The mission of the Sport & Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Special Interest Group or SportSIG is to expand the knowledge base in the field of sports and event marketing and further develop the academic community dedicated to this field through collaborative scholarly activities and outputs focused on the research, teaching and practice of sports marketing. SportSIG strives to creating opportunities at both the Summer and Winter AMA Academics Conferences for participants to interact and network with key sports industry executives by facilitating programing at local professional and collegiate sports properties in the host cities. We also seek to hold a Sports Industry Keynote speaker series at each Summer and Winter AMA that highlights seminal scholars and practitioners from the sports industry.
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The American Marketing Association’s Sport & Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Special Interest Group (SportSIG) honors the service of its members towards the academic study of sport marketing with three annual awards: the Distinguished Career Contributions to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business Award, the Emerging Scholar in Sport Marketing Award, and the Paper of the Year in Sport Marketing Award.
Distinguished Career Contributions to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business Award
The Distinguished Career Contributions to the Scientific Understanding of Sport Business award is the highest award presented by SportSIG and recognizes scholars who have made a substantial and significant contribution to the scientific understanding of the business of sport over a period of 10 years or more.
Previous Winners
- T. Bettina Cornwell, University of Oregon
- Stephen Greyser, Harvard University
- Kevin Gwinner, Kansas State University
- Lynn Kahle, University of Oregon
- Scott Kelley, University of Kentucky
- Robert Madrigal, California State University, Chico
- Tony Meenaghan, University College Dublin
- Norm O’Reilly, University of Guelph
- Gregory Pickett, Clemson University
- Pascale Quester, Swinburne University
- Dennis Sandler, Pace University
- Kirk Wakefield, Baylor University
Emerging Scholar in Sport Marketing Award
This award recognizes a scholar in the early stage of his or her career who has significantly contributed to the scientific study of sport and/or sponsorship-linked marketing. Award candidates may include Ph.D. candidates who have advanced beyond the comprehensive exam (i.e., ABD status), as well as pre-tenure faculty members.
Previous Winners
2023: Minkyo Lee, East Stroudsburg University
2022: Michael Naraine, Brock University
2021: Lane Wakefield, Baylor University
2020: Ashley Stadler Blank, Xavier University
2019: Yonghwan Chang, University of Minnesota
2018: Thilo Kunkel, Temple University
2017: Jonathan A. Jensen, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2016: Christopher Lee, Arizona State University
2015: Cody Havard, University of Memphis
Paper of the Year in Sport Marketing Award
The Paper of Year in Sport Marketing Award recognizes outstanding publications that have made a significant contribution to improving our understanding of the academic study of sport marketing and practice.
Previous Winners
Colleen Bee, Vassilis Dalakas, Johnny Chen (2022). The simultaneous sponsorship of rival teams: Beyond ingroup favoritism and outgroup animosity. Psychology & Marketing, 39(1),196-213, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21589
Jensen, J. A., Cobbs, J. B., Albano, B., & Tyler, B. D. (2021). Analyzing price premiums in international sponsorship exchange: What drives marketing costs in Formula One Racing?. Journal of Advertising Research, 61(1), 44-57.
Wakefield, L., Wakefield, K., & Keller, K. L. (2020). Understanding sponsorship: A consumer-centric model of sponsorship effects. Journal of Advertising, 49(3), 320-343.
Henderson, C. M., Mazodier, M., & Sundar, A. (2019). The color of support: The effect of sponsor–team visual congruence on sponsorship performance. Journal of Marketing, 83(3), 50-71.
Mazodier, M., Henderson, C. M., & Beck, J. T. (2018). The long reach of sponsorship: How fan isolation and identification jointly shape sponsorship performance. Journal of Marketing, 82(6), 28-48.
Woisetschläger, D. M., Backhaus, C., & Cornwell, T. B. (2017). Inferring corporate motives: How deal characteristics shape sponsorship perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 81(5), 121-141.
Cobbs, J., Tyler, B. D., Jensen, J. A., & Chan, K. (2017). Prioritizing sponsorship resources in Formula One Racing: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Sport Management, 31(1), 96-110.
Close, A. G., Lacey, R., & Cornwell, T. B. (2015). Visual processing and need for cognition can enhance event-sponsorship outcomes. Journal of Advertising Research, 55(2), 206-215.
Jensen, J. A. & Cobbs, J. B. (2014). Predicting return on investment in sport sponsorship. Journal of Advertising Research, 54(4), 435-447.
Sport and Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Chair:
Rodoula H. Tsiotsou
University of Macedonia, Greece
Email: rtsiotsou@uom.edu.gr
Sport and Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Vice Chair, Conference Programming:
Brett Christenson
Penn State
Sport and Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Vice Chair, Industry Engagement/Social Events:
Angeline Close-Scheinbaum
Clemson University
Sport and Sponsorship-Linked Marketing Vice Chair of Communication:
