The Sports Market
With recent national collegiate sports championships, top academic rankings and a Carnegie R1 research designation, Clemson University is known for excellence on the fields of competition, in the classroom and in the research lab. Clemson’s Robert H. Brooks SportsScience Institute merges these areas of excellence through the academic study of sports sciences.
The late Robert H. Brooks ’60 began the institute in the1990s with an emphasis on motorsports engineering, sports communication, sports management and sports marketing. Today, the institute supports research and scholarships, as well as four Legacy Professors named for Brooks’ son and three colleagues who died tragically in a 1993 plane crash. One of those Legacy Professors is Angeline Close Scheinbaum, recipient of the Dan Duncan Endowed Professorship in Sports Marketing in the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business. Her work focuses on consumer psychology and integrated brand promotion, particularly in sports marketing.
Scheinbaum believes sports marketers must play a role in addressing concerns of marketing and society. She says, “An exciting aspect of the sports industry is corporate social responsibility and advocacy through sports. It is a hot topic for sports marketers, fans, industry partners, venues and sponsor brands. We continue to see sports manifest as a marketing platform for advocacy on the importance of unity, anti-racism and other important topics in our society. By sponsorship, brands have an opportunity to align their brand image with something beyond business in the name of corporate social responsibility.”
Recently, Scheinbaum has been working on the role of alcohol sponsorships in sports — how alcohol is being perceived by underage consumers and to what effect — and consumer gratitude toward sponsors of sporting events. She says, “I got the idea of researching the role of alcohol sponsorships in sports by being a mom. I’m heavily involved in sports, and my family is too. At many of these events, they’re flashing beer ads all over the screens, so I was wondering if and how these marketing exposures were going to have any effect on my children.”
It is only fitting that the recipient of the Dan Duncan Endowed Professorship is focused on the study of sports marketing. She explains, “My professorship through the Robert H. Brooks Sports Science Institute is in memory of Dan Duncan, who himself was a sports marketer. The endowment also provides funding for a doctoral student to help foster interest in sport and experiential marketing, as well as provide opportunities to develop research and present that research for feedback at premier academic conferences.”
Sheinbaum says, “My research has a positive impact on businesses by helping provide more effective sports sponsorship strategies. It also has a positive effect on society by demonstrating the impact of event social responsibility and online platforms. But by far the most rewarding aspect of being a professor at Clemson is getting to inspire students to grow as people and as future business leaders.”
At Clemson, we take our sports very seriously. The comprehensive academic research happening right here on our campus focusing on the potential benefits and implications beyond the competition is made possible through the generous giving of the late Robert H. Brooks. His legacy of generosity at Clemson lives on through the continued work of the Brooks Sports Science Institute and the Dan Duncan Professorship.
“The most rewarding aspect of being a professor at Clemson is getting to inspire students to grow as people and as future business leaders. ”
Scheinbaum has recently co-authored the soon-to-be-published book “Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotions”(Cengage 2023).
Author- Kara Rutter, Director of Donor Communications and Recognition Advancement for the Office of Central Donor Relations at Clemson University
