| Course | MT243 Sport Sponsorships and Sales |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 3 |
| Paper type | Prospect research brief |
| Length | About 880 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT243 Unit 3
Eighteen Companies In, Three Out: A Unit 3 Prospect Research Brief for a Vacant Marathon Title
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT243: Sport Sponsorships and Sales
Unit 3 Prospect Research Brief
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The Harbor Point Marathon Weekend and every company, plan and figure are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Purpose
The Harbor Point Marathon Weekend needs a new presenting partner for its event title, bibs, arches and livestream, and a set of smaller partners for the remaining categories. This brief screens eighteen companies in the metro and the region and recommends three for first meetings. It uses the asset inventory from the previous unit and the closed categories it identified: footwear, on-course hydration and medical services.
Cornwell (2020) argues that sponsorship sales succeed when a property starts from what a company is trying to accomplish and works backward to assets, rather than starting from the assets it wants to sell. The screen therefore asks first whether each company has an objective the event could serve.
The Screen
Each company was tested against five questions. Does it have a current objective the event could help with, such as reaching new customers, launching a product or engaging employees? Does its target audience overlap with the event's runners, families or spectators? Is it free of conflict with a sold category? Can it spend at the level the title requires, roughly $150,000 or more a year? And does its history suggest it buys sponsorships of this kind?
Fifteen companies were set aside, each for a stated reason.
Two national banks: no metro growth plan; one already sponsors a rival marathon
A physical therapy chain: may overlap with the hospital system's medical category
A shoe retailer: footwear is closed through 2027
A sports drink brand: on-course hydration is closed under the series deal
A car dealership group: strong spending history but its target buyers overlap weakly with runners
A brewery: audience fit at the finish party, but the board's policy excludes alcohol from title rights
A technology firm: objective is recruiting engineers, better served by a smaller employee package
Seven others: no evidence of a current objective the event could serve or no capacity at the title level
Prospect One: Meridian Lakes Credit Union
The credit union is opening four branches in the metro over the next eighteen months, its first expansion beyond its home county. Its job postings include two new member-growth roles. Its most recent annual report names younger households as its growth target and notes that fewer than one household in twenty in the metro banks with it. It has sponsored youth sports in its home county but never an event of this size. The marathon's registrants are disproportionately aged 25 to 44 and live across the metro, including near the new branches. The fit is direct: the credit union needs new members in specific neighborhoods, and the event reaches the people it wants. Mullin et al. (2014) note that a sponsor's interest rises when a property can show it reaches a defined target market, and here the target is written in the prospect's own report.
Prospect Two: Corbett's Market
The regional grocer is launching a store-brand line of sports nutrition products, gels, bars and electrolyte mixes, which reach shelves in the spring. Its press release describes the line as aimed at active adults who now buy national brands. It already holds the mile ten aid station in kind. The marathon could give the new line a sampling channel through finisher bags and a recovery zone. The grocer's spending capacity at the title level is uncertain, so it is better suited to the finish-line recovery package than to the title.
Prospect Three: Bluewater Health
The health insurer runs a wellness incentive program that pays members for activity and is trying to raise enrollment, which its annual report says is below target. Race training is the kind of activity its program rewards. The main question is the medical category: the hospital system's contract must be checked to confirm that a health insurer's wellness messaging does not overlap with the hospital's rights.
A company with a problem the event can help solve is a better prospect than a company with a larger budget and no problem.
Ranking and First Questions
The brief ranks the credit union first for the title, the grocer second for the recovery package and the insurer third, pending the category check. Each first meeting should answer one question.
For the credit union: how will it measure new members from a sponsorship, and what does it currently pay to acquire one through digital advertising?
For the grocer: how many samples of the new line does it plan to distribute in the first year, and what does in-store sampling cost it now?
For the insurer: does its wellness program allow event partners to offer enrollment incentives, and is its category free of the hospital's rights?
Sources and Limits
The evidence comes from public documents: annual reports, press releases, job postings and news coverage. Jensen and Cornwell (2017) found that sponsorship decisions depend heavily on changes inside the sponsor, such as new leadership or strategy, which public sources capture only partly. The first meetings must confirm what the documents suggest.
References
Cornwell, T. B. (2020). Sponsorship in marketing: Effective partnerships in sports, arts and events (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Jensen, J. A., & Cornwell, T. B. (2017). Why do marketing relationships end? Findings from an integrated model of sport sponsorship decision-making. Journal of Sport Management, 31(4), 401-418. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2016-0232
Mullin, B. J., Hardy, S., & Sutton, W. A. (2014). Sport marketing (4th ed.). Human Kinetics.
MT243 Unit 3 instructions, in plain terms
The third unit asks students to research possible sponsors for a property and recommend which to approach first. The prompt usually expects a screen that tests a longer list against stated criteria, then short profiles of the best prospects built on public evidence. Useful tests include a current objective the property could serve, audience overlap, conflicts with sold categories, ability to spend and a history of buying sponsorships. Evidence should come from sources a reader could check, such as annual reports, press releases, job postings and news coverage. Five pages in APA 7 is common, with a screening table, two to four profiles, a ranking and the questions to take into each first meeting.
Inside the MT243 Unit 3 example
The brief states the vacant rights and the closed categories from the inventory, then cites Cornwell on starting from a company's objectives. The screen sets out five questions, and fifteen companies are set aside with a reason each, marked by a margin note on showing the screen was applied. The credit union's profile cites its branch plan, job postings and annual report, with Mullin and colleagues on defined target markets. The grocer is placed in the recovery package rather than the title, and the insurer is held pending a category check. The highlighted line puts need ahead of budget. A ranking gives one first-meeting question per prospect, with a second note, and a closing section cites Jensen and Cornwell on the limits of public evidence.
MT243 Unit 3 rubric: what earns full points
A prospect brief earns its marks for a transparent screen, credible evidence, sound fit and a clear ranking. Applying the same tests to every company, and saying why each was set aside, scores higher than presenting three favorites. Evidence should be specific and checkable, an expansion plan or product launch rather than a general sense that a company is growing. Graders reward profiles that link a company's stated objective to particular assets or audiences. Checking for conflicts with sold categories shows care. A ranking with a first-meeting question for each prospect turns research into a plan. Accurate citations and an honest note on what public sources cannot show complete the grade.
MT243 Unit 3 help: mistakes that cost points
Students often choose prospects by size or familiarity rather than need, which leads to a list of national brands that would never buy a local event. Another frequent problem is describing a company without evidence of its current objectives. Some briefs ignore category conflicts and recommend a company that cannot be sold the rights. Others profile ten companies thinly instead of three well. Avoid treating a company's past sponsorships as proof it will buy again. Tell us the property and the region, and a writer can run the screen and build profiles from documents you could check yourself.
Get an MT243 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Prospect research depends on the property and market your Unit 3 prompt sets, and on whether the company is assigned or left to you. Share those details with the rubric and any categories already sold. Objectives get documented from public sources and the candidates ranked, with the brief ready in 24-48h; a first custom sample is free. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT243 Unit 3 questions, answered
Where does evidence of a company's objectives come from?
Public sources a reader can check: annual reports and investor materials, press releases, job postings, store or branch openings, recent campaigns and prior sponsorships. Each tells something different, from stated strategy to actual spending. The sample cites a source for every claim about a prospect's goals and marks anything inferred as inference rather than fact.
How many prospects should the brief profile?
Whatever the prompt asks, commonly two to five. Screening a longer list first and profiling only the survivors shows the choice was made rather than assumed. The sample screens eighteen and profiles three, which lets it show both the breadth of the search and the depth of the research on the companies that matter.
What if the assigned prospect is a poor fit?
Then the brief should say where the fit is weak and look for the objective it can serve. Instructors sometimes assign a company precisely because it is not the easy match. A brief that finds a narrower but real objective, such as recruiting employees or launching one product line, usually earns more than one pretending the fit is perfect.
Where can I find a free MT243 Unit 3 sample paper?
The full MT243 Unit 3 prospect research brief is printed here. It screens eighteen companies for a marathon's presenting rights, profiles a credit union, a grocer and a health insurer and ranks them with a first-meeting question each.
Why is the grocer not ranked for the title in the MT243 Unit 3 sample?
Its spending capacity at the title level is uncertain, and its objective, sampling a new nutrition line, is better served by the finish-line recovery package than by bibs and arches.