Some businesses gain publicity by financially supporting sports events, which is approved by some and frowned upon by others. Even though businesses can benefit from backing up sport financially, I side with those who believe that this is highly negative as adverts are a major distraction from sport itself.
Some believe that sponsorship of sports events is good for business as this can be an effective marketing tool. As a result of such promotion, sponsors gain improved brand image which ultimately increases their revenue. This is because sport has always grabbed people’s attention, making a large mass of people follow the teams, the tournaments, and the championships, including both goers to stadiums or racing tracks and TV viewers or social media users. Hence, being constantly watched by many, the brand becomes recognizable. This means that the increased exposure to customers makes a brand more visible, thus, recognized by many and preferred to others, leading to growth in sales of goods promoted during sports events. However, the primary beneficiaries appear to be sponsors who gain market visibility, whereas the events themselves often struggle with financial sustainability despite heavy commercialization.
On the other hand, many argue that advertisements detract from the sports experience by overwhelming both players and viewers and I agree. There are commercials shown almost continually when advertisements appear every time the game stops. As a consequence, fans can consume more than three hours of ads during a three-hour game, sometimes even forgetting how the game develops or who scored. Another distractor is electronic advertising boards along the sidelines of soccer pitches, which are not only bright but also animated, are highly distracting. Even players are not immune to this commercialization, as their uniforms and equipment are increasingly covered in logos, turning them into walking billboards. All this overwhelms players and spectators, detracting them from the experience of playing or watching the games where every move is watched.
In conclusion, promoting business through sponsoring sports events is negative as such exposure to advertisements is a major distraction from sport itself, which cannot be compared to any commercial benefits that sponsors gain.