SIGNIFICANCE OF SPONSORSHIPS IN SPORTS AND THE CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANIES; ACIBADEM HOSPITALS GROUP, EXAMPLE FROM PRIVATE SECTOR

Abstract

In this developing world, sports have become more than just an activity which teams and sportsmen do to earn money or spend their free time, it is also a political tool for big nations. The most important reason for this is the passion for sports and its popularity. In our day, where distances are shortened, English teams’ games being followed in the continent Asia, African kids can be seen wearing Spanish teams’ jerseys. Industrialized sports, in this global world, is one of the leading sectors with the amount of money changing hands. In this lane, where the assets of former basketball player, Michael Jordan exceeds 1 million dollars, investors are not limited with governments. Many companies are also making large amounts of investments in this growing sports industry. In our work, we tried to research how sports sponsorships, which have more significance especially with the incresing restrictions in advertising in various sectors, are used by companies, the purposes of these companies, and the kind of cooperations the sponsored organization, team or sportsmen have with the sponsoring company. In our research, while giving examples from these companies’ investments in sports sponsorships, we mention the kinds of sports sponsorships and their properties. In this research, the return of the investment in sports sponsorships to the brand of Acibadem Hospitals Group, which devotes free medical services and financial support counting up to 20 (twenty) million Turkish Liras annually to sports sponsorships, had been investigated. In the survey completed in cities Istanbul, Bursa, Eskisehir and Ankara, where there are Acibadem hospitals, the amount of consumer interest in sports of 341 people and the return and feedback of investment in sports branches were tried to be identified.