Jersey sponsors in football/soccer: the industry classification of main jersey sponsors of 1147 football/soccer clubs in top leagues of 79 countries

Abstract

The growing popularity and developments in football/soccer have affected the football/soccer industry dramatically. The popularity and developments have increased the interest of companies in the last two or three decades. Companies have started to invest and become a sponsor of football/soccer clubs. Jersey sponsorship has emerged as a result of the increasing interest and investments. Nowadays, the jersey sponsorship is popular and has become an important type of revenue source for football/soccer clubs. As a result of popularity of jersey sponsorship, jersey sponsors must be investigated and analysed. This paper deals with the industry classification of the main jersey sponsors which have names and logos on the front of the football/soccer clubs home jerseys. A total of 1147 football/soccer clubs in 79 countries top leagues, as of 31 December 2012, have been investigated. The Industry Classification Benchmark is used to classify the industries of the main jersey sponsors of football/soccer clubs. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.