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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sponsorship in the Finnish sports culture

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AbstractThe theoretical assumptions explored with this paper are based on previous sociological studies concerning change in the field of sports. According to previous studies, international top-level sport is characterized by professionalism and a dissociation from the voluntary organizational field of sport. Top-level sports have become professional activities in internationally significant sports. In contrast to this, children’s and youth sports are still based on voluntary participation in Finland. The links between sports and economy have become even stronger since sport has become more professional, especially where sponsorship in toplevel sports has increased. However, sponsorship is not a new phenomenon, since economic support by businesses has always belonged to sport to some extent.The purpose of our article is to firstly clarify the position of sports sponsorship as a part of Finnish sponsorship as a whole. Secondly, we ask what are the goals and expectations of the businesses sponsoring sports...