When a new sport team enters an existing league, branding becomes an important tool the team uses to establish itself and gain a following within the community. Previous research on new sport teams has focused on adult attachment and formation of fan communities, but few researchers have focused on children learning to value brands and branding techniques. Through this study, the authors examine the aspects of branding efforts, specifically branded imagery and associations, that children find important, relevant, and representative of a new sport team. A drawing contest for children ages 5–14 enrolled in public schools executed in conjunction with a local single-A baseball team after their inaugural season revealed many brand associations traditionally tied to adult fans of both new and established sport teams were irrelevant to the child participants included in this study. Branded imagery was also not used by any participants before the age of 7, extending current research on branding and child development to highlight the lack of effectiveness of branding on children younger than 7. Further findings are also discussed.

当新的运动队加入现有的联赛时，品牌推广就成为该队用来建立自己并在社区中获得追随者的重要工具。先前对新运动队的研究集中于成人的依恋和球迷社区的形成，但很少有研究者关注儿童学习如何重视品牌和品牌技巧。通过这项研究，作者研究了品牌工作的各个方面，特别是品牌形象和联想，使孩子们发现了一支新的运动队的重要意义，相关意义和代表性。在就职赛季结束后，与当地的单人棒球队一起在公立学校参加的针对5-14岁儿童的绘画比赛显示，传统上与​​新成立的体育队和成年体育队的成年粉丝相关的许多品牌联想与儿童参与者无关包括在这项研究中。在7岁之前，任何参与者都没有使用品牌形象，扩展了有关品牌和儿童发展的最新研究，以强调品牌对7岁以下儿童的有效性缺乏。