MasterCard's different sport sponsorships (such as with Major League Baseball and the Weld cup of soccer) to create associations of emotion and savoring the moment tied to the Master Card brand. In contrast, also consider the potential for negative associations that occur when an athlete runs afoul of the law or a college athletics program is found to have violated NCAA rules. Might this create a negative association with a sponsor by virtue of its involvement with that particular sport entity? Perhaps! Within 24 hours of the announcement that cyclist noyd Landis had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone while winning the 2006Tour de France, hearing-improvement company Phonak (the sponsor of Landis and his race disassociated itself with and Phonak wanted to send a that it did not want to be associated with someone who does not obey the rules. As discussed in chapter 13 successful sponsorships require a strong relationship betwee the buyer and the seller ofte sponsorship seiler may receive image benefits above and beyond program. For this to happen,both must receive benefits In some cases, the sponsorship the cash and in-kind contibutions they might receive from the sponsor. For example. take the case of the NBA. Upon formation, their ability to secure very visible name brands such as Spalding probably also helped lend credibility to the league. On a smaller scale, think about an event in your local area,such as a road race or grassroots soccer toumamentThese events probably tried to secure sponsors as a means of generating credbuty for their event, particularly in their first years of existence. Because some of these associations with corporations may be formed based on the experience that users have when consuming the brand, a new form of branding through ponsorship has emerged branded entertainment. In the .Branded Entertainment-sidebar on page 18s. author Joe Smith describes this new trend.As smith notes, the sport industry is often considered one aspect of the larger entertainment industry when these opportuni ties are undertaken. Smith offers a few examples of sport-related branded entertainme activities. Can you thinkofothers? Have you ever attended a fan festival affiliated with a pro or college team that has interactive games for people to participate in? For example, Boston College turns one of its campus recreation centers into a Fan Zone on football game days. if you walk into the Fan Zone on a footballSaturday, you will see kids in line waitng to partici football-related is an example of a team's branded activities, such as throwing a football with accuracy This pate in different entertainment effort. Take another example,the Richard Experience, in which people pay to drive a NASCAR car on a race track. This Petty Driving experience is sponsored by a variety of companies, including Good Year and DuPont As existing NASCAR sponsors, it could be argued that DuPont and Good Year are just trying to add a branded entertainment element to their involvement with auto racing. How athletes create brand associations As noted in the previous section, one of the associa tions with Michael Jordan was that he could walk on air. other associations might have been "clutch player, "prolific scorer," and champion based on his style of play and his achieve- ments. Because professional athletes can make money from corporate endorsements, having associations is very important for an athlete. In fact, player strong, unique, and favorable agents should view the players they represent as brands and attempt to develop strong brand associations with their clients