It is true that these days sports commercialization is increasingly popular and numerous professional athletes make large sums of money from their careers in sports. In my opinion, this trend could have both positive and negative consequences in equal measure.
The rise in sports sponsorship can be seen as positive for both human and business reasons. On an individual level, sportspeople might have more opportunities to practice under the direction of a skilled coach or in state-of-the-art facilities thanks to huge investments from sponsors. To exemplify, the Vietnam Football Federation employed Mr. Park Hang-seo, who is excellent and devoted, as the coach of the Vietnamese football team with a handsome salary of up to 50,000$ per month. As a result, this team achieved valuable awards such as runner-up in the U23 Asian Championship 2018. From a business perspective, investors can increase their brand awareness significantly. With the world-famous footballer Cristiano Ronaldo as the representative face of the brand, the Clearman shampoo’s revenue has improved dramatically.
However, the human and business arguments given above can be considered from the opposite angle. Firstly, in order to win generous prize money and lucrative sponsorship deals, some sports people develop a win-at-all-costs attitude, even defying the basic principle of sport, regardless of the possibility of facing heavy punishment. For example, Quach Thi Lan, a famous Vietnamese track and field athlete, used doping during the Seagame 31 sports festival to boost her strength, had her medals officially revoked as well as was prohibited from competing for a long time. Secondly, businesses investing in sports to produce a closer image to the public can also encounter many risks. If an athlete or sports team got involved in a great scandal, the brand that cooperates with them would likely suffer a bad reputation related to that representative face. Even worse, the sponsor could suffer a significant financial loss when the people boycotted them.
In conclusion, the increase in sports sponsorship will have both beneficial and detrimental effects on individuals, sports, and businesses.