Sports & Entertainment Marketing
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Big League Sports – Top 10 Sports in the World
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#10
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#9
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Basketball
Developed in America in the late 19th century
• Originally dominated by Americans
• Slowly spread throughout the world
Growth spurred by urbanization
International leagues in Greece, Israel, Japan
Top talents from
• Germany – Dirk Nowitzki
• France – Tony Parker
• Spain – Pau and Marc Gasol
• Canada – Steve Nash
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Golf
450 Million Fans
Dates back to 13th century
Home of origin – Old Course at St. Andrews – has been used for the last 500 years
Indirect nature of competition creates a lack of conflict or perceived competitiveness
American players have dominated sport
• Asian countries are beginning to catch up
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#8
#7
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#6
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American Football
400 Million Fans
Evolved from rugby
in late 19th century
• Mainly a club or collegiate sport
NFL established in 1920
No teams outside of North America
#5
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400 Million Fans
500 Million Fans
Developed in
from the game of rounders
One of the longest-standing
codes of play
• Major rules have not changed since 1901
National League founded in 1876
Direct competition of single players – the batter & pitcher – within a team sport
Global appeal
• Leading spectator sport in Japan
• National sport in a number of Central and South American countries
• Cuba won numerous Olympic golds
• Japanese won 2-of-3 World baseball Classics
Table Tennis
850 Million Fans
Hugely popular in China
and gaining acceptance in Europe
Been around for less than a century
Attractive because of ease of play
and inexpensive equipment
International play dominated by the Chinese, particularly the women
Volleyball
900 Million Fans
Played around the world
Simplicity of play and flexibility
of what kind of playing surface has made game
wildly popular
Introduced into Olympic Games in 1964
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#4
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#3
Pretty evenly matched over the years with numerous countries winning medals and
no one country dominating
Beach volleyball introduced as Olympic
sport in 1996
• Dominated by the American and Brazilians
Tennis
1 Billion Fans
Top ranking solo
competition
Dates back before the 14th century
• Modern rules written mid 19th century
World appeal as no single player or country has truly dominated sport
• Last 10 years, #1 ranking held by 14 different players representing 8 different
countries
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Field Hockey
2 Billion Fans
Developed independently in Europe and Asia in the 3rd century B.C.
Modern rules developed in the 19th century England
Dominated by India & Pakistan
mid 1900s
Now Australia & the Netherlands
a major force
Viewed as a female-dominated sport in US, across the globe it is male-dominated
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Cricket
2.5 Billion Fans
Thanks to the British Empire
, this sport has spread across the globe
th
Played as far back as the 16 century, modern rules developed in the early 1700s
Large teams and long games – sometimes up to 5 days
in length
England, India, Australia, South America top teams
#2
#1
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Soccer
3.5 Billion Fans
Simplicity of the sport and the ease of play
make it the most popular sport in
the world to play and watch
Versions of a game kicking a ball towards a target have been around for centuries
• Mid-19th century modern rules developed in England
No particularly powerful clubs
• Dozens in contention
for international and top-league titles every year
Soccer
 260 million participants worldwide
 Truly global appeal
o National, cultural, religious, gender, class
 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
o $700 million
annual income
o World Cup most widely viewed
sporting event in the world
 Highest paid soccer players in world
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, PSG ($40.4 million)
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona ($64.7 million)
1. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid ($80 million)
Top 10 Sports in the USA
10. Martial Arts
9. Wrestling
8. Motor Sports
7. Golf
6. Tennis
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Soccer
Hockey
Basketball
Baseball
Football
Financial Impact
Most valuable NFL football teams
 Houston Texans ($1.85 billion)
 New York Giants ($2.1 billion)
 Washington Redskins ($2.4 billion)
 New England Patriots ($2.6 billion)
 Dallas Cowboys ($2.1 billion
)
New Dallas Cowboy Stadium (2009)
 Originally estimated to cost $650 million, actual cost $
billion
o Financed through approved sales tax increases by the city of Arlington; $325 million from city
of Arlington (bonds); $150 million NFL loan; over runs paid by Jerry Jones
o One of the most expensive
sports venues ever built
 Seats 80,000
(110,000 including standing room)
rd
 3 largest NFL stadium
o What is largest NFL stadium?
 AT&T Naming Rights Deal
o $17-$19 Million/year for 20 years
o City gets 5%
to help offset cost to build
 Since opening, has hosted:
o Super Bowl XLV (2011)
o NBA All-Star Game (2010)
o Highest attended basketball game in history
o Big 12 Championship Game (2009, 2010)
o Cotton Bowl (2010-2012, 2015)
o Texas UIL State Championship (2010-present)
o NCAA Final Four
(2014)
o C college Football Playoff Championship (2015)
It’s All About the Money
What sport had the most yearly revenue? How much?
Which league has the highest average salary? How much?
Which league has the highest salary cap? How much?
Who was the highest paid athlete in 2014? How much?
Highest paid NFL player?
Highest paid NBA player?
Highest paid MLB player?
Which sport had the most players in the top 100?
Which sport has more followers on social media?
How Teams Make Money
Ticket Sales
Ticket Sales
League
MLB
NFL
NHL
Average Ticket
Price
$
26.98
$
78.38
$
57.39
NBA
$
48.48
Average
Attendance
30,884
67,358
17,455
17,274
Average Ticket
Sales per Game
$
833,250
$
5,279,520
$
1,001,742
$
837,444
# of Games
per Season
2,421
254
1,230
990
Average Ticket Earnings
per Season
$
2,017,299,025
$
1,340,998,090
$
1,232,143,214
$
829,069,085
What would it cost an average family of 4 to go to your favorite team’s game? List the team and how much.
Merchandise
What was the top selling NFL jersey last year?
What was the top selling NBA jersey last year?
Winning is Everything
 In order to keep ticket sales strong and charge high prices, owners must provide a winning team

A team fresh off of a national championship will probably have sold-out games the next season
because fans expect continued success
Most Winning Teams
Most Winning Teams
League
City
Franchise
MLB
New York
Yankees
27
NFL
Green Bay
Packers
13
NHL
Montreal
Canadienes
25
NBA
Boston
Celtics
17
Brazil
5
FIFA
# of Wins
Prestige, Power, Profitability
 The value of sports franchises has skyrocketed due to prestige, power, and profitability
o Jerry Jones paid $140 million
for the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 ($65 million for the
franchise and $75 million for the stadium)
o The Cowboys franchise is currently valued at $3,200,000,000
Perks and Payoffs
Perk—a payoff or profit
received in addition to a regular wage or payment
Political Clout
 Franchise owners who bring millions of dollars in business activity to a city often find themselves with
political clout or influence
 Political Clout is frequently associated with wealth
The Bottom Line
 Winning is everything in sports
 Teams often provide players with special contract incentives for winning
Competition or Collusion?
 Teams are paid big money to win
 Sports clubs cannot operate independently
o Must cooperate
with one another in order to sell their entertainment services to the
public
Role of the League
 Teams that are members of a professional sports league are contractually obligated
another
to one

The league determines:
o the
of games
o makes and enforces
o sets the guidelines for
new players
o determines
a new team will be admitted to the league and allowed to
compete with its members
League Rules
 Competition on the field would diminish
if any club had the ability to hoard the best
athletic talent
 League rules are designed to ensure that each club has the opportunity to employ and retain quality
players
o Contracts, Drafts, etc.
 Because specific clubs may hold the exclusive right to contract with a player, athletes are not always
free to work for the highest bidder
What Happens if No League Rules?
 More successful clubs would sell more tickets and team merchandise
 Earn higher profits
 Have the ability to attract the best players with higher salaries
 Over time, these clubs would become so much stronger than the less successful teams that
competition on the playing field would deteriorate and become boring for spectators
 If spectators don’t come, then
How Does it Work?
 Individual teams are separately operated businesses
 Cartel—a combination of independent businesses formed to
and marketing of a product
production, pricing,
Cartels
 In the case of professional sports, the cartel is a number of independent sports teams grouped
together and governed by a league agreement of operations
 The league controls the distribution of the teams, including the locations of the teams and the
number of teams allowed to operate within the league
 Typically, Cartels are
allowed in business
o special legislation exempting the professional sports leagues from antitrust laws
League
MLB
NFL
NHL
NBA
Year Established
1869
1920
1917
1946
Commissioner
Rob Manfred
Roger Goddell
Gary Bettman
Adam Silver
# of Teams
30
32
30
30
Expansion Plans
 Team owners must prove financial viability before the team can find a home city
 Owners and managers must convince the city that the costs of a team or new stadium will be repaid
through increased spending by fans and by increased tax revenues
 An NFL team can be a financial asset to a city if:
o Everyone and everything involved with the team stays within the home city area
o The stadium/arena is used for events other than those for which it was built
o The team attracts other business development like hotels, restaurants, and retail shops
How Easy is it to Add a New Team?
 Bringing a new team to a city takes more than just an owner’s desire for a new team
o League must approve expansion plans
o Potential owners have to have the financing to pay the current NFL owners for an expansion
team
o The new team must have a place to play to attract fans
o Since there are more cities that want pro teams than there are teams available, the leagues
control the location of the teams based on the business benefits to the leagues and owners.
o The leagues are in business to make a profit
Cashing In

Super Bowl XXXVIII was played in Houston’s Reliant Stadium in the venues 2nd year of existence
o The Super Bowl deal was a part of the financial contract and agreement between the Texans
& McNair & the NFL
o Houston’s city government used the economic impact of the Super Bowl to justify tax
support for the stadium
o Taxpayers paid 60%
of the $310 million stadium
It Pays Off…
 In addition to the 69,500 ticket-holding fans (paying anywhere from $1,950 - $4,800+ per ticket),
another 10,000 – 40,000
non-ticket holders visited the city during the weekend
activities
 The associated business that benefited from the crowd-lodging, food, beverage, & entertainmentgenerated about $300 million for the host city
 McNair bought franchise in 1999 for $700 Million, Houston Texans now valued at $1.3 Billion
Super Bowl
To host the Super Bowl obligates to a city to meet 20 pages of NFL requirements including:
 Having at least 17,500 hotel rooms
available
 65 limos
exclusively for NFL use
 1,000 buses
for transporting fans
 And many private and public golf course
s for fan use
 If a city does a good job hosting the Super Bowl; then the host city can expect to host the Super Bowl
about every five years
What city has hosted the most Super Bowls?