Assessment Task 1 - Potential Sponsor Identification

The Australian Football League (AFL), AFL New Zealand (AFLNZ) and the Gaelic Athletic Association have just announced a women's International Rules series to be played in Australia in 2024 and 2026. As host organization, the AFL has all marketing rights to the event.

AFL CEO Gillon MacLachlan has just appointed you as General Manager, Commercial Operations for the event. Your task is to identify three potential naming rights sponsors for the event.

Your report should:

1. Examine and discuss the role of branding and sponsorship in the generation of revenue for sport organizations and events
2. Identify criteria for identifying suitable naming rights sponsors
3. Identify three potential sponsors and the rationale for pursuing a partnership with them

The rationale should reflect some combination of the following:

• The potential sponsor's market positioning
• Shared brand attributes between AFL, the series, and the potential sponsors
• Potential sponsor's target market and (if relevant) secondary market
• Potential sponsor's existing sponsorships (if any)
• Size of sponsor's business, location(s) of its operation and ability to fund sponsorship
• What possible benefits does the sponsorship provide each potential sponsor?

You must include a Schedule of Benefits, the level of investment (how much it will cost the sponsor in

Australian dollars) and the duration of the proposed agreement.

Word count:

The word limit is 2000 words, excluding text in tables (optional), appendices (optional) and reference list (mandatory). This word limit means you must read, filter the information and select the most relevant to substantiate a cogent and concise argument.

Formatting:

APA formatting is expected. This applies to the formatting of the entire article (e.g., paragraph indents, spacing, headings, tables, figures), as well as the reference list.

Recommended structure:

1. Introduction (One paragraph)
2. Introduce the assignment and its purpose
3. Key concepts
4. Structure
5. Branding and sponsorship (Three paragraphs)
6. Sponsorship criteria
7. Rationale for sponsorship targets
8. Summary
9. References

References

The expectation is that you will research this assignment by reviewing appropriate academic literature. Whilst your case description can and should rely upon popular press materials (i.e., websites, newspapers, magazines, TV), your case analysis should rely exclusively on academic sources (i.e., journal articles / books).

Questions:

For questions and discussions about any aspect of this assessment, you should go to the relevant Q&A Forum and post there.