Sport sponsorship decision making in a global market

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify the decision making factors of sport sponsorship in the global market context using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Design/methodology/approach – To facilitate AHP hierarchy construction, three criteria level factors and a total of 13 sub‐criteria level factors were identified though literature review, expert panel review and pilot test. A total of 410 email accounts from global corporate sponsors were contacted three times to request on‐line survey participation. Findings – AHP local weights showed that sport team factors were far more important decision making factors than the country factors and environment factors. AHP global weights showed that media exposure opportunity was the most influential factor followed by sponsorship fit, team image and fan base strength. Originality/value – This study, the first to utilize AHP in sport sponsorship literature, examined sport sponsorship in the global market context by contacting corporate sponsors.