Chapter 3
Marketing Principles Applied
to Sport Management
What Is Sport Marketing?
• Create demand
• Obtain the best possible understanding of what
consumers want
• Includes the marketing of
– products, such as equipment, apparel, and
footwear
– services, such as skill lessons or club
memberships
– entities, such as leagues, teams, or individuals
Evolution of Sport Broadcasting
• From pure, factual reporting
aimed at sport fans to sport
entertainment aimed at masses
• Roone Arledge: ABC Monday
Night Football; combined
entertainment and sports
• Success of sports in prime time
• ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic,
ESPN News, ESPN Zone,
ESPN.com
© Comstock Images/Getty Images
Sport Sponsorship
• Sponsorship:
– The acquisition of rights to affiliate or directly
associate with a product or event for purpose of
deriving benefits related to that affiliation
• Albert G. Spalding
– Use of the word official
• Mark McCormack
– Built IMG through golfer Arnold Palmer
• Nike and Air Jordan
– Packaging of the Nike brand, product, advertising,
and athlete into one personality
Product Extension and Promotion
•
Bill Veeck
–
Team must provide reasons other than the
game itself for people to attend and support
franchise.
1. Create the greatest joy for the greatest number
of people
2. Ensure a pleasurable attending experience
3. Create conversation
Research in Sport Marketing
• Matt Levine
– Credited with formalizing customer research in
sport industry; audience audit, intercepts, focus
groups
• Pass-by interviews:
– On-site interviews in heavy traffic areas such as
malls
– San Jose Sharks logo and colors changed as a
result of pass-by interviews
The Marketing Mix
• Controllable variables that company puts together
to satisfy a target group
• 4 Ps:
–
–
–
–
Product (actual event/experience)
Price (depends on value or perceived value)
Place (preselling and exceptional locations)
Promotion (advertising, personal selling,
publicity, and sales promotion)
Segmentation
• Identifying subgroups of overall
marketplace based on age, income level,
ethnicity, geography, and/or lifestyle
• Ethnic marketing
– Growth of Hispanic population, ESPN
Deportes
• Generational marketing
– Generation Y and action sports
Fan Identification
• The personal commitment and
emotional involvement customers
have with sport organization
• Enhanced long-term loyalty in
sport fans
• Sponsorship opportunities resulting
from ability to tap into strong
emotional connection between a
fan and his or her sport team
© Photos.com
Relationship Marketing
• Aids in fostering identification with sport teams
• Begins with customer and encourages integration
of the customer into the company
• Builds relationships through communication,
satisfaction, and service
• Examples:
– Loyal fan gift rewards, special access to
players, and special access to information
Service Quality
• Ability to provide consistent high-quality service
becomes source of competitive advantage for
firms
• Aftermarketing:
– Customer retention activities for customer after
purchase
• Many choices available to customers
• Best plan for retention is to ensure that fans
become “raving fans”
Key Skills
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Oral and written communication
Computer capabilities
Data analysis
Personnel management
Sales
Education
Understanding of the sport
product
© Photos.com
Current Issues: Cost of Attendance
• Drastic increase in cost of attending MLB, NBA,
NHL, and NFL games
• Increasing evidence that sport fans are not willing
or able to pay such prices
– Do not see the value of attending a game
• Significant challenge for sport marketers is to
develop relationship marketing strategies
• Key challenge for anyone in team sport marketing
is increasing revenues for sport teams
Current Issues: Database Marketing
• Creating a database that includes consumer names,
addresses, and other demographic information
• Managing database by developing and delivering
integrated marketing programs
– Including promotions and sales offers to
targeted consumer segments
• Database marketing is often an integral factor in a
company’s decision to sponsor an event
Current Issues: Cluttered Marketplace
• Numerous and varied entertainment options are
available to a consumer with leisure time
• Added technological options for the next generation
of sport fans
• Marketplace cluttered for sponsors
– Rise in number of athletes and events, increase in
number of advertising opportunities available
• Future
– Heightened focus on marketing mainstream
sports to youth; increased challenge for sport
entity to demonstrate how sponsor will benefit
from a sponsorship
Current Issues: Image
• Development and cultivation of a positive image is
becoming increasingly important in sport
marketing.
• Cluttered marketplace: Imperative that
corporations identify sports, events, or
athletes that have unique images
• Corporate and athlete ethical scandals
• Result:
• Corporations are more discerning in ways that
they spend their sponsorship and endorsement
dollars; they may now spend more on nonprofit
organizations and causes.