At a time when the promotion of services and products is changing on a daily basis, with Social Media being the main channel (social media, digital media, websites, blogs), a new horizon of economic relationship between advertisers and promoters has emerged. Traditional Media, such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines paved the way for promotion through Media. Without them, there wouldn’t be a starting point for sponsorship through the New Media. The transition to the new technological models was predetermined and this is something that was detected in time by advertising companies, teams, athletes and most importantly social media itself. Traditionally informed consumers of products and services from advertising sources such as TV, radio and newspapers, have turned to the internet. According to research by Reuters Institute for the study of Journalism, Oxford University for digital information in Greece, 61% of people are mostly informed by websites and 27% of people get updates through social Media. In third place, television makes an appearance as a preferred news source by 21% of people. New Media was the ideal escape since it is about efficient media (according to users and the(ir) views), Plus, they are quite cheap and at times free of charge. In particular, referring to the sports industry that is mainly monitored by young and dynamic audiences, New Media is a field of unlimited possibilities and technologicaladvertising prospects. New Media, apart from as have been mentioned above, offers numerous forms of promotion and presentation (videos, hashtags, cover photos, live coverage . sharing, organic-paid engagement). This gives companies that want to advertise a lot of weapons for their quiver and not only traditional forms of television spots or static banners. The sponsorship is characterized either by a sum of money or by offering preestablished items with an agreed exchange of advertising capabilities in the sponsored media ( athlete – team – organization etc). Although the sponsorship is carried out for the purpose of brand awareness, return of investment and commercial results, it cannot be identified with advertising. Unlike advertising, it’s not able to stand alone but it necessarily needs a sponsorship or platform. Sports marketing as a subcategory of marketing focuses both on the promotion of sports events but also on the promotion of teams, players and sport products – services. It is a direction related to either people (athletes) or actions and sponsored activities. In any case, the aim is the connection and approach of the customer-consumer. Ideally, suited for the above requirement, are the New Media that are now used by teams, leagues and athletes as a marketing strategy. Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, are becoming widely popular and people are able to reach a huge audience in an easy and economical way. The action of “following” of a brand or athlete, particularly in social media, ensures the daily advertising of the company, without any cost, which gives a unique precedence over the traditional media. Marketing takes advantage of the power of New Media in order to quickly and easily identify and target a potential consumer using an athlete’s idol. Regardless, social networks have changed the way the world communicates and interacts. Athletes have long been a constant pole of attraction for consumers since sports arouse feelings and passions, being a source of health, sacrifice, devotion and positive energy. The goal of the project is to look into the unbreakable bond between companies and athletes as it evolves through sponsorship in the New Media. The statistics of athletes are the cornerstone of sponsorship packages. Through this thesis, an explanatory scale will be created for the mapping of followers – users in monetary amounts of sponsorship. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of sponsorship by examining the effects of team attachment/association, perceived feasibility and a sport’s team honesty, focusing on social media consumption on behaviours towards sponsors and intentions to buy products by the sponsor.

Keywords : Social Media, Sports, Digital Media, Sponsorships, Sponsors, Football.