Abstract

Corporate sponsorship is a common phenomenon in major soccer leagues worldwide. Studies in the area of sports sponsorship decision-making have been done from a global context but lack focus on a particular sport or a major soccer league. Little empirical evidence has emerged in the area of sport sponsorship decision-making factors. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors considered by corporate organizations in availing sponsorship to clubs in the Kenya Premier League. The study determined the influence of team-based, country-based and environmental-based characteristics on corporate organizations’ decisions to sponsor, the first of its kind to be done on the Kenya Premier League. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from six corporate sponsors of community-based, privately-owned and military-based clubs in the Kenya Premier League 2018/2019 season, as well as club chairmen and treasurers. Interviews were also conducted on the managers and assistants of marketing/sales departments of the corporate sponsors. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics to rank the sponsorship factors in their order of importance. Regressions were done to test the hypotheses. The data obtained through interviews were sorted out according to the objectives and presented in a narrative form. The study revealed that team-based factors had the highest significant effect on sponsorship decisions, followed by country-based then environmental-based factors.

Key words: Determinants, corporate sponsorship, soccer, premier league clubs, Kenya Premier League, Kenya.