Sports Marketing:
History and Evolution
History

1858: First known athletic event to charge
admission to place at a baseball game (admission
just .50 cents) with attendance records varying
from 1500 to 10000
 Average
ticket price to an MLB game in 2014 = $27.93
History
 Growth
 Fans
in SEM
willingness to spend discretionary income on SEM
 Emergence
of TV and Radio increases exposure
 Corporations
begin to see benefits with sports
affiliation, resulting in sponsorship boom
 Celebrity
endorsements and naming rights deals
become common industry practice
History
 1923
First
endorsement deal

Golfer Gene Sarazen signed
an endorsement deal with
Wilson Sporting Goods that
becomes the longest
running endorsement deal
in the history of sports. The
original deal was for $6,000
per year plus an equal
amount for travel expenses.
Renewal took place every
two years until his death in
May 1999.
History
 1925
Goodyear
Blimp

Goodyear Tire and Rubber
Company builds the
Pilgrim, the first blimp to
fly over athletic events
History
 1928

Olympics
Coke partners with the
Olympics and remains a
sponsor to this day
History
 1939

TV
First televised collegiate
football game featuring
Fordham against
Waynesburg (PA) College
History
 1939

NFL
The first televised NFL
game happened on this
date. It was broadcast to
1,000 homes. The
Philadelphia Eagles fell to
the Brooklyn Dodgers 2314. (Yes, there was a
football team named the
Brooklyn Dodgers)
History
 1949
Female
Athlete
Endorsement

First major endorsement
by a female. Babe
Didrikson Zaharias signs
with Wilson Sporting
Goods for $100,000 a
year
History
 1951

Its Live
On this day, NBC
broadcast the first live
coast-to-coast sporting
event. The football game
featured Duke University
taking on the University
of Pittsburgh.
History
 1954
Sports
Illustrated

On this day in 1954 the
first issue of Sports
Illustrated hits the news
stands.
History
 1964

Nike
On this day in 1964 Phil
Knight founded Blue
Ribbon Sports...which, in
1972 became Nike
History
 1966
Get Your
Degree

In 1966, Ohio University
begins offering the first
Sports Marketing Degree
program in the nation
History
 1975

Pay-Per-View
The first pay-per-view
athletic event is the
"Thrilla in Manilla" with
Ali taking on Frazier. It is
broadcast to 276 closed
circuit locations. Ali won
in the 14th when Frazier's
trainer threw in the
towel.
History
 1979
All Sports All
the Time

On this date in sports
marketing history, ESPN
debuts
History
 1990

High school
High school sports
marketing programs
started showing up
around 1990, first
appearing the FairFax
County schools. Since
then, Sports Marketing
has become one of the
fastest growing
marketing-related course
offerings in the country
History
 2003
Naming
Rights

The Chicago Bears
becomes the first
professional franchise to
sell the naming rights of
their team as Bank One
becomes the
“presenting” sponsor.
The Chicago Bears
presented by Bank One
History
 2006

World Cup
An estimated 1.2 billion
people watch the World
Cup Final, accounting for
17% of the world
population
Size and Scope of SEM

One of the largest and fastest growing industries
in the US

The Sports Business Journal estimates that the US
domestic sports consumption and investment in
2006 exceeded $213 Billion

In 2015 The new College Football Playoff set cable
ratings record on ESPN…Averaging nearly
33.4million viewers for the championship game
Factors Contributing to Industry Growth

Increase in people participating in sports and
Entertainment
 1974
– 100k youth soccer players
 2008
– Over 3million plus over 800k
coaches/volunteers

Increase in people following sports on TV
 1971
– US broadcast 800hrs of sports
 2006
– 5,100hrs from ESPN alone
Factors Contributing to Industry Growth

Increase in sports/entertainment offerings
 2005


– ESPN covers more than 65 sports
Increase in attendance
 1980
- NBA attendance = 9,449,340
 2014
– Chicago Bulls averaged 21,716 per/game
Increase in media coverage
 TV/Radio/Streaming/Magazines/News
Papers
Factors Contributing to Industry Growth

The International Market drives sales of sports
and entertainment
 Authors
– J.K. Rowling
 Athletes
– Yao Ming, Rory McIlroy, David Beckham
 Musicians–
 Actors
One Direction, Rihanna
– Emma Watson, Chris Hemsworth
SEM Today

200million Americans or 7 of 8 Adults consider
themselves sports fans

It's estimated by the Fantasy Sports Trade
Association that 42 million people age 12 and
above in the U.S. and Canada played fantasy
sports in 2014

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament will cost
U.S. companies an estimated $134 million in “lost
wages”
SEM Today

8 of the top 10 grossing movies of all time were
released in 2011 or later

In 2013 Apple has over 575m iTunes accounts

In 2007 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows sold
8.3m copies in the US in its first 24hrs

The worldwide video game marketplace, which
includes video game console hardware and
software, online, mobile and PC games, exceeded
$93 billion in 2013