Over the past three decades, sponsorship marketing has been a major contributor to the popularity of sports, particularly football. From 1996 to 2010, the sponsorship market worldwide experienced exponential growth, with brands paying large sums of money to leverage sponsorship rights and properties. Sponsorship marketing grew increasingly popular in the late 1980s when a significant shift was introduced in marketing. The shift was an effort by firms to differentiate themselves in the sponsorship market by moving away from the common ratification of products’ aspects and functional benefits towards brands’ symbolic overtones. Associating with sports properties allowed firms to illuminate their purpose and position, and get closer to consumers. Over time, firms have become critical of sponsorship and the value they bring given their cost. The criticism comes as there are no deliberate nor quantifiable derived benefits. As a result, firms focus more on title sponsorship of short-term tournaments instead of long-term sponsorship commitments. Short-term tournaments have generally been used as tactical selling assets. Short-term tournaments enable firms to easily and continually assess their financial commitments to the sponsored properties. The continued growth of title sponsorship in short-term tournament sports is attributable to several factors, but importantly, it is to get the consumers excited and remain engaged for the duration of the tournament. Short-term tournaments are beneficial for fans as they give instant gratification wherein their team could be crowned champions without waiting for the season-long league to conclude. Short-term tournaments are an instrument to elicit excitement for fans but also to deliver impact for sponsor firms.