Abstract

Brand extensions in sport are becoming increasingly common as they represent an excellent opportunity to increase revenue, enter a new product class, and interact with fans outside of the core product. Previous research has focused on the categorization of extensions, and how consumers evaluate these new offerings. However, how these extensions might impact a team’s brand has not yet been examined. As any change in the team’s brand image will affect their ability to generate revenue, it is important to understand the impact that extensions have on the team’s brand. Therefore, this study examined how the introduction of extensions by a professional sport team affects the brand associations for that team. The results indicated minimal evidence of dilution to the team’s brand associations. In addition, it was determined that the participant’s level of identification with the team had a significant impact on the evaluation of a team’s brand associations. Verf.-Referat