An exploration of the corporate objectives of the Rio 2016 Olympic Sponsors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the corporate objectives of the “Rio 2016” Olympic Games sponsors program, expanding the literature by investigating the first Latin American edition of the Olympic Games and by introducing a multi categorical framework for understanding why sponsors invest in mega sport events. The data for this study derives from 6 in-depth interviews with highly standing managers of Rio 2016 official sponsors. All of the interviewees had a sports sponsorship background, indicating that the specific knowledge contributes positively for business reflections and decision making. This study revealed five categories of corporate objectives relevant to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, including Corporate Social Responsibility, Branding, Organizational capability, Network, and Financial Performance. International and national companies affiliated with the Rio games had a strong interest in branding and especially in the possibility of being recognized as pioneers in Latin America in delivering the games and showing that the country can be appealing to new business and growth. The networking of the sponsors in the context of sponsor-sponsor and sponsor-sponsee was a new set of corporate objectives highlighted by this research. This indicates that events can be the beginning of a great institutional relationship between the sponsor and the sponsee. The least cited sponsors’ objective was CSR and related more with financial and branding sub-objectives. Also, the study offers evidence that sponsors may use the event as an opportunity to create a legacy after the Olympics, which can be exploited beyond the games for business benefits.