Enacted ambiguity and risk perceptions: making sense of national elite sport sponsorships

This paper analyses how Danish marketing directors and managers responsible for sponsoring make sense of sponsoring the kind of national elite sport that receives little or hardly any mass-media coverage. This study adds a sociological dimension to sponsorship research, which is dominated by marketing approaches. The concept sense-making, inspired by Karl Weick, provides the theoretical foundation of this paper. In 10 qualitative interviews, five ways of enactment are identified where poor sporting results are not considered a major risk faced by these kinds of sponsorships. The results provide insights into how corporate sense-making emerges and thus remain useful knowledge for national elite sport organizations in their efforts to attract external funding.