27.9.2019 Yellow card for corruption and bribery: sports scandals can harm sponsors (Dodds)

Corruption scandals have become common within the sport industry. They draw intense media scrutiny and inflame fan passions. They also seem to have a harmful effect on sponsors and brand images.
Mark Dodds
Published
27.9.2019

FIFA World Cup bidding disgrace. The 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic bribery trials. Lance Armstrong doping story. These are but some examples of recent infamous sports scandals.

A new study researches how these types of scandals can negatively harm the sponsors of athletes, teams and other sports entities.

“A corruption scandal can result in a lowered brand image and purchase intentions”, states researcher Mark Dodds from Ģֱ School of Business and Economics in his doctoral dissertation.

This harm can be created when the corruption action is committed by the sport organization and then transferred to the sponsor’s brand image. This is called the “horn effect” (as opposed to the “halo effect”), where a single negative traits effects the image of the corporation as a whole.

Sometimes the sponsors themselves may also be to blame.

“The harm done may be particularly destructive when the sponsor itself commits the corruption. Sport mega-events have become increasingly hosted by ‘bribery friendly’ business cultures, which creates a higher opportunity for corruption”, Dodds tells.

Sport fans may however support sponsors of an alleged corrupt sport but this support lessens when that corruption is proven. This support is also further lessened when that corruption brings harm to the fan’s favorite team, country or sport.

“Sport sponsors should invest financial and human resources to create a compliant corporate culture to protect against corruptive behavior.”

J.D., MBA Mark Dodds defends his doctoral dissertation "The impact of Corruption on Sport Sponsorship" September 27, 12:00 at Agora Gamma. Opponent Associate Professor Sungho Cho (Bowling Green State University, USA) and Custos Professor Heikki Karjaluoto (Ģֱ).

Mark Dodds is a J.D. from Marquette University Law School, M.B.A. from Robert Morris University and B.S. from Syracuse University. Currently he works as a Professor that the State University of New York, College at Cortland where he teaches sport law and sport marketing. His research interests include sport corruption and legal issues of sport business. Dodds also guest lectured at the Ģֱ International Winter School of Sport Sciences.

Dodds’ dissertation can be read in JYX: