The aim of this thesis is to investigate and reflect about the different sponsorship relations between a Swedish sports retailer and their sponsored events. My case for this thesis is the brand Intersport and I am investigating the phenomena sponsorship and their different sponsorship relations and in this case in relation to sport events. A qualitative study has been conducted by doing interviews with representatives from three different events that Intersport are sponsoring, two interviews with Intersport and also observations during two of the events. Furthermore, a theoretical framework within sponsorship has developed through this process. The result of this study showed that there are different kinds of sponsorship relations between Intersport and their sponsored events. Moreover, there are differences in terms of how they are ranking sports and how much money and time they are investing in the specific events. This study showed that Intersport has different levels of professionalism and business relationships. Partille Cup has the highest position on that scale, Stockholm Marathon Group has the second place and Gothenburg Youth Games is in the bottom. The interviews resulted in a clear picture of how these sponsorship relations look like, the underlying reasons for cooperating with Intersport and this means that they are seeing the sports retailer as a large player, a good channel in terms of being connected to them and increase their awareness but also as a partner who can offer relevant products for their events. Lastly, meaningful relations is a key factor here and my result showed that it goes both ways.

Idrottssponsring ses idag som ett legitimt marknadsföringsverktyg, och är någonting som företag spenderar allt mer pengar på. För idrottsföreningar är sponsorintäkter en viktig del i att bedriva sin verksamhet. Tidigare forskning inom området hanterar frågan främst ur ett företagsperspektiv, hur företag kan nå strategiska mål genom sponsring. Det finns däremot inte lika mycket forskning som hanterar frågan ur idrottsföreningarnas perspektiv, hur de bör arbeta för attattrahera sponsorer. Därför är syftet med studien att öka förståelsen kring hur idrottsföreningar kan arbeta för att bli så attraktiva som möjligt för sponsorer. Genom en kvalitativ studie där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med två företag och två idrottsföreningar ger studien svar på forskningsfrågan om vad företag vill uppnå genom sin sponsring och vad idrottsföreningars värdeerbjudande består av. Empirin analyserades genom en tematisk analys baserad på teman formulerade ur studiens teoretiska referensram. Studien visar att företag lägger stor vikt vid samhällsnytta som kan kombineras med exponering, att sponsorinvesteringar ger ett affärsvärde tillbaka till företaget samt att det finns en professionell organisation att samarbeta med. Dessa resultat, i kombination med empirin från idrottsföreningarna, utmynnade i följande praktiska rekommendationer. Idrottsföreningar bör fokusera på att optimera exponeringsytor som direkt kan kopplas till samhällsnyttiga projekt, prioritera affärsmässig kompentens inom organisationen för att skapa och bibehålla professionella relationer med företagspartners samt identifiera en tydlig profil att kommunicera utåt. Dessa slutsatser och rekommendationer kan vara till hjälp för idrottsföreningar som vill utveckla sin förmåga att attrahera sponsorer. / Sports sponsorship is seen today as a legitimate marketing tool and is something that companies spend more and more money on. For sports associations, sponsorship income is an important part of running their business. Previous research in the area deals with the issue primarily from a company perspective, how companies can achieve strategic goals through sponsorship. However, there is not as much research that deals with the issue from the sports associations' perspective, how they should work to attract sponsors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to increase the understanding of how sports associations can work to become as attractive as possible to sponsors. By conducting a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with two companies and two sports associations, the study answers the research question about what companies want to achieve with their sponsorship and what the sports associations' value offer consists of. The empirical material was analyzed with the help of a thematic analysis based on themes formulated from the studies' theoretical frame of reference. The study shows that companies attach great importance to social benefit that can be combined with exposure, that sponsorship investments should provide business value back to the company and that there is a professional organization to collaborate with. These results, combined with the empirical evidence from the sports associations, resulted in the following practical recommendations. Sports associations should concentrate on optimizing areas of exposure which can be directly linked to socially beneficial projects, prioritize business competences within the organization in order to create and maintain professional relationships with partners and finally, they should identify a clear profile to communicate externally. These conclusions and recommendations can be helpful for sports associations that want to develop their ability to attract sponsors.