Think of your favourite sports moment. A packed stadium, a last-second goal, an athlete raising a trophy under a shower of confetti. Almost certainly, a company’s logo was right there on the jersey, the pitchside boards, or the broadcast ad-break. That logo isn’t there by accident. It’s the result of a careful, strategic investment called sponsorship. In this chapter, you’ll learn what sponsorship really is, why it has become such a powerful force in sports, and how both the sports property and the brand work to protect and make the most of that investment.