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Sport Marketing Quarterly, 2016, 25, 79-89, 2016 West Virginia University
Are They Wearing Their Pride on
Their Sleeve? Examining the Impact
of Team and University Identification
upon Brand Equity
Henry Wear, Bob Heere, and Aaron Clopton
Henry Wear is a doctoral student in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management at The University of South
Carolina. His research interests include sport brand management, sport consumer behavior, and brand community development.
Bob Heere, PhD, is an associate professor and PhD program coordinator in the Department of Sport and Entertainment
Management at The University of South Carolina. His research interests include social identity theory and community
development.
Aaron Clopton, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences and director of the
Laboratory for the Study of Sport Management at The University of Kansas. His research focuses on the impact of sport on
social networks and organizations.
Abstract
This study examined the effectiveness of sportswear companies' sponsorship of intercollegiate athletic
departments, and the subsequent effects on the students of the university. The value of these sponsorship
contracts has grown exponentially, with new contracts averaging $6 million a year per institution (Kish,
2014). However, little research has been devoted to the impact of the relationship between sportswear
brands and university students, and it is uncertain what the return on investment of these sponsorships are
to the apparel companies, other than media exposure. To examine how effective these sponsorships were,
the researchers asked students about their identification with a college basketball team, the university itself,
and conducted a linear regression analysis to understand the effect of these identification processes on the
brand equity of the sportswear sponsor. Results were not statistically significant, signifying that team and
university identification did not impact sportswear brand equity.
Keywords: brand equity, team identification, intercollegiate athletics, sponsorship, sportswear
Introduction
College athletic departments have transformed into
large commercial sport organizations, and many enti-
ties are taking notice (Southall, Southall, & Dwyer,
2009). Today, NCAA Division I college athletics gener-
ates $7 billion in revenue, and in 2014 alone, 44.3 mil-
lion fans attended NCAA Division I FBS football
games and events (Sport Business Research Network,
2014). Media coverage of college sports has grown sig-
nificantly as major media corporations acquire exclu-
sive rights to games and tournaments. Corporations
have capitalized on the increased media exposure, and
are using college athletics as a platform to market their
brand and products. In particular, sportswear compa-
nies recognize that college athletics are a powerful ves-
sel for brand exposure to a loyal and leverageable
consumer base (Covell, 2001).
The ability to leverage an individual's fandom
towards their perception of a sportswear brand could
have long-lasting profit implications for companies in
a competitive industry, as fans become loyal to the
brand's products, and become repeat purchasers
(O'Keeffe & Zawadzka, 2011). Much like the growth of
the sport industry, the sportswear and footwear indus-
tries have seen changes. Historically, collegiate athletic
departments would purchase uniforms and footwear
from vendors that sold products by adidas, Nike, or
Reebok. Beginning in the late 1990s the relationship
changed, and large Division I athletic departments no
longer pay for their uniforms, apparel, and footwear
(Rovell, 2015). In fact, adidas, Nike, and Under
Armour provide their contracted NCAA Division I
universities with an average of $1.7 million per year in
cash and equipment, with many contracts lasting 10
Volume 25 - Number 2 - 2016 - Sport Marketing Quarterly 79
