived from consumer evaluation of theoutcome (i.e. technical attribute), the consumeremployeeinteraction (functional attribute) and serviceenvironment. The findings also indicate that in MiLB,functional attribute seems to be the most importantdimension of service quality influencing the PSQ,54International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsfollowed by environmental attribute and technicalattribute. In other words, the PSQ is determined by afan’s evaluation of a total of service dimensions, ofwhich some are technical, some are functional andsome are environmental in nature (Grönroos, 1984).In relation to the causal relationship between PSQand satisfaction, our findings were equivalent to thetheoretical position of the causal sequence of PSQ andsatisfaction that has held a dominant position in theliterature as well as having the most empiricalvalidation (e.g. Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Anderson &Fornell, 1994; Gotlieb et al, 1994; Rust & Oliver,1994; Brady & Robertson, 2001). Lazarus’ (1991)theoretical framework of appraisal-emotional responsecopingcould also interpret the nature of therelationship between PSQ and satisfaction in this study.According to his theoretical framework, consumers arelikely to make an appraisal which is the cognitiveevaluation of service quality, and it drives a first andforemost emotive satisfaction assessment. Thus, PSQcould function as a determinant of satisfaction basedon its cognitive orientation in the case of MiLB. Inother words, spectator satisfaction could be influencedby the presence of a pre-established service qualityperception (Bolton & Drew, 1991).The findings of this study lead to somerecommendations for sports marketers in MiLB. First,sports marketers are continually competing with otherentertainment options for fans and spectators.Understanding all aspects of the spectator experience atan event is important. All experiences, from parking toconcessions to the event itself, play a role in aspectator’s decision about whether to return to a venue.Second, sports marketers should keep utilising thequality of the home team, a rival team or playersduring the season in order to attract and retain morefans at their events (Howat et al, 1996), even if thequality of team performances is beyond their control.Sports fans are often affected by the core product,which could be the quality of the home team, the rivalteam or individual players.Third, sports marketers should pay more attention toselecting, training and matching employees to servicedelivery (Grot & Dye, 1999). They do have controlover functional quality and not just in the area ofpromotions. The first interaction a consumer may havewhen attending an event is with a parking attendant.A negative experience there can often lead to anegative perception of the team and thus theorganisation. Sports marketers, while not directlyinvolved with this aspect of an event, should ensurethat employees are properly trained and provide apositive experience for consumers. This is also true forticket office employees and others.Fourth, sports marketers also have control and inputin the environmental area of service quality (Wakefield& Blodgett, 1999). Making sure the environment isconducive to a positive experience is important, frommaking sure seats are in good condition, to thepositioning of handrails, to making sure toilet facilitiesare in good order.Finally, since a spectator’s cognitive judgment ofservice quality plays an antecedent role in influencingthe affective evaluation of a service encounter inMiLB, sports marketers should consider PSQ as ameans of improving satisfaction judgments and makeefforts to develop strategies that facilitate andstrengthen positive satisfaction assessments (Brady &Robertson, 2001). This systematic approach couldenhance spectators’ behavioural intentions inattending MiLB.The research shows these areas of service qualityhave a direct influence on perception of servicequality. Sports marketers must take advantage of thisinformation and use it to provide positive servicequality experiences and thus increase spectatorsatisfaction.Limitations and future studiesThis study exhibits a few limitations that should beconsidered for future studies. First and foremost, itmay be limited because the sample was confined toone league in MiLB. Even if the findings from therelationships among the latent constructs wereconsistent with previous studies, it is limited in itsability to apply to other spectator sports. FutureRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship55

Causal effectsRESEARCH PAPERstudies should be conducted in a variety of sportssettings. In particular, it would be interesting tocompare these findings with findings frominternational spectator sports. Relative weight ofservice-quality dimensions in different countries shoulddepend on the structure of sports, economic factorsand socio-cultural factors (Malhotra et al, 1994).A second limitation is regarding the issue ofgeneralisation. The study was limited in consideringoverall spectators as only sports consumers, even ifsports consumers can be generally classified into twogroups (fans and spectators). Since the type ofconsumer has an influence on the causal order of PSQand satisfaction (Dabholkar, 1995), future studiescould attempt to understand how the type ofconsumer might affect the causal relationship betweenPSQ and satisfaction. Fans would evaluate quality ofservice first followed by the satisfaction judgment,while spectators, who are easily influenced by teamperformance, would utilise affective orientedassessment. Therefore, the causal sequence of PSQand satisfaction would be expected to be differentdepending on the type of consumer.Another limitation of the study was in not includingall possible service quality variables for evaluatingservice quality, because the purpose of study onlyfocused on the relationships among the latentconstructs. There has been a trend for taking ahierarchical approach to conceptualising service qualitysince it was known that consumers are likely toaggregate their evaluations of the sub-dimensions toassess their perceptions of each of the primarydimensions of service quality (e.g. Brady & Cronin,2001; Cronin & Taylor, 1992). Therefore, futurestudies will need not only to consider detailed subdimensionsfor each of the major service quality areas,but also to examine their links with perceived qualityand satisfaction. These will enhance the theoreticalunderstanding of service quality and sports consumers’cognitive and affective responses in spectator sports.© 2009 International Marketing ReportsBiographiesGi-Yong Koo was an assistant professor in the sportsmanagement programme at the University ofTennessee. His research interests focus differentaspects of sports marketing and sports consumerbehaviour and contribute to the emerging body ofresearch on the psychological understanding of sportsconsumer behaviour.Rob Hardin is an associate professor in the sportsmanagement programme at the University ofTennessee. His research interests lie in the area ofintercollegiate sports and sports communication. Hehas published in numerous academic journals andpresented his research at several national andinternational conferences.Steven McClung is an associate professor of marketingin the Stetson School of Business and Economics atMercer University. His research interests are in sportsmarketing and internet marketing. He has published innumerous academic journals and presented hisresearch at national and international conferences.Taejin Jung is an assistant professor in thecommunication studies department at the StateUniversity of New York at Oswego. His researchinterests are in public relations campaigns and healthcommunications. His particular interests are messageconstruction strategies for public relations and healthcommunication issues.Joseph Cronin is the John R. Kerr Research Chair inMarketing and the Co-Director of the MarketingInstitute at Florida State University. His researchfocuses on customer satisfaction and service quality,service innovation, sustainability, entrepreneurshipstrategies in services, public transportation and sportsmarketing. He has published in the Journal ofMarketing, Journal of the Academy of MarketingScience and the Journal of Retailing, among others.56 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsClay Vorhees is an assistant professor of marketing atthe Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan StateUniversity. His research focuses on explaining andmanaging the dynamics of social exchange and socialinfluence. Specific topics include assessing serviceclimate, attitude and loyalty towards service firms,service failure and recovery, and social influence inexchange networks. His research has been publishedin the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,Journal of Service Research, Strategic ManagementJournal and Journal of Services Marketing.Brian Bourdeau is an assistant professor of marketingat Auburn University. His research interests includeservices marketing, sustainability, sports marketingand service branding. His research has appeared inthe Strategic Management Journal, Journal of ServiceResearch, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal ofNon-Profit & Public Sector Marketing, InternationalJournal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship,International Review of Business Research Papers andForum Empresarial.ReferencesAnderson, E. & Fornell, C. (1994) A consumer satisfactionresearch prospectus, in Rust, R.T. and Oliver, R.L. (eds) ServiceQuality: New Directions in Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage.Babakus, E. & Boller, G.W. (1992) An empirical assessment ofthe SERVQUAL scale, Journal of Business Research 24,253-268.Babakus, E. & Mangold, W.G. (1992) Adapting the SERVQUALscale to hospital services: an empirical investigation, HealthService Research 26, 767-780.Bateson, J.E.G. & Hui, M.K. (1992) The ecological validity ofphotographic slides and videotapes in simulating the servicesetting, Journal of Consumer Research 19, 271-280.Bitner, M.J. (1990) Evaluating service encounters: the effects ofphysical surroundings and employees responses, Journal ofMarketing 54, 69-82.Bitner, M.J. (1992) Servicescape: the impact of physicalsurroundings on consumers and employees, Journal ofMarketing 56, 57-71.Bolton, R.N. & Drew, J.H. (1991) A multistage model ofconsumers’ assessments of service quality and value, Journal ofConsumer Research 17, 375-384.Brady, M.K. & Robertson, C.J. (2001) Searching for a consensuson the antecedent role of service quality and satisfaction: anexploratory cross-national study, Journal of Business Research51(1), 53-60.Brady, M.K. & Cronin, J. (2001) Some new thoughts onconceptualizing perceived service quality: a hierarchicalapproach, Journal of Marketing 65, 34-49.Brown, S.W. & Swartz, T.A. (1989) A gap analysis ofprofessional service quality, Journal of Marketing 53 (April),92-98.Cadotte, E.R., Woodruff, R.B. & Jenkins, R.L. (1987)Expectations and norms in models of consumer satisfaction,Journal of Marketing Research 58 (July), 53–66.Churchill, G.A. & Surprenant, C. (1982) An investigation into thedeterminants of customer satisfaction, Journal of MarketingResearch 19 (November), 491–504.Cronin, J. & Taylor, S.A. (1992) Measuring service quality: areexamination and extension, Journal of Marketing 56, 55-68.Dabholkar, P.A. (1995) A contingency framework for predictingcausality between customer satisfaction and service quality,Advances in Consumer Research 22 (1), 101-108.Finn, D.W. & Lamb, C.W. (1991) An evaluation of theSERVQUAL scale in retail setting, in Solomon, R.H. (ed.)Advance in Consumer Research. Provo, UT: Association ofConsumer Research.Fornell, C. (1992) A national customer satisfaction barometer:The Swedish experience, Journal of Marketing 56 (January)1-18.Fornell, C. & Larcker, D. (1981) Evaluating structural equationmodels with unobservable variables and measurement error,Journal of Marketing Research 18, 30-50.Gotlieb, J.B., Grewal, D. & Brown, S.W. (1994) Consumersatisfaction and perceived quality: complementary or divergentconstructs? Journal of Applied Psychology 79(6), 875-885.Greenwell, T.G., Fink, J.S. & Pastore, D.L. (2002) Assessing theinfluence of the physical sports facility on customer satisfactionwithin the context of the service experience, Sport ManagementReview 5, 129-148.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship57

Causal effectsRESEARCH PAPERGrönroos, C. (1982) Strategic Management and Marketing in theService Sector. Helsingfors: Swedish School of Economics andBusiness Administration.Grönroos, C. (1984) A service quality model and its marketingimplications, European Journal of Marketing 18, 36-44.Grot, C.J. & Dye, T.R. (1999) Service quality: guidelines formarketers, Managing Service Quality 9, 1-24.Hair, J.H., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L. & Black, W.C. (1995)Multivariate Data Analysis (4th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ:Prentice Hall.Hightower, R., Brady, M.K. & Baker, T.L. (2002) Investigatingthe role of the physical environment in hedonic serviceconsumption: an exploratory study of sporting events, Journal ofBusiness Research 55, 697-707.Howat, G., Absher, J., Grilley, G. & Milne, I. (1996) Measuringconsumer service quality in sports and leisure centers, ManagingLeisure 1, 77-89.Jöreskog, K.G. & Sörbom, D. (1990) Models search withTERRAD II and RISREL, Sociological Methods and Research 19,201-210.Kang, G.D. & James, J. (2004) Service quality dimensions: anexamination of Grönroos’s service quality model, ManagingService Quality 14, 266-277.Kelley, S.W. & Turley, L.W. (2001) Consumer perceptions ofservice quality attributes at sporting events, Journal of BusinessResearch 54, 161-166.Kennett P.A., Sneath, J.Z. & Henson, S. (2001) Fan satisfactionand segmentation: a case study of minor league hockeyspectators, Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis forMarketing 10, 132-142.Kim, D. & Kim, S.Y. (1995) QUESQ: an instrument for assessingthe service quality of sport centers in Korea, Journal of SportManagement 9, 208-220.Lazarus, R. (1991) Emotion and Adaptation. New York: OxfordUniversity Press.Lehtinen, U. & Lehtinen, J.P. (1982) Service Quality: A Study ofQuality Dimensions, Service Management Institute, Helsinki,Finland.Lentell, R. (2000) Untangling the tangibles: physical evidenceand consumer satisfaction in local authority leisure center,Managing Leisure 5, 1-16.Lichtenstein, D.R., Netemeyer, R.G. & Burton, S. (1990)Distinguishing coupon proneness from value conscious: anacquisition-transaction utility theory perspective, Journal ofMarketing 54, 54-67.Nunnally, J.C. (1978) Psychometric Theory (2nd edition). NewYork: McGraw-Hill.Malhotra, N.K., Ulgado, F.M., Agarwal, J. & Baalbaki, I.B.(1994) International services marketing: a comparativeevaluation of the dimensions of service quality betweendeveloped and developing countries, International MarketingReview 11, 91-127.Maronick, T. (2007) Consumer perceptions of extendedwarranties, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 14,224-231.Oliver, R.L. (1980) A cognitive model of the antecedents andconsequences of satisfaction decisions, Journal of MarketingResearch 17, 460-469.Oliver, R.L. (1997) Satisfaction: A Behavioral Perspective on theConsumer, New York: McGraw-Hill.Papadimitriou, D.A. & Karteroliotis, K. (2000) The servicequality expectations in private sport and fitness centers: areexamination of the factor structure, Sport Marketing Quarterly9, 157-64.Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. & Berry, L.L. (1985) Aconceptual model of service quality and its implications forfuture research, Journal of Marketing 49, 41-50.Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. & Berry, L.L. (1988)SERVQUAL: a multiple-item scale for measuring consumerperceptions of service quality, Journal of Retailing 64, 12-40.Reaves, C. (1992) Quantitative Research for the BehavioralSciences. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.Robinson, M.J. & Carpenter, J.R. (2002) The day of the week’simpact on selected socio-demographic characteristics andconsumption patterns of spectators at a Ladies Professional GolfAssociation event, Sport Marketing Quarterly 11(4), 242-247.Rust, R.T. & Oliver, R.L. (1994) Service quality: insights andmanagerial implications from the frontier, in Rust, R.T. andOliver, R.L. (eds) Service Quality: New Directions in Theory andPractice. New York: Sage.Sivadas, E. & Baker-Prewitt, J.L. (2000) An examination of therelationship between service quality, consumer satisfaction, andstore loyalty, International Journal of Retail & DistributionManagement 28, 73-82.Tate, R. (1998) An Introduction to Modeling Outcomes in theBehavioral and Social Sciences (2nd edition). Tallahassee, FL:Burgess Publishing.Taylor, S.A., Sharland, A., Cronin, J. & Bullar, W. (1993)Recreational service quality in the international setting,International Journal of Service Industry Management 4, 68-86.58 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Causal effectsTheodorakis, N., Kambitsis, C., Laios, A. & Koustelios, A.(2001) Relationship between measures of service quality andsatisfaction of spectators in professional sports, ManagingService Quality 11(6), 431-438.Wakefield, K.L. & Blodgett, J. (1994) The importance ofservicescapes in leisure service settings, Journal of ServicesMarketing 8, 66-76.Wakefield, K.L. & Blodgett, J. (1996) The effect of theservicescape on consumers’ behavioral intentions in leisureservice settings, Journal of Services Marketing 10, 45-61.Wakefield, K.L. & Blodgett, J. (1999) Consumer response tointangible and tangible service factors, Psychology & Marketing16, 51-68.Wakefield, K.L., Blodgett, J. & Sloan, H.J. (1996) Measurementand management of the sportscape, Journal of SportsManagement 10, 15-31.Wakefield, K.L. & Sloan. H.J. (1995) The effects of team loyaltyand selected stadium factors on spectator attendance, Journal ofSport Management 9, 153-172.Wang, Y. & Heitmeyer, J. (2006) Consumer attitude toward USversus domestic apparel in Taiwan, International Journal ofConsumer Studies 30(1), 64-74.Wesley, S., LeHew, M. & Woodside, A.G. (2006) Consumerdecision-making styles and mall shopping behavior: buildingtheory using exploratory data analysis and the comparativemethod, Journal of Business Research 59, 535-548.Zithaml, V.A., Berry, L.L. & Parasuraman, A. (1996) Thebehavioral consequences of service quality, Journal of Marketing60, 31-46.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship59

The crucial ‘where’ of motorsport marketing:is motorsport now “a race out of place”?Keywordsmotorsportpeak oilclimate changeplace marketingpublic spaceAbstractRESEARCH PAPERPaul J. TranterSenior Lecturer in Geography, School of Physical, Environmental& Mathematical SciencesUniversity College, University of New South WalesAustralian Defence Force AcademyCanberra ACT 2600, AustraliaTel: +61 2 6268 8310Fax: +61 2 6268 8017Email: paul.tranter@adfa.edu.auMark LowesAssociate Professor, Department of CommunicationUniversity of Ottawa, CanadaEmail: mlowes@uottawa.caPeer reviewedThis paper explains how the location of motorsportsevents is an integral part of the marketing of the sportof motor racing and of all its attendant commercialinterests. Case studies of the major motorsports eventsstaged in public street circuits in Australia are used toillustrate how the locations have particular symbolicsignificance that adds legitimacy to the sport of motorracing, and the messages and impacts associated withthese events. The paper examines the widersignificance of allowing special public spaces in citiesto be used for motorsports events, and contends thatthe marketing of sporting events should not beconsidered independently of the major challengesfacing the world.Executive summaryThere are socio-cultural, economic and environmentalconsequences to locating major motorsports events insignificant urban public spaces. Four case studies ofmotorsports events in Australian cities demonstratehow the symbolic significance of public spaces is animportant part of the marketing of motorsport and itsattendant commercial interests. This paper addressesthe importance of reassessing the values underpinningdecision-making about the location of mega-sportsevents, and examines several consequences of ignoringthe challenges of peak oil and global climate change.The prestige of a city’s public spaces addslegitimacy to the sport of motor racing and themessages and impacts associated with motorsports60 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?events. The symbolic impact of motorsports events inthese spaces is a powerful signifier of consumeristlifestyles. Their location helps to promote activities andproducts that are incompatible with a responsibleapproach to climate change and peak oil. These twochallenges are now emerging as significant threats toeconomies and societies.The case studies examine motorsports events inCanberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Surfers Paradise.The locations of the events are significant in terms ofnational symbolism, historic cultural significance ortheir relevance as an international tourist destination.The case studies demonstrate that allowingmotorsports events to be staged in significant urbanplaces supports the growth of conspicuousconsumption, pollution and the use of fossil fuels,both directly via the events themselves and in thelong-term impacts on the behaviour of motorists andconsumers. Motorsports events and their associatedcorporate interests represent many of the attitudes andbehaviours that will need to be changed or abandonedto limit resource depletion and greenhouse gascreation.The marketing of sports events should not beconsidered independently of the major challengesfacing the world. Civic leaders have a responsibility todemonstrate a commitment to a sustainable futurethrough a policy of reserving their city’s significantpublic spaces for sporting events that are best practicemodels for sustainability. Motorsports events shouldnow be considered ‘out of place’ as mega-events in acity’s major public spaces.IntroductionThere is a large body of literature on the marketing ofplaces, where civic elites use a range of strategies,including icons, slogans and logos, changes to thebuilt environment, and festivals and spectacles suchas hallmark events, to change the image of their city(Gotham, 2002; Lowes, 2002b; Pawson, 1999). Theneed to cultivate a positive city image has assumed anurgency in cities throughout the world over the pastthree decades. In fact, as far as civic boosters areconcerned “image is everything” (Gibson & Lowes,2006, p.3). As a result, a whole industry hasdeveloped around the theme of place marketing.Place marketing is an important strategy by whichcities attempt to distinguish themselves in anincreasingly global economy. Events corporations turnhallmark events into an industry in which cities andstates compete for the opportunity to host “ever morespectacular, exotic and titillating attractions” to enticetourists and investors (Gotham, 2002, p.1737). Thepursuit of hallmark sports entertainment mega-eventsis now a standard feature of place competitionstrategies adopted by cities jostling for position in theglobal fray (Smith, 2005; Stevenson, 1998). Suchevents have become part of the place marketingindustry, where urban governance has switched frommanagerialism to entrepreneurism (Pawson, 1999).One type of major sporting event that is becomingincreasingly important in image-making in citiesthroughout the world is the motorsports mega-eventspectacle in an urban street circuit.For the cities that stage them, however, mega-eventsare best viewed as “short-term events with long-termconsequences”. They are associated with “the creationof infrastructure and event facilities often carryinglong-term debts and always requiring long-term useprogramming”(Roche, 1994, p.1). Mega-sportsevents are highly political phenomena. The term‘political’ here does not reflect the planning ideal ofdemocratic or community-based planning processes,but rather the reverse.“Hallmark events are not the result of a rationaldecision-making process. Decisions affecting thehosting and the nature of hallmark events grow out ofa political process. The process involves the values ofactors (individuals, interest groups and organisations)in a struggle for power” (Hall, 1989, p.219; cited inRoche, 1994).Such a state of affairs fosters the culture of secrecythat is characteristic of neoliberal governancestrategies. Politicians generally announce the securingRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship61

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERof mega-sports events with tremendous fanfare,talking up the projected benefits in terms ofinvestment dollars committed, jobs to be created andmultiplied effects throughout the local economy.Where they provide inducements in the form of directpublic subsidies and other assorted tax-breaks or taxholidays,governments also reassure the communitythat all they are surrendering is money that they wouldnot have collected anyway. Therefore, it is claimed,these deals represent a ‘win’ for all parties: not onlyfor the recipient enterprise, but also for thegovernment, its taxpayers and the wider regionaleconomy.But the facts are that these sorts of deals aredifficult, if not impossible, to justify on economicgrounds (Chalip & McGuirty, 2004). Moreover, theprocesses for clinching them are even harder to justifyagainst basic principles of good government. Inpractice, it is difficult to assess the details of theclaims made about particular assistance packagesbecause governments generally keep the analysis andbudgetary costs of the assistance to themselves. Thisraises its own problems in terms of transparency,accountability and due process. At the extreme, itopens the door to suspicions of nepotism or evencorruption. More generally, when public scrutiny ishindered, there is more risk that an ethos of ‘can do’entrepreneurialism will swamp more cool-headed‘should we do?’ decision-making. Importantly for thispaper, it is possible that rather than providing benefitsfor the marketing of a city in an internationalmarketplace, mega-sports events such as motorsportsspectacles provide marketing advantages for the sportitself, and for all of its associated corporate interestsand sponsors.Given the political economy of event tourismstrategies (Gotham, 2002), it is hardly surprising tofind claims that special events have been oversold inthe past 20 years, since “many groups in theeconomy have their interests linked to the promotionof events” (Dwyer et al, 2003, p.16). These groupsinclude the event promoters, tourism bodies, thegovernments and events corporations that focus largelyon ‘winning’ events for their state, the politicians whocan claim victory over other states in the marketing oftheir cities, and the various corporations (e.g. cigaretteand alcohol companies) who can use the excitementof a large event in a significant location to promotetheir products (Arnold et al, 1989; Chalip & Leyns,2002). Not only are special events used to ‘market’ or‘sell’ a city to potential consumers, but they areincreasingly usedby corporations as “key devices to shape theirbrands’ images” (Gotham, 2002, p.1748). Forexample, brewing companies use sporting spectaclesas a macho vehicle to appeal to young males(Crompton, 1993).While there has been considerable debate about theactual benefits of mega-sports events for the cities inwhich they are hosted, there has been relatively littlediscussion of the ways in which the sport itselfbenefits from being located in a city. More importantly,how does the sport benefit from being located inparticular, prestigious or highly valued parts of thecity? There has been little research investigating theway in which the location of sports events is apotentially significant component of the marketing ofthe sport, and of all its associated products andactivities. Just as cities are in increasing competitionfor investment, so too are different types of sportingactivity. Sports are no longer seen simply as a form ofexercise and entertainment. Many sports, includingmotorsport, have grown into fiercely competitive multimilliondollar industries.It is important that a geographic perspective beadopted to examine the ways in which the marketingof particular types of sport can benefit from decisionsabout their location within urban areas.Objectives and conceptual frameworkThis paper has two aims. The first is to explore theways in which the location of motorsports events inAustralian cities might be an important component ofthe marketing of this sport and its attendant62 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?FIGURE 1 Conceptual model linking the location of motorsports events with long-term impacts and major social and environmental challengesGLOBALISATIONPLACE MARKETINGVESTED INTERESTS(TOURISM BODIES,CORPORATIONS, POLITICIANS)DESTABILISEMEGAMOTORSPORTS EVENTSIN SIGNIFICANTURBAN PLACESSYMBOLICSIGNIFICANCE OF PLACEMARKETING OFASSOCIATED CORPORATEINTERESTSMOTORSPORTS MARKETINGCULTURE OF CONSPICUOUSCONSUMPTIONIMPACTS OF MOTORSPORT(ACTUAL AND SYMBOLIC)GREENHOUSE GAS CREATIONRESOURCE DEPLETION(FOSSIL FUELS)RESEARCH PAPERMAJOR SOCIAL / ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES● ENERGY SECURITY (PEAK OIL)● GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGEcommercial interests. The second aim is to considerthe wider significance of the location of motorsportsevents in significant public spaces in the context of thechallenges of peak oil (the peak of oil productionglobally) and global climate change. In particular, thepaper addresses the question as to whether it is nowappropriate for mega motorsports events to be giventhe boost to their marketing that comes with beingstaged in a city’s most significant public spaces. Thispaper addresses the importance of re-assessing thevalues upon which decision-making about location isbased, and it examines consequences of ignoring thechallenges of peak oil and global climate change.The conceptual framework for this paper is outlinedin Figure 1. This illustrates the links between placemarketing and motorsports marketing through thelocation of motorsports events in significant publicplaces.● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship63

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERWhen a motorsports event (or any major sportingevent) is located in a significant public place as part ofa place marketing strategy (e.g. to promote a ‘vibrant’image for a city), this can also change the meaning orsymbolic significance of that place. For example, whena major motorsports event was staged in theParliamentary Zone in Australia’s national capital, thischanged the meaning of this place: from that of acarefully developed national symbolic place forcultural, legal and governmental uses to a place ofcommercialism, merchandising and sponsorship(Tranter & Keeffe, 2004). Also, the sporting eventsthemselves benefit from their association with thesymbolism of significant public spaces. Thus the‘location’ of an event can provide a boost to themarketing of that sport (as explained below).The boost to motorsports marketing that comes frombeing located in significant places also increases theimpacts of motorsport (see Figure 1). These impacts(actual and symbolic) support the growth ofconspicuous consumption, pollution and the use offossil fuels, both directly in the events and in the longtermimpacts on the behaviour of motorists andconsumers (Tranter & Lowes, 2005, 2006). Each ofthese is linked to the major social/environmentalchallenges of peak oil and global climate change. Asexplained below, these two forces, in combination, arelikely to destabilise globalisation (Curtis, 2007), whichitself is a major factor in the growth of placemarketing.The significance of major public spacesin Australian citiesPlace is crucial to our reaction to cultural events andphenomena, ranging from graffiti to sport (Cresswell,1992; Westerbeek & Shilbury, 1999). The idea of thefit between sports marketing efforts and place is notnew. For example, Westerbeek and Shilbury (1999)argue that the ‘place’ variable is the most importantpart of the marketing mix for sports services that aredependent on specific facilities. There is also agrowing awareness of the environmental impacts ofsporting events, among both environment and sportingorganisations (Schmidt, 2006; Wolff, 2007). Globalwarming is now seen as an important topic bysporting writers (Wolff, 2007). Yet the literature onsustainability and sports events sometimes focuses onsimplistic technological ‘solutions’ to the environmentalimpact of sports. For example, Wolff (2007) points outthat the “Formula One circuit has already discoveredhybrids and biofuels”, and Schmidt (2006) explainsthat NASCAR will require racing cars to use a lead-freefuel by 2008. Rarely in the literature is there anydiscussion of the way in which the location of sportingevents contributes to their environmental impact, orthe way that particular sports can encourage a cultureof excessive consumption (therefore adding toenvironmental impacts). Although some research hasexamined how the marketing of a place (destinationmarketing) can help promote sport (Harrison-Hill &Chalip, 2006), the way in which the characteristics ofspecific places can assist the marketing of a particularsport is rarely considered in the literature.The analysis of motorsports events in Australiancities in this paper focuses on those events that havebeen staged in urban streetscapes that representsignificant public spaces.An authentic public space is one “where everycitizen is welcome to be present and where the purelyprivate is excluded or restricted” (Franzen, 2002,p.50). A city’s major public spaces are of remarkablesymbolic importance as they are the sites that makevisible its public culture. Zukin (1995) has arguedthat a city’s public spaces are a window into the soulof its public culture. They are therefore “an importantmeans of framing a vision of social life in the city, avision both for those who live there and interact inurban public spaces every day, and for the tourists,commuters, and wealthy folks who are freeto flee the city’s needy embrace” (Zukin, 1995,p.259).In this sense, urban public spaces have a great dealof symbolic power: they “enable us to conceptualiseand represent the city” (Zukin, 1995, p.260). When64 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?any activity is given priority in a city’s public spaces,this indicates that this activity is an acknowledgedand valued part of the local culture.But what happens when these spaces areprivatised, as we have increasingly seen over the pasttwo decades in almost every major city in the affluentworld (Cybriwski, 1999)? One important consequenceis that these public spaces become promotionalvehicles for the profit-making interests that dominatethem (Duncan & Duncan, 1988; Ley, 1987, 1988;Lowes, 2002a, p.113), thus promoting privatised,corporate values. This is particularly relevant when acity’s most important public spaces are handed over tothe motorsports industry and its key sponsorshipinterests – the automobile, tobacco and alcoholindustries. These spaces are then imbued with thevalues of conspicuous consumption and theunrelenting promotion of ‘the good life’ (or perhaps‘the goods life’) that the culture of motorsportcelebrates. This ‘naturalises’ such commercial interestsas self-evident, as part of the general ‘common sense’of society and, therefore, as something to be taken forgranted (Lowes, 1999). Promotional messages whichcelebrate ‘life in the fast lane’ – fast cars, hypermasculinity,smoking and drinking – are privileged.Messages that might call attention to the negativeaspects of privatising public spaces are downplayed,marginalised or excluded altogether. Staging majormotorsports events in important public places adds tothe public approval of this sport, and of all itsattendant commercial interests. This has the effect ofadvancing a city culture that favours the consumerover the citizen as the central point of city life.Commodifying public space serves the interests ofhegemonic groups in society, which may not concordwith the values of ensuring a livable environment forfuture generations.While staging major motorsports spectacles in citystreets is seen as an important aspect of imagemakingfor the city involved, it can also be seen as animportant part of the image-making for the sport ofmotor racing. When parks, waterfronts orparliamentary zones are used to play host tomotorsports events and their profoundly commercialapparatus, they confer legitimacy on these spectacles,and by extension, on the messages they disseminate.The dominant activities in urban public spaces are‘read’ by citizens and tourists alike as indicators of thepriorities of that city and its culture. This may have theeffect of elevating commercial interests above othervalues, including protecting the environment andresources for future generations.The specific ways in which these location effectshave influenced the marketing of motorsport will beillustrated in four case studies. Before examining thesecase studies, the research methods for the paper areoutlined.MethodologyThe research for this paper required a focus on tworelated themes. The first concerned motor racingevents and the second concerned special features ofthe places where these events were located.Places can be seen as spaces that have beeninfused with meaning (Tuan, 1974). Major sportingevents reshape spaces into “sportscapes” (Westerbeek& Shilbury, 1999, p.5), sometimes temporarily (as isthe case for motor racing events in urban streetcircuits). The qualitative research approachesemployed here were chosen to identify the meaningsassociated with motor racing in significant publicplaces in Australian cities. These qualitativeapproaches have been identified as providing thecapability “to provide unique insights into the study ofsport and tourism places” (Higham & Hinch, 2006,p.39), by allowing the reading of underlying meanings(Dann, 2005).This paper incorporated a triangulation approachinvolving multiple methods, namely direct observationof motor racing events, the reading of variousmotorsport ‘texts’ and the analysis of publicly availabledocuments relating to particular public places and theplanning and running of motor racing events (NCA,2000, 2002; Parkinson, 2002). The main researchRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship65

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERmethod was a qualitative form of content analysis thatmore closely matched discourse analysis than apositivist style content analysis (Hardy et al, 2004).Content analysis is not limited to the mechanistic“counting of manifest characteristics” (Neuendorf,2004). This research used a “directed” contentanalysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) using deductivecategory development (Mayring, 2000), based onresearch theme(s) identified prior to the analysis(rather than directly from the text). This approach hasalso been described as a “thematic” analysis orsometimes even a “discourse analysis” (Silverman,2006, p.163). In this case, this discourse analysisincluded the analysis of visual data (e.g. televisioncoverage) as well as the language used in televisioncommentaries. The research also searched forevidence of the way in which the visual aspects of‘place’ in the coverage of motor racing events is usedin the verbal descriptions (e.g. the way in whichracing commentators talked about the place orlocation of the racing events).This analysis facilitated the ‘reading’ of texts and themessages encoded within them. These texts included:television coverage of major motor racing events inurban street circuits by the Australian televisionChannel 10’s sports programmes (and advertisementsassociated with this coverage); an Australian motorracing magazine (Motor Racing Australia) and anAustralian motoring magazine (Wheels); official andunofficial web pages on motorsports events (e.g.CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport), V8Supercars Australia, Gold Coast Indy, FIA and SaveAlbert Park sites); and newspaper coverage of theevents (including letters to the editor).These sources were examined specifically for anymessages (either visual or verbal) relating to therecognition of the symbolic significance of the locationof the motor racing events, as well as the linksbetween motorsports marketing and the marketing ofother products (including cigarettes and alcohol).These research methods were used to gain insightsinto four motorsports events in public street circuits inAustralian cities.Case studies: significant places formotorsports marketing in Australian citiesThe geography of motorsport in Australia differs fromthat in many other countries. A number of majormotorsports events in Australia are staged insignificant public places. While Australia does havepurpose-built racing circuits, major motor racingevents have been held in inner-city street circuits inseveral Australian cities. The Formula One Grand Prixin Melbourne (previously hosted by Adelaide) isunusual in that it is located in a high-density urbanarea, where more than 100,000 people live within3km of the streets used as the racing circuit and more30,000 live within 1km (Urie, 1994). The motorracing events in Australia’s Parliamentary Zone arealso unusual: it is rare for nations to allow their mostsignificant national places to become motor racingcircuits. Australia’s federal politicians have allowed amotor racing event, complete with alcohol advertisingand sponsorship, to take place against the backdrop ofthe nation’s Parliament House.The four case studies examined here are: Canberra’sV8 Supercar events in Australia’s Parliamentary Zone,the Australian Grand Prix in Albert Park in Melbourne,the various motorsports spectacles in the AdelaideParklands, and the Gold Coast Indy events in SurfersParadise. The case studies describe the specialsignificance of the location of these four events andshow how this significance has reinforced themarketing of motorsport and the effectiveness of theassociated sponsorship.Case study 1: Australia’s most significant nationalplace, the Parliamentary Zone in Canberra, as asetting for motorsports marketing and merchandisingIf the promoters of any sport could choose the mostprestigious location in Australia, it is likely that theParliamentary Zone in Canberra (Australia’s capitalcity) would be at top of their list. The ParliamentaryZone is arguably Australia’s most significant nationalplace and is replete with national symbolism. TheNational Capital Plan describes the Zone as “the66 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?physical manifestation of Australian democraticgovernment and the home of the nation’s mostimportant cultural and judicial institutions andsymbols” (NCA, 2002, p.23). According to theParliamentary Zone Review, the Parliamentary Zoneshould be given meaning as “The place of the people,accessible to all Australians so that they can morefully appreciate the collective experience and richdiversity of this country” (NCA, 2000, p.iv).Many features of the Parliamentary Zone landscapeare instantly recognisable as icons of Australiannationalism, among them the new and old ParliamentHouses, the National Gallery, the National Library, theNational Science and Technology Centre and the HighCourt of Australia. Capital Hill, the location ofParliament House and a clearly identifiable backdropto the V8 races held in Canberra, has been describedin a symbolic sense as the place in which “the wholecountry comes together… Parliament House brings thenation together at a colossal central flagpole with theAustralian flag” (Colombijn, 1998, p.579).Three V8 Supercar motor racing events were stagedin Canberra’s Parliamentary Zone (2000, 2001 and2002). The V8 Supercar Formula of motorsport isunique to Australia, involving only two types of car –Holden Commodores and Ford Falcons. In the first ofthe motorsports events staged in the ParliamentaryZone in Australia’s national capital, one of thecommentators made this observation:“Nowhere in the world do you see anything likethis. They run here between the old and the newParliament House. It doesn’t happen withNASCARS around the White House, and it doesn’thappen with Formula One cars around the Houseof Lords, but here the V8s are storming around thenation’s capital, in between our ParliamentHouses.”The V8 racing events characterised a significantdeparture from the style of events normally permittedin the Parliamentary Zone. They were blatantlycommercial activities, replete with merchandising,sponsorship and advertising, staged in a space thatwas until that time carefully constructed as anationally symbolic place for cultural, legal andgovernmental uses. While commercial activities (e.g.special exhibitions at the National Gallery) took placein the Parliamentary Zone prior to this event, thesewere small-scale by comparison, limited to sections ofone building. No previous event had involved such asignificant infrastructure footprint and segregated theParliamentary Zone into public and commercial space.No previous event had required visitors to pay a fee toenter a fenced-off section of the Parliamentary Zone.An advertising slogan for the races, “The Nation’sHeart is Racing”, cleverly exploited the nationalsignificance of the Parliamentary Zone. The circuit forthe V8 races included many of the national icons andmonuments that contribute to a sense of nationalism.During the events, as drivers raced up Kings Avenue,they looked directly at Parliament House, as expressedby one television commentator during the 2002event:“Smoke flies out the back of the Orcon racer asMark Larkham takes aim at the flagpole on the topof the hill here in the nation’s capital...”The motor racing events even provided new identitiesfor particular sections of the Parliamentary Zone,through association with race sponsors. For example,one corner of the race circuit, adjacent to ParliamentHouse, was renamed for the races as Victoria BitterCorner, providing a clear association of beer, fast(Australian) cars and powerful national symbolism.Yet while major motorsports spectacles in city streetsare seen as an important aspect of image-making forthe city, they can also be seen as an important part ofthe image-making for the sport of motor racing.Canberra’s V8 Supercar motor racing events providean excellent example of this. While it was claimed thatthe V8 Supercar event provided an opportunity topromote Canberra to the rest of the nation, and toshowcase the national icons (e.g. Parliament House)to the rest of the world, this argument can beRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship67

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERreversed. Parliament House provided powerful nationalsymbolism to help sell Australian cars and otherproducts, and to help promote motorsport.The organisers of the race (as well as the varioussponsors) were aware of the way in which sponsorsbenefited from the race venue. Evidence for this canbe found in the television coverage of the 2002 race.One commentator was explicit about how the locationof the race gave status and national prominence tomotorsport:“It’s fantastic kudos for the V8 Series – to have aV8 race around the Houses of Parliament – thatdoesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. It’s agreat circuit. It’s hard on cars, but it’s greatpublicity for the V8 series.”In other words, it was not so much that the motorrace showcased Canberra, but that the ParliamentaryZone gave status to motorsport (and its associatedcorporate interests). The prestigious location of therace was a significant factor in sports marketing.Case study 2: Melbourne’s Albert Park – publicparkland or motorsports marketing backdrop?City motorsports events are widely (perhapserroneously) regarded as successful event tourismstrategies that boost the image of the city, contribute tothe local economy and create ‘winner’ associations forthe politicians who champion such spectacles(Kyriakopoulos, 1996; McDonnell et al, 1999). InAustralia, the pursuit of hallmark events of sporting orother kinds became a particularly vigorous contestfollowing the early 1990s’ election of the brashlyentrepreneurial Kennett government in Victoria. Cityofficials apparently embraced the idea thatinternational motorsports events were essential inprojecting a world-class image of their city.There has been little acknowledgment, however, ofthe fact that motorsport benefits from the location of anevent in one of Australia’s most highly valued parklandareas, adjacent to the central business district ofMelbourne – Albert Park. The official website for the2007 Formula 1 ING Australian Grand Prix downplaysthe significance of the location of the event:“It’s the transformation of a leafy, inner suburbanopen space into an international gathering-pointfor some of the biggest movers and shakers inworld sport… A few miles of commuter roadssuddenly become a 5.3 kilometre challenge to thegreatest drivers in the world.”F1 ING Australian Grand Prix, 2007This description of the event understates thesignificance of Albert Park, which is much more thana “leafy, inner suburban open space”. The AustralianGrand Prix in Melbourne is not simply an urban streetcircuit of “commuter roads”. It is held on public roadsin an urban parkland reserve of considerable historicalsignificance. Albert Park is one of Melbourne’s largestinner city park reserves, first proclaimed a public parkin 1864, and is an important recreational area forthousands of local residents (Littlewood & Ward,1998). The “transformation” involves considerabledisruption of the normal activities in the parkland(including active amateur sport and informalrecreation) over a period of months as thousands oftonnes of race infrastructure are trucked into the park(not including the 1,000 tonnes of race equipmentshipped in by the racing teams). No longer is the parka tranquil area of escape from the pressures of urbanlife. It becomes a construction site, and then a site forspectacular consumption for a privileged minority. Italso provides a spectacular setting and backdrop,where the amenity of the park setting and theproximity to the centre of Melbourne allow themotorsports event to benefit from the association withboth historic parkland and the symbolic ‘power’ of thefinancial centre of Melbourne.Television coverage of the racing event makes clearthe proximity of the event to the centre of Melbourne.Commentators sit with a backdrop of the centralbusiness district skyline. This is a visual signifier of thefact that motorsport is a valued and accepted part ofthe business of Melbourne. The Australian Grand Prix68International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?is held in a high-density inner-city area. Within 3km ofthe Albert Park circuit live approximately 100,000people (Urie, 1994). Within 50km of the circuit livealmost 4 million people. Thus the racing eventbecomes much more accessible to spectators than if itwere conducted on a purpose-built track outside theMelbourne metropolitan area.The park itself is highly valued by residents, and bymany citizens of the state of Victoria, as a place thatbelongs to the people. Albert Park is an integralcomponent of Melbourne’s reputation as a city ofparks and gardens. The symbolism of a car race inAlbert Park suggests that the state government hasestablished a set of priorities in which internationalmotorsports organisations and alcohol and tobaccocompanies are given precedence over the health andwell-being of the citizens of Victoria (Tranter & Lowes,2005). The commercialisation of the public openspace of Albert Park that occurs through the GrandPrix is symbolic of an ideology that values privateprofit above sustainability.Case study 3: The Adelaide Parklands – heritageversus mega-sports marketing and sponsorshipThe location of motorsports events in the AdelaideParklands has provided a marketing boost tomotorsport (and its associated products) in a way thatis similar to that seen by the staging of the Grand Prixin Melbourne. These parklands are “of unique culturalvalue, serving an important environmental,recreational and tourism role” (Planning SA, 2003).They also have a significant symbolic value as animportant piece of urban history and as a trademark ofcity planning in South Australia (Gilfillan, 2000; vanVliet, 1991). While the parklands of most other citieshave been significantly eroded by developmentpressures, the Adelaide Parklands are the notableresult of the continued preservation of the recreationaland heritage value of 700 hectares of parklandsurrounding a planned city of “one square mile” thatwas originally designated in 1837 by Colonel Light,the Surveyor General (Adelaide Parklands PreservationAssociation Inc, 2004). Some state governmentministers have considered the declaration of theparklands in the world heritage listing (Gilfillan,2000).The Australian Formula One Grand Prix, with all itsassociated advertising and sponsorship, was held inthe street circuit in the Adelaide Parklands surroundingthe square of the Adelaide city centre from 1986 to1995, when it was moved to Melbourne. From 1999a V8 Supercar event (the Clipsal 500) has been anannual event in the Adelaide Parklands, using a streetcircuit similar to that used for the earlier Formula Oneevents. As in Albert Park, these events represent asignificant departure from the low-impact sporting andrecreational activities that had hitherto been allowed inthe Adelaide Parklands. The motor racing events havea protracted impact on public use of this parkland.Although public roads are closed for only 10 days, thedisruption from construction and removal of raceinfrastructure lasts for months.The organisers of the 2007 Clipsal 500 eventappreciate the proximity of the event to centralAdelaide, and argue that this is an opportunity to letAdelaide share in the excitement:“As a benefit of Adelaide’s unique circuit with itscombination of near downtown city streets andparkland areas, the atmosphere of the event flowsover to adjacent entertainment precincts. AtClipsal 500 time, Adelaide is party town withstreet parties and other forms of entertainment, allof course with a motor sport flavour.”(Clipsal 500, 2007)The staging of major motorsports events in theAdelaide Parklands has immense symbolic imagery. Itindicates that motorsport (and associated corporateinterests) has a higher priority than the protection of aprecious heritage – “arguably the most preciousheritage of the city of Adelaide” (Gilfillan, 2000). Theorganisers and promoters of the events exploit thelocation of the race. The television coverage makes thelocation of the circuit (right next to the centre ofAdelaide) clear to the viewers. The coverage uses theRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship69

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?trees and the buildings of central Adelaide as part ofthe backdrop to the race, which is much moreinteresting than a bland purpose-built circuit. The racetelecast features repeated shots of the racing carsappearing to drive out of central Adelaide into theparkland. In TV coverage of the Adelaide Clipsal 500race in March 2004, the Channel 10 commentaryincluded the following:The official website for the event includes:“It’s a race, a party, an eyeful and an earful …96 hours of on and off track entertainment in oneof the world’s most famous beach cities … foursizzling days and nights of high octaneentertainment – Lexmark Indy 300 style.”(Lexmark Indy 300, 2007a)RESEARCH PAPER“Right now the focus is South Australia and thestreets of Adelaide… You can see the proximity ofthis racing track to the CBD in Adelaide… This isthe Adelaide Parkland Circuit… wonderful event…the Clipsal 500… lots of colour, a grand theatre ofmotorsport … Just outside the city centre, theAdelaide street circuit utilises most of the famousFormula One layout”(Channel 10 Australia, 20 March 2004)The organisers of the race appear to recognise that thelocation of the event, in the Adelaide Parklands, is afactor in attracting people to motorsport. During thecoverage of the 2004 race, the AVESCO (AustralianVee Eight Supercar Company) chairman commented:“To bring a whole stack of people here whootherwise might not be interested in motorsport –you might just bring a few people into the fold…That’s why we’re the fastest growing sport in thecountry.”Case study 4: The Gold Coast Indy – co-sponsorshipof ‘sun, sand and surf’ lifestyle and motorsportArguably the clearest example of how the location of amotorsports event supports the marketing of motorracing and associated activities and products is theGold Coast Indy event, staged in Surfers Paradise,Queensland, each year since 1991. Since 1994 theIndy-Car race (known also as CART racing –Championship Auto Racing Teams) has been run inconjunction with races for Australia’s V8 Supercars.The 2007 Gold Coast Indy event is marketed as a partof the party lifestyle of Surfers Paradise in Queensland.“The Lexmark Indy 300 is internationallyrenowned as not just another motorsport event,but a glamorous and fun week-long party set inone of Australia’s most picturesque locations –Surfers Paradise beach on the glittering GoldCoast… the noise, colour and excitement… theevents atmosphere, creating an experience like noother… you've got one hell of a party!”(Lexmark Indy 300, 2007b)Like the Grand Prix events in Albert Park, the Indy-Carevents in the Gold Coast involved sponsorship by bothalcohol and tobacco companies, though tobaccosponsorship was banned in all sporting events inAustralia from October 2006. (Prior to this date, anexception was made for international events, meaningthat the Indy events and the Grand Prix events werepermitted to include tobacco sponsorship.)Queensland’s Gold Coast is known throughoutAustralia and much of the rest of the world as“Australia’s best expression of ‘tourism urbanisation’, acity built specifically to enable large numbers of peopleto visit for a short period for the consumption of fun… sun, sand, surf abound in promotional materialadvertising the Gold Coast” (Robinson et al, 2000,p.170).The most developed part of the Gold Coast, and thearea that attracts the greatest tourist numbers, isSurfers Paradise, Australia’s best expression of aculture in which people are encouraged to find theirmeaning and identity through the consumption oflavish entertainment and spectacles. The area isrenowned for its high-rise apartment development.Through a deliberately managed promotion aimed at70 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?tourism and real estate development, the Gold Coastin Queensland is now permeated with an image ofexcitement, paradise, glamour, international standardaccommodation and entertainment, the fast life andyouthful experience. An international motor racingspectacle appears to fit the Gold Coast’s tourist-basedeconomy better than that of any of the other locationsdiscussed in this paper. The location of the racereinforces the perception that motorsport, and all of itsassociated activities, should be celebrated.Television coverage of the Gold Coast Indymotorsports events focuses on the distinguishingfeatures of Surfers Paradise in the promotion of theevent. There are repeated scenic shots of the setting ofthe race, the visual signifiers of the Gold Coast (thesea, waves, surfers, luxury cruisers, sand, rivers andskyscrapers) interspersed with colourful racing carsspeeding around the Surfers Paradise circuit. Thesubliminal message is that fast cars, masculine daring,cigarette sponsorship, alcohol advertising andconsumption and ornamental women are all anaccepted and ‘normalised’ part of the landscape ofAustralia’s Gold Coast. Even the name ‘SurfersParadise’ adds to the idea of the consumption of fun.The special symbolism of Surfers Paradise that hasbeen actively promoted by successive tourist and realestate developers is now used to promote motorsport.During the television coverage of the 2003 LexmarkGold Coast Indy 300, a commentator standing on thebeach made an explicit connection between GoldCoast imagery and symbolism and motorsport:“What a fantastic view. This is one of the bestbeaches in the world, and guess what, we’ve gotan Indy track just here within walking distance,one of the best tracks in the world. This is a totalpackage, this has all the elements of sun, sandand speed.”(Channel 10 Australia, October 2003)An important issue associated with the Gold CoastIndy motorsports event is the way in which its locationenhances the symbolic imagery and hence the powerof sponsorship by alcohol companies (and tobaccocompanies before 2006) associated with the event.Researchers have already identified the importance ofco-sponsors’ third-party advertising for publicity fortobacco companies:“The symbolic imagery that is linked withparticular cigarette brand names may be enhancedwhen surrounded by other products possessingsimilar desired symbolic qualities.”(Dewhirst & Hunter, 2002, p.146)This same principle operated when the symbolicimagery of Surfers Paradise surrounded the tobaccoand alcohol sponsorship of the Indy and V8 Supercarmotorsports events. Tobacco and alcohol companiesbenefited from an association of their products withboth the glamour of an international event and theexciting image of the Gold Coast. Alcohol, cigarettesand fast cars were presented as an officially sanctionedcombination in the Gold Coast. This, it could beargued, is an important way in which the geographyof motorsport contributes to the marketing and imagemakingof health-damaging products. Yet there may befar more serious public and environmental healthimplications from the location of motorsports events insignificant public places, relating to wider issuesfacing human society, with peak oil and global climatechange being two of the main concerns.Challenges for societyThere is a growing awareness in the scientific andacademic communities, and among the generalpublic, of the emerging threats to our economies andsocieties and even to our survival as a species(Flannery, 2005; Homer-Dixon, 2006; Leggett, 2006;Monbiot, 2006). For example, Thomas Homer-Dixonidentifies five “tectonic stresses … accumulating deepunderneath the surface of our societies”. These hecalls “population stress”, “energy stress – above allfrom the increasing scarcity of conventional oil”,RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship71

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPER“environmental stress from worsening damage to ourland, water, forests and fisheries”, “climate stress fromchanges in the makeup of our atmosphere” and“economic stress resulting from instabilities in theglobal economic system” (Homer-Dixon, 2006, p.11).He adds to this list two “multipliers”, which he argues“combine with the five stresses to make breakdownmore likely, widespread and severe. The first multiplieris the rising speed and global connectivity of ouractivities, technologies and societies. The second isthe escalating power of small groups to destroy thingsand people” (Homer-Dixon, 2006, p.13).A key argument of Homer-Dixon is that, incombination, any two or more of these seven factorscan produce negative synergies, perhaps leading towhat he calls “synchronous failure”. In response tosceptics who claim his views are alarmist, he argues:“we can’t know for sure what our future holds… butwe can still say confidently that we’re sliding towardsa planetary emergency; that the risk of major socialbreakdown in general – the result of something likesynchronous failure specifically – is growing” (Homer-Dixon, 2006, pp.16-19).This paper concentrates on the importance of justtwo of the seven factors identified by Homer-Dixon –energy stress, or ‘peak oil’, and global climate change.As Homer-Dixon argues (p.12), “energy is society’scritical master resource: when it’s scarce and costly,everything we try to do becomes far harder”. Globalclimate change is now recognised as presenting anemergency. These two issues are the focus of thispaper because they are most clearly linked to theimpact of motorsport on sustainability.Peak oil is arguably one of the most importantissues that will affect society’s ability to maintainconsumption-based lifestyles (Newman et al, 2009).Peak oil is the time at which the world’s production ofoil reaches a peak, after which production mustinevitably decline, as has already occurred in 54 ofthe 65 most important oil-producing nations (Aleklett,2006). The precise effects of peak oil are difficult topredict, but given that “oil is the lifeblood of moderncivilisation” (Hirsch et al, 2006), the potentialoutcomes of peak oil are, at the very least, disruptive.Growing numbers of researchers expect the peak tooccur within the next few years (Kunstler, 2006;Leggett, 2006; Vidal, 2005).Some researchers assume that the ‘laws’ ofeconomics mean that peak oil will promote higherprices, which will “provoke more drilling and thus willrender more oil” (Shah, 2004, p.26) or will lead to asmooth transition from oil to other products and formsof energy. Yet a growing number of researchersquestion such optimism. They point out that even ifhuge new oil fields can be found (an increasinglyunlikely scenario), it will take a “long time to produceit, and a long time to transport it to market” (Leggett,2006, p.78). They warn that no combination of newtechnologies or energy sources can be developedquickly enough to replace oil in time to avoidwidespread economic collapse (Deffeyes, 2005;Goodstein, 2005; Hirsch, 2005; Kunstler, 2006).A key consideration regarding the impact of peak oilis its timing: some researchers contend that if peak oiloccurs within the next 10-20 years, it puts the wellbeingof both industrial and post-industrial societies atrisk (Parker, 2005), possibly leading to what has beendescribed as a “second great depression”, swelling thenumbers living in poverty and leading to the collapseof globalisation (Campbell, 2005).Curtis (2007) argues that globalisation may bedestabilised by a combination of the “predictedimpacts of global warming and peak oil (depletion)”.These are likely to cause disruption to transport andincrease business risk and food and goods prices, and“the long distance exploitation of cheap labour maylose much of its economic profitability in comingdecades, and supply chains may contract to regionaland local lengths” (Curtis, 2007, p.385).Scientists are reporting in the strongest terms thatcivilisation itself is threatened by global warming, anissue that can no longer afford to be ignored. “Recentgreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions place the Earthperilously close to dramatic climate change that couldrun out of our control, with great dangers for humansand other creatures” (Hansen et al, 2007). These are72 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?not the words of radical eco-warriors but come fromeminent scientists writing in a conservative, peerreviewedacademic journal. The levels of GHGsexisting now have the potential to produce long-termcatastrophic weather changes, food shortages andmass human migration (Lovelock, 2009).So what has peak oil and global climate change gotto do with motorsports marketing or place marketing?First, if the combination of peak oil and climatechange (perhaps with other forces) leads to thecollapse of globalisation, then the logic of placemarketing through mega-sporting events in aglobalised world also collapses. The standardeconomic boosterism arguments for hosting megasportsevents disintegrate. If the world is about toshrink again, and if the economic growth that issustained through access to cheap and reliable oilsupplies is about to come to an end, then so too arethe lifestyles of spectacular consumption that go handin-handwith hallmark motorsports spectacles.Second, motorsports events (and their associatedcorporate interests) can be seen as representing manyof the attitudes and behaviours that will need to bechanged or abandoned if the world is to have anyhope of providing a livable future for the humanspecies (and several million others). If this soundsalarmist, then this is probably because readers areinadequately informed or are unaware of the potentialnegative impacts of the twin challenges of peak oiland climate change.The link between sport and environmental issueshas been identified by the Australian ConservationFoundation (ACF), which developed a policy on theenvironmental impacts of sport. This recognises thatdifferent sporting events have different environmentalimpacts. It divides sporting activity into three areas byreason of their environmental impacts: “sports that arecurrently largely ecologically sustainable, but can stillbe improved in some form”; “sports that are currentlynot ecologically sustainable, but which may besignificantly improved in sustainability because theircore activity is not inherently unsustainable”; and“sports that can never be ecologically sustainable, normade significantly more sustainable, due to theinherent nature of their core activity” (ACF, 2003).The ACF policy document goes on to recommendthat certain sporting activities should be encouraged inpreference to those “that require external processedsources of energy… or require significant modificationto environmental conditions and processes” or that“generate significant ecological impacts through themanufacturing of new equipment necessary for thatactivity” or that “require the construction of specificfacilities and infrastructure”.Most motorsports events (particularly those currentlystaged in Australia’s urban street circuits) would notrate highly in terms of their ecological sustainability.The inherent nature of motorsport’s core activitiesinvolves considerable pollution (including GHGpollution) and use of fossil fuel energy: in themanufacture and transport of the equipment neededfor the sport, including the vehicles themselves, andthe construction (and subsequent removal) of the raceinfrastructure in city street circuits; and in theoperation of the vehicles during the events.When motorsports events are held in street circuits,they can also disrupt ecologically supportive activitiessuch as walking and cycling as well as (at least in thecase of Albert Park in Melbourne) participation inother sports. Tranter and Lowes (2006) identifiedpotential positive environmental impacts andmessages of motorsport. Yet such positive impacts aretrivial and poorly developed in comparison to thedamage (actual and symbolic) created by motorsport.Claims by some in the motorsports industry that thesport can raise awareness of environmental issuesseem like desperate attempts to legitimise a clearlyunsustainable sport. It is hard to imagine a moreenvironmentally damaging sport than motor racing.Elsewhere, Tranter and Lowes (2005) have examinedimpacts of motorsport on public health and onenvironmental health (Tranter & Lowes, 2006).Note that is not just the events themselves thatcontribute to resource depletion and GHG creation.Motorsports events are likely to involve long-termimpacts on driver behaviour and on the sales of motorRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship73

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERvehicles, as well as on the continual growth inconsumerist lifestyles. Yet the direct impacts ofmotorsports events on GHG creation are significant inthemselves. For example, Canberra’s local electricityand gas supplier (ACTEW-AGL) withdrew its supportfor the V8 Supercar event after 2002 due to criticismabout the inconsistency of a corporation with ‘green’credentials supporting an environmentally damagingevent. “The car race would have generatedgreenhouse gas emissions equal to or exceeding thegreenhouse gas savings each year from theACTEW-AGL GreenChoice programme” (Messenger,2002, p.3).While motorsports enthusiasts may argue thatmotorsports events have a minimal impact on peakoil and global climate change, this impact is fargreater than can be appreciated by simply measuringthe fuel used by racing cars. More importantly, thesymbolic impact of motorsports events in certainpublic places is a powerful signifier of consumeristlifestyles. For example, there is a clear link betweenmotorsport and the marketing of motor vehicles,themselves major contributors to GHGs and fossil fueluse. But even accepting the argument thatmotorsports events are only a minor contributor toGHG creation and the depletion of fossil fuels, it isnot a great stretch to consider the symbolism of thestaging of motorsports in significant public places.The ethos outlined by Honda in myearthdream.comsuggests that “Small changes really can make a hugedifference.” Applying this logic, even if banningmotorsport in city street circuits has only a smallimpact on reducing overall fossil fuel use directly, itmay well make a huge difference to thinking andaction on global climate change. If motorsports eventsin places like Albert Park were to be stopped, and ifthose who made that decision explained the reasonsfor it (including the urgency of addressing climatechange), then this in itself would generate publicawareness of the need for major cultural change.Arguably the major impact of allowing megamotorsportsevents to be staged in significant urbanplaces is the way in which this reinforces a lifestyle ofconspicuous (and growing and excessive)consumption. The products associated with Australianmotorsports events (through sponsorship) includeaviation companies, oil companies, car manufacturers,financial service companies, cosmetics companies,brewing companies and (until October 2006) cigarettecompanies. While many of these may seem to havelittle relevance to peak oil and global climate change,in reality all are important – to both issues.The viability of most companies depends on cheapoil. The continued success (and growth) of mostcorporations leads to increased economic growth andhence to an increased demand for resources andhigher levels of GHG creation. To deal with the issuesof peak oil and global climate change will require afundamental re-think of the underlying assumptions ofmodern economies and societies. The currentsituation, globally, requires far-reaching actions,including what has been labelled a “curtailment”(Murphy, 2006) or a “powerdown” strategy (Heinberg,2004), whereby societies must drastically reduceconsumption of fossil fuel energy and the productsderived from it. This means: consume less, travel less,want less, waste less and do less. It means ‘curtail’rather than just ‘conserve’, indicating how desperatethe situation now is.Massive and permanent social changes will beneeded. Failure to do so is likely to mean that globalwarming will “destroy economies and ecosystems ifmore than a small fraction of remaining coal is burnt.Burning most of the remaining oil and gas will havethe same effect” (Leggett, 2006, p.198). The contrastbetween such strategies and the staging of hallmarkmotorsports events in the centres of major Australiancities is stark.74 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?ConclusionIn 2000 a young army officer with a passion formotorsport completed his honours thesis examininghow Canberra’s V8 Supercar event changed themeaning of the Parliamentary Zone (Keeffe, 2000).The conclusion of his thesis was that the race was“out of place”. Keeffe quoted two Canberra residents:“Our point is that the race is in the wrong place.We feel that the best location for a car race is ona designated track… the Parliamentary Triangle[Zone] which for [reasons of] safety… symbolism,and the totally inappropriate exploitation ofnational assets, is not a suitable location...”(Rees & Davey, 2000; emphasis added)Keeffe argued that the race was out of place becausethe staging of a major motorsports spectacle wasinconsistent with the meanings ascribed to theParliamentary Zone by its official landscape authors,including the National Capital Authority. SpecificallyKeeffe argued that “the commercial interests inherentin the race were inappropriate for this landscape”,which was meant to be the place of the people,accessible to all Australians (Keeffe, 2000, p.83).This paper extends this argument about motorsportsevents being “out of place”. Because of the precariousstate of the world’s environment, staging motorsportsevents in significant public places is incompatible witha responsible approach to protecting the ‘livability’ ofthe planet. Researchers and citizens can ask whether,in a world faced with peak oil and increasingly likelyglobal climate change, it is appropriate to hand over acity’s public spaces to a sport that symbolises much ofwhat will need to change in order to meet thesechallenges. The likely impacts of peak oil and climatechange will probably be felt by the present generation.Indeed, increases in extreme weather events showthat climate change is affecting societies now(Flannery, 2005).To prepare economies for peak oil and to avoid theworst impacts of climate change requires dramaticreductions in the use of fossil fuels (and hence GHGgeneration). Achieving this will require an economythat is not based on incessant growth (i.e. growth thatis strongly associated with increases in resource useand pollution). The type of sport that is marketedthrough allowing sport to be staged in significantpublic spaces is powerfully symbolic of a willingnessto maintain or undermine the livability of futureenvironments.Earlier in this paper the quote from Hall (1989)explained how decisions about hallmark events involvea process that depends on the values of thoseconcerned (e.g. individuals, interest groups andcorporations). There is a need to re-assess the valueson which the decision-making processes about thelocation of motorsports events are based. It isimperative that the values of key decision-makerstransform from concern with economic growth andprivate profit at all costs towards a genuine concernfor health, well-being and sustainability. Instead ofsupporting environmentally damaging sportingactivities, it is time that civic leaders showed theirunderstanding of and commitment to a sustainablefuture through a policy of reserving their city’ssignificant public spaces for sporting events that arebest practice models for sustainability.If racing events remain the event of choice for themodern-day spectacle, then cycling, running orwalking events represent far more appropriatealternatives. Alternatively, events such as theAustralian Grand Prix could be replaced with “car-freedays” (Badiozamani, 2003), an initiative that hasalready been implemented in cities throughout theworld. In such ways, significant public spaces couldbe used to promote and sponsor activities and eventsthat have a positive impact on future generations.This paper focused on Australian cities. Thearguments, however, apply to any city wheremotorsports events are staged in significant publicplaces rather than in purpose-built circuits. Theconceptual framework outlined here (Figure 1) may beuseful for decision-makers considering a placemarketing strategy involving a motorsports mega-eventRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship75

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?for their city. In particular, this paper highlights thevalue of a holistic understanding of the impact of thelocation of mega-motorsports events.Epiloguecapital was about to end, and that the economicreasons for staging mega-sports events (always hotlycontested) could no longer be validly argued. We canlook back to a time where we realised that themarketing of sporting events could not be consideredindependently of major challenges facing the world.RESEARCH PAPERLet’s take a look into the future, 30 years ahead(though the scenario that follows could easily occurearlier or later). Peak oil has passed, accompanied bywidespread economic collapse, poverty, starvation andongoing wars over remaining oil supplies. Coincidingwith the passing of peak oil, climate change hasentered a catastrophic stage at which unpredictablefeedback effects have led to a runaway increase intemperatures, prolonged droughts and more frequentand severe bushfires, floods and hurricanes. Incombination, these have produced an environmentthat is increasingly unlivable for humans and millionsof other species.At this stage, our children may well ask us: “Yourealised 30 years ago that oil production was about topeak globally, and that human activity, particularly intransport, was responsible for climate change likely tohave catastrophic impacts?” We will answer: “Yes.”Our children may then ask: “And you allowedmotorsports events, using huge amounts of fuel,creating greenhouse gases, and encouraging a cultureof conspicuous consumption, to be staged insignificant urban spaces, adding to the glorification ofa sport that symbolised much of what you knew weneeded to change?”Now let us consider an alternative scenario, one thatis also vastly different from today. Our lifestyles aresimpler, more locally based, with stronger localcommunities and local food production, sustainabletransport systems and energy sources based on solar,tidal and geothermal sources. We can recall the timeat which our political leaders decided to place thehealth of present and future generations ahead of theshort-term profit-making interests of privatecompanies. We can recall a time when our leaderssuddenly realised that the period of flexible global© 2009 International Marketing ReportsAcknowledgmentsThe inspiration for the title of this paper came fromthe titles of the paper on graffiti by Tim Creswell(1992) and the thesis by Timothy Keeffe (2000).See below for details.BiographiesPaul Tranter is a senior lecturer in geography at theSchool of Physical, Environmental & MathematicalSciences, University of New South Wales. His researchinterests include child-friendly environments andresilient cities, the public health impacts ofmotorsport, and the promotion of active transportthrough the concept of ‘effective speed’. His recentresearch features an examination of the implications ofpeak oil for children and child-friendly cities.Mark Lowes is an associate professor in thedepartment of communication at the University ofOttawa. His primary research area is sport andcommunity development. Most recently he hasinvestigated the role played by megasport events inthe economic and cultural growth strategies of cities.76 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?ReferencesAdelaide Parklands Preservation Association Inc. (2004) AdelaideParklands – a Brief History. Retrieved 15 April 2004 from:http://www.adelaide-parklands.org/parkhist.htmAleklett, K. (2006) Peak oil, risks and Sweden’s plan formitigation. Uppsala Hydrocarbon Depletion Study Group, UppsalaUniversity. Retrieved 10 August 2007 from:http://www.aspo-australia.org.au/References/Bruce/Japan/Aleklett-Kyoto-paper-4bf.pdfArnold, A., Fischer, A., Hatch, J. & Paix, B. (1989) The GrandPrix, road accidents and the philosophy of hallmark events. InSyme, G.J., Shaw, B.J., Fenton, D.M. & Mueller, W.S. (eds), ThePlanning and Evaluation of Hallmark Events, 186-194.Aldershot: Gower.Australian Conservation Foundation (2003) ACF PolicyStatement: SPORT. Retrieved 7 October 2007 from:http://www.acfonline.org.au/asp/pages/document.asp?IdDoc=743Badiozamani, G. (2003) Car-free days: a shift in the planningparadigm, Natural Resources Forum 27, 300-303.Campbell, C. (2005) The Second Great Depression: Causes &Responses. Energy Bulletin. Retrieved 14 December 2005 from:http://www.energybulletin.net/5944.htmlChalip, L. & Leyns, A. (2002) Local business leveraging of asport event: managing an event for economic benefit, Journal ofSport Management 16(2), 132-158.Chalip, L. & McGuirty, J. (2004) Bundling sport events with thehost destination, Journal of Sport Tourism 9(3), 267-282.Clipsal 500. (2007) Inside Clipsal 500. Retrieved 9 October2007 from: http://www.clipsal500.com.au/2007/version6/9_about.htmlColombijn, F. (1998) Canberra: a sheep in wolf's clothing,International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 22(4),565-581.Cresswell, T. (1992) The crucial ‘where’ of graffiti: a geographicalanalysis of reactions to graffiti in New York, Environment andPlanning D: Society and Space 10, 329-334.Crompton, J. (1993) Sponsorship of sport by tobacco and alcoholcompanies: a review of the issues, Journal of Sport and SocialIssues 17, 148-167.Curtis, F. (2007) Climate change, peak oil, and globalization:contradictions of natural capital, Review of Radical PoliticalEconomics 39(3), 385-390.Cybriwski, R. (1999) Changing patterns of urban public space:observations and assessments from the Tokyo and New Yorkmetropolitan areas, Cities 16(4), 223-231.Dann, G.M.S. (2005) Content/semiotic analysis: applications fortourism research. In Aramberri, J. & Butler, R. (eds), TourismDevelopment: Issues for a Vulnerable Industry. Clevedon: ChannelView Publications.Deffeyes, K.S. (2005) Beyond Oil: the View from Hubbert’s Peak.New York: Hill and Wang.Dewhirst, T. & Hunter, A. (2002) Tobacco sponsorship of FormulaOne and CART auto racing: tobacco brand exposure andenhanced symbolic imagery through co-sponsors’ third partyadvertising, Tobacco Control 11, 146-150.Duncan, J. & Duncan, N. (1988) (Re)reading the landscape,Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 6, 117-126.Dwyer, L., Forsyth, P. & Spurr, R. (2003) Economic evaluation ofspecial events: a re-assessment. Proceedings of the Asia PacificTourism Association Ninth Annual Conference, July.F1 ING Australian Grand Prix (2007) Community Brochure.Retrieved 9 October 2007 from:http://cars.grandprix.com.au/default.aspx?s=community_brochureFlannery, T. (2005) The Weather Makers: the History and FutureImpact of Climate Change. Melbourne: The Text PublishingCompany.Franzen, J. (2002) How to be Alone. Toronto: HarperCollins.Gibson, T. & Lowes, M.D. (2006) Urban Communication:Production, Text, Context. New York: Roman and LittlefieldPublishers.Gilfillan, I. (2000) South Australian Motor Sport (Miscellaneous)Amendment Bill, Extract from Hansard, Legislative Council 4 July2000. Retrieved 15 April 2004 from:http://sa.democrats.org.au/parlt/autumn2000/0704_g.htmGoodstein, D. (2005) Out of Gas: the End of the Age of Oil.New York: Norton.Gotham, K.F. (2002) Marketing Mardi Gras: commodification,spectacle and the political economy of tourism in New Orleans,Urban Studies 39(10), 1735-1756.Hall, C.M. (1989) The Politics of Hallmark Events. In Syme, G.J.,Shaw, B.J., Fenton, D.M. & Mueller, W.S. (eds), The Planningand Evaluation of Hallmark Events 219-241. Avebury: Aldershot.Hansen, J., Sato, M., Kharecha, P., Russell, G., Lea, D.W. &Siddall, M. (2007) Climate change and trace gases, PhilosophicalTransactions of the Royal Society A 365, 1925-1954.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship77

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?RESEARCH PAPERHardy, C., Harley, B. & Phillips, N. (2004) Discourse analysisand content analysis: two solitudes, Qualitative Methods(Newsletter of the American Political Science Association)2(1), 19-22.Harrison-Hill, T. & Chalip, L. (2006) Marketing sport tourism:creating synergy between sport and destination. In Gibson, H.(ed.), Sport Tourism: Concepts and Theories 170-188.London: Routledge.Heinberg, R. (2004) PowerDown: Options and Actions for aPost-Carbon World. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers.Higham, J. & Hinch, T. (2006). Sport and tourism research:a geographic approach, Journal of Sport and Tourism 11(1),31-49.Hirsch, R.L. (2005) The Inevitable Peaking of World OilProduction, Atlantic Council Bulletin XVI(3), 1-10.Hirsch, R.L., Bezdek, R. & Wendling, R. (2006) Peaking ofworld oil production and its mitigation, The American Instituteof Chemical Engineers Journal 52(1), 2-8.Homer-Dixon, T. (2006) The Upside of Down: Catastrophe,Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization. Toronto: Knopf.Hsieh, H. & Shannon, S.E. (2005) Three approaches toqualitative content analysis, Qualitative Health Research 15(9),1277-1288.Keeffe, T. (2000) A Race Out of Place: The Changing Meaning ofPlace in the Parliamentary Zone, BA Hons Thesis. UnpublishedBA Honours, School of Geography and Oceanography, UniversityCollege, University of New South Wales, Australian Defence ForceAcademy, Canberra.Kunstler, J.H. (2006) The Long Emergency: Surviving theConverging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century. New York:Atlantic Monthly Press.Kyriakopoulos, V. (1996) And the winner is... Melbourne. TheBulletin, 19 March, 86.Leggett, J. (2006) Half Gone: Oil, Gas Hot Air and the GlobalEnergy Crisis. London: Portobello.Lexmark Indy 300. (2007a) Power on: The Event. Retrievedfrom: http://www.indy.com.au/event/index.htmLexmark Indy 300. (2007b) Power on: Entertainment. Retrievedfrom: http://www.indy.com.au/entertainment/index.htmLey, D. (1987) Styles of the times: liberal and neo-conservativelandscapes in inner Vancouver, 1968-1986, Journal of HistoricalGeography 13(1), 40-56.Ley, D. (1988) Landscape as spectacle: world’s fairs and theculture of heroic consumption, Environment and Planning D:Society and Space 6, 191-212.Littlewood, D. & Ward, H. (1998) The Save Albert Parkcampaign: opposing the use of inner-city public parkland for theMelbourne Grand Prix, Festival Management and Event Tourism5, 159-165.Lovelock, J. (2009) The Vanishing Face of Gaia: a Final Warning.London: Allen Lane.Lowes, M.D. (1999) Inside the Sports Pages: Work Routines,Professional Ideologies and the Manufacture of Sports News.Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Lowes, M.D. (2002a) Indy Dreams and Urban Nightmares:Speed Merchants, Spectacle, and the Struggle over Public Spacein the World-Class City. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Lowes, M.D. (2002b) Major league sports, civic discourse andthe ‘world-class’ city. In Fergusson, S. & Shade, L. (eds), CivicDiscourse and Cultural Politics in Canada: A Cacophony ofVoices. Ablex Publishing.Mayring, P. (2000) Qualitative content analysis, Forum:Qualitative Social Research (online journal) 1(2). Retrieved 18December 2007 from: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/2-00/2-00mayring-e.htmMcDonnell, I., Allen, J. & O’Toole, W. (1999) Festival and SpecialEvent Management. Brisbane: John Wiley and Sons.Messenger, R. (2002, 13 June) ACTEW-AGL pulls out ofSupercar deal after green backlash. The Canberra Times, p.3.Monbiot, G. (2006) Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning.London: Penguin.Murphy, P. (2006) Community and Curtailment. Energy Bulletin.Retrieved 16 September 2006 from:http://www.energybulletin.net/newswire.php?id=20501NCA (2000) The Parliamentary Zone Review (Outcomes).Canberra: National Capital Authority.NCA (2002) Consolidated National Capital Plan. Canberra:National Capital Authority.Neuendorf, K.A. (2004) Content analysis: a contrast andcomplement to discourse analysis, Qualitative Methods(Newsletter of the American Political Science Association) 2(1),33-36.Newman, P., Beatley, T., & Boyer, H. (2009) Resilient Cities:Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change. Washington, DC:Island Press.Parker, A. (2005) Southeast Australia uncontrolled oildependence is a threat to national security which could destroythe economy and contribute to destabilising the climate. Paperpresented at the 28th Australasian Transport Research Forum,Sydney, September 2005.78 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Is motorsport “a race out of place”?Parkinson, J.A. (2002) Performance Audit Report: V8 Car Racesin Canberra – Costs and Benefits. Canberra: Australian CapitalTerritory Auditor-General’s Office.Pawson, E. (1999) Remaking places. In Le Heron, R., Murphy,L., Forer, P. & Goldstone, M. (eds), Explorations in HumanGeography: Encountering Place 345-367. Auckland: OxfordUniversity Press.Planning SA (2003) Planning Strategy for Metropolitan Adelaide.Retrieved 21 April 2004 from:http://www.planning.sa.gov.au/pub-pdf/857p.pdfRees, J. & Davey, J. (2000, 6 June) Parliamentary Triangle is justthe wrong venue. The Canberra Times, p.8.Robinson, G., Loughran, R.J. & Tranter, P.J. (2000) Australiaand New Zealand: Economy, Society and Environment. London:Arnold.Roche, M. (1994) Mega-events and urban policy, Annals ofTourism Research 21(1), 1-19.Schmidt, C.W. (2006) Putting the earth in play: environmentalawareness and sports, Environmental Health Perspectives114(5), 286-295.Shah, S. (2004) Crude: the Story of Oil. New York: Allen andUnwin.Silverman, D. (2006) Interpreting Qualitative Data (Third Edition).London: Sage Publications.Smith, A. (2005) Reimaging the city: the value of sportinitiatives, Annals of Tourism Research 32(1), 217-236.Stevenson, D. (1998) The art of the Games: leisure, tourism andthe cultural Olympiad. In Rowe, D. & Lawrence, G. (eds),Tourism, Leisure, Sport: Critical Perspectives. Sydney: HodderHeadline.The West Australian. (2007, 9 October) Greenhouse gas levelsdangerously high. The West Australian.Tranter, P.J. & Keeffe, T.J. (2004) Motor racing in Australia’sParliamentary Zone: Successful event tourism or the Emperor’sNew Clothes? Urban Policy and Research 22(2), 169-187.Tranter, P.J. & Lowes, M.D. (2005) The place of motorsport inpublic health: an Australian perspective, Health and Place 11(4),379-391.Tranter, P.J. & Lowes, M.D. (2006) Communicating urban valuesthrough motorsport events: the case of Australia’s “HighPerformance” cities. In Gibson, T. & Lowes, M.D. (eds), UrbanCommunication: Production, Text, Context 165-176. New York:Roman and Littlefield Publishers Inc.Tuan, Y. (1974). Topophilia: a Study of Environmental Perception,Attitudes and Values. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Urie, C. (1994) Doctors’ Working Group Report on the HealthImpact of the Albert Park Grand Prix. Melbourne. Retrieved 29August 2002 from: http://www.save-albertpark.org.au/sapweb/pDW1.htmlvan Vliet, N. (1991) Adelaide’s parklands: the legacy ofenlightened planning, Landscape Architectural Review 12(5),8-12.Vidal, J. (2005) The end of oil is closer than you think. TheGuardian (21 April).Westerbeek, H.M. & Shilbury, D. (1999) Increasing the focus on“place” in the marketing mix for facility dependent sport services,Sport Management Review 2, 1-23.Wolff, A. (2007) Going, Going Green, Sports Illustrated. Retrieved18 December 2007 from: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/06/eco0312/3.htmlZukin, S. (1995) The Cultures of Cities. London: Blackwell.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship79

Sustaining the race: a review of literaturepertaining to the environmental sustainabilityof motorsportKeywordsmotorsportsustainabilityenvironmenttriple bottom linenatural capitalGlobal Environmental Outlook (GEO-4)AbstractRESEARCH PAPERGreg DingleLecturer, Sport and Recreation ManagementSchool of Sport and Exercise ScienceVictoria University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaTel: +61 3 9919 3213Email: greg.dingle@vu.edu.auPeer reviewedThis paper discusses motorsport from the viewpoint ofenvironmental sustainability amid growing concernsabout the impact of human activity on theenvironment. It reviews the literature that positionsmotorsport in a global environmental context andexplores the often used but rarely defined concept ofsustainability. The author suggests that whilemotorsport is a significant sporting activity foreconomic and social reasons, there are considerabledoubts as to whether it is currently managed andmarketed in an environmentally sustainable way.Executive summaryThis paper aims to explore motorsport from theviewpoint of environmental sustainability. This isimportant because of the growing concerns around theglobe of the impact of human activity on theenvironment. The introduction to the paper outlinesthe rationale for adopting a sustainability analysis tothe management and marketing of motorsport. Thesections that follow offer definitions of the respectiveconcepts of motorsport and sustainability.The section on sustainability looks at the origins ofthe modern environmental movement, from which theconcept of sustainability emerged, and then discussesthe associated concepts of the ‘triple bottom line’ and‘natural capital’ in order to offer alternatives to moreconventional methods of understanding motorsportand the resources it requires.The importance of sustainability in the 21st centuryand the current situation with regard to achievement80 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceof sustainability are considered, and the latest UnitedNations environmental assessment is drawn upon toplace sport, and specifically motorsport, in a globalenvironmental context.Literature pertaining to sustainability and sport isreviewed and an analysis of the role of materialconsumption practices is offered. The paper thenevaluates some attempts within motorsport to becomemore sustainable. The paper concludes that furtherresearch into sustainable management and marketingpractices for motorsport is warranted.IntroductionMotorsport is an important part of the social andcommercial fabric of industrialised societies. Aroundthe world, it occupies an important place in popularand sporting culture. From the Silverstone,Nürburgring and Monaco Formula One racetracks inEurope to Canada’s Circuit Gilles-Villenueve in NorthAmerica to Brazil’s Interlagos in South America to theShanghai International Circuit in China and the desertplains of Africa for the Paris-Dakar Rally to the longstraights of Australia’s Mount Panorama, Bathurst andPhillip Island, in its various forms motorsport is ofboth historic and global significance.As a sport it is also very diverse: the term ‘motorsport’encompasses a range of major categories of racing. Forfour-wheeled vehicles alone there is a multitude offorms: Formula One, Indy Car, Stock Car, Rally, DragRacing, Go-Karts, Dune Buggies and trucks are justsome. Motorbikes race in several varieties, includingSuperbikes, Motocross, Quad Bikes and the derivativeSnocross competitions. While motorsport is principally aland-based activity, it also extends to onshore andoffshore speedboat racing. Many categories ofmotorsport are further divided into sub-categories – onroador track racing and off-road racing. Within eachmajor category, motorsport is further divided into arange of competitions according to body type, enginecapacity and vehicle manufacturer, each with their ownidiosyncrasies and technical requirements.All varieties of motorsport, however, have two keycommonalities. The first is that the participants placegreat value on competitiveness – the winning ofcompetitions and how this is achieved. As a result, therecording, quantification and measurement of progresstowards winning is a typical characteristic; and speed,engine size, engine power and aerodynamic efficiencyare widely discussed by participants, commentators andfans. The second commonality is that all strands ofmotorsport share a dependence on the physicalresources of planet Earth, and for most, a heavyreliance on crude oil as an energy source for propulsion.In recent years, the emergence of the environmentgenerally, and the phenomenon of anthropogenicclimate change in particular, as global social, politicaland economic issues is prompting a re-examination ofmany forms of human activity. How we use energy,and the sources from which we derive it, is nowwidely debated in the spheres of government,commerce and among citizens. While motorsport iswidely reported in electronic and print media aroundthe globe, there has been very little academic researchinto the environmental sustainability of the sport. Thispaper aims to review a selection of literaturepertaining to motorsport and sustainability in order tomake a contribution to understanding whethermotorsport, in a broad sense, is an environmentallysustainable practice.A wealth of research in recent years suggests thatconsumption-driven human civilisation has, and willcontinue to have, a very negative impact on our planetacross a range of measures – including land, water,atmosphere and biodiversity. It is axiomatic that thisdegradation and pollution is a consequence of theconsumption of our natural resources. As a result, thecontinuance of current human consumption-basedactivity, including some sport, is increasingly drawninto question. While motorsport is a significantexample of such sporting activity, for both economicand social reasons, our understanding of motorsport’srelationship within our environment, and how itimpacts upon our environment, is not widelydiscussed or evaluated.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship81

Sustaining the raceUsing concepts such as sustainability and naturalcapital, the paper reviews some of the literaturepertaining to the sustainability of motorsport. It placesmotorsport within a broader environmental contextand draws upon the latest United Nations’environmental assessment (2007) to discuss some ofour planet’s natural ‘capital’ upon which motorsportdepends for its sustenance.Motorsport(professional race and amateur sport)” (p.1). Theynote that in the context of the motorsport industry, theterm ‘motor’ refers to the “provision (construction andpreparation) of cars and bikes”, while ‘sport’ refers tothe “infrastructure including clubs, circuits, promotion,insurance… that is needed to participate in or viewthe sport”. They also suggest that motorsport is part ofthe “leisure and entertainment industry” (pp.1-2).Angus et al identify some important parameters ofthe global motorsports industry. In 2005, theseincluded:RESEARCH PAPERThe Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA),the global governing body for motorsport, surprisingly,does not offer a definition of motorsport in its‘Statutes’, ‘Regulations’ or the International SportingCode (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile,2009). The FIA does, however, define the term‘automobile’ as:A land vehicle propelled by its own means,running on at least four wheels not aligned,which must always be in contact with theground; the steering must be ensured by atleast two of the wheels, and the propulsion byat least two of the wheels.In the absence of an official definition of motorsport,and for the purpose of clarity, this paper will adopt thedefinition of motorsport offered by Angus, Aylett,Henry and Jenkins (2007, pp.1-2):We define motorsport broadly as competitiveracing by equivalent machines on a frequent basis,on designated tracks and circuits. These machinesinclude… motorcycles, moto-cross, karts, historiccars, drag, open-wheel, single-seat, sports, GT,Formula Ford, touring cars, rallying, sportscompact, CART, IRL and Formula One.Angus et al note that racing is organised around“series, championships, events and meetings arrangedby promoters, circuits and racing clubs at all levels• It was worth approximately £50 billion andrepresented 0.23% of global Gross DomesticProduct (GDP)• There were approximately 600 race circuits(excluding kart tracks)• There were 56 global motorsports events• On average, more than 52 million viewers watchedeach Formula One Grand Prix.Based on these measures, motorsport is clearly amajor global industry with significant economic,entertainment and cultural dimensions.SustainabilityIn examining the sustainability of motorsport, it isappropriate to define the concept of sustainability.Dresner (2002, p.1) points out that the idea ofsustainability emerged about 50 years ago. Edwards(2005, p.11) notes that its origins are in theemergence of the “environmental movement of the1960s and 1970s”, whose antecedents were theUnited States’ New England transcendentalistmovement of the 1800s, which was concerned withthe human connection with nature. While the thinkingabout sustainability is not limited to the United States,a number of American conservationists, includingJohn Muir, Aldo Leopold and Rachel Carson – authorof the influential text Silent Spring, gave impetus tothe environmental movement from which the idea of82 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceTABLE 1 The five capitals (Parkin, 2000)SUSTAINABILITY DIMENSION(I.E. TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE)1. ENVIRONMENT2. SOCIAL3. ECONOMY1. NATURAL2. HUMAN3. SOCIAL4. MANUFACTURED5. FINANCIALSOIL, SEA, AIR,ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMSHEALTH, KNOWLEDGE,MOTIVATION, SPIRITUAL EASEGOVERNANCE SYSTEMS, FAMILIES,COMMUNITIES, ORGANISATIONSEXISTING TOOLS,INFRASTRUCTURE, BUILDINGSMONEY, STOCKS, BONDSFLOW OF BENEFITSENERGY, FOOD, WATER,CLIMATE, WASTE DISPOSALENERGY, WORK, CREATIVITY,INNOVATION, LOVE, HAPPINESSSECURITY, SHARED GOODS(E.G. CULTURE, EDUCATION), INCLUSIONLIVING/WORK/LEISURE PLACES,ACCESS, MATERIAL RESOURCESMEANS OF VALUING, OWNING ANDEXCHANGING THE OTHER FOUR CAPITALSsustainability originates, by linking the welfare of theenvironment to the ethical behaviour of people.There is a range of views about how sustainabilityshould be defined; our understanding of what itmeans has evolved significantly in the past twodecades. Meadows et al (2004, p.254) observe thatin simple terms, sustainability refers to the capacity ofa society to “persist over generations”. The authorsnote that a “sustainable society” is one that is“farseeing enough, flexible enough and wise enoughnot to undermine either its physical or social systemsof support” (p.254). Sara Parkin, the co-founder ofForum for the Future in the UK and another key figurein the evolution of the concept of sustainability, arguesthat the word ‘sustainable’ refers to the “capacity forcontinuance” of a given organism or object. As aconsequence:Sustainability is therefore a quality. It is anobjective, not a process. Something either hasor has not got the quality of sustainability – theintrinsic capacity to keep itself going more orless indefinitely. We want the environment tohave it, so it can support life.(Parkin, 2000, p.7)In essence, the idea is founded on the ability of lifeforms, as both individuals and groups, to survive overlong periods.Wilkinson and Yencken (2000, p.9) argue thatsustainability is based on three pillars:ecological sustainability, social sustainability andeconomic sustainability. They note, however, that afourth pillar, cultural sustainability, should also berecognised.Parkin (2000, p.4) contends that sustainabilityconsists of three interrelated ‘dimensions’: theenvironment; the social dimension and economicconsiderations, and argues (Parkin, 2007) that thefirst dimension – the environment – is “the realbottom line”, as the physical constraints of land,water, air and ecological systems are thedeterminants that set the limits within which thesocial and economic dimensions can function. TheUnited Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO, 2007) extends thinking aboutsustainability by adding a fourth dimension, that of‘governance’.These ‘dimensions’ are important because theyserve as the basis of what is widely knownrespectively as the ‘triple bottom line’ (TBL – seeTable 1), and the ‘quadruple bottom line’ (QBL),where the environmental, social, economic andleadership impacts of the economic activities oforganisations are identified.The development of the QBL may be traced to thework of Ekins et al (1992, cited in Parkin, 2000, p.5)and subsequently to Serageldin and Steer (1994, citedRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship83

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERin Parkin, 2000, p.5) from which the ‘four capitals’model emerged. The four capitals is an attempt toattempt to explain the resources available for humanprogress as different sorts of capital: natural, human,social and manufactured (Parkin, 2000, p.7).A more recent and helpful evolution of the fourcapitals is the ‘five capitals’ model (see Table 1),whereby a financial capital is added as a “means ofvaluing, owning [and] exchanging [the] other fourcapitals” (Parkin, 2000, p.7). Parkin adopts“economic parlance” for the five capitals, in whicheach capital is represented by particular ‘stocks’ thatdescribe the resources available for human progress.For each capital, humanity is able to decide whetherto invest or not invest in the associated stocks fromwhich “we can expect a range of benefits to flow”. Inthe case of natural capital, examples of stock includesoils, oceans, air and ecological systems. The benefitsthat flow from such natural stocks include energy,food, water, climate and waste disposal (Parkin,2000, p.7).Parkin (2000, pp.5-6) makes the importantobservation that environmental sustainability on ourplanet is subject to four fundamental scientific principles:i) The provision of the most essential elements of life– air, water, nutrition – are dependent on theproper functioning of Earth’s ecological systems(the interdependent cycles of carbon, climate andso on).ii) The only net producers of energy and rawmaterials (matter) in a concentrated form are greencells. For example, energy from the sun is used toassemble a range of chemical and molecularingredients into a tree, from which we can obtainbenefits such as shade, furniture, food, medicineand fuel. These benefits cannot be obtained if theingredients ‘remain dispersed’.iii) Energy and raw material does not disappear – itcan have a different form but it still exists. Theseare the so-called laws of conservation.iv) Everything has the overall tendency to return to itselemental state – the Second Law ofThermodynamics.These limits therefore constrain the Earth’s capacity forhuman population and economic growth. Byimplication, there are limits to sporting activities,including motorsport.The ‘four capitals’ and ‘five capitals’ models areuseful approaches for sports managers because theyenable us to conceptualise our relationship with thephysical and human resources we draw upon for oursporting activities. These models also offer a basis forunderstanding the environmental degradation that canflow from sports-related development. As Parkin(2000, p.7) observes: “It can be argued that most ifnot all of our current environmental and social malaisemay be explained by the unevenness of investmentacross different types of capital stock”.This analysis may offer sports managers, includingmanagers of motorsport, an insight into how to adoptmore sustainable approaches in their activities. In reevaluatinghow people might manage or develop theirsocial and economic activities, including sport, theidea of sustainability has been extended to that ofEnvironmentally Sustainable Development (ESD).ESD was formally defined in 1987 in a reportentitled Our Common Future by the WorldCommission on the Environment and Development(WCED) under the leadership of chairwoman GroHarlem Brundtland, the former prime minister ofNorway. The so-called Brundtland Report defined ESDas “the ability of people to meet their present needswithout compromising the ability of future generationsto meet their own needs”. Parkin (2000, p.7) arguesthat ESD is a process of successfully managing thedifferent capital flows over time on a genuinelysustainable basis.However, Meadows et al (2004, p.xiv) note that theterm ‘sustainability’ remains “ambiguous and widelyabused sixteen years after the Brundtland Commissioncoined it”. Nevertheless, for the purposes of thispaper, the term sustainability is used to refer to84 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceenvironmental sustainability rather than economic,social or cultural sustainability. However, these otherforms of sustainability are inter-related and so shouldnot be understood in isolation.The significance of sustainabilityThe concept of sustainability has become increasinglyimportant. Its relevance and influence is noted byWilkinson and Yencken (2000, p.9), who argue that itis an idea that has “become formally adopted aroundthe world” and is evident in two key spheres of humancivilisation: government and commerce.In terms of government, we see the influence ofsustainability in the form of the creation of institutionswhose purpose is to preserve aspects of ourenvironment such as the Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC, 2007), the United NationsEnvironment Protection Agency – UNEP (UnitedNations Environment Programme, 2007) and inagreements such as ‘United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change’ (UNFCCC, 2007)known widely as the Kyoto Protocol.In terms of commerce, we see its influence in theevolution of markets. For example, we now havecorporations offering investment advice according tomeasures of environmental and social sustainability.These include the Zurich-based Sustainable AssetManagement – SAM and its Australian subsidiary,Sustainable Asset Management Australia – SAMA(Alberici, 2003).In Australia, major banks such as the ANZ Groupare offering sustainable investment products (ANZ,2007), while Westpac (2007) applies sustainabilitymeasures when assessing applications for finance.There is also some evidence that investors generallyare placing increasing emphasis on environmentalsustainability credentials (Burrow, 2007).One issue that reflects the extent to whichsustainability has been adopted as an operatingprinciple for business is that of anthropogenic climatechange. Sectors of the global business community,both before and after Sir Nicholas Stern (2006)warned that there is now a compelling economic casefor carbon-constraint, have accepted the need toreduce the global level of greenhouse gases (GHGs).These include:• The Carbon Trust in the United Kingdom (CarbonTrust UK, 2009)• The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative jointlyoverseen by the World Business Council forSustainable Development (WBCSD) and the WorldResources Institute (WBCSD, 2009)• The growing trade in carbon emissions at theEuropean Climate Exchange (2009) and theChicago Climate Exchange (2009)• The role of the International Carbon Bank &Exchange (2009) in facilitating renewable energyinvestment, manufacturing and ‘carbon safeproducts, standards and fuels’.Sustainability: the current situationWhile the idea of sustainability has clearly gainedgreater recognition around the globe, efforts to achievesustainability for our environment so that it “cansupport life”, as Parkin puts it, have been lesssuccessful. For an up-to-date assessment of globalsustainability efforts, the latest United Nationsenvironmental assessment of the planet’s naturalcapital, Global Environmental Outlook: Environmentfor Development (GEO-4), is helpful. GEO-4 is anassessment of the health of our environment from2004 to 2007 across the four key indicators (land,water, atmosphere and biodiversity). The study wasconducted by “expert groups” that consulted with over100 governments and 50 partner organisations andwas subject to two rounds of “government and peerreview” (United Nations Environment Programme,2007a, p.2).GEO-4 is an authoritative account of globalsustainability efforts. It provides an overview ofenvironmental issues; state and trends of theenvironment between 1987 and 2007; humanRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship85

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERdimensions of environmental change; an outlook forthe future using four possible scenarios up to the year2050, according to: a) Markets First; b) Policy First; c)Security First; and d) Sustainability First.GEO-4 draws the general conclusion that, despitesome progress, across the globe we are a long wayfrom achieving environmental sustainability. On thecontrary, in the words of the GEO-4 authors, “there isevidence of unprecedented environmental change atglobal and regional levels”. These include:• warming of the Earth’s surface, evident fromobservations of increases in global average air andocean temperatures, widespread melting of snowand ice, and rising global average sea level (UnitedNations Environment Programme, 2007b, p.72).While the global average temperature increased by0.74°C in the 20th century, the IPCC estimatefurther warming during the 21st century to bebetween 1.8 to 4.0°C.• More than 2 million people globally dieprematurely every year due to outdoor and indoorair pollution (United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, 2007b, p.72).• The ‘hole’ in the stratospheric ozone layer over theAntarctic – the layer that protects people fromharmful ultraviolet radiation – is now the largest ithas ever been (United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, 2007b, p.73). The ozone layer isexpected to recover, but not until between 2060and 2075 as a result of long lag times.• Unsustainable land use and climate change aredriving land degradation, including soil erosion,nutrient depletion, water scarcity, salinity,desertification, and the disruption of biologicalcycles (United Nations Environment Programme,2007b, p.72).• The per capita availability of freshwater is decliningglobally, and contaminated water remains thegreatest single environmental cause of humansickness and death (United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, 2007b, p.183).• If present trends continue, 1.8 billion people willbe living in countries or regions with absolutewater scarcity by 2025, and two-thirds of thepeople in the world could be subject to waterstress (United Nations Environment Programme,2007b, p.129).• Although the decline in the area of temperate foresthas been reversed, with an annual increase of30,000 km 2 between 1990 and 2005,deforestation in the tropics continued at an annualrate of 130,000 km 2 during the same period.More than 16, 000 species have been identifiedas threatened with extinction (United NationsEnvironment Programme, 2007b, p.114).According to GEO-4, these changes are mostly due tohuman activities in an “increasingly globalised,industrialised and interconnected world, driven byexpanding flows of goods, services, capital, people,technologies, information, ideas and labour”. However,the responsibility for global environmental pressureslies mainly with industrialised countries where “20 percent of world population produced 57 per cent ofgross world product”, and “accounted for 46 per centof greenhouse gas emissions”(United NationsEnvironment Programme, 2007a, p.4). This linkbetween globalisation, industrialisation andenvironmental damage, particularly in advancedeconomies, in turn highlights the role that materialconsumption plays in processes of adverseenvironmental change. This is of direct relevance tomotorsport, because although its contribution toenvironmental problems has not been quantified,motorsport governance, research, design,manufacturing and competition emerge almost entirelyfrom these same industrialised countries.Alarmingly, the report also finds that biophysical andsocial systems are vulnerable to reaching ‘tippingpoints’, beyond which there may be “abrupt,accelerating, or potentially irreversible changes” (p.5).The four GEO-4 scenarios show an increasing risk ofcrossing tipping points, even as some “globalenvironmental degradation trends are slowed or86 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the racereversed at different rates towards the middle of the21st century”. This means that “changes inbiophysical and social systems may continue even ifthe forces of change are removed” and is exemplifiedby the stratospheric ozone depletion and the loss ofspecies.Sport and sustainabilityThis paper builds upon previous attempts to explorethe environmental sustainability of sport in the longerterm.Dingle (2007) examines the relationshipbetween the Earth’s natural resources and theproduction of sporting goods and the provision andconsumption of sports services, and concludes thatsport is fundamentally reliant on the consumption ofnon-renewable resources such as crude oil fortransport and the production of plastics and rubber foruse in a range of sporting goods. As a consumer ofelectricity for stadium lighting and telecommunications,sport in many countries often relieson the non-renewable and carbon-intensive resourceof coal where coal-fired power stations are used forelectricity production (p.5). As a consequence, sport isresponsible for GHG emissions (p.7), a contributingfactor to anthropogenic climate change.Smith and Westerbeek (2004) identify variousimpacts of sport on our environment and theyacknowledge that sport generally “represents a threatto the environment” through land clearing andemissions, albeit at a “comparatively low level”(p.146). They cite other examples of environmentaldegradation through sport including:• the use of fuels in motorsports;• habitat destruction through the development ofsports facilities such as golf courses and ski resorts;• unsustainable manufacturing processes such asthe glassing of surfboards;• the lack of “clean” transport to sports venues;• the use of water and chemicals for turf-grassmanagement;• ozone-depleting refrigerants in ice rinks(pp.138-139).Chernushenko et al add to the list of impacts in asignificant contribution entitled Sustainable SportManagement (2005). The authors list a range ofenvironmental impacts from sports facilities andevents including:• pollution from liquid spills (fuels, cleaners, solventsetc.);• air pollution from increased vehicle traffic plusnoise and light pollution;• consumption of natural resources (water, wood,paper etc.) and of non-renewable resources (fuels,metals etc.);• creation of greenhouse gases (through electricityconsumption and transport);• soil and water pollution from pesticide use;• soil erosion during construction and eventimplementation (p.6).Chernushenko et al describe such impacts as the“ecological footprint” of sport (p.5).Lowes and Tranter (2007, p.168) note that suchenvironmental impacts vary according to the type ofsport. They cite the policy of the AustralianConservation Foundation (ACF) that divides sports intothree categories according to their level of damage:i) sports that are largely ecologically sustainable, butcan still be improved in some form;ii) sports that are largely ecologically sustainable, butwhich may be significantly improved insustainability because their core activity is notinherently unsustainable;iii) sports that can never be ecologically sustainable,nor made significantly more sustainable, due to theinherent nature of their core activity (ACF, 2008).Unfortunately, the ACF fails to say which sports fit intothe above categories, and so this remains an area forfurther research and debate.Smith and Westerbeek (2004), however, also maketwo key points about the sustainability of sport ingeneral: that sport has become green, and that it isRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship87

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERlikely to continue to do so in the long term. Theyargue that sport has become green for two reasons:first, because “governments and other corporateindustries have recognised the marketing andeducation potential of ‘green sport’” and second,because “it is an industry that has contributed toenvironmental damage in the past, and is thereforebeing called to ransom by the community at large”(p.138). There are several examples of a trendtowards ‘greener’ sport, notably the InternationalOlympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to:• establish a Sport and Environment Commission in1996 to offer policy advice pertaining to“environmental protection” and “sustainabledevelopment” in relation to staging Olympic games(IOC, 2007);• adopt the environment as the “third dimension ofOlympism” (Smith & Westerbeek, 2004, p.135);• include in the IOC charter a requirement for allOlympic games to “demonstrate a responsibleconcern for environmental issues” (United NationsEnvironment Programme, 2007c).Other examples include:• The 2006 Global Forum for Sport andEnvironment held in Lausanne, Switzerland, whichbrought together sports and environmentalstakeholders to review “sport’s impact on andcontribution to the environment” (United NationsEnvironment Programme, 2007d);• The Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games,which aimed to use minimal water resources,generate minimal waste and be provided on acarbon neutral basis (Department of VictorianCommunities, 2006);• The use of fuel derived only from renewablesources for Earthrace, a powerboat capable ofcircumnavigating the Earth (Schmidt, 2006);• The non-profit Australian organisation Sport 4 theEnvironment (S4E), that aims to encourage “allsporting organisations to develop and implementenvironmental change” (2008).Smith and Westerbeek (2004, p.139) argue that sportwill become increasingly dependent on sustainablepractices: “It is absolutely clear that the sporting sectorwill experience increasing pressure to ‘clean up’ suchenvironmental blemishes. The viability of clubs,associations and events will depend on the support ofa public which will demand change, or seek sportexperienceselsewhere.” The authors make it clear thatsport, like other sectors of society, is not immune frompressures to become sustainable.The role of consumption in sportSmith and Westerbeek (2004) highlight the role thatsport plays in the phenomenon of materialconsumption (pp.139-140). ‘Natural capital’ such asland, water and energy are needed for the productionof sporting goods. Dingle (2007, pp.4-5) highlightsthe dependence of sport through sporting equipmentthat incorporates plastics and rubber – materials thatare principally manufactured from the carbon-intensiveresources of crude oil and natural gas (AmericanPlastics Council, 2004). Natural capital is alsorequired for the transportation, facility construction andspectator and athlete accommodation associated withsports events. Byproducts of these consumption-basedsports processes include a variety of waste materialsas well as air and water pollution.Jackson and Michaelis (2003, p.7) argue that suchpatterns of material consumption are reflective ofbroader patterns of consumer behaviour that aretypical of industrialised societies. They note the deeplyembedded and multi-factorial nature of modernconsumerism: “We appear to be locked into currentconsumption trends by a combination of past choices,technology, economic incentives, institutions, our ownpsychology and the culture and social systems weinhabit (p.7).”Jackson and Michaelis (pp.10-11) conclude thatcurrent patterns of global material consumption areunsustainable, however; they suggest that sustainableconsumption is possible with a ‘change management’approach from governments in conjunction withappropriate ‘non-governmental initiatives’.88International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceConsumption in motorsportThe manufacturing, usage and maintenance of motorvehicles, including motorsports vehicles, requiresextensive consumption of natural resources. First,motor vehicles are typically manufactured from a largearray of individual components for steering,suspension, propulsion, transmission, cooling andbraking systems. These systems are also mostlydependent on electrical wiring looms whose wires aregenerally made from copper and covered with plasticprotective sheaths synthesised from crude oil. Othervehicle components are manufactured from a long listof minerals including aluminium, barite, calcite, iron,lead, mica, nepheline syenite, nickel, petroleumproducts, clays, silica and zinc (Natural ResourcesCanada, 2007). Automotive components made fromplastics, rubber, glass, lubricants, coolants and fuelare all synthesised from naturally occurring mineralsand metals.While many of the components related to comfort inthe mass market versions of motor vehicles are mostlyremoved or modified from their racing varieties,motorsports vehicles are still dependent on essentiallythe same range of natural resources for theirmanufacturing, use and maintenance. Motorsport isthus entwined in a broader pattern of natural resourceconsumption around the globe; one that was clearlyimplicated in the degradation of the environmentglobally by the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme in the GEO-4 report.Motorsport and sustainabilityMotorsport, like all sport, is positioned within broadersocial, economic and environmental contexts.However, there appears to be little scholarly literaturethat discusses motorsport’s relationship with thenatural resources upon which it relies.Lowes and Tranter’s (2007) analysis of motorsportsevents staged in Australian cities is a notable exception.They highlight the range of ‘messages’ associated withmotorsport that reflect the widespread media coveragethat its various forms receive. Positives that motorsportis credited with for modern passenger cars include thedevelopment of safety features such as impactprotection and reduced emissions through improvedengine technology. The authors, however, note thatsuch advances can occur independently of motorsportthrough research and development by carmanufacturers.Perceptions of motorsport are largely built onmarketing campaigns that encourage interest,attendance, media reporting and audiences for themedia coverage. Lowes and Tranter (2007, p.173)describe this promotion as a culture of “glorification” ofmotor vehicles and speed, and document its influenceon car enthusiasts by citing increased numbers of caraccidents and riskier on-road behaviour by motoristson public roads during periods of peak interest inAustralian motorsports events. Given the success ofmotorsports promoters in attracting public interest intheir events, it may be argued that they are alsoinadvertently encouraging their audiences to add tothe environmental impact of motorsport by invitingthem to participate in certain patterns of consumption.In this sense, consumption of natural resources isamplified as motorsports spectators are encouraged tobuy and drive cars, modify them to enhance theirspeed, purchase car-related products – especiallycarbon-intensive petrol derived from non-renewableresources like crude oil – and then travel tomotorsports events in what are often carbon-intensiveforms of transport such as cars and jet aircraft.Such overt marketing of carbon-intensive sport andassociated spectator and audience consumption isinconsistent with the growing global awareness of theenvironmental problems facing humanity, especiallyclimate change where government policy and marketbehaviour is already adapting to encourage mitigationand conservation. The changing environmental andpolicy circumstances in which we find ourselves thatare clearly documented in the GEO-4 report, pose achallenge for the marketers of motorsport.There is however a range of popular literatureavailable that suggests that, at least to some extent,motorsport is responding to these pressures forchange. First, in 2009 the FIA is embracing the ideaRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship89

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERof environmental sustainability. The FIA’s Institute forMotor Sport Safety (FIAIMSS) has proposed to theFIAIMSS General Assembly that its ‘remit’ be expandedto include environmental sustainability as well assafety (2009). This would involve promoting:“research into sustainability, disseminat[ing] the resultsof that research and provid[ing] information on thebest environmental procedures, practices andtechnologies that can be applied to motor sport. Thiswill cover areas such as vehicle design andtechnology, infrastructure management, emissionsmonitoring and control, offsetting procedures, energyoptimisation and storage, and preservation of thenatural environment”.The FIA Institute proposes the training of, “officials,circuit and race personnel in environmentalprocedures and practices” and “encourag[ing]environmental education and awareness ofparticipants, officials and members of the public atinternational motor sport events, and [the] monitor[ingof] motor sport and motoring environmental trends inorder to identify research and regulation priorities”.This is a startlingly development in the attitude ofmotorsport towards its relationship with the naturalenvironment. It represents an official concession thatmotorsport is becoming cognisant of the need tomanage and market itself sustainably, and isconsistent with a wider acceptance of the changedenvironmental circumstances we find ourselves inglobally.Second, motorsport’s adaptation to sustainableapproaches is happening within a broader industrycontext, where automotive manufacturers, driven inpart by tightening vehicle emissions standards (GreenCar Journal, 2007), have identified a range ofalternative fuels.The International Organisation of Motor VehicleManufacturers (IOMVM 2007b) argues that carmanufacturers are developing “clean, fuel-efficienttechnologies that run on diverse fuels” such asbiodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen and compressed naturalgas. The IOMVM cites the development of hybridtechnology, which uses both conventional combustionengines (gasoline or diesel) and electric engines, asevidence of “dramatic change occurring this century”.This statement is given added weight by the fact that13 electric cars were presented at the 2007International Motorshow in Geneva (InternationalOrganisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, 2007a)and that most of the major car manufacturers in theUS, including General Motors, Chrysler and Jeep,introduced concept cars at the 2008 DetroitMotorshow that employed either electric, hydrogen orhybrid technology (Dowling, 2008; North AmericanInternational Auto Show, 2008). In 2009, at theFrankfurt International Motorshow, electric carsdisplayed included models by Peugeot, Renault, Audi,VW and Ford and Tesla (Cunningham, 2009).The decision to abandon leaded fuel for the Indy ProSeries (IPS) competition from 2008 (Sunoco, 2007;Schmidt, 2006) is a prominent example reported inpopular literature of a move to more environmentallyfriendly practices. The IPS announced in March 2007that it would adopt the Sunoco 260GTX brand ofunleaded fuel. That decision meant that Tetra-EthylLead (TEL) would be excluded from race fuel for theseries however, although motorsport websitehotlap.com (Alabama Motorsports Park, 2007)declared that the new fuel was developed, “as a resultof its partnership with the US EnvironmentalProtection Agency and its fuel supplier Sunoco”. It isnot clear what the motivation for this decision was.Formula 1 is another area of motorsport that hasbegun to embrace more environmentally friendlytechnologies. Green Car Congress (Millikin, 2007a)reported that a mechanical kinetic energy recoverysystem (KERS) under development for Formula 1 bythree British companies had been awarded EngineInnovation of the Year at the 2007 ProfessionalMotorSport World Expo Awards. The KERS issignificant because it is claimed that it can recover400 kilojoules of lost energy per lap, which translatesto an additional 80 Brake Horse Power (BHP) forFormula 1 cars. The companies involved in the designbelieved that KERS represented a “more compact,lighter and environmentally friendly” approach than90 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceelectric batteries to recovered vehicle kinetic energy.Current efforts toward technological innovation inFormula 1 racing are well documented in F1 RacingGreen (Francis, 2008), a special edition of anAustralian magazine, F1 Racing. While this offers apro-Formula 1 slant that tends to understate thesport’s likely environmental impact, it does highlightsome efforts to minimise this impact, including theHonda Earth Car, with tyres derived from plantationrubber trees, and the FIA’s recent commitment tobecoming a carbon-neutral organisation. To theeditor’s credit, an opinion piece by Jonathon Porrit,co-founder of Forum for the Future, is included whereit is claimed that Formula 1 cars emit approximately2,400 grammes of carbon dioxide (CO 2) per mile(almost nine times as much as an ordinary new cartoday), that equates to 17 tonnes of CO 2 per season.When air travel is included, this figure rises to 54tonnes of CO 2 per driver per annum but excludes GHGemissions associated with transporting equipment andother team members to races.Rally Car racing is another area of motorsport wheremore environmentally friendly technologies are beingdeveloped. Green Car Congress (Millikin, 2007b)reported that an Oaktec Honda Insight won its class atthe 2006 Formula 1000 Rally Series using E85ethanol-blend (i.e. 85% ethanol) fuel. The win issignificant because the Honda had to defeatconventional petrol-fuelled, non-hybrid cars. Thisachievement highlights the green credentials of theHonda Insight: it is claimed that the vehicle producesthe lowest carbon dioxide emissions of any productioncar in the world (85g/km). The report notes thatPresident of the Fédération Internationale del’Automobile’s Alternative Energies CommissionBruno Moretti stated that hybrid-engine type cars suchas the Honda Insight are “certainly part of the futureof motorsports activity”.The English website Green Motorsport Ltd.com(2009) is another notable example of reporting ofmoves to more sustainable practices in motorsport.With a stated ambition of becoming “the premiermotorsports company solely devoted to environmentalracing and applied green performance technology”,this electronic publication refers to hopes to achieve“environmentally conscious motorsport”, “stimulatingand exploiting” research into future sources of energyand to “reducing motorsport’s carbon footprint”. GMSLalso states that it hopes to “bring new Zero Carbontechnologies into the market place”. Examples of theenvironmentally friendly technology that it hopes topromote include the G-Motor, a water-cooled 48 volt“high performance, high frequency” electric motoraimed at propelling karts. Hybrid fuel cells are anotherGMSL product claimed to be under development;others include electric boats, trucks, buses, light-railvehicles and scooters.Energy Efficient Motorsport (2009) is anotherexample of motorsport seeking to adopt moresustainable practices, with its long-term statedobjective to “engage the automotive industry to usemotorsport to accelerate the development and publicacceptance of alternative ‘green’ automotivetechnologies”.One area of focus is the development of alternativesto diesel and petrol. Energy Efficient Motorsport(EEMS) discusses possibilities like alcohol, bio-diesel,hydrogen, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), CompressedNatural Gas (CNG) and hybrid electric-petrolpropulsion systems. In addition to fuel development,EEMS promotes its research into “carbon fibre andother advanced composite materials” for “chassisstructures, suspension components, transmissioncasings and engine parts”. High-strength alloys andmetal matrix composites in braking systems, engines,transmissions and other areas are further examples ofEEMS “new material application”.The EEMS site also highlights case studies ofprogress in the use of alternative fuels: the TeamNasamax Bio-ethanol Project, the Mardi Gras LPGBritish Touring Car Championship Project and theTaurus Sports diesel engine-powered Le Mans car.Interestingly, the EEMS publication makes the claimthat “social responsibility, including elements such asenergy efficiency and ecological awareness, is certainto be an intrinsic part” of the future of motorsport.RESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship91

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERThe website of the UK Motorsport DevelopmentBoard (2007) highlights another example of the use ofalternative fuels for motorsport. The site reports thatDunlop MSA, a British Touring Car Championshipteam, switched to bio-fuel. An owner of the teamstated that they are aiming to become the first touringcar team to achieve a podium finish in order to“showcase the potential of green fuel”.A final example of attempts to make motorsportmore environmentally friendly is the Green CarCongress report that Japanese car manufacturerToyota won the 2007 Tokachi 24-hour endurance racewith the Supra HV-R hybrid-engine powered racing car(Millikin, 2008). The vehicle uses “four wheel energyregeneration and drive” technology and a “quickchargingsuper capacitor system”, for energy storage.This follows the commercial success of Toyota’s hybridelectric and petrol powered cars, such as the Prius,which have recorded sales of one million cars in thepast decade (Motor Authority, 2008), and the claimthat by 2020, almost 20% of car sales in the UnitedStates will be hybrids (Motor Authority, 2009).In summary, the motorsports publications discussedhere are all popular in nature rather than academic.As such, they are sometimes prosaic in nature and arelargely uncritical reports rather than criticalassessments. As the selection is drawn exclusivelyfrom the internet, it is also limited by the fact that itdoes not represent all available popular literaturepertaining to the sustainability of motorsport. It isnevertheless an important slice of literature pertainingto the sustainability of motorsport, because ithighlights attempts being made to make motorsportmore environmentally sustainable. While furtherresearch would be necessary to determine if thesereported efforts are actually sustainable, the examplesdo appear to confirm arguments from academicliterature that sustainability is now a major globalconcern, and that sport – including motorsport – is notimmune from pressures to reduce patterns of resourceconsumption that have been implicated in the type ofenvironmental damage reported in the GEO-4 report.ConclusionIn the introduction to this paper, it was proposed thatmotorsport, a significant global sport for social andeconomic reasons, be discussed from the viewpoint ofenvironmental sustainability. The reason for this lies inthe volume of academic and popular literature overdecades that suggests that environmental degradationis a problem of urgent and global significance that, asa result, has prompted considerable thought anddebate about how human society can becomesustainable. A number of themes from the literaturepertaining to the sustainability of motorsport arediscussed in this paper.First, sustainability is a widely researched area ofknowledge around which some key conclusions canbe drawn. It is an area of global interest which isincreasingly embedded in global discourses abouthuman development; it is centred on the idea of theability of ecological systems to preserve or sustain lifeover long periods; it consists of three interrelatedenvironmental, social and economic dimensions; andalthough human understanding of this concept isevolving, it is not immune from some ambiguity.Second, the health of our physical environment isincreasingly drawn into question through evidence thatcurrent patterns of consumption-based humanbehaviour is strongly implicated in rapid andunsustainable environmental damage.Third, the sustainability of sport is an emergingacademic interest. Some literature emphasised thatsport relies upon extensive consumption of naturalresources for its continuance; other work cites therange of negative impacts of sport upon our physicalenvironment. Some argue that most sport is likely tobecome greener in its approach in the comingdecades, and that in fact it is already making someefforts to do so. A range of examples were cited ofsport organisations and events showing theirawareness of these impacts, and in some cases,adapting their activities to become more sustainable.Overall, though, more research in this field is needed.92 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceFinally, while some literature suggests that motorsportis a globally significant sporting activity, given theevidence of the global environmental problems facinghumanity, there is considerable doubt as to whether itis marketed and managed in an environmentallysustainable way. The dependence of motorsport andits followers on the consumption of natural resourcesfor the manufacture and ongoing use of racingmachines, and the passenger vehicles they inspire, isan example of motorsport’s relationship withunsustainable patterns of consumption that are linkedto the major global environmental change.Furthermore, the changing environmentalcircumstances in which we find ourselves, so clearlydocumented in the GEO-4 report, appear to pose amajor challenge for the marketers of motorsport. In asituation where environmental problems are changinggovernment policy and creating new markets,marketers of motorsport are likely to need to giveserious consideration to how they might make theirevents genuinely sustainable.The literature discussed here has indicated thatsome motorsports organisations are not only aware ofglobal concerns about environmental degradation, butalso that they recognise the need for sustainablepractices. Examples cite the active role that someteams, engineers and administrators involved inmotorsport are playing in minimising their harm to theenvironment; likewise, more environmentally friendlytechnologies, fuels and practices are likely to play asignificant role in the future of motorsport.It must be said that motorsport is not alone in termsof doubts as to its sustainability. While more researchis needed to determine to what extent motorsport canbe considered environmentally sustainable, sport ingeneral is open to question because of compellingevidence that industrialised and consumption-drivensocieties around the globe are causing much of theenvironmental problems we face. Indeed, givenhuman transport needs, motorsport arguablyrepresents a sphere for automotive design andinnovation that may assist future attempts to resolveenvironmental problems.Looking ahead, the balance of evidence suggeststhat further research into the sustainability ofmotorsport is warranted because academic literaturepertaining to motorsport and sustainability is currentlyvery limited. This paper concludes that most sport,including motorsport, is likely to become greener incoming decades, and that we ought to understandmore about how and why we will approach suchadaptation.© 2009 International Marketing ReportsBiographyGreg Dingle is a lecturer in sport and recreationmanagement at the School of Sport and ExerciseScience at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne. Heis a PhD candidate at VU and his research exploreshow and why Australian sports organisations areadapting their management practices in an era ofclimate change. Greg teaches sustainablemanagement for sport and recreation, is a member ofthe Sport Management Association of Australia andNew Zealand (SMAANZ) and has enjoyed a career inthe sports industry, including administrative positionsin water polo, a national netball league club and amanagement consultancy. He has also coachedjuniors in both cricket and Australian Rules football.ReferencesAlabama Motorsports Park (2007) Retrieved 4 November from:http://www.thehotlap.com/modules.php?name=Latest_News&op=old&min=1050Alberici, E. (2003) ‘Analyst discusses sustainable investments’ inBusiness Breakfast, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 23June. Retrieved 1 November 2007 from: http://www.abc.net.au/businessbreakfast/content/2003/s885604.htmAmerican Plastics Council (2004) The Life Cycle of A PlasticProduct. Retrieved 26 March 2007 from:http://lifecycle.plasticsresource.com/step2.htmlRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship93

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERAngus, T., Aylett, C., Henry, N. & Jenkins, M. (2007) MotorsportGoing Global: The Challenges Facing the World’s MotorsportIndustry. Palgrave-MacMillan: Hampshire, UK.ANZ (2007) ‘ANZ launches sustainable investment product’,Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, 23 October.Retrieved 11 October 2007 from: http://www.anz.com/australia/support/library/mr/mr20061004.pdfAustralian Conservation Foundation (2007) Sport, AustralianConservation Foundation, Melbourne. Retrieved 14 January2008 from: http://www.acfonline.org.au/articles/news.asp?news_id=458Burrow, V. (2007) ‘Stocks up as sustainability becomesprofitability’ in the Age, Fairfax Publishing, Melbourne,2 June, Business 7.Carbon Trust UK (2009) Carbon Trust UK, London. Viewed 9October 2009 at: http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/carbonChernushenko, D., Stubbs, D. & Van Der Kamp, A. (2005)Sustainable sport management: running an environmentally,socially and economically responsible organisation, UnitedNations Environment Program, Ontario.Chicago Climate Exchange (2007) Chicago Climate Exchange.Retrieved 14 April 2007 from: http://www.chicagoclimatex.com/Cunningham, W. (2009) Electric cars at the 2009 motor show,CBS Interactive. Viewed 6 October 2009 at:http://www.cnet.com.au/electric-cars-at-the-2009-frankfurtmotor-show-339298803.htmDepartment of Victorian Communities (2006) Melbourne 2006Commonwealth Games Environment Report Card, October,Melbourne. Retrieved 4 November 2007 from:http://www1.dvc.vic.gov.au/ocgc/News/Environment_Report.pdfDingle, G. (2007) ‘Sport in a Carbon-Constrained 21st Century’in the Bulletin of Sport and Culture, Victoria University Sport andCulture Group, No. 27, March, Melbourne.Dowling, J. (2008) ‘Green & Mean’ in the Age, FairfaxPublishing, Melbourne, 19 January, Drive 6.Dresner, S. (2002) The Principles of Sustainability. London:Earthscan.Edwards, A. R. (2005) The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait ofa Paradigm Shift. Gabriola Island, Canada: New SocietyPublishers.Ekins, P., Hillman, M. & Hutchinson, R. (1992) Wealth beyondMeasure: An Atlas of New Economics. London: Gaia Books.Energy Efficient Motorsport (2007). Retrieved from:http://www.motorsportresearch.com/freedownloads/eems%20brochure.pdfEuropean Climate Exchange, (2009), European ClimateExchange, [online], London. Viewed 9 October 2009 at:http://www.europeanclimateexchange.com/default_flash.aspFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (2009), FIAInternational Sporting Code, Paris, France.Viewed 9 October 2009 at: http://argent.fia.com/web/fiapublic.nsf/917D67F70F1C5EE7C12573B7003DCEC5/$FILE/CSI%20modif%20ap%20AGO%20oct%2007%20ANG%20-%20Applic.%2001.01.08%20-%20clean.pdfFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (Institute for MotorSport Safet), (2009), FIA Institute goes green [online], Paris,France. Viewed 6 October 2009 at:http://www.fiainstitute.com/news/Pages/article-44.aspxFormula 1 Corporate (2007) Formula 1 Corporate.com,Germany. Retrieved 1 November 2007 from:http://www.f1corporate.com/formula-one-travel/30/1/british-f1-grand-prix.htmlFrancis, D. (Ed.) (2008) F1 Racing Green. Bondi Junction.NSW: Derwent Howard Publishing.Fraser, P. (2007) ‘The climate change doubters would do well tohave a closer look at some of the expert opinions’ in the Age,Fairfax Publishing, Melbourne, 1 March, Business 8.Green Car Journal (2007) ‘Tom LaSorda speaks out’ in GreenCar Journal, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA. Retrieved 8 November2007 from:http://www.greencar.com/index.cfm?content=dialogue9Green Motorsport Ltd.com (2009), Woking, Surrey, UK.Viewed 9 October 2009 at:http://www.greenmotorsport.com/green_motorsport/1,1,388.htmlIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) WorldMeteorological Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland. Retrieved 3July 2007 from: http://www.ipcc.chInternational Carbon Bank & Exchange (2009) [online],Gainesville, FL., USA. Viewed 9 October 2009 at:www.icbe.comInternational Olympic Committee (2007) International OlympicCommittee – Organisation Structures.Retrieved from:http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/commissions/environment/index_uk.asp94 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Sustaining the raceInternational Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers(2007a) The 77th International Motor Show. Retrieved 8November 2007 from: http://www.salon-auto.ch/en/premieres/index2.php?idIndex=632&idPage=1International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers(2007b) Alternative Energy Sources. Retrieved 8 November2007 from: http://oica.net/category/auto-and-fuels/alternative-fuels/Jackson, T. & Michaelis, L. (2003) Policies for SustainableConsumption: A Report to the Sustainable DevelopmentCommission, 17 September, Sustainable DevelopmentCommission, London, UK.JKH Partners (2007). Retrieved 1 November 2007 from:http://www.phillipislandcircuit.com.au/Killeen, T., Otto-Bliesner, B.L. & Prather, M.J., (2009) AGUPosition Statement – Human Impacts on Climate, [MediaRelease], American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., US.Viewed 9 October 2009 at: http://www.agu.org/outreach/science_policy/positions/climate_change2008.shtmlLowes, M. & Tranter, P. (2007) ‘Communicating urban valuesthrough megasport events: the case of Australia’s “highperformance” cities’ in Gibson, T.A. & Lowes, M. (Eds), UrbanCommunication: Production, Text, Context. : London: Rowman &Littlefield Publishers Inc.Meadows, D., Meadows, D. & Randers, J. (2004) Limits toGrowth: The 30-Year Update. , Vermont: Chelsea GreenPublishing Company.Millikin, M. (Eds) (2007a) ‘Flybrid F1 Kinetic Energy RecoverySystem Voted ‘Engine Innovation of the Year’ in Green CarCongress, Bio Age Group. Retrieved 4 November 2007 from:http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/11/flybrid-f1-kine.htmlMillikin, M. (Ed.) (2007b) ‘FIA responds positively to OaktecE85 Hybrid Rally Car’ in Green Car Congress, Bio Age Group, 6February. Retrieved 4 November 2007 from:http://www.greencarcongress.com2007/02/fia_responds_po.htmlMillikin, M., (Ed.) (2008) Green Car Congress, ‘Toyota hybridrace car wins Tokachi 24-hour race: In-wheel motors andsupercapacitors’ in Green Car Congress, Bio Age Group.Retrieved 15 January 2008 from:http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/07/toyota-hybrid-r.htmlMotor Authority (2008),‘Toyota hybrid sales top one million’ inMotor Authority. Retrieved 15 January 2008 from:http://www.motorauthority.com/cars/toyota/toyota-hybrid-salestop-one-million/Motor Authority, (2009), Study: Hybrids to make up one in fiveU.S. car sales by 2020. Viewed 9 October 2009 at:http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1033317_study-hybrids-tomake-up-one-in-five-u-s-car-sales-by-2020Natural Resources Canada (2007) Minerals and Metals atHome, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved 3 November 2007from:http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms/wealth/icons/drive/drivefr.htmNorrgard Motorsport Development (2007) Retrieved 1 November2007 from: http://www.nmd.com.au/racetracks_detail.cfm?id=5North American International Auto Show (2008) Retrieved 12January 2008 from: http://www.naias.com/Default.aspx .Parkin, S. (2000) ‘Sustainable Development: The Concept andthe Practical Challenge’ in Civil Engineering, 138, 7.Parkin, S. (2007) Sara Parkin – Forum for the Future, London,UK. Retrieved 17 September 2006from:http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/aboutus/meettheteamfounders_page347.aspxPittock, A. B.(2005) Climate Change: Turning Up The Heat.Collingwood, Australia: CSIRO PublishingSchmidt, C.W. (2006) ‘Putting the Earth in Play: EnvironmentalAwareness and Sports’ in Environmental Health Perspectives,Vol. 114, No. 5, May, 2006. Retrieved 17 October 2007from:http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1459948Serageldin, I. & Steer, A. (Eds) (1994) Making DevelopmentSustainable: From Concepts to Action, ESD Occasional PaperSeries, No. 2. Washington DC: The World Bank.Shih, G. (2008) ‘Scientists push to end scepticism’ in the Age,Fairfax Publishing, Melbourne, 26 January , 24.Smith, A. & Westerbeek, H. (2004) The Sport Business Future.Hampshire, UK: Palgrave MacMillan.Sport 4 the Environment (2008) Why S4E?, Initiative Marketing,Melbourne. Retrieved 20 December 2007 from:http://www.sport4theenvironment.com.au/why_s4eStern, N. (2006) Stern Review on the Economics of ClimateChange, Her Majesty’s Treasury, London, U.K. Retrieved 4 May2007 from: www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/sternreview_index.cfmSunoco (2007) Indy Pro Series changes to Sunoco 260GTXUnleaded, Philadelphia, P.A., March 27th, 2007. Retrieved 4November 2007 from: http://www.sunocoinc.com/NR/rdonlyres/67523ACF-FC9A-40FD-BF1A-F1A88DE2B7B1/401/PressRelease_IndyProSeries20413.docRESEARCH PAPER● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship95

Sustaining the raceRESEARCH PAPERUnited Kingdom Motorsport Development Board (2007) EEMSWelcomes Team RAC’S move to Green fuel in Top UK MotorsportChampionship. Retrieved 7 November 2007 from:http://www.motorsportdevelopment.co.uk/news.cfm/title/EEMS%20Welcomes%20Team%20RAC%E2%80%99s%20Move%20to%20Green%20Fuel%20in%20Top%20UK%20Motorsport%20Championship/flag/2/id/209United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(2007) Teaching and Learning for A Sustainable Future,UNESCO, Educating for a Sustainable Future, Paris, France.Retrieved 7 November 2007 from:www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/TLSF/United Nations Environment Programme (2007) United NationsEnvironment Protection Agency, United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 7 May 2007 from:http://www.unep.org/United Nations Environment Programme (2007a) GlobalEnvironmental Outlook 4: Summary for Decision Makers, UnitedNations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 28October 2007 from:http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/media/GEO4%20SDM_launch.pdfUnited Nations Environment Programme (2007b) GlobalEnvironmental Outlook 4, United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, Nairobi, Kenya Retrieved 28 October 2007 from:http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/GEO-4_Report_Full_en.pdfUnited Nations Environment Programme (2007c) UNEP and theInternational Olympic Committee, United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 3 November 2007 from:http://www.unep.org/sport_env/Olympic_Games/index.aspUnited Nations Environment Programme (2007d) Global Forumfor Sport and Environment (G-ForSE), The Sport & EnvironmentUnit, Division of Communications and Public Information, UNEP.Retrieved 12 June 2007 from:http://www.unep.org/sport_env/Activities/G-ForSE06/index.aspUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(2007) Kyoto Protocol, Bonn, Germany. Retrieved 7 November2007 from: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.phpUnited Nations (1997) United Nations Conference onEnvironment and Development, United Nations, New York, USA,23 May. Retrieved 18 April 2007 from:http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.htmlUnited Nations (2007b) Report of the World Commission onEnvironment and Development, United Nations DocumentationCentre, New York. Retrieved 18 April 2007 from:http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/42/ares42-187.htmWestpac (2007) ‘Our principles for doing business’ in WestpacBanking Group. Retrieved 11 October 2007 from:http://www.westpac.com.au/internet/publish.nsf/Content/WICRSR+Our+PrinciplesWilkinson, D. & Yencken, D. (2000) Resetting the Compass:Australia’s Journey Towards Sustainability, CSIRO Publishing,Collingwood.Williams, R. (2007),‘Imperial Racing Green’ on The ScienceShow, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 13 October, Sydney.Retrieved 3 November 2007 from:http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2007/2058218.htmWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development (2009)The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative [online], Washington,US. Viewed 9 October 2009 at: http://www.ghgprotocol.orgWorld Commission on the Environment and Development(1987) Report of the World Commission on Environment andDevelopment: Our Common Future, United Nations EnvironmentProgramme, Nairobi, Kenya. Retrieved 18 April 2007 from:http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm96 International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●

Editorial policyThe Journal welcomes the submission of academicand practitioner research papers, articles, casestudies, interviews and book reviews. Submissionsshould aim to educate and inform and should ideallyfocus on a specific area that is pertinent to thesubject matter of the Journal, as detailed below.In all instances, the editorial team seeks to publishsubmissions that clearly add value to theory and/orpractice in sports marketing and sponsorship.Aims and scopeThe mission of the Journal is to bring togetheracademics and practitioners in one forum, with theintent of furthering knowledge and understanding ofsports marketing and sponsorship. The Journalinterprets sports marketing and sponsorship broadly,to include:● fans and customers● individual performers and endorsers● teams and clubs● leagues and competitions● events and stadia● sponsors and properties● retailers and merchandisers● suppliers and intermediaries● broadcasters and the media● governing bodies and representative associations● places, spaces and cities● economic and social development initiatives● magazines, newspapers and websites● betting and gambling services● sportswear manufacturers● gaming and collecting.We encourage submissions from a wide variety ofperspectives, including marketing, all areas ofmanagement, economics, politics, history, sociology,psychology, cultural studies and anthropology.All articles should be written primarily to informacademics and practitioners directly or indirectlyinvolved in the sports marketing and/or sponsorshipindustries. Articles that detail results of original work areaccorded high priority. The Journal also invites reportson new or revised business techniques, perspectives oncontemporary issues and results of surveys.Case studies and reviews of books and/or reportsare welcomed. For these, we request that copies of thebook/report be sent to the Editor and to the Publisher.Research articles should be well groundedconceptually and theoretically, and methodologicallysound. Qualitative and quantitative pieces of researchare equally appropriate.The Editor is willing to discuss and advise onproposed projects. This is no guarantee of publication.Submissions are double-blind peer reviewedaccording to the following general criteria:● clarity and content of the abstract● problem or issue definition and justification● relevance and rigour of literature review● credibility, appropriateness and relevance of researchmethodology and in the reporting of results● quality and relevance of conclusions andrecommendations● value added by the submission to academic andpractitioner understanding of sports marketing.Format and styleResearch articles should normally be no less than4,000 and no more than 8,000 words.Case studies of no less than 2,500 and no more than5,000 words should be objective rather thanpromotional and should follow the following format:Background / Objectives / Implementation / Results /Conclusion. Interviews are welcomed, but should bediscussed with the Editor. Book reviews shouldnormally be less than 1,500 words.Each article submitted for consideration shouldinclude an executive summary of up to 500 words,which gives a flavour of the article and includes therationale for the study, methods used, key findings,conclusions and value added. A shorter abstract, of nomore than 100 words, must also be included.EDITORIAL POLICY● OCTOBER 2009 ● International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship97

Editorial policyEDITORIAL POLICYFootnotes and endnotes may be used but only whereappropriate and as sparingly as possible.Tables, charts, diagrams and figures should be inblack and white and placed on separate pages at theend of the manuscript. Where data or image files havebeen imported into Word for tables, diagrams etc,please supply the original files. Authors must indicatein the main body of the text approximately where eachtable, chart, diagram or figure should appear.Jargon should be kept to a minimum, with technicallanguage and acronyms always clearly defined.The accuracy of references is the responsibility ofthe author(s). Authors should refer to the Journal forstyle or use the Harvard system of referencing foundat: http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/harvard.pdfSubmissions protocolSubmissions should be sent as Word documents byemail directly to the Editor. If this is not possible, threecopies of the manuscript should be sent by regularmail with a copy on CD (preferably) or computer disc.Authors should submit their manuscripts witha covering letter. Receipt of submissions is noguarantee of publication. Submission of a paper tothe Journal implies agreement of the author(s) thatcopyright rests with International Marketing ReportsLtd if and when a paper is published. The copyrightcovers exclusive rights to reproduce and distributethe paper.The Journal will not accept submissions underreview with other publications. If the manuscript ispreviously published or copyrighted elsewhere,specific permission must be obtained from thePublisher before submission and the Editor of theJournal must be informed.All research papers submitted will be double-blindpeer reviewed. Authors will normally receive anassessment from the reviewers within six to 12 weeks.The Publisher reserves the right to sub editsubmissions for accuracy and consistency of style.Submissions formatPage 1Page 2Page 3● Title of the submission● Author(s) name(s), affiliation, postaladdress, email, telephone and fax● Up to six keywords● Specify: academic/practitioner paper● Biography of author(s) (50 words)● Title of the submission● Executive summary (500 words)● Abstract (100 words)● Author details MUST NOT appear● Title of submission; begin main text.For more specific style questions, please consulteither a recent edition of the Journal or the Editor.Based upon reviewer comments, the Editor will makeone of four decisions:● that the submission should be accepted forpublication without amendments● that the submission should be accepted forpublication subject to minor amendments● that the submission should be returned to theauthor(s) with recommendations for major changesbefore publication is considered again● that the submission should be rejected.Submissions accepted for publication will normally bescheduled to appear within 12 months of the authorreceiving written confirmation of acceptance from theEditor. Rejected manuscripts will not be returned.Professor Michel Desbordes, EditorInternational Journal of SportsMarketing & SponsorshipISC School of Management, Paris, France& University Paris Sud 11, FranceTel: +33 (0)1 69 15 61 57Fax: +33 (0)1 69 15 62 37Email: michel.desbordes1@wanadoo.fr98International Journal of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship ● OCTOBER 2009 ●