Sponsorship Management in Cricket: A Case Study of the Stanford Super Series, the West Indian Cricket Board and Digicel

Research output: Book/ReportScholarly editionpeer-review

Abstract

On the 17th of February 2009 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) formally charged Allen Stanford and two of his colleagues with fraud. The fraud related to the management of the Stanford Investment Group and involved the misrepresentation of investments to clients up to the value of US$8 billion. Before the charges were filed by the SEC Stanford was an active supporter of sporting events and tournaments. The Stanford 20/20 domestic cricket series had been staged successfully and had boosted domestic interest in West Indian cricket. He built upon this domestic success with a proposal to develop an international series of matches. This case focuses on the management of sponsorship during the Stanford Super Series match on November 1st 2008. It does this by presenting a chronological analysis of the dispute between the WICB (West Indian Cricket Board) and Digicel, their title sponsor. However issues preceding the series were linked to a history of tension between the sponsor, their competitors, and the players and management staff of West Indian cricket. The dispute resulted in the British High Court verdict brought about by Digicel against the WICB and Stanford as the Super Series promoter. The case has implications for the management of sports sponsorship in addition to the broader management of the sport of cricket. The paper concludes with some recommendations for policy actions which may prevent this type of dispute from occurring in the future.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherBirkbeck University of London
Number of pages32
ISBN (Print)1756-8811
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Jun 2009

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