Sport Brands: Brand Relationships and Consumer Behavior

One of the most valuable assets a sport entity possesses is its brand. However, existing sport branding research has largely examined brands at an individual level and not taken into account the relationships between connected brands or the actual behavioral outcomes of branding. This article provides an overview ofthe current state of sport branding research; proposes an extended conceptualization of sport brand architecture within a sport brand ecosystem framework to guide future examination of sport branding research; introduces the four articles published in this special issue; and presents insights from industry experts from different brand entities within the sport brand ecosystem. Thus, this article provides a foundation to further examine brand relationships and actual behavioral outcomes of sport branding to contribute to our theoretical and managerial knowledge on sport brand architecture within the sport brand ecosystem.