How Sports Sponsorship Influences a Sponsor’s Financial Performance: A Case Study from the Korea Baseball Organization

This study aims to examine the effects of sponsorship on the sponsor’s financial performance. Th is study investigates return on sponsorship (ROS) with a quantitative analysis. Nexen Tire’s title sponsorship agreement with the Heroes baseball club in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2010 is studied. The positive effect of sponsorship on the sponsor’s Tobin’s q is confirmed by comparing the non-sponsorship period (2000‒2009) with the sponsorship period (2010‒2018). It is also shown from an event study that the sponsor experiences negative abnormal stock returns on the news of the sponsorship agreement, though this was not found to be statistically significant. Still, when the sponsee enters the postseason, positive cumulative abnormal returns are observed, particularly significant 10 days before the postseason games. Th is study confirms the positive influence of sponsorship on the sponsor’s financial performance and, with evidence from South Korea, provides insight into Asian markets in need of research. Th e results suggest that 10 days before a postseason game would be an ideal time to leverage marketing and activate a sponsorship strategy.

Traditional and Revised Importance-Performance Analysis of Viewer Perceptions Regarding Korea Baseball Organization Broadcasting

Given the expectations regarding continued improvement in sports relay broadcasting, research related to Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) relay broadcasting is necessary for it to align with the priorities of viewers. The present study aimed to investigate viewers’ perceptions of the importance and performance of various aspects of KBO relay broadcasting. In May 2021, purposive sampling was used to select 523 participants who had watched KBO broadcasts for more than one year. Participants completed an online survey administered via Google Forms. Frequency analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, paired t-tests, importance–performance analysis, and revised importance–performance analysis were used to analyze the data. Ratings of importance were higher than those for performance for all sub-factors of KBO relay broadcasting. The IPA, based on the method developed by Martilla and James, yielded 12 factors in Quadrant I, one factor in Quadrant II, five factors in Quadrant III, and two factors in Quadrant IV. In contrast, the use of Vavra’s revised IPA method yielded eight factors in Quadrant I, two factors in Quadrant II, five factors in Quadrant III, and four factors in Quadrant IV. Based on the results derived using these two methods, we discuss the strategic and practical implications of identifying priorities via IPA for future improvements in KBO relay broadcasting.

Broadcaster Choice and Audience Demand for Live Sport Games: Panel Analyses of the Korea Baseball Organization

This study investigated the determinants of television viewership and its relation to broadcasters’ choices of matches for live telecasts. Also, factors driving the broadcasters’ choices were examined. A panel data set from the 2018 Korea Baseball Organization league pennant race was analyzed. Broadcasters’ choice order of matches and the actual television ratings of each match were regressed on a series of antecedent factors related to the game characteristics and audience preferences. It was found that the broadcasters’ choice order of matches positively affected the television ratings, suggesting that the broadcasters’ decisions were well reflected in the actual viewership. It also appeared that broadcasters’ choices were based on popularity and team performance/quality, whereas viewers showed preference for current games’ on-field performance. There was no evidence of audience preference for games with higher outcome uncertainty, whereas the broadcasters tended to choose games with more certain, rather than uncertain, outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were discussed.

How We Can Enhance Spectator Attendance for the Sustainable Development of Sport in the Era of Uncertainty: A Re-Examination of Competitive Balance

This study seeks to find factors that determine the mobilization of spectators in games of the Korean professional baseball league for sustainable development. In particular, it re-examines the uncertainty-of-outcome hypothesis by looking at the effect of competitive balance (CB) on seat occupancy in stadiums. Data for 2160 games over three years (2015–2017) from the archives of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) were analyzed. The results show that the CB of the home team, with the entire teams, affects seat occupancy rate (SOR). It is also shown that there exists an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between CB and SOR. However, the winning percentage of the home team in the entire league had a significant impact on the SOR. This implies that the overall athletic performance of the home team in the league competing with all other teams is much more important than the home team’s competitive balance in the season played before the game, for attracting fans to the stadium.

A Bias-Corrected Estimator of Competitive Balance in Sports Leagues

The ratio of the actual standard deviation (ASD) to the idealized standard deviation of win percentages (RSD) is the conventional measure of competitive balance (CB). RSD is designed to control for the effect of season length on the sample standard deviation of win percentages (ASD). Theoretically, the RSD should be greater than 1, but empirical values below 1 have been found in previous studies. This article employs a mathematical statistics approach to evaluate the statistical properties of RSD and ASD. In doing so, this study finds that RSD is constructed by an invalid normalization approach and that ASD is biased. It also presents a bias-corrected standard deviation (BCSD) as a new estimator of the standard deviation of true win probabilities. Results from the simulations confirm the following: (i) ASD is prone to underestimate CB levels when the number of games is small, (ii) the RSD values become unreasonably large when the number of games is large, and (iii) BCSD performs well with respect to mean bias and root mean squared errors. According to empirical analysis of the English Premier League (EPL) and the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), BCSD shows that the KBO was more competitively balanced than the EPL between 2000 and 2015, while the RSD implies that the two leagues were roughly equal.