Soft Power Sports Sponsorship – A Social Network Analysis of a New Sponsorship Form

Abstract

Abstract Although commonly associated with commercial organizations utilizing it as a form of marketing communication, sponsorship has become an increasingly political activity. Over the past decade, an apparent shift in sponsorship spending has seen a growing number of sponsorships in which a state entity has acquired the right of association with a sponsorship property. Sponsorships undertaken by state-owned airlines, energy companies, as well as through sovereign-wealth fund brands, have thus become increasingly commonplace, suggesting a new era of sponsorship marketing and soft power exertion. This study examines the emergence and effects of such agreements, and argues that such activities constitute a new form of sponsorship – soft power sponsorship – illustrative of how countries seek to promote their attractiveness, culture, ideas, and policies through soft power. Employing Social Network Analysis (SNA), this study examines the nature and extent of soft power in the cases of three countries (China, Qatar and Russia), and explores how state sponsorship is structurally embedded within soft power networks. In so doing, the study provides a definition and conceptualization of soft power sponsorship, and an analysis of the implications for sponsorship practice.