Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.31141/zrpfs.2018.55.128.275
Basic Elements of Sponsorship Contract in Sport
Tone Jagodic
; Olympic Committee of Slovenia, Ljubljana
Zlatko Mateša
; Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Zagreb
Abstract
Sponsorship represents very important source of finances for many sports organizations. The aim of the article is to analyze structural elements of sponsorship contract and to propose a proper definition of a sponsorship contract, while leaning on the many sources of comparative law. The review of foreign legislation shows that not one country has yet legally enacted the sponsorship contract. Some legislation regulate sponsorship in an indirect way using common rules of contractual law or some elements of other contracts, which are already well known and regulated by legal systems. In determining the validity of the arguments cited by the individual authors in the literature our aim is to come to some conclusions which have been summarized in following parts of this article. It seems that the Code of sponsorship of the International Chambers of Commerce (ICC) gives the real foundation which can be useful for different sport organizations. Following the ICC International Code on Sponsorship, the definition of a sponsorship agreement “is any commercial agreement by which a sponsor, for the mutual benefit of the sponsor and a sponsored party, contractually provides financing or other support in order to establish an association between the sponsor’s image, brands or products and a sponsorship property in return for the rights to promote this association and/or for the granting of certain agreed direct or indirect benefits.” Brand of the sponsor, identification with the property of the sponsored subject, commercial agreement, right to promote and mutual benefit are the vital components of a sponsorship contract which are contained in the ICC definition. We also believe that in the future, this definition could lead to the right definition for a possible codification of a sponsorship contract on the national level. At the same time it is important to mention the special characteristic of the specific value of the sponsored subject contained in a sponsorship contract. From the angle of the sponsor this value can be compared with a special and characteristic element of the sponsored subject which brings to the sponsor a very precious value /”pretium affectionis”/ and is consequently extremely important in a rational economic decision of a sponsor to sign a sponsorship contract. Taking into account that all these elements represent the “causa” of a sponsorship contract the position of the sponsor could be defined as the tendency to identify with the value of the sponsored party, with the aim to further manifest itself by promoting these links, both of which lead to the goal of a sponsor to raise or improve its image in public or in a society. The essential challenge of the sponsor is to manage to change the opportunity into the advantage given in the contract relationship. Opportunities should be taken from the challenges which are given to the sponsor and this represents the original motive of the sponsor to sign a sponsorship contract.
Keywords
sponsorship; agreement; mutual benefit; definition; pretium affectionis; specific value
Hrčak ID:
199084
URI
Publication date:
19.4.2018.
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