Source: RAND Corporation
Sponsorship has been an increasingly crucial and indispensable part of sports. An important element of sponsorship is its ability to generate brand awareness, construct different marketing platforms and initiate networking opportunities. Importantly, without sponsorship, many sporting events would not have the necessary financial foundation upon which to plan and execute sporting events.
Studies conducted within the Caribbean have indicated that the media, particularly cable television, has impacted different facets of life such as dietary perceptions, attitudes, values and lifestyles of the Caribbean people. However, although cable television has presented itself as an effective medium through which sponsors have marketed their products throughout the Caribbean, the products advertised have not always encouraged behaviours which are in alignment with healthy living.
Despite sponsorship’s importance to sport, often overlooked is its potentially negative impact upon society and the image of sport. Societies have recognized that sport can make persons healthier and happier since as early as the ancient Greeks. We keep our bodies and minds in good shape through sport. Footballers around the world have started to exhibit behaviours indicating their non-acceptance of unhealthy food and beverages in the world of sport.
Perhaps the most recent and well known example of this was seen in a pre-match press conference at the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship where, arguably the best player in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, chose to remove a Coca-Cola bottle from the table. Instead, Ronaldo held a bottle of water up to the camera.
Another instance was seen at the same competition where Italian midfielder, Manuel Locatelli, also moved Coca-Cola bottles aside and positioned a bottle of water in front of him.
Seeing the firm stance footballers have taken against unhealthy beverage sponsors around the world, the question that arises is whether Caribbean will follow suit. This is a particularly relevant question for Caribbean society considering the current health problems faced.
The Caribbean is currently plagued with an increasing rate of non-communicable diseases. Last year on March 4, 2021, World Obesity Day, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) stated that present in the Caribbean are the highest rates of obesity in the entire Americas with numbers such as 18.9 per cent in Antigua and Barbuda and 31.6 percent in the Bahamas. CARPHA even went as far to state that the incidence of obesity in children in the Caribbean is at least two to three times greater than the rest of the world.
This is particularly concerning when seeing the type of sponsors that has been chosen for some Caribbean sporting competitions. In Jamaica for example, the country’s top division men football league, the National Premier League, is sponsored by different companies including fast food outlet Burger King and beer company Red Stripe. In fact, the competition has actually been renamed the Red Stripe Premier League.
Although sponsorship must be utilized in order to execute sporting events, the social cost of these sponsorship deals must be taken into account. Given the wide reach and impact of the media, sports must be preserved as a gateway to healthy living must not become just another opportunity to market unhealthy food and beverages.
The irony is apparent as sport and sporting events are being promoted, planned and executed with the help of sponsors whose products, if used by athletes, would prevent them from competing at the highest physical level. The acute health problem faced in the Caribbean must not be taken lightly. Although sponsorships are crucial, when considering the rising rate of non-communicable diseases in the Caribbean, athletes and sport associations must actively voice concerns and must seek to re-strategize, acting with care and foresight in the context of creating a healthier society. The business of sport should not trump the immense health benefits that sports provides.
Responsibility falls on athletes, sports associations and most importantly the sponsors. Sponsors must operate beyond tokenistic commitments under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility. The health of athletes and the wider Caribbean society must be protected and very essence of sport should be upheld and put first above the business of sport.
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