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Sports Marketing

By: Robert II Smith
 

As defined within the literature, sports marketing represents those activities intended to meet “the needs and wants of sports consumers through exchange processes” (Mullin, Hardy & Sutton, 2000, p. 5). Quick, Shilbury and Westerbeek (2003) clarified that sports marketing is a social and managerial process within sports by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. As such, as noted by Quick et al., the identification of consumer needs and wants is a critical aspect of the marketer's role, with marketing strategies based on known consumer needs.

Quick et al. (2003) explained that it has been assumed that in sports the original form of the game tends to be naturally attractive and therefore satisfies consumer needs. However, as emphasized by the authors, this is an outdated view, with many sports now having modified rules to make their games more attractive. Particularly, for younger consumers, many sports have been significantly modified to satisfy the desire of many more young people to participate in the game (Quick et al., 2003). According to the authors, this change has led to the recognition that younger consumers want to develop game skills through actual participation, to have fun, and in general to be with their friends through the sport setting. This awareness helps to further emphasize the importance of identifying the needs and wants that are to be satisfied when considering sports marketing activities. As noted by Quick et al., dentifying the needs of various segments of the population is the challenge inherent in the early phase of the marketing process. Obtaining this information offers the sports marketer the opportunity to communicate the benefits of the sport product as a means of defining the sport’s positioning to different segments of the market (Quick et al., 2003). Such exchange processes help to clarify the importance of using a mix of marketing strategies in order to influence different consumers to buy sport products, via either attendance or participation. Quick et al. indicated that these processes identify the four primary variables involved in sports marketing including product, price, promotion and place, otherwise known as the traditional four Ps of marketing.

According to Mullin et al., sports marketing has developed two major thrusts including the marketing of sports products and services directly to the consumers of sport, and the marketing of other consumer and industrial products or services though the use of sport promotions. As further explained by Mullin et al., sports marketing also involves the promotion of the game itself. For example, as noted by the authors, both professional leagues and member franchises are active in the promotion of their teams and sports through advertising and Web sites. Marketing through sports has become increasingly popular as companies outside of the sports industry recognize sports as a medium for marketing their own products and services (Mullin et al., 2000). The purchase of stadium naming rights by companies including Coors and America West Airlines and the sponsorship of NASCAR teams by Home Depot and Valvoline are but a few examples of marketing through sport (McDonald & Milne, 1999).

Sports Marketing and the Media

In relation to sports marketing, media organizations have emerged as assuming a critical role. The media is active in the marketing of sports, as they provide the various communication vehicles through which sports games are seen, read about, and heard (Thorne, Wright & Jones, 2001). Media companies traditionally have included television, newspaper, and radio (Thorne et al., 2001). According to Thorne et al., media rights, especially through television, have “symbiotic” or closely knit relationships with sport, with sports aiding in building the media while media exposure aids in further building and establishing an audience for the sports industry. Consequently, as noted by the authors, as efforts are made by the media and the sports industry to enhance the numbers of viewers, readers, and listeners, stronger advertising revenue for the media firm are generated. As a result of this relationship, owners of media companies have increasingly acquired professional teams, leading to further complexity in the relationships that can exist between sports and the media. As further explained by Thorne et al., media interests often clash with those of teams and leagues under the Sports Broadcasting Act (1992, 15 U.S.C. 1291-95), which granted an antitrust exemption for broadcast rights to leagues, though teams' sale of broadcast rights is subject to antitrust review.

Future Trends

According to Kotler, Rein and Shields (2007), the direction of future trends in sports marketing are evidenced in a number of areas. Increasingly, the owner’s of sport properties form their own media company, providing a means for those in sports marketing to interact directly with consumers without the filter of traditional media (Kotler et al., 2007). An example of this trend offered by Kotler et al. is that of the National Football League (NFL), with most television networks recognizing the NFL as a competitive asset for its’ value in high ratings and promotional lead-in to other programming. As noted by Kotler et al., the NFL has begun building its own television channel which competed against ESPN with its own NFL draft show and broadcast eight regular season games during the 2006 season. Additionally, as pointed out by the authors, the NFL is investing its own media brand rather than selling its Thursday and Saturday night television package to other networks. Consequently, the NFL network is rapidly developing into a backup source for whenever other networks fail to pay the right fees for NFL programming.

Additionally, as identified by Kotler et al. (2007), the Internet has emerged as another major sports marketing venue. Using the example of the Major League Baseball’s (MLB) use of the Internet for providing streaming live video of baseball games throughout the season, Kotler et al. indicated that such business endeavors have created another means for generating additional substantial income for the league. According to Kotler et al, the Internet has provided the MLB with a further profitable means of defining and marketing itself as well as its’ teams through broadcast sports
As concluded by the authors, the MLB has provided a benchmark that can be used by other sports identities for integrating new technology into marketing strategies for the purpose of meeting the changing needs and expectations of fans.
Kotler et al. (2007) also noted that fans have assumed a major role in further changing sports marketing as a consequence of the increasing content on the Internet that is fan-driven.

The author’s stated the following:
“A good example is Deadspin.com, a sports news Web site that is operated out of the New York City apartment of the site's founder. Deadspin covers sports news like any other newspaper and magazine, provides forums for fans to discuss the latest sports controversies, and is sometimes the first media outlet to break a story. Dead-spin's influence has become so important that even members of the traditional media often get their material from the site. That fans have also become the distributors of information demonstrates how the traditional media's role as filter is diminishing, and both sports properties and the fans themselves are increasingly filling the channels” (Kotler et al., 2007, p. 41).

Such trends are predicted to influence sports marketing associated with college and high-school sports. According to Kotler et al. (2007), the Big Ten Conference is in the process of planning a satellite channel to provide content to its fans. It can be expected that other divisions will soon follow should this be found to be successful. Kotler et al. concluded that the more traditional means of sports marketing will have to eventually become altered, with sports marketers forming new alliances and engaging in new innovative techniques in order to survive. In order to stay abreast with change, those engaged in sports marketing will be required to persistently monitor what is occurring in the sports marketing arena while remaining committed to seeking out new innovative avenues for the marketing of sports.

Article Source: Main Articles

Robert Smith has spent more than 20 years working as a professor at the University of California. Now he spends most of his time with his family and shares his Univesity experience with the customers of Custom Essay Writing Service. He is a right person to contact on technical issues where to order essay.

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