This webinar, hosted by Healthy Stadia in collaboration with University of Glasgow, will explore the development of sports sponsorship and its impact on global health.
Drawing heavily from a new book of the same name published by Routledge, the webinar will advocate for a more ethical approach to sponsorship and the need for governing bodies of sport to understand their role in promoting potentially harmful products to fans.
Starting with a brief history of advertising and marketing in sport and the importance of the tobacco industry in the development of sports sponsorship, the webinar will also examine key aspects of contemporary relationships between sport and corporate sponsors, including mega-events, digital technologies and brand engagement.
One of the world’s most successful brands – the English Premier League – will be cross-examined in connection with alcohol, gambling and soft drink marketing before considering how sport might be better regulated, now and in the future, to better protect the interests of fans and other stakeholders from a public health perspective.
Other examples will be drawn from across Europe and around the world, and indeed, from other sports. Addressing a topical and hugely important issue, this webinar is essential for students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers with an interest in sport business and management, the ethics of sport, physical activity and health, event studies, marketing and public health.
Matthew Philpott is Executive Director of European Healthy Stadia Network and also Chief Executive of Health Equalities Group. Matthew oversees the strategic direction of Healthy Stadia, and is responsible for stakeholder management (including members and country focal points), business development activities, and management of key projects.
Monika Kosinska is Head of Economic and Commercial Determinants for the World Health Organization. Previously she was Programme Manager for Governance for Health for the WHO Regional Office for Europe which included leadership of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, encompassing 1500 municipalities in the WHO European Region.
Robin Ireland is Honorary Research Fellow in the College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences affiliated to the School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, UK. He is also Honorary Director of Research with the European Healthy Stadia Network. He was awarded his PhD by the University of Glasgow in 2021. His thesis was on the Commercial Determinants of Health in Sport. He was elected Member of the UK Faculty of Public Health through Distinction in 2015.
Emma Boyland is a Professor of Food Marketing and Child Health based in the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, where she is Research Lead for the Department and leads the Appetite and Obesity Research group. As an experimental psychologist, her work principally focuses on the food environment, characterising the foods and beverages available, how they are marketed, and how this impacts on eating behaviours (particularly in children).