Whilst sponsorship works well for the vast majority of organisations, it is not without risk. Sometimes the issue can be through no fault of either party, and in other cases the sponsorship does not achieve the results it was intended for. It’s also worth remembering that sports people, and employees of sports clubs, are human, and can be susceptible to the same failings as you and I.
Let’s look at five sponsorship fails:

Lance Armstrong
Lance was a professional cyclist who recovered from cancer and then “won” the Tour De France a record seven times. Unbeknownst to his multi-national sponsors, he had achieved the majority of his success through the use of performance enhancing drugs. His sponsors quickly dropped him from their rosters, costing Lance an estimated $75 million, but the reputational damage to his major sponsors was still very much apparent, and in fact continues to this day.

Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains looked to have backed the right team when Preston North End, carrying Virgin Trains as their main kit sponsor, reached the League One play off final in 2015. Sadly, on the day of the final, the train line from Preston to London was closed for engineering works, forcing supporters to travel by alternative methods, including a bus replacement service in place of a train.

National Guard
The UK equivalent of the Territorial Army sponsored NASCAR motor racing teams to the tune of over $88million over three years – their main driver was to increase the number of new recruits to the service. Results showed that nearly 25,000 prospective recruits applied, indicating the NASCAR sponsorship was a key reason why they registered their interest. Unfortunately, of those applicants only 20 met the qualifications for entry, and of those 20 people, not one actually joined!

Wonga
Wonga, agreed to be the main kit sponsor Newcastle United – a very visible partnership. Before the launch of the team’s new kit in 2015, Wonga were suffering losses and decided to rebrand their business. Unfortunately, the rebrand came too late in the production cycle of the new kit, and the team carried the old logo for the entire season.

AC Milan
Going back to 1981, AC Milan were seeking a new shirt sponsor, and a jeans company offered to take the opportunity. Whilst the name that was emblazoned on the shirts clearly doesn’t have the same meaning in Italy as English-speaking countries, it was still more than a little unfortunate. The name of the brand? POOH Jeans!
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