Abstract

Over the past thirty years, sponsorship has evolved from a small-scale activity in a limited number of developed countries to a major global industry. Since 1980, sponsorship has been considered an important communication tool and its use in marketing strategies has become very frequently. Nowadays, sponsorship is used to drive sales as well as to develop brand image, brand awareness and organizational relations. Generally sport sponsorship and especially football sponsorship have showed the highest investments among cultural, artistic and environmental areas. In this regard, this paper tries to investigate the main features of sponsorship in Italian Football Clubs, analyzing particularly: a) the firm sponsor's industries, b) the amount of their investments, c) the differences between Italian Football League and other European ones.