SPORTS SPONSORSHIP AND BRAND COMMUNICATION: PERSPECTIVES OF SPONSORS, SPORTS MARKETING MANAGERS AND BRAZILIAN PROFESSIONAL SURFING ATHLETES

Objective: Discuss the perspective of sponsoring brands, sports marketing entrepreneurs and Brazilian professional surfing athletes regarding common goals, communication formats and brand activations that generate greater return for sponsors and sponsees. Methodology: Qualitative and descriptive, in-depth interviews were conducted, two with sponsoring brand managers; two with sports marketing entrepreneurs; two with Brazilian athletes competing in the first division of world surfing. In the triangulated data analysis, the Voyant Tools software was used. Originality and relevance: Sponsorship is one of the main formats of investment in brand communication in sports marketing, however, few works deal with sponsorship in athletes bringing up perspectives of brands, intermediaries and athletes. Results: For sponsoring brands, the main vector of attractiveness in sponsorship initiatives in athletes is the performance obtained in championships associated with the athlete's ability to provide visibility to the brand. For athletes and entrepreneurs, the essential thing is the financial support aimed at maintaining the technical team and the good performance in the competitions, and, as a consequence, the association of the winning image linking sponsor and sponsee. Theoretical contributions: Proposition to use brand activations that can expand the experience of sports consumption and metrics to control and evaluate the return on investment in sponsorship.