El patrocinio como factor condicionante en el desarrollo

de las carreras de los deportistas de élite españoles.

Desigualdades por género y tipo de deporte

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the

development of the careers of Spanish elite

athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of

sport.

ARTICLE

Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani (Universidad de Girona)

Director of the Business Department and Coordinator of the Degree in Marketing at the

Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani de Barcelona (University of Girona). PhD in Business

Administration from the University of León. Accredited as Associate Professor and Professor

of Private University by ANECA. Lecturer in the Department of Business Administration at

the University of Barcelona. Formerly Professor at the University of León. Economic Analyst

and Principal Researcher, responsible for preparing social, economic and labour reports on

the Spanish veterinary sector for his employer’s association, the Spanish Veterinary Business

Confederation (CEVE), attached to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organisations

(CEOE). He has published subject manuals and various research articles on business

organisation, communication, marketing, environmental economics, the veterinary, and

automotive sectors.

oscar.gutierrez@eum.es

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4417-6310

Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani (Universidad de Girona)

PhD in Journalism (cum laude) from the UAB. University Professor (ANECA) and Associate

Professor (AQU). Lecturer at UPF, URL, Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani (UdG), UOC, EAE-

UPC. Director of CECABLE. He has published more than a hundred indexed scientic articles.

jf.fondevila@eum.es

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6587-939X

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón

Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón

OBRA DIGITAL, 24, December 2023, pp. 13-30, e-ISSN 2014-5039

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25029/od.2023.371.23

1414

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

1. INTRODUCTION

Sponsorship has become one of the funda-

mental sources of nancing for the best ath-

letes in each discipline to face the competitions

in which they participate. In this context, nu-

merous sports contracts are signed in which

athletes are provided with the necessary equip-

ment to compete at the best level and some-

times nancial aid is oered so that they can

continue their sports training. In any case, there

is a great inequality of sponsorship among the

various disciplines; likewise, the gender of the

athlete inuences the amount of support re-

ceived from the major brands.

If we are aware of the great impact generated

by sponsorship contracts in today’s sport, the

main objective of this research is to try to ana-

lyze the inuence of a sports sponsorship con-

tract on the development of an elite athlete’s

Abstract

The importance of sponsorship has increased

a lot in recent years, being essential in the rec-

ognition of elite athletes. The main objective of

this study is to determine the scope that spon-

sorship has on the athlete’s success, analyzing

the dierences based on gender, discipline

or country where the profession is practiced.

Qualitative methodologies have been used

(personal interviews and focus groups with elite

Spanish athletes). It is concluded that obtaining

a sponsor is not the same easy for all athletes,

depending largely on the chosen discipline,

gender, the country in which the activity takes

place and previous sporting successes.

KEYWORDS

Patrocinio; marketing; deporte; perspectiva

de género; redes sociales

Resumen

La importancia del patrocinio se ha incremen-

tado mucho en los últimos años, resultando

esencial en el reconocimiento de los deportis-

tas de élite. El objetivo de este estudio es deter-

minar el alcance que sobre el éxito del deportis-

ta tiene el patrocinio, precisando las diferencias

en función de género, disciplina o país donde

se ejerce la profesión. Se han empleado meto-

dologías de tipo cualitativo (entrevistas perso-

nales y focus group a deportistas españoles de

élite). Se concluye que obtener un patrocina-

dor no resulta igual de sencillo para todos los

deportistas, pues inuye la disciplina, el género,

el país o los éxitos precedentes.

PALABRAS CLAVE

Patrocinio; marketing; deporte; perspectiva

de género; redes sociales

Alba Gracia-Conde

Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani (Universidad de Girona)

Pre-doctoral researcher at the Department of Business at the Escuela Universitaria Mediterrani

de Barcelona (University of Girona). Graduate in Marketing from the University of Girona. Her

lines of research are communication and sports marketing. This is her rst participation in

research of this kind.

albagc1999@gmail.com

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4817-8372

RECEIVED: 2023-01-10 / ACCEPTED: 2023-02-03

1515

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

career. This work focuses mainly on how this

nancing is inuenced by the discipline prac-

ticed and the country where the practice takes

place. It also aims to analyze the gender dier-

ences that can currently be detected and the

interests of major brands in their decision to

invest in a person. To this end, we will provide

the vision on the sponsorship of dierent rep-

resentatives of the country’s sports scene and

what it has meant throughout their sporting ca-

reer in their dealings with brands.

2. THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

2.1. IMPORTANCE OF

SPORTS SPONSORSHIP IN

THE COMMUNICATION

STRATEGY OF COMPANIES

In today’s society, sport has a great sociocultur-

al relevance, so big brands seek to be present

in the most important sporting events in the

world, which represent extraordinary oppor-

tunities for companies and other institutions

to showcase their brands and products, or

promote their image through an intense and

positive association between advertiser and

sport, in terms of value and experience (Gines-

ta-Portet and De-San-Eugenio, 2014; Keshkar

et al., 2019; Aragonés-Jericó et al., 2020). In

this sense, sports sponsorship, understood as

agreements between companies and profes-

sional athletes or sporting events, is increas-

ingly present in the strategic communication

decisions of companies, since the actions car-

ried out in this eld usually oer a proven prof-

itability at the level of notoriety, consumer ac-

ceptance, capital-image positioning and sales,

as their products more easily achieve greater

international recognition (Lobillo-Mora et al.,

2016; Breva-Franch et al., 2019; Koronios et al.,

2020; Lázaro-Marcé et al., 2021; Koronios et al.,

2022).

Sports marketing has evolved signicantly in re-

cent decades, due to the widespread use of the

Internet. This has created a context in which, in

a simpler way than before, sports fans can show

a high degree of involvement in dierent disci-

plines and competitions. On the other hand,

companies manage to be constantly informed

about the tastes of their customers and analyze

the motivations and concerns about the peo-

ple, teams or tournaments that audiences fol-

low (Beech and Chadwick, 2007; Fondevila-Gas-

cón, 2012; Da-Silva and Las-Casas, 2017). A

scenario has thus been shaped in which sport,

media, communication and marketing have

been integrated so that, thanks to the use of

new digital technologies, it is possible to gen-

erate more ecient sponsorship strategies,

both for sports organizations and associated

brands (De-Moragas-Spà, 2020; Garza-Segovia

and Kennett, 2022; Cornwell, 2023). In this new

framework, corporate investments in this type

of sponsorship tend to have good returns, es-

pecially if the association achieved with what

is sponsored provides a positive brand image.

Thus, consumers increase their degree of satis-

faction with the brands and products acquired

due to sponsorship, also allowing an easier

purchase decision, while professional athletes

or sponsored sports entities capture one of the

revenues that usually has a large weight in their

accounts (Yousaf et al., 2018; Lee and Jin, 2019;

Kunkel and Biscaia, 2020).

2.2. DETERMINANT FACTORS

IN SPORTS SPONSORSHIP

AND ELECTION OF ATHLETES

The most relevant factors for driving sports

sponsorship policies among companies are

customer loyalty, employee motivation, repu-

tation and image improvement, eective com-

1616

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

bination with the use of social networks, inno-

vation, the emergence of a good opportunity,

positive consumer response, corporate social

responsibility and brand revaluation (Miragaia

et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2019; Navarro-Picado,

2019; Contreras-Espinosa, 2021). Once spon-

sorship is implemented, companies try to re-

cover or monetize their investment, through

fan involvement and brand recognition and

positive image associations generated in the

long term (Smith et al., 2008; Kwon and Shin,

2019; Gutiérrez-Aragón et al. 2021). In any case,

measuring the return value of an investment in

a sports sponsorship is an extremely complex

task, as this return depends, to a large extent,

on the positioning and prior knowledge of the

brand in the market and the sustainability over

time of the investments, which favor the recog-

nition and association of the brands to specic

projects, athletes or sports entities (Brewer and

Pedersen, 2010; Walraven et al., 2014; Abril et

al., 2018).

On the other hand, regarding sponsorship of

individual athletes, although not all sports enjoy

the same sponsorship conditions and there is

an increasing eort to combat possible inequal-

ities, the most common form of contract nego-

tiation is carried out through agencies special-

izing in this eld. These agencies reach reach

cession agreements of certain rights of the ath-

lete in exchange for certain services, material

or, in the best cases, periodic sums of money

more or less large, depending on the gender

or media impact of the athlete, the discipline

or the country in which he or she exercises his

or her activity (Buser et al., 2020; Manzenreiter,

2021; O’Connor, 2021). Sponsorship contracts

signed under these parameters, in the absence

of a global regulation relating to sport and its

sponsors, are dierent in each country, de-

pending on their respective regulations, so that

situations that are legal in a given country may

not be legal in another, due to issues relating

to salary or income ceilings of the teams (Gar-

cia and Meier, 2016; Akhmetshina et al., 2017).

Thus, for example, while university sport enjoys

extensive funding and a large public following

in Anglo-Saxon countries, these competitions

in Spain bear a heavy burden of indierence

from the public; this results in university sports

being relegated in many cases, and their in-

frastructure and investment are precarious

(Blanco-García and Burillo, 2018; Brunton and

St Quinton, 2021). Apart from the relevant legal

considerations regarding the country in which

the investment will take place and the dierent

sociocultural rules that operate there, these

contracts have to take into consideration both

the needs of the sponsored athlete, the events

and disciplines in which he or she participates,

and the communication objectives of the spon-

soring company. In this way, it is avoided that

low social acceptance of the sponsoring com-

pany causes the loss of the investment (Mikhail-

itchenko et al., 2012; Montes et al., 2014; Kesh-

kar et al., 2019).

The companies’ selection of professional ath-

letes to be sponsored will depend on their re-

sults and their sports image, or on the media

presence of their discipline; but it will also de-

pend on the values represented for society and

their moral exposition to the community, be-

sides the potential brand visibility in function of

the products that they want to promote. (Cre-

spo-Celda, 2020; Torres-Romay y García-Mirón,

2020). Other valuable aspects in the same

sense are the phenomenon of shared experi-

ence, international relevance, and the volume

of participants in the events. Thus, some var-

iables are relegated, in many cases, like spec-

tators’ preferences and even athletes´ needs

(Rutter et al., 2019; Wakeeld et al., 2020). In this

eld, big multinationals usually bet for sponsor-

ship contracts with big athletes with worldwide

1717

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

recognized prestige (such as Cristiano Ronaldo,

Leo Messi, Rafael Nadal, Lewis Hamilton o LeB-

ron James), able to associate the brand and the

company’s products with their own personal

brand, mainly through their use in social net-

works, where they have millions of followers.

(Zhou et al., 2020). Another successful strategy,

mainly on extreme athletes, has been to be-

come ocial sponsors of those disciplines, or-

ganizing competitions and challenges, provid-

ing all the material needed by athletes (e.g., Red

Bull). This is a way to reinforce, through the use

in social media directed to a wide community

of fans, their brand image, that ends up being

directly related more with risk, as concept, than

with the product itself that is promoted (Kunz et

al., 2016; Næss y Tickell, 2019).

2.3. SPORTS SPONSORSHIP

AND GENDER INEQUALITY

One of the relevant issues in the sponsorship

of professional athletes lies in the fact that, de-

spite the cultural and social evolution of recent

decades, gender inequalities in terms of invest-

ment are still very signicant in some countries.

Although it is also true that there is an increas-

ing number of them trying to issue regula-

tions in this eld that lead to the requirement

of similar conditions, both in terms of gender

and the discipline exercised (Lafrance-Horning,

2018; Moawad, 2019; Norman et al., 2021; Ye-

nilmez, 2021). In this sense, although it is also

a phenomenon that aects male athletes to a

lesser extent, there are many female athletes

who are harmed by the reduced social scope

of their disciplines, both in the purely nancial

aspect and in their own psychological state,

especially if the sports results are not present

and there is a loss of sponsorship (Keshkar et

al., 2019; Sait and Bogopa, 2021). In any case,

although women’s sport has traditionally been

underrepresented in the media, in recent years

there has been a notable increase in its visibility

that heralds the advent, in many countries, of a

new era in terms of media coverage. This cov-

erage will have to favour increased investment

in sponsorship in the future, both for athletes

and competitions (Darvin and Sagas, 2017; Pet-

ty and Pope, 2019; Billings and Gentile, 2021).

Even so, while greatly appreciating this posi-

tive evolution, it should not be forgotten that,

like so many other socioeconomic elds, sport

has unfortunately also been aected by the

COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to contrac-

tual repercussions and reductions in salaries

and sponsorship for many professional and

semi-professional sports women. A commercial

prioritization of male athletes is revealed again

that favours economic precariousness of fe-

males (Bowes et al., 2020; Clarkson et al., 2020;

Parry et al., 2021). However, once it is possible

to recover normality in the health area, the so-

cial background that was previously being es-

tablished is encouraging, as there seems to be

a great involvement of both public and private

organizations, either through scholarships for

the training of athletes or the promotion of

professional sponsorship, as an expression of

the social character of the brand. This will serve

to favour and support gender equality in sport

(Fernández-Morillo, 2019; Martínez-Abajo et al.,

2020; Sanahuja-Peris et al., 2021).

3. METHODOLOGY

In order to achieve the research objectives

and to carry out an in-depth study of the cur-

rent situation of sponsorship of Spanish elite

professional athletes and its relative weight or

importance in their careers, a combination of

methodologies has been chosen; it is under-

stood that, in this way, the research can achieve

a greater knowledge of the subject under

study (Webb et al. 1966; Bericat, 1998; Gutiér-

1818

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

rez-Aragón et al., 2022). For this purpose, two

qualitative techniques were used: semi-struc-

tured interviews with top athletes from dier-

ent sports disciplines, and a focus group with

a group of athletes who were considered rel-

evant to the objectives of the research. The in-

terviews were conducted between January and

April 2021 and the focus group was carried out

in June of the same year.

Specically, nineteen interviews were conduct-

ed with athletes (eight men and eleven women)

from dierent sports disciplines practiced in

Spain. They were chosen for their sporting ca-

reer and success and for their dierent experi-

ences in terms of sports sponsorship. Depend-

ing on the personal situation of the interviewee

and the specic sport he or she practiced, the

interviews could vary in structure and format;

the conversation was allowed to ow natural-

ly, in order to collect reliable qualitative data.

In any case, in order to shape the line of argu-

ment required by the research guidelines, each

of the interviewees was asked the same eight

open-ended questions, among other ques-

tions, so that they could express their feelings

and opinions on the issues raised. It was con-

sidered appropriate to obtain as broad a view

as possible of the current context of sponsor-

ship, so not all the sports chosen have a high

media and social visibility in the country. It was

precisely because of their lesser relevance, in

this sense, that they were chosen. Thus, it was

possible to analyze the real impact of sponsor-

ship in each case (Table 1).

Since, in general, women’s sports in Spain have

had less social consideration, the athletes were

chosen for their relevance in their sport. All

of the selected cases have stood out in their

disciplines in recent years; most of them have

gone through high performance centres and, in

many cases, have been called up to the nation-

al team on repeated occasions. Three of the

athletes were chosen for the interview because

they were training in the United States, which

would serve as a point of comparison in terms

of sponsorship with a pioneering country in this

eld. The interviews provided a large amount of

information of interest, so, in order to analyze

the information in depth, systematize the data

obtained and organize the results, they are di-

vided into three large blocks. In the rst of these,

a comparison is made between genders, based

on the most common responses between the

two. In the second block, an in-depth analysis

is made of the responses oered by women

grouped according to four variables of interest:

the world of motorsports, the Spanish national

team, their stay in the United States and minor-

ity sports. Finally, the same was done with the

men’s responses, grouping them into four sec-

tions: major disciplines, retired athletes, Span-

ish national team and minority sports.

1919

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

Athlete Sport

Relevance for the research

Marta García Car racing

Women in an eminently masculine sport

Emma Reyes Rhythmic gymnastics Minority sport. Spanish national team

Marina Bassols Tennis Gender gap with respect to male tennis

Laura Ester Ramos Water polo

World champion (Spanish national team)

Agustina Talasimov Basketball Works in the U.S.

Anna Grima Volleyball Minority sport

Júlia Gutiérrez Volleyball Part of his career in the U.S.

Ester Ribera Beach volleyball Has competed in the world circuit

Melanie Serrano Football

Gender gap in men’s football

Laia Muñoz Football

Works in the USA

Berta Abellán Trials Women in a predominantly male sport

Rubén Gracia “Cani” Football Professional career in elite teams

Pau Martínez Football Athlete at the beginning of her career

Miki Juanola Football Athlete at the beginning of her career

Jaime Fernández Basketball Athlete at the beginning of her career

Ignacio Alabart Roller hockey Minority sport

Cristian Portelli Surng

Minority sport

Guillermo Fayed Alpine skiing He competes with the French national ski team

Àngel Mullera Athletics European medallist (Spanish national team)

Table 1

Interviewed athletes and sports

Source: own elaboration

It was considered appropriate to complement

the study with a focus group of ve athletes

from dierent disciplines, which would allow,

on the one hand, to resolve certain doubts

that were not resolved in the interview phase,

and, on the other hand, to reveal other signi-

cant factors on the subject of the research that

could be of interest to the study. All participants

have a long experience in their eld of sport

and with current sponsors and were chosen for

certain characteristics that were relevant to the

study (table 2). As a starting point, they were

presented with a questionnaire similar to the

interview questionnaire, in order to generate a

discussion among them and to get their opin-

ion on the questions raised in the study.

2020

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

Table 2

Composition of the Focus group

Athlete and sport

Motivación para su

participación

Agustina Talasimov

(Basketball)

Extensive experience with

sponsorship in the USA (her

institution informs about

changes every season).

Berta Abellán (Tri-

als)

Breaks gender stereotypes in

the sport (the number of fe-

male pilots is quite small).

Miki Juanola (Foot-

ball)

He is the youngest home-

grown athlete to participate in

the study. His place of training

is key in terms of his spon-

sorship.

Cristian Portelli

(Surng)

Extensive experience in spon-

sorship from an early age,

despite being part of a very

minority discipline in Spain.

Guillermo Fayed

(Alpine skiing)

By competing for the French

national team, he can bring a

dierent vision to the table.

Fuente: elaboración propia

4. RESULTS

4.1. SEMI-STRUCTURED

INTERVIEWS

In order to detect dierences in sponsorship

models between disciplines and genders and

to be able to contrast them with each other,

ve football players (trained in some of the

best quarries in Spain), two basketball players

and three volleyball players with a wide na-

tional background were interviewed, as well as

high-level representatives of sports with a less-

er social following such as rhythmic gymnas-

tics, trial, motor racing, surng, tennis, alpine

skiing, athletics, water polo and hockey. The

interviews conducted with the sportsmen and

sportswomen, within the exibility allowed by

the semi-structured modality, made it possible

to gather reliable information on the subject

analyzed, obtained from conversations carried

out within the naturalness allowed by a pro-

cess of this type. In this sense, when designing

the research, it was considered appropriate to

maintain a minimum set of questions of major

relevance to the study, which were asked to all

the people interviewed. Six of the results ob-

tained from these questions have been pro-

cessed, categorized and tabulated according to

gender, in order to achieve a quantitative treat-

ment that facilitates a better interpretation of

the results (table 3).

Thus, a rst approximation of the data obtained

in the interviews shows that 87.50% of the men

interviewed, whether active or not, had spon-

sorship contracts during the study, in contrast

to 63.64% of the women. In the case of the

male athletes, the only one who did not have

a valid contract was the athlete Àngel Mullera,

who received support from his own local coun-

cil; therefore, when he stopped competing,

his contract was terminated. The also retired

Guillermo Fayed (third in the world in down-

hill alpine skiing) and Rubén Gracia “Cani” (who

played for several Spanish football teams) still

have a contract with the brands that oer them

clothing and equipment, even though they are

no longer active. Young footballers Miki and

Pau enjoy individual sponsorship contracts

with Puma and Adidas, respectively; these con-

tracts, in addition to funding, provide them

with all the necessary competition material and

other clothing throughout the season. As for

women, those who are still competing today

and are at the top of their sport have contracts

with brands that help them to continue their

sporting commitments by providing them with

equipment. In contrast to men, sportswomen

who are no longer competing or whose per-

formance has deteriorated have automatically

had their contracts terminated.

The male sportsmen interviewed whose disci-

pline is a mass sport (football and basketball)

2121

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

 MEN WOMEN TOTAL

Do you cur-

rently have a

sponsorship

contract?

YES 87,50% 63,64% 73,68%

NO 12,50% 36,36% 26,32%

Were you at

the top of

your sport

when you

started your

sponsorship

contract?

YES 50,00% 72,73% 63,16%

NO 50,00% 27,27% 36,84%

Is sponsor-

ship a key

factor in your

career?

YES 50,00% 100,00% 78,95%

NO 50,00% - 21,05%

Do you think

that the

conditions of

sponsorship

are similar

regardless of

the gender of

the athlete?

YES 37,50% 45,45% 42,11%

NO 62,50% 54,55% 57,89%

Do you think

there are

dierences in

sponsorship

conditions

between dis-

ciplines?

YES 100,00% 72,73% 84,21%

NO - 27,27% 15,79%

Do you think

that there are

dierences

in the condi-

tions of spon-

sorship in the

United States

compared to

Spain? (*)

YES - 100,00% 100,00%

NO - 0,00% 0,00%

Table 3

Summary of questionnaire interviews on sponsorship

(*) This question was only asked to sports women

pursuing their professional careers in the United Sates.

Source: own elaboration

state that their contracts with sports brands

started when they were still in the lower cat-

egories of their club. The situation is very dif-

ferent for the other four athletes from minority

disciplines, as it was much more complicated to

get a sponsor, as they had to win national titles.

On the other hand, all the women interviewed

who are currently practicing their profession in

Spain admit that they had to be the best in their

disciplines and win several titles in order for a

sponsor to be interested in them. The case of

the Spanish sports women currently competing

in the United States is dierent, as they enjoy a

sponsorship contract just for the fact of being

part of their university team and competing at

a good level.

Overall, 78.75% of the sportsmen and women

interviewed believe that sports sponsorship is

vital for their development and training. How-

ever, while only half of the men considered this

requirement to be essential, all the women

agreed that, at present, without a sponsoring

brand, they would not be able to continue their

professional careers in their disciplines. The

four men who signed sponsorship contracts

when they were in lower categories (majority

sports) do not attach too much importance to

this type of sponsorship, as they see it as an

extra in their career and could develop their

career without it. However, since they have

this economic boost and since this incentive is

good, they take advantage of it. The four men

who belong to minority sports disciplines argue

that, for them, sports sponsorship is very im-

portant, as the equipment they use on a daily

basis is very expensive. They also point out that

reaching the elite requires a lot of eort and

sacrice, so getting sponsors increases their

motivation to keep ghting for more titles and

not lose them.

2222

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

The results of the study found that 57.89% of

the respondents felt that sponsorship condi-

tions are not equal depending on the gender of

the athlete. The three sportswomen belonging

to American universities point out that in this

type of sport, a woman and a man receive the

same conditions for sports sponsorship within

their institution, as there are regulatory norms

that oblige both to receive the same budget

and the same facilities. Ester Ribera (beach

volleyball) and Marina Bassols (tennis), despite

competing in Spain, point out that in their dis-

ciplines there is not too much dierence in

sponsorship in terms of gender. However, for

the ve members of more minority sports, the

sponsorship situation is quite complex, partly

due to the fact that the visibility and inuence

of women’s sport in these disciplines is practi-

cally non-existent. Thus, although sponsorship

has increased in recent years, they feel that it is

still far from what is oered to men, and their

conditions are much more demanding. Among

the men interviewed, Rubén Gracia “Cani” was

the only one who acknowledged that women

receive worse sponsorship conditions. Ath-

letes from minority disciplines perceived that,

in their sports, women are on an equal footing

with men, arguing that they enjoy similar visibil-

ity, as the championships are held at the same

venue and on the same day for both, so the im-

pact should be the same. When taking into con-

sideration the great contrast of perspectives

on the visualization of this issue by the dier-

ent interviewees, it is especially relevant to see

how this situation is perceived by the young-

est athletes: Miki, Pau and Jaime (football and

basketball). Although they have had sponsors

since their youth career, they claim to be totally

unaware of the dierences between genders in

sports sponsorship contracts. Ignacio Alabart

(roller hockey) also shared this opinion.

On the other hand, 84.21% of the interviewed

sportsmen and sportswomen appreciate the

existence of dierent sponsorship conditions

between the various disciplines. In general, it is

evident that there is a great deal of inequality

in sponsorship between mainstream and mi-

nority sports, as many disciplines receive a tiny

amount of money and material compared to

what is received in mass sports such as foot-

ball. The footballers interviewed are aware of

the advantages of their sport in this respect,

although they warn that the main cause is that

much more money is involved and much more

prot is generated. The three sportswomen

who compete in the United States explain that

there is more equality between the dierent

disciplines there, even though not all sports

have the same sponsorship budget. This is be-

cause the law does not allow individual spon-

sorships, so the best brands sponsor the whole

institution so that the best athletes in each dis-

cipline promote their products. Finally, many of

the participants in the study note that the wide-

spread use of social media as a communication

tool may be a major driver of sponsorship con-

tracts in less socially embedded sports. This en-

courages a levelling of sponsorship conditions

between disciplines.

4.2. FOCUS GROUP

The second phase of the research consisted

of a focus group of ve athletes from dierent

disciplines, with the aim of providing feedback

on the information obtained in the interviews

and conducting a debate based on the argu-

ments and opinions that emerged (table 4). The

main objective of using this qualitative analysis

tool was to obtain information on the generic

particularities of individual sports sponsorship

in Spain. The responses, statements or revela-

tions that appeared most frequently in the fo-

cus group conrmed, among other things, the

2323

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

Most frequent response Other high frequency responses

What does your contract mainly

consist of?

•

Receive appropriate sports clothing for

competition each season.

• Participate in brand events

What obligations or conditions

does your sponsorship contract

entail?

•

Promote the material received in social

networks and competitions and do not

use material from competitors.

• Occasionally it may be possible to nego-

tiate with another brand for a particular

material.

•

Failure to comply automatically voids the

contract.

How often do you receive ma-

terial?

• In general, athletes are provided with

equipment whenever they need it.

• The brand supplies the material and

sends it out whenever there are new

items.

• In the ocial shop, you could always get

what you wanted (competition clothing

on a monthly basis).

Do you think it is important for

your career to be sponsored?

• There is no doubt about it. It is essen-

tial

• Majority disciplines: it is an extra in the

career and contributes to the image.

•

Minority disciplines: without sponsorship

it is not possible to survive as an athlete.

Are there substantial dierences

in sponsorship between the

United States and Spain?

• There is a huge dierence. In the

United States there is much more

investment in sport (it is more profes-

sionalized).

• University sport is considered profes-

sional

• Just by being part of a university team

you get sponsorship.

Are there signicant gender dif-

ferences in sponsorship?

•

In most cases, women do not enjoy the

same opportunities as men.

• There are dierences depending on the

discipline and the country.

• It is more equal in minority sports

Source: Own elaboration

Table 4

Summary table Focus group. Most frequent response

need for sponsorship for athletes, the impor-

tance of receiving sports clothing and equip-

ment in order to compete in certain disciplines,

the existence of signicant inequalities in spon-

sorship based on gender, and the dierences

between the United States and Spain in spon-

sorship at the university level.

5. DISCUSSION

The main objective of this article was to nd out

and analyze the inuence that a sports spon-

sorship contract has on the career of an elite

athlete, as well as to discern the existence of

possible dierences or inequalities depend-

ing on the athlete’s gender, the discipline he/

she practices and the country where he/she

practices his/her profession. For this purpose,

2424

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

a methodological triangulation has been prac-

ticed, carrying out two dierent types of qualita-

tive analysis. This was done in order to achieve

a more complete vision of the subject matter of

the research (Webb et al., 1966; Bericat, 1998;

Gutiérrez-Aragón et al., 2022).

The results of this study show that, currently,

thanks to technological advances, the evolution

of companies’ marketing strategies and the

widespread use of social networks as a means

of communication, brands can make their

products known globally, which is why there

is great interest in sponsoring professional

players and sporting events. This is a practice

that usually oers a proven return in terms of

notoriety, inuence on fans, image and sales

(Miragaia et al., 2017; Breva-Franch et al., 2019;

Kim et al., 2019; Navarro-Picado, 2019; Koroni-

os et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020; Contreras-Es-

pinosa, 2021). For companies, it is particularly

important, in this sense, to carry out a study of

various factors related to the athlete or event

to be sponsored that may end up inuencing

their choice. Thus, depending on the dierent

regulations and socio-cultural aspects that

may aect public acceptance in each country,

it will be possible to choose those sponsorship

investments that can achieve the expected re-

turn (Mikhailitchenko et al., 2012; Montes et al.,

2014; Keshkar et al., 2019). On the other hand,

it is becoming increasingly common for a com-

pany to sponsor or organize events, providing

the necessary materials to the athletes. This

helps to reinforce the brand image, so that it

relates to the competition itself and not to the

products it oers (Kunz et al., 2016; Næss and

Tickell, 2019).

There are many types of individual sport spon-

sorship contracts, although in most cases

they involve an agreement to cede the ath-

lete’s rights in exchange for services, materials

or money, which will be of greater or lesser

amount or importance depending on gender,

discipline or country (Garcia and Meier, 2016;

Akhmetshina et al., 2017; Buser et al., 2020;

Manzenreiter, 2021; O’Connor, 2021). A large

body of previous academic work, as well as

the results obtained in this research, point to

the fact that gender inequalities in sponsor-

ship are generally contrastable. It is estimated

that, more often than not, women do not enjoy

the same opportunities or facilities in nding a

company to sponsor them, nor the same con-

ditions as their male counterparts when spon-

sorship is nally achieved (Lafrance-Horning,

2018; Moawad, 2019; Norman et al., 2021; Ye-

nilmez, 2021).

Another factor that undoubtedly causes ine-

quality in the formats and amounts of spon-

sorship is the discipline practiced by each ath-

lete, as companies are not as willing to invest

in sponsorship in mass sports as they are in

those that are minorities in terms of their fol-

lowing. This is because the nancial return on

the investment made, in terms of communica-

tion, will largely depend on the media presence

of the discipline (Rutter et al., 2019; Torres-Ro-

may and García-Mirón, 2020; Wakeeld et al.,

2020). On the other hand, although there are

many factors that inuence the performance of

athletes, one of the most relevant is the pres-

sure to achieve sporting titles and not lose their

sponsorships, since, without these, in minority

sports, it is very dicult to continue with a pro-

fessional career (Keshkar et al., 2019; Sait and

Bogopa, 2021).

2525

Óscar Gutiérrez-Aragón, Joan-Francesc Fondevila-Gascón, Alba Gracia-Conde

6. CONCLUSIONS

Obtaining sponsorship is not equally easy for

all athletes, as this is inuenced by a number of

variables. For example, all the female athletes

in the study who were no longer in the elite of

their sport lost the sponsorship of the brands

that sponsored them; the brands stopped pro-

viding them with equipment, even though the

athletes continued to compete. On the other

hand, the men who were no longer active con-

tinued to keep their contracts in force. Also,

among the athletes participating in the study,

those involved in mass sports had received

sports sponsorship before reaching the elite,

while those in disciplines with a lesser social fol-

lowing found it much more dicult. In most of

the cases, they had to contribute with sporting

achievements rst, before receiving funding.

Moreover, all of the women interviewed noted

that, in their sports training, it is essential to re-

ceive nancial support, whether from private

entities or public subsidies. The three Spanish

sportswomen who belong to university teams in

the United States recognised that sport there is

much more professionalized and that there is

greater regulatory control of sports contracts,

in order to guarantee greater equality in terms

of sponsorship among the members of the

teams that participate in competitions, both by

gender and between disciplines.

In short, athlete sponsorship as a marketing

and communication technique and an ele-

ment of potential commercial persuasion has

been gradually gaining presence in dierent

disciplines over the last few decades, through

outstanding sportsmen and women. For many

of them, sponsorship is an essential source of

funding for the development of their profes-

sional careers; without this type of support, in

many cases, they would have to give up sport.

However, inequalities are quite marked in

terms of access to relevant contracts, so ob-

taining sponsorship with sucient guarantees

will depend on the sporting discipline, gender,

the country in which the activity is being carried

out and the sporting successes that have been

achieved beforehand.

In carrying out this study, limitations have been

encountered which, logically, derive from the

willingness to collaborate in the research on

the part of the sportsmen and women who

were proposed, some of whom declined to par-

ticipate. On the other hand, the fact that one of

the researchers is a professional sportsperson

also meant that many interviews could be car-

ried out in conditions of cordiality and complic-

ity, which made it possible to obtain data that

might not otherwise have been possible. Thus,

the study has tried to contribute to clarifying, to

a certain extent, many of the unknowns raised

by the subject analyzed, although, logically, at

the same time, it has also generated new ques-

tions that open up future lines of research and

work. These lines of research could be of in-

terest to both sport and communication pro-

fessionals and academic researchers. Among

these lines of study are the analysis of the sal-

ary and socio-labour gap between the men’s

and women’s sections of top-level clubs (main-

ly football and basketball), and between mass

and minority sports.

2626

Sponsorship as a determining factor in the development of the careers of

Spanish elite athletes. Inequalities by gender and type of sport

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