Fast food, fizz, and funding: Balancing the scales of regional sport organisation sponsorship

Tobacco, alcohol and gambling-related sport sponsorships have faced widespread scrutiny due to a critical consciousness that questions the alignment of unhealthy products and damaging addictive behaviours with a healthy activity such as sport. The purpose of this study was to explore how a public health agenda may influence rugby union organisations in their negotiation of sponsorship relationships with food and beverage companies. Interviews with a purposeful sample of New Zealand regional rugby organisation managers reveal the potential influence of emergent threats about government-regulated restrictive sponsorship measures on the delivery of community and youth sport. Findings indicate that many regional rugby organisations depend on sponsorships to fund required and desired activities. In addition, some organisations in more rural regions of New Zealand not only contend with the difficulty of securing sponsorships, but fear that criticism of, and impending restrictions on, fast-food and beverage companies are likely to have detrimental consequences for the provision of rugby. (C) 2018 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.