Football fans across the UK are enjoying the wonder of the FA CUP this weekend. The FA Cup is competition which is over 150 years old and pits all the teams from the top NINE divisions of the football pyramid in a single competition where on any given match day you could have your small, local club pitted against a Premier League powerhouse. The inclusion of the Premier League sides in the third round puts the magnifying glass on the FA Cup and slips many smaller clubs who don't regularly appear in living rooms around the globe into the spotlight.
Coming into that spotlight this weekend was Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn, the Premier League Champions in the 1994/95 season, now sit in the Second division, the EFL Championship. (See Ted Lasso for the irony of the naming.) Blackburn defeated Cambridge in this round and gave a debut to a 15 year old player, Rory Finneran. As Rory took the pitch, not only did he stand out as a literal boy among men, but he wore a slightly different jersey. Blackburn's jersey sponsor is Totally Wicked. Totally Wicked sells vapes. Rory at 15 years old is not legally allowed to use their product.
So you might simply say, "Right, cool story." Check. There is a bigger conversation here around sponsorships, naming rights, and overall brand partnerships. It is very common for large professional organizations and university athletic departments to have many, many sponsors. These sponsors will include official Automobile brand, Soft Drink supplier, Technology partner, Financial company, Airline, Athletic wear or Kit supplier, etc, etc, etc. They could be segmented regionally or be global sponsors. They could sponsor anything from gameday kits to premium parking spots in the stadium lot. Sponsorships often seem like an endless revenue stream.
This association with the teams is quite valuable and a significant supply of revenue for the organizations. The example of Blackburn and Rory Finneran raises the question around ETHICS. Where is the line drawn for sponsors? Eight Premier League clubs have gambling sponsors on front of kit. There are alcohol sponsors. There have been Crypto sponsors that have quickly gone bankrupt. There are also nation states that have sponsored clubs as part of tourism campaigns like Qatar and Rwanda. What was once a space for a local business to gain some publicity by aligning with local sports team is now a huge business. With that windfall of cash and investment also comes responsibility.
So the topic for a Sports Business class to wrestle with is ETHICALLY, WHERE IS THE LINE? What do your sponsors say about you? What role to sponsors play when building a brand for the organization? What strategy, rules, or goals could you put in place to reinforce your point of view? Like most business ethics dilemmas, there is a wide area of gray and ultimately many ways to tackle the question.
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