Sports teams heritage: Measurement and application in sponsorship

This study examines the impact of sports team heritage on sponsorships. Five dimensions of sports team heritage (athletes, coaches, symbols, stadium, and rituals) are found based on a review of the sports, sponsorship and brand heritage literature, and five empirical studies. The first study employed qualitative research to assist in item generation, while the next two studies quantitatively assessed the items and dimensions of sports team heritage. Two follow-up experiments show that invoking sports team heritage generates positive attitudes toward the sports team, the sponsorship, and the sponsoring brand, for both fictitious and real teams. Thus, we conceptualize, initially measure, and explore the impact of heritage within a sports team and sponsorship context, provide sports managers with guidelines on how to successfully benefit from team heritage, and outline directions for future research.