TY - JOUR

T1 - Is doping really a problem? How sponsors make sense of a sport with a dubious image

AU - Wagner, Ulrik

AU - Iversen, Kasper Roe

N1 - CURIS 2022 NEXS 047

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Doping is claimed to create a negative image of sport, and of professional cycling in particular. Yet few studies have investigated interrelations between doping and sponsorships. Thus, this study aims to answer the question: How do company representatives make sense of sponsoring a sport like cycling with its dubious doping image? Theoretically informed by a sensemaking perspective and the strategy-as-practice approach, this interpretive study draws on sixteen semi-structured interviews with managers who, in the period between 1998 and 2016, were engaged in sponsoring professional Danish cycling. Findings reveal that cycling is more than just a sport with a dubious image as multiple frames such as sporting levels, existing business landscapes, personal interests and sport-for-all practices influence managers’ sensemaking. Furthermore, doping occasionally creates an advantage for sponsors. Accordingly, the study contributes to a research field dominated by quantitative marketing methodologies.

AB - Doping is claimed to create a negative image of sport, and of professional cycling in particular. Yet few studies have investigated interrelations between doping and sponsorships. Thus, this study aims to answer the question: How do company representatives make sense of sponsoring a sport like cycling with its dubious doping image? Theoretically informed by a sensemaking perspective and the strategy-as-practice approach, this interpretive study draws on sixteen semi-structured interviews with managers who, in the period between 1998 and 2016, were engaged in sponsoring professional Danish cycling. Findings reveal that cycling is more than just a sport with a dubious image as multiple frames such as sporting levels, existing business landscapes, personal interests and sport-for-all practices influence managers’ sensemaking. Furthermore, doping occasionally creates an advantage for sponsors. Accordingly, the study contributes to a research field dominated by quantitative marketing methodologies.

KW - Faculty of Science

KW - Risks

KW - Professional cycling

KW - Sensemaking perspective

KW - Strategy-as-practice

KW - Sponsorship fit

KW - Power

KW - Critical management

U2 - 10.1080/2159676X.2022.2037697

DO - 10.1080/2159676X.2022.2037697

M3 - Journal article

VL - 14

SP - 1082

EP - 1097

JO - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

JF - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

SN - 2159-676X

IS - 7

ER -