Outbound cause-related marketing at the West Coast Eagles : measuring awareness and impact

This paper examines sports sponsorship from the perspective of the sports organisation as the sponsor of charity and community events - an increasingly common practice. Most of these sponsorship activities fit within the framework of cause-related marketing, but their effectiveness and value to the clubs involved are not known. We examine the activities of one AFL club which is heavily involved in a range of outbound sponsorship activities. In order to assess the impact of theses activities, we surveyed season ticket holders of this club and examined issues such as their general awareness of these activities and the both the antecedents and outcomes of this awareness. We find that general awareness (recognition) levels were high, and that the correlated with loyalty, involvement and specific brand associations. The conclusion is that outbound sponsorship of charities and the community has a number of positive outcomes for sporting clubs, and should be encouraged.