Many companies sponsor sports as a way of advertising themselves. Some people think this is good for the world of sport, while others think it is a negative. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Sample Response
Many believe that the influence of multinational companies on sports through sponsorship deals has a harmful effect. In my opinion, while advertising creates potential conflicts of interest, this is a positive situationthis a positive situation overall as it funds the sports industry.
The growing primacy of sponsorships in sports can be problematic when it precipitates an ethical dilemma. In recent years, many Middle Eastern corporate entities linked closely to governments with poor human rights records such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar have purchased and are now endorsed by major footballing leagues and teams. This raises the question of whether such leagues should accept morally bankrupt ownership. A similar example was seen in the NBA recently, which has signed various lucrative sponsorships with Chinese companies and was put in a difficult position when a league executive expressed support for the independence movement in Hong Kong. The league was forced to backtrack under pressure from threatened boycottsamid pressure of boycotts from China.
Nonetheless, advertising is a key part of the viewing experience fans have come to expect. The advertisements themselves are slightly annoying at best, but they allow leagues to make games widely availablewidely available to watch and guaranteeguarantees the salaries of the best players. Most games, whether in football, basketball, tennis, or another sportwhether it be football, basketball, tennis or another sport, can be viewed for free on major television networks or online. Advertising allows the distributors and owners to earn enough for this to be a viable option. Moreover, leagues do not operate in a vacuum. If one league banned all advertising, then players would simply move elsewhere to playswitch to play somewhere else where salaries are higher. Advertising is therefore an unavoidable, crucial prerequisite for attracting the top playersprerequisite to having the top players.
In conclusion, the fan benefits outweigh the pernicious impact of sponsorship deals in sport. Nevertheless, it is importantIt is regardless important for leagues to balance competing ethical, economic, and entertainment priorities.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response is fluent, logically organised, and supported by a strong range of vocabulary and complex structures. Its main limitation is task precision: the negative case partly shifts from sponsorship to ownership and geopolitical controversy, while the positive case treats advertising more broadly than sports sponsorship. Make each example explicitly show how a sponsorship arrangement helps or harms sport, then connect it directly to the stated judgement.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
Both views and a clear opinion are presented, but parts of the discussion broaden from sports sponsorship into ownership and advertising generally.
Use examples that directly demonstrate the effects of sponsorship on sport and explicitly link each one to the relevant view.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through a clear introduction, two focused body paragraphs, and a concise conclusion with well-managed cohesion.
Refine a few transitions so the movement from individual examples to the paragraph's central claim is even more explicit.
Lexical Resource
Vocabulary is wide-ranging and precise overall, with sophisticated choices used naturally despite a few awkward collocations.
Replace expressions such as 'pressure of boycotts' and 'regardless important' with idiomatic alternatives.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A broad range of complex structures is controlled well, although occasional agreement and missing-word errors remain.
Proofread clause-level accuracy, especially omitted verbs and agreement in coordinated verb phrases.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Many companies sponsor sports as a way of advertising themselves. Some people think this is good for the world of sport, while others think it is a negative. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.