diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/sponsors_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/sponsors_controller.rb
index 2ee51762..1c212236 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/sponsors_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/sponsors_controller.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ module Admin
   class SponsorsController < Admin::BaseController
     load_and_authorize_resource :conference, find_by: :short_title
     load_and_authorize_resource :sponsor, through: :conference
+    before_action :sponsorship_level_required, only: [:index, :new]
 
     def index
       authorize! :index, Sponsor.new(conference_id: @conference.id)
@@ -51,5 +52,11 @@ module Admin
     def sponsor_params
       params.require(:sponsor).permit(:name, :description, :website_url, :picture, :picture_cache, :sponsorship_level_id, :conference_id)
     end
+
+    def sponsorship_level_required
+      return unless @conference.sponsorship_levels.empty?
+      redirect_to admin_conference_sponsorship_levels_path(conference_id: @conference.short_title),
+                  alert: 'You need to create atleast one sponsorship level to add a sponsor'
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/views/layouts/_admin_sidebar.html.haml b/app/views/layouts/_admin_sidebar.html.haml
index 770ba40d..e5747bdc 100644
--- a/app/views/layouts/_admin_sidebar.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/layouts/_admin_sidebar.html.haml
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@
         - if can? :update, @conference.sponsorship_levels.build
           %li{:class=> "#{active_nav_li(admin_conference_sponsorship_levels_path(@conference.short_title))}" }
             = link_to 'Sponsorship Levels', admin_conference_sponsorship_levels_path(@conference.short_title)
-        - if can? :update, @conference.sponsors.build
+        - if !@conference.sponsorship_levels.empty?  && @conference.sponsorship_levels.first.persisted? && (can? :update, @conference.sponsors.build)
           %li{:class=> active_nav_li(admin_conference_sponsors_path(@conference.short_title))}
             = link_to 'Sponsors', admin_conference_sponsors_path(@conference.short_title)
         - if can? :update, @conference.tickets.build