Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Human Movement, Sport and Leisure Studies /Sport Administration

Starting from the 2017-18 season, the NBA league, initiated jersey sponsorship. While jersey sponsorship has been a popular marketing strategy in European professional sports leagues, it is relatively a new approach in the U.S. Perspectives from the academic and practical business fields, questioned whether this new marketing strategy could be effective in the U.S sports business field. Thus, the current study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of NBA jersey sponsorship in terms of sponsor recognition, sponsor image, sponsor attitude and purchase intention toward the sponsor brand. The research was a 2 (game exposure: pre- vs. post-tests) x 3 (game quality: close vs. one-sided vs. control groups) within-between factorial design. Total of 97 college students in a mid-size university of Ohio were participated in the research. They were assigned into one of the three groups—close game, one-sided game, and control group and completed pre- and post-test questionnaires. The results provided empirical evidence that sponsor recognition, sponsor image and sponsor attitude positively changed after watching the game. Additionally, sponsor image, sponsor attitude, and purchase intention increased more with participants who watched a close game than those who watched a one-sided game. This implied that the NBA jersey sponsorship was effective and positively change spectators' sponsor recognition, sponsor image, sponsor attitude and purchase intention toward the sponsor. The research findings could be used as an important indicator for researchers and practitioners a guideline that game quality could be a significant factor to consider when assessing jersey sponsorship effectiveness.

Committee: Jiesun Lucy Lee Dr. (Committee Chair); Sungho Cho Dr. (Committee Member); David Tobar Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sports Management