1. Introduction
Sports Marketing is one of the most important topics when it comes to sport. Every team has to be able to market and sell their product or they will not produce any revenue. It is the main aspect that makes an organization grow and bring in more money to be able to buy assets to bring in a bigger consumer base and produce more interest in the product.
2. Rationale
To draw in revenue, sports marketing must have a huge effect on the product or experience. A few major parts of Sports marketing are social networking, and communication with other organizations. Marketing for sports teams or companies is what draws in the business.
1. ) It draws attention to the product or team to generate interest.
2.) It get’s other businesses interested in investing in the company to promote it on a higher level.
3.) The more known to consumers it is, the more money that will be made and able to spend on assets to further promote the team and generate more revenue.
4.) It will create a fan base so their are continually fans that will invest and keep the product or organization alive.
3. Main Content
Journal Of Services Marketing
Sports marketing dates all the way back to ancient Rome when different teams sponsored gladiatorial teams. More recent times it dates back to the 1950′s when Dwight D. Eisenhower asked upon Mutual of Omaha and Union Oil to sponsor the first presidential physical fitness program. In today’s world there are millions of areas of sports marketing and they all relate back to these two starting points of advertising for sport. The boost for sports marketing started in 1971, after the government banned cigarette advertisements on the radio and television. The big exposure from sports marketing was shown at the 1984 Olympics when they used sponosrs to promote the games, and produce mass amounts of money for advertising to fund the budget. By 1990 the sports marketing field had boomed, leading to over 23 billion dollars spent on advertisements and sponsorships. In 1995 sports was considered the eleventh highest ranked industry in the United States. There are really two ways to marketing sport. You can either market sports teams by sponsorships and endorsements, or one can market sports equipment and apparel. These aspects have shot through the roof in today’s marketing mix theories. There is normally one big event to market in sports that businesses take advantage of; With football it’s the Superbowl, the biggest game of the year for football fans where billions of sports fanatics are sitting in front of their television watching aimlessly to find out the winner. Some people what the game solely for the commercials to see what company can catch our attention the most. In baseball it’s the World Series, this has a series of games that allows marketers to spread advertisements throughout a series of days. Basketball is the same way, it has a championship series that allows more marketing to take place. There are many other extreme sports that have emerged that are allowing more marketing to take place in the big world of sports.
Journal of Advertising Research
In today’s world the easiest way to promote a product or business relating it to a professional athlete or celebrity they know and can relate themselves to and recognize to create a fan base . Right now, most children of those ages relate the best by watching tv and advertising online through popular sites for their age group. By relating this back to things that this group of children see often and understand they are creating brand recognition and bringing interest to more consumers out there in hope to draw in more assets and revenue. With today’s world changing drastically with the technology, and teenagers viewing athletes ans celebrities as role models, this has been the main way to sell products. It was shown in the case study that females actually relate to products more through role models, but overall the concept of endorsing an athlete with a product has almost tripled the amount of money made in sales compared to where they were previously. Another main aspect to this article is talking about winning. It used to be ” it’s not all just about winning, but how you play the game”, but now it has changed to win at all costs. The way this generation has seen this dramatic change is killing some marketing techniques, to put a role model to a product these days it has to be a top athlete that is been shown to win, or consumers won’t relate it to that product. The other challenge to working with teenagers or younger adults is the fact that they are usually not rooted to one team, or set for life yet. Advertising can change the swing of how children think about teams and are able to sway them to like one team more than the other will growing up. Once a customer starts following a team because of the role models and advertising shown in all the media and in close locations they become fans. This is how the new target markets are being created and trying to create and maintain a bigger fan base along with the brand familiarity and equity. There are many different options that they are discussing in this economic crisis to create and attract more fans to become involved and participate in sports and this has been one of the more efficient ways of marketing. There are many tests and hypothesis’s that advertisers are pressing and testing among the public. Along with these ideas another big push is to work with interesting the female gender to become more involved and aware of sports to create more revenue by selling more clothes and apparel for women.
European Journal of Marketing
In today’s world entertainment is now sold to four different groups. First most the fans are the main aspect. They follow games, attend games, buy sports apparel and purchase media packages to follow their team. Second is the television and media companies that are showing games online, third would be the communities that build the facilities and support the local club teams. Finally, the last marketing group should be the corporations that support leagues and increase revenue teams by sponsorship and other team related activities including investing money to greater the program. These four groups are what is allowing teams to relocate and create a new fan base. Teams use promotions and benefits to attract the customers and create awareness of all types of sports, not just the popular one. Nascar, The X Games, and other sports are gaining more attention from fans and creating more fan bases and brand loyalty. This is helping the teams to create more revenue and buy more items to help the organization to future their success and continue to win. As stated before today’s world is a win at all basis type program. The main way a team gets reconicintion from consumers out side of the city they are located in is if the team is winning games and getting publicity. Mainly people are relating to these new sports because their new and different and the marketers are able to hit on a different type of target market that may not be watching traditional. This gives them an opportunity to show their products to another type of consumer that may like the companies products but aren’t about to see the advertising because they do not watch the type of sports that the big consumer companies are selling at to gain the most audience. Another main aspect of marketing is the idea of globalization. Organizations are not only reaching out to those in the United States, but also throughout the world. More and more people are owning television sets and are becoming a part of the population that companies and businesses are able to market to. Going global means that they are now able to reach people on all continents in the world. We can talk to people in China or sell products to those in Antarctica, this allows for more communication and the ability to service their needs and the capability to sell more products around the world.
4. Related Websites
National Sports Marketing Network
Sports Marketing and maximizing talent
5. Related Online Articles
World Championship Sponsorship
6. Videos
7. Works Cited
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- Sports Marketing 360 2009 Highlights, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h3U7gRv3H4&feature=youtube_gdata_player.
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- Mason, D S. (1999). What is the sports product and who buys it? the marketing of professional sports leagues. European Journal of Marketing, 33(3/4), 402.
- Top 10 Direct Marketing Tips to Improve ROI, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk3VO-yb_r8&feature=youtube_gdata_player.
- Daniel S. Mason, “What is the sports product and who buys it? The marketing of professional sports leagues,” European Journal of Marketing 33, no. 3/4 (1999): 402-419.
- Alexander Krämer, “World Championship 2006 in Germany: sponsorship through Coca Cola, McDonald’s, Anheuser-Busch,” The European Journal of Public Health 16, no. 6 (December 2006): 682.
