UMass Amherst Center for Spectator Sport Research Looks at Sponsorships and Fan-Based Studies
March 12, 2008
| Contact: | Patrick J. Callahan 413/545-0444 |
AMHERST, Mass. – The Center for Spectator Sport Research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is working with sports leagues and sponsors to conduct marketing research that helps match commercial brands prevalent in college bowl games and on NASCAR vehicles with the fans that follow individual sports. The center is located in the sport management department at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.
Tracy Schoenadel, CSSR director, says the center serves two important purposes: it gives sport management students hands-on training in marketing research and it helps build industry partnerships with her academic department.
Schoenadel says, for example, the center recently did an eight-nation, brand-image survey for the sports drink Red Bull. The goal is to determine how consumers perceive the beverage and how that information can be used by promoters of different sports in the various countries that were studied.
“Sponsorships can play a brand-defining or re-positioning role, as Michael Jordan did for Nike and perhaps Tiger Woods is currently doing for Buick,” Schoenadel says. “Alternatively, they can be one of the many marketing tools used to build awareness, consideration and some level of affinity. Therefore, it is very important to make sure the brand matches the property, especially by country.”
The center divides its research among market studies, customized marketing research, and the creation of strategic marketing plans. Schoenadel is a leading authority on sponsorship research, which is a strategic strength of the center.
Schoenadel comes to the Isenberg School with 15 years of industry experience. Most recently, she was a vice president with TNS Sports’ research division, where she was responsible for the evaluation of sports events and sponsorships. She was also executive director of TNS’ signature product, the industry-leading ESPN Sports Poll. In her sponsorship work, Schoenadel’s clients included Sprint-Nextel, Anheuser Busch, Coca Cola, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Domino’s, ESPN, NFL, MLB, NBA and the NCAA.
In addition to the center’s research activities, Schoenadel is working to strengthen industry ties through a weekly blog-chat room, a guest speakers program, and a podcast for sport management professionals. She also plans to leverage the sport management department’s faculty and her own center’s expertise in offering workshops and education programs at industry conferences.
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