The Olympics and the Fifa World Cup are the largest sporting events in the world. Sponsoring either one guarantees numerous rewards at a very high cost.
Great great publicity is achieved through the enormous number of viewers watching and the advertising campaign the company uses. Additionally, through enforced regulations the sponsor receives a guarantee that competition of other companies which provide substitute goods will be weakened. Brand image also increases due to sponsorship and the company can possibly gain more respect among consumers since it has associated itself with such great sports. These huge sporting events also provide great opportunity for expansion in global or national markets depending on the corporation. Corporations which have invested in such events to expand on the global market include Addidas, McDonalds, Visa, and Coca-Cola. Other Corporations such as Telus which sponsored the 2010 Winter Olympics look to reach a national market expansion. Evidently it is clear that small businesses which operate on a local market should not spend such large sums of money on such a huge event, but for large corporations the investment could be rewarding. As with all businesses, decisions should be based on a return of investment model. If the returns >the costs then the corporation has nothing to lose and sponsorship is a great choice.
