Sports marketing: an managers and executive examination of

Sports marketing: anexamination of academicmarketing publicationJ. Richard ShannonAssociate Professor of Marketing, Department of Economicsand Marketing, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green,Kentucky, USA

Keywords Sport, Services marketing, Bibliographies

Abstract Looks at the sports industry and addresses the current situation for authorsseeking to publish in the area of sports marketing. Sports currently represents theeleventh largest industry in the USA. Despite this, there are few mainstream marketingjournals willing to publish manuscripts on sports marketing. In an effort to circumventthis problem, some sports marketing authors have `̀ disguised'' their research under theguise of `̀ servicescapes'' or leisure services. Looks at the topical content of the leadingoutlet for sports marketing manuscripts, Sport Marketing Quarterly. The author classifiesthe articles into 18 categories. Sponsorship is the most frequent topic for sport marketingpapers, followed by general research and research on fans, spectators, and participants.Provides an extensive bibliography of sport-marketing articles published in academicjournals. While a few of these are in marketing journals, the vast majority are published`̀ out of field''.

IntroductionIn 1993, Fisk et al. wrote about the history and development of the services

marketing literature. In their article, they state that:

Academia by its nature is conservative and hidebound. New ideas and concepts

gain acceptance slowly. In this context, the early services marketing scholars were

true risk takers. They found relatively few publication outlets enthusiastic about

their work, and they confronted a discipline debating whether services marketing

was significantly distinctive.

Sports marketing authors face a similar situation today.

This article will look at the sports industry and address the current situation for

authors seeking to publish in the area of sports marketing. It will begin by

providing a background look at sports marketing, looking at the development

of the sports marketing industry, the size and impact of the industry, and a

common method of classifying the sports marketing field. It will then look at

the publication opportunities, including journals both in and out of the

marketing area and academic books on sports marketing. It will continue by

looking at the topical content of the leading outlet for sports marketing

manuscripts, Sport Marketing Quarterly, as well as other selected sports

marketing articles. The paper will conclude with recommendations and action

plans for future growth. The paper also provides a comprehensive bibliography

of sport marketing articles which have been published in academic journals.

The sports industryIndustry evolution

The early beginnings of sports marketing date back to ancient Rome, when

Roman patriarchs sponsored gladiatorial games for the same reason today's

companies do ± to win public esteem (Ukman, 1984).

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

http://www.emerald-library.com

Publication opportunities

JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999, pp. 517-534, # MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0887-6045 517

An executive summary formanagers and executivereaders can be found at theend of this issue

Modern sports sponsorship can be traced to the 1950s when then-President Dwight

D. Eisenhower asked Mutual of Omaha and Union Oil to sponsor the first

presidential physical fitness program (Lazarus, 1984).

Sports marketing received a substantial boost in exposure in 1971, when the

government banned cigarette advertising on US television and radio

(Cornwell, 1989). Sports marketing, particularly sponsorship of auto racing

(Winston cup and numerous car sponsorships) and tennis (Virginia Slims'

women's tennis tour), offered a means of keeping cigarette brand names in

front of spectators and television viewers through broadcast coverage of

sponsored events.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics provided a big boost for sports marketing

and is generally credited with starting the trend of sports marketing on a

formal basis ± turning athletics into a sponsored business (Schlossberg,

1991). This was the first Olympics which depended entirely on private

money, primarily major sponsorships, and not on public money. Whereas

prior Olympic cities had experienced major financial losses, the Los Angeles

Olympics actually generated a profit. Many sports purists have been highly

critical of this practice of bringing corporate sponsorship to the Olympics,

and even the Olympic committee reacted negatively to the level of

commercialism.

The growing interest in professional sports has continued this focus on sports

as big business. With multi-million dollar payrolls, newer and more

extravagant facilities, and the costs of sports franchises escalating into the

hundreds of millions of dollars, there is no doubt that sports is, truly, a

business venture. Television contracts for professional sports now run into

billions of dollars.

Industry size

There is some question concerning the actual size of the sports industry

today. Estimates of spending in this industry are varied and diverse. Much of

this diversity is created by an unclear definition of just what all is included in

the `̀ sports industry''. Some authors include just the marketing of sporting

events and sporting goods in their definition of the sports industry. Others

include marketing of non-sport products at sporting events. And still others

include marketing which uses sports figures as product endorsers in their

definition. Obviously, how one defines the `̀ sports industry'' will have a

dramatic effect on the size of that industry. There is no question, however,

that the sports industry is large and its impact substantial, both in spending

on sports marketing and in the sales potential of products within the sports

industry.

Spending in the sports sponsorship area reached the $2.5 billion level in

1990, according to Schlossberg (1991). In 1987, for every dollar spent on

sports event sponsorship, another five dollars was spent on other forms of

sports marketing, including television, radio, print advertising, on-site

booths, and event signage (Eisenhart, 1988). If Eisenhart's estimate still held

true, in 1991 spending on sports marketing would have reached $15 billion.

Advertising Age, however, estimated sports marketing expenditures in the

USA alone to be $23.52 billion in 1990.

By some estimates the sales value associated with the overall sports market,

both participant and spectator, was more than $179 billion in 1990, with

growth expected to continue at approximately 20 per cent annually

(Schlossberg, 1990). Meek (1997), taking an admittedly conservative

Boosts for sports marketing

Defining `̀ sports industry''

518 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999

definition of the sports industry, estimates the sports industry as a $152

billion industry in 1995, while it supported an additional $259 billion in

economic activity. Even given this conservative estimate, sports still ranked

as the eleventh largest industry in the USA in 1995.

Industry classification

The sports marketing industry can be categorized in a number of different

ways, as was seen in the above discussion. In this article, the simplest

classification will be used. This breaks sports marketing into two categories:

the marketing of sports (marketing sporting events and equipment to

spectators and participants) and marketing with sports (promotion of non-

sport products at sporting events and using athletes to endorse non-sport

products).

Both of these categories are rich in opportunities for future research, growth,

and employment opportunities. Academicians should be careful not to focus

totally on either of these areas at the expense of the other. As relatively new

areas of research and study, both areas will provide numerous opportunities

for many years to come.

Sports marketing publicationsAcademic journals

Sports journals. There are a limited number of academic outlets for sports

marketing research, either theoretical or quantitative. Shank (1999) identifies

six such academic journals. These are:

(1) Cyber-Journal of Sports Marketing;

(2) Sport Marketing Quarterly;

(3) Journal of Sport Behavior;

(4) Journal of Sport and Social Issues;

(5) Journal of Sport Management; and

(6) Journal of Services Marketing.

Of these journals, only the Journal of Services Marketing would be

considered to be a `̀ mainstream'' marketing journal. The Cyber-Journal of

Sports Marketing is housed in the business area at Griffith University in

Australia. However, it would not, at this time, be classified as a

`̀ mainstream'' marketing journal. Each of the other journals is housed and

edited in non-business academic disciplines, primarily kinesiology, physical

education and recreation, or leisure studies. While this, in and of itself, does

not necessarily minimize the contributions of these journals, it does lead to a

focus in sports marketing research which is outside of the marketing

discipline. We have seen similar situations lead to `̀ giving away'' other areas

of marketing to other disciplines. These include health care marketing, hotel,

restaurant, and tourism marketing, and, in some instances, retailing and

advertising.

The University of Connecticut's Laboratory for Leisure, Tourism, and Sport

(College of Education) provides a number of free reference lists

(www.playlab.uconn.edu/frl.htm). The reference list for `̀ sport marketing''

includes 526 references, as of April 1998. An examination of this list shows

that 69 of the references are books, at least 15 of which could be considered

to be textbooks, though not necessarily sports marketing texts. A total of 50

of the references are from Sport Marketing Quarterly, which would appear to

Opportunities

Academic outlets

JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 519

be the leading outlet for sports marketing research, at this time. An additional

11 articles are from the Journal of Sport Management. One reference is from

the Journal of Sport and Social Issues. There are no references on this list

from three of the journals identified by Shank:

(1) Cyber-Journal of Sports Marketing;

(2) Journal of Sport Behavior; and

(3) Journal of Services Marketing.

It should be pointed out, however, that these journals, particularly the Cyber-

Journal of Sports Marketing and the Journal of Services Marketing have run

a number of sports marketing and/or related articles. This reference list was

last updated in April 1998, so it is possible that some sports marketing

articles have been published since that date in some of these journals.

Ten additional references come from other journals which appear to be

potential outlets for sports marketing manuscripts, though sports marketing

is not the primary focus of the publication. These are:

. European Journal of Sport Management;

. International Journal of Sport Psychology;

. Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport;

. Journal of Parks and Recreation Administration;

. Journal of Sport History;

. Professional Sports Journal;

. Review of Sport & Leisure (2); and

. Sociology of Sport Journal (2).

Some of these references are older, and there is no guarantee that all of these

journals are still actively and widely circulated today. Likewise, there may

be additional journals which would have a primary or secondary focus

on sports and/or sports marketing which are not included on either of these

lists.

Marketing and other business journals. A total of 36 (6.8 per cent) of the

references on UConn's `̀ sport marketing'' reference list are published in

what would be classified as `̀ mainstream'' or `̀ traditional'' business and

marketing publications, including each of the leading marketing journals.

While this would appear to be encouraging, a more detailed examination

raises a disturbing pattern; few of these articles truly focus on sports

marketing. In fact, only ten of these articles contain the word sports, or a

direct reference to sports, in their titles. Thus, it would seem that these

journals may not be as receptive to articles relating to sports marketing as the

numbers would make it seem.

Another example of this lack of acceptance is the `̀ disguising'' of some

research. At least one of the leading authors in the area of sports marketing

no longer uses the term `̀ sports'' in the titles of papers and does not use the

term frequently even within the paper. Rather, the articles are framed in

broader terms, such as leisure services marketing, event marketing,

servicescapes (as opposed to arena or stadiums). This type of `̀ framing'' is

not as uncommon as one might think. A review of paper titles leads to the

conclusion that more than one author is using this approach in an attempt to

make papers more publishable.

Reference lists

`̀ Disguising'' research


It is somewhat of a sad commentary on our profession when we have to

disguise research in the eleventh largest industry in the US economy in an

effort to get the research published. For this reason, this author applauds the

Journal of Services Marketing for agreeing to publish a special issue on

sports marketing.

Other areas of the profession appear to be coming around slowly, as

happened with research in services marketing. It is no longer uncommon to

see marketing conferences with tracks which include sports marketing, by

name. This is a positive step for the marketing discipline and will, hopefully,

help to speed the acceptance of sports marketing manuscripts by marketing

journals.

Sports marketing bibliography. The reference section of this paper contains

an extensive bibliography of sport marketing articles which have been

published in academic journals. While the author is not naõÈve enough to

think that this bibliography is complete, it is the most comprehensive

bibliography published, to date. These references do not, however, contain

citations from `̀ popular press'' publications, such as Advertising Age,

Brandweek, or Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal. Rather, it focuses

solely on articles published in academic journals.

The author attempted to include only those articles which have a primary

focus in the sports area. Therefore, some articles may have been omitted

based on a subjective judgement of whether or not the article would be

classified as a sports marketing article, or not. It is also likely that a small

number of articles were simply overlooked. However, a diligent effort was

made to keep the number of articles omitted erroneously to a minimum.

Academic books

One sign of the growing interest in sports marketing is the growing number

of books available in this area, particularly academic books. Prior to 1990, it

would have been difficult to find a text for a sports marketing course. During

the 1990s, however, a number of such books have been published. This

growth would appear to indicate a growing number of courses being taught

in the area of sports marketing. Shank (1999, pp. 111-12) identifies 14 sports

marketing books which are primarily academic in nature. These, along with

the copyright year, where known, include:

(1) IEG's Complete Guide to Sponsorship;

(2) Sport Marketing (Mullins et al., 1993);

(3) Sports Marketing: Competitive Business Strategies for Sport (Brooks,

1994);

(4) Sports Marketing (Pitts and Stotlar)[1];

(5) Team Marketing Report's Newsletter;

(6) Successful Sports Marketing and Sponsorship Plans (Stotlar, 1989);

(7) Sports Marketing: Global Marketing Perspectives (Schlossberg,

1996);

(8) Sports Marketing: It's Not Just a Game Anymore (Schaaf, 1995);

(9) Sports Marketing: Famous People Sell Famous Products (Pember-

ton)[1];

(10) Sports Marketing: The Money Side of Sports (Pemberton, 1997);

Slow acceptance

Signs of growing interest


(11) Sports Marketing/Team Concept (Leonardi)[1];

(12) The Sports Marketing Guide (Wascovich, 1993, out of print);

(13) Keeping Score: An Inside Look at Sports Marketing (Carter, 1996);

and

(14) Ultimate Guide to Sport and Event Marketing (Graham et al., 1995).

Additional academic books on sports and sports marketing include:

. The Dream Job: Sports Publicity, Promotion, and Marketing (Helitzer,

1997);

. Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective (Shank, 1999);

. Sport Management: Successful Private Sector Business Strategies

(Davis, 1994);

. Sport Marketing, Promotion, and Public Relations (Mullin, 1983);

. Successful Sport Marketing (Stotlar, 1993);

. The Market Structure of Sports (Scully, 1995);

. Cases in Sport Marketing (McDonald and Milne, 1998);

. Sport Business: Operational and Theoretical Aspects (Graham, 1994);

. Sport Marketing: Managing the Exchange Process (Milne and

McDonald, 1998);

. Case Studies in Sport Marketing (Pitts, 1998);

. Fundamentals of Sports Marketing (Pitts and Stotlar, 1996);

. Sales Success in Sports Marketing (Shaad et al., 1998); and

. Strategic Sport Marketing (Shilbury et al., 1999, forthcoming)

As can be seen from these lists, particularly the second list, there has been a

proliferation of sports marketing books in academia in the late 1990s. Seven

different texts have been published between 1996 and 1999. Besides these

books, there are dozens of other books dealing with sports and each of the

other business disciplines. This area appears to be in a rapid growth period, a

fact that should not be lost on the mainstream marketing discipline and its

professorate.

Topical content of Sport Marketing QuarterlyThis section will look at the topical areas with which articles in Sport

Marketing Quarterly (SMQ) deal. This examination includes all issues of

SMQ published, as of the writing of this article (Vol. 1 No. 1, September

1992 through Vol. 8 No. 1, March 1999). The original intent was to simply

use the classifications which SMQ uses in its annual index. The SMQ

classifications get so specifically descriptive, however, that it ends up with

52 different classifications ± 40 (77 per cent) of which contain only one

article. Because of this, the articles have been reclassified, as shown in

Table I.

The author identified 18 topical categories which capture the content of the

articles in Sport Marketing Quarterly. There is also a `̀ miscellaneous''

category for articles which did not appear to fit any of the categories. This

`̀ miscellaneous'' category was used as infrequently as possible, and only

when there was no possible way to fit the article into any of the categories, in


the opinion of the author. Having such a category avoids having categories

with only one or two articles in them.

It should be noted that the classification of many of the articles is subjective

in nature. Many of the articles cross over multiple subject categories. For

example, a case study of the sponsorship practices of a professional sports

team could fit the classification as a case study, a sponsorship study, a

research ± general study, or a professional sports study. If the professional

team was foreign, it could also be classified as international. There actually

were articles which fit such a profile. In these cases, the author attempted to

determine which of the categories was the primary subject of the paper and

classified it as such.

The category most frequently addressed is `̀ sponsorship'', with 21 articles

focusing primarily on this topic. There were 16 `̀ general research'' articles

and 15 articles which dealt with spectator, fan, and/or participant research.

`̀ Collegiate sports'' and `̀ advertising/promotion'', with 12 articles each,

complete the subject areas with more than ten articles.

The fewest number of articles in any category was two, in `̀ event

management'' and `̀ sport marketing education''. `̀ Licensing'' had three

articles. These categories were kept in the classification because the author

Number of articles

Topic

Vols

1/2

Vol.

3

Vol.

4

Vol.

5

Vol.

6

Vol.

7

Vol.

8 Total

Advertising/promotion 1 3 1 3 2 2 ± 12

Case studies 1 1 1 1 1 ± ± 5

Collegiate sports 3 2 2 3 2 ± ± 12

Consumer behaviour ± ± ± 1 1 2 ± 4

Economic impact of sports 2 ± ± ± 2 ± ± 4

Event management 1 1 ± ± ± ± ± 2

Facilities/servicescapes 1 1 1 ± 1 1 ± 5

International 6a 1 ± ± 1 1 ± 9

Licensing 1 ± ± 1 1 ± ± 3

Market segmentation/target

marketing ± 1 2 ± 1 2 ± 6

Professional 2 ± 2a ± ± ± 1 5

Relationship marketing ± ± ± ± 4a ± ± 4

Research ± general 2 1 4 1 2 6a ± 16

Research ± spectators, participitants

and fans 3 3 4 3 2 ± ± 15

Sponsorship 7 3 1 5 ± 3 2 21

Sport marketing education ± ± ± 2 ± ± ± 2

Technology ± use of ± ± ± 2 ± 2 1 5

Women in sports ± 3a 1 ± ± ± ± 4

Miscellaneous 3 ± 1 1 1 1 ± 7

Note: a indicates a special issue on this subject during 1999

Special issues

Topic Vol. Issue no. Month Year

International Sports Marketing II 2 June 1993

Women and Sport Marketing III 2 June 1994

Professional Sports IV 2 June 1995

Relationaship Marketing in Sport VI 2 June 1997

Research in Sport Marketing VII 2 June 1998

Table I. Revised SMQ topical index Vols 1-7

Categories addressed

The category mostfrequently addressed


believes that there will be more studies in these areas in the future. If that

does not prove to be true, then these categories should be incorporated

somewhere else in the classification.

The primary focus of most of the sport marketing publications, to date,

appears to be in the marketing communications (advertising/promotion) and

consumer behavior areas of marketing. There appears to be less research in

the pricing, product, and distribution/place areas of the marketing mix. These

areas provide rich research potential for future studies in sport marketing.

The research also tends to focus heavily on the collegiate and professional

levels of sport, with less emphasis on secondary schools (high schools) and

community recreation programs. These areas would also appear to provide

many opportunities for future studies.

A call to actionSports marketing is a large and growing industry, both in the USA and

throughout the world. The Super Bowl has always attracted a lot of attention,

domestically, as a marketing tool for companies and as a place for companies

to `̀ kick off'' major ad campaigns. This, obviously, is because of the size and

concentration of the market for the Super Bowl. Other events, however, are

becoming as big or bigger. The Olympics, if we look at overall attendance at,

participation in, and viewership of, will easily surpass the Super Bowl.

Probably the largest single sporting event on a worldwide basis is the World

Cup soccer tournament. As interest in soccer continues to grow in the USA,

this event will begin to garner as much attention domestically as it does

internationally. The success of the US teams, both men's and women's, will

only speed up this acceptance. Other events, such as NASCAR racing, golf

tournaments, and professional sports continue to attract large audiences, both

in person and on television. Literally millions of fans now attend NASCAR

races annually, and hundreds of millions more watch these races on

television. These are, indeed, tremendous marketing opportunities.

Meanwhile, collegiate and high school athletics provide additional

opportunities for sports marketers. These venues provide fans who have an

intense interest in and loyalty to the participants. Association of products and

companies with these teams provide additional opportunities for marketers to

reach highly involved and intensely loyal target audiences. Research, to date,

has shown that loyalty to the participants at all levels, but especially at the

collegiate level, tends to transfer to the products and companies which

support these programs. Coca-Cola, one of the most savvy marketing

organizations in the world, has long recognized this and provided scoreboard

advertising in these venues.

It is time that the marketing discipline recognized the size, importance, and

potential of this industry and embraced it. Research and publication in the

sport marketing area should not only be accepted in `̀ mainstream''

marketing journals, it should be encouraged. Hopefully this special issue in

the Journal of Services Marketing will serve as the beginning of this

movement. If the objective of academic research is to provide information

which will better assist marketers in developing and implementing marketing

programs, then the size of the sport marketing industry cannot be overlooked.

It is time that the academic marketing discipline woke up to the fact that

industry-specific research is both valued and needed. If we do not embrace

sports marketing, other areas will, as has already begun to happen. Most of

the research to date in sports marketing has been done in the areas of

kinesiology, physical education and recreation, sociology, and psychology.

Marketing opportunities

Time for `̀ mainstream''acceptance


The primary reason for this has been the inability to get sports marketing

research published in marketing journals. This has been especially true in

domestic (US) marketing publications. If we do not wake up and begin to

accept such research, sport marketing will become yet another area of our

discipline which we `̀ give away'', as has happened to a great extent with

health care marketing, tourism and recreation marketing, merchandising

(especially fashion merchandising), and, to some extent, advertising and

public relations. All of these are marketing functions which are housed and

researched, academically, not only outside of marketing departments, but

outside of business colleges. And, if we are not careful, sports marketing will

follow these leads.

Note

1. The full bibliographic details of these titles are unknown.

References

Brooks, C. (1994), Sports Marketing: Competitive Business Strategies for Sports, Prentice-

Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Cornwell, T.B. (1989), `̀ Tattooed women and tractor pulls: sports marketing examined'', in

Gordon and Kellerman (Eds), Advances in Marketing, Proceedings of the Southwest

Marketing Association, pp. 289-93.

Davis, K.A. (1994), Sport Management: Successful Private Sector Business Strategies, Brown

& Benchmark, Madison, WI.

Eisenhart, T. (1988), `̀ Sporting chances zap competitors'', Business Marketing, January,

pp. 92-7.

Fisk, R.P., Brown, S.W. and Bitner, M.J. (1993), `̀ Tracking the evolution of the services

marketing literature'', Journal of Retailing, Vol. 69, Spring, pp. 61-103.

Graham, P.J. (1994), Sport Business: Operational and Theoretical Aspects, Brown and

Benchmark Publishing, Madison, WI.

Graham, S., Goldblatt, J.J. and Delpy, L. (1995), The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event

Management and Marketing, Irwin, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Helitzer, M. (1992), The Dream Job: Sports, Publicity, Promotion, and Marketing, University

Sports Press, Athens, OH.

Lazarus, L. (1984), `̀ Sports sponsorship requires marketing expertise, realistic expectations,

and social responsibility'', Marketing News, Vol. 13, April, p. 14.

McDonald, M. and Milne, G.R. (1998), Cases in Sport Marketing, Jones & Bartlett Publishers,

London.

Meek, A. (1997), `̀ An estimate of the size and supported economic activity of the sports

industry in the United States'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 6, December, pp. 15-22.

Milne, G.R. and McDonald, M.A. (1998), Sport Marketing: Managing the Exchange Process,

Jones & Bartlett Publishers, London.

Mullin, B. (1983), Sport Marketing, Promotion, and Public Relations, National Sport

Management, Amherst, MA.

Mullin, B.J., Hardy, S. and Sutton, W.A. (1993), Sport Marketing, Human Kinetic, Champaign,

IL.

Pitts, B.G. and Stotlar, D. (1996), Fundamentals of Sport Marketing, Fitness Information

Technology, Morgantown, WV.

Schaaf, P. (1995), Sports Marketing: It's Not Just a Game Anymore, Prometheus Books,

Amherst, NY.

Schlossberg, H. (1990), `̀ Experts fear consumer backlash'', Marketing News, 2 April.

Schlossberg, H. (1991), `̀ Sports marketing'', Journal of Promotion Management, Vol. 1 No. 1,

pp. 119-22.

Schlossberg, H. (1996), Sports Marketing: Global Marketing Perspectives, Human Kinetics,

Cambridge, MA.

Scully, G.W. (1995), The Market Structure of Sports, University of Chicago Press, Chicago,

IL.


Shaad, S., Turner, R., Miller, L. and Burch, D. (1998), Sales Success in Sports Marketing:

A Philosophical and Practical Approach, Events Unlimited, Newfoundland, NJ.

Shank, M.D. (1999), Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle

River, NJ.

Shilbury, D., Quick, S. and Westerbeek, H. (1999), Strategic Sport Marketing, Paul &

Company Publishers Consortium, New York, NY.

Stotlar, D.K. (1989), Successful Sport Marketing and Sponsorship Plans, Wm C. Brown,

Dubuque, IA.

Stotlar, D.K. (1993), Successful Sport Marketing, WCB Brown and Benchmark Publishers,

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Ukman, L. (1984), `̀ The special event: finding its niche'', Public Relations Journal, June,

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Wascovich, T.R. (1993), The Sports Marketing Guide, Points Ahead, Incorporated, Cleveland,

OH.

Further reading

Abratt, R. and Grobler, P.S. (1989), `̀ The evaluation of sports sponsorships'', International

Journal of Advertising, Vol. 8, pp. 351-62.

Abratt, R., Clayton, B.C. and Pitts, L.F. (1987), `̀ Corporate objectives in sports sponsorship'',

International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 6, pp. 299-311.

Aitken, P.P., Leather, D.S. and Squair, S.I. (1986), `̀ Children's awareness of cigarette brand

sponsorship of sports and games in the UK'', Health Education Research, Vol. 1 No. 3,

pp. 203-11.

Amis, J., Pant, N. and Slack, T. (1997), `̀ Achieving a sustainable competitive advantage:

a resource-based view of sport sponsorship'', Journal of Sport Management, Vol. 11,

pp. 80-96.

Anderson, D.F. (1979), `̀ Sport spectatorship: appropriation of an identity or appraisal of self'',

Review of Sport & Leisure, Vol. 4, pp. 115-27.

Antonelli, D. (1994), `̀ Marketing intercollegiate women's basketball'', Sport Marketing

Quarterly, Vol. 3, June, pp. 29-34.

Arani, A.A. (1992), `̀ How corporations can take advantage of Olympic marketing

opportunities'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 1, March, pp. 7-12.

Arani, A.A. (1993), `̀ Atlanta 1996: a status report'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 2, June,

pp. 17-26.

Armstrong, C. (1988), `̀ Sports sponsorship: a case-study approach to measuring its

effectiveness'', European Research (The Netherlands), Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 97-103.

Armstrong, K.L. (1998), `̀ Ten strategies to employ when marketing sport to black

consumers'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 7, September, pp. 11-18.

Arthur, D., Scott, D. and Woods, T. (1997), `̀ A conceptual model of the corporate decision-

making process of sport sponsorship acquisition'', Journal of Sport Management, Vol. 11,

July, pp. 223-33.

Arthur, D., Scott, D., Woods, T. and Booker, R. (1998), `̀ Sport sponsorship should . . . a

process model for the effective implementation and management of sport sponsorship

programmes'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 7, December, pp. 49-60.

Ashley, F.B. III and Song, C. (1995), `̀ Marketing the auto race: what we can learn from the

spectators'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 4, September, pp. 27-32.

Asimakopoulos, M.K. (1993), `̀ Sport marketing and sponsoring: the experience of Greece'',

Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 2, September, pp. 44-8.

Baghdikian, E. (1996), `̀ Building the sports organization's merchandise licensing program: the

appropriateness, significance, and considerations'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5,

March, pp. 35-42.

Beasley, F.M., Shank, M.D. and Ball, R.W. (1998), `̀ Do Super Bowl viewers watch the

commercials?'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 7, September, pp. 33-40.

Berrett, T. (1993), `̀ The sponsorship of amateur sport ± government, national sport

organization, and corporate perspective'', Society and Leisure, Vol. 16, pp. 323-46.

Boone, L.E., Kochunny, C.M. and Wilkins, D. (1995), `̀ Applying the brand equity concept to

Major League Baseball'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 4, September, pp. 33-42.


Branch, D.D. Jr (1993), `̀ Sport Marketing Quarterly subscriber survey'', Sport Marketing

Quarterly, Vol. 2, December, pp. 37-46.

Branch, D.D. Jr (1995), `̀ Tapping new markets: women as sport consumers'', Sport Marketing


Branch, D. Jr and Crow, R.B. (1994), `̀ Intercollegiate athletics: back to the future?'', Sport

Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 3, September, pp. 13-26.

Branvold, S.E. and Bowers, R. (1992), `̀ The use of promotions in college baseball'', Sport

Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 1, March, pp. 19-24.

Branvold, S.E., Pan, D.W. and Gaber, T.E. (1997), `̀ Effects of winning percentage and market

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December, pp. 35-42.

Brenner, S. (1997), `̀ Pursuing relationships in professional sport'', Sport Marketing Quarterly,

Vol. 6, June, pp. 33-4.

Brindley, C. and Thorogood, R. (1998), `̀ Attracting the under 30's to UK horse racing events'',

Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 7, December, pp. 25-34.

Brooks, C.M. (1998), `̀ Sport/exercise identity theory and participation marketing: theory

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Brooks, C. and Harris, K. (1998), `̀ Celebrity athlete endorsement: an overview of the key

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Brown, S.C., Sutton, W.A. and Duff, G. (1993), `̀ The event pyramid: an effective management

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Bryant, J.E. (1993), `̀ Sport management and the interdependence with sport sociology: sport as

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Burnett, J., Menon, A. and Smart, D.T. (1993), `̀ Sports marketing: a new ballgame with new

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Burton, R. (1996), `̀ A case study on sports property servicing excellence: National Football

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Burton, R. and Cornilles, R.Y. (1998), `̀ Emerging theory in team sport sales: selling tickets in

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Candelaria, M. (1994), `̀ Innovative turnstile adsleeves turns lemons into lemonade'', Sport

Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 3, December, pp. 27-30.

Chang, M. and Johnson, L.W. (1995), `̀ Segmenting the Triathlon Association membership

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Copeland, R., Frisby, W. and McCarville, R. (1996), `̀ Understanding the sport sponsorship

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Cornwell, T.B. (1995), `̀ Sponsorship-linked marketing development'', Sport Marketing


Cornwell, T.B. and Maignan, I. (1998), `̀ An international review of sponsorship research'',

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Crossett, T. (1995), `̀ Toward an understanding of on-site fan-athlete relations: a case study of

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Delpy, L. and Bosetti, H.A. (1998), `̀ Sport management and marketing via the World Wide

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Dinkel, M. and Kratz, S. (1998), `̀ The US influence on German sports leagues'', Sport


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Dixon, D.R. (1993), `̀ How an event on foreign soil is setting the trend for the future of big

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Easton, S. and Mackie, P. (1998), `̀ When football came home: a case study of the sponsorship

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Ensor, R.J. (1987), `̀ The corporate view of sports sponsorship'', Athletic Business, September,

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Evans, A., James, T. and Tomes, A. (1996), `̀ Marketing in UK sport associations'', The

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Faircloth, J.B., Richard, M.D. and Richard, V. (1995), `̀ An analysis of choice intentions of

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Ferrand, A. and Pages, M. (1996), `̀ Image sponsoring: a methodology to match event and

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Fielding, L.W. and Miller, L.K. (1996), `̀ Advertising and the development of consumer

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Vol. 5, December, pp. 37-50.

Fielding L.W. and Miller, L.K. (1998), `̀ The foreign invasion of the American sporting goods

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Fullerton, S. and Dodge, R. (1995), `̀ An application of market segmentation in a sports

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September, pp. 43-7.

Furlong, R. (1994), `̀ Tobacco advertising legislation and the sponsorship of sport'', Australian

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Furst, A.S. (1994), `̀ A case study of how one company uses sports sponsorship to reach a

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Gantz, W. and Wenner, L.A. (1995), `̀ Fanship and the televised sports viewing experience'',

Sociology of Sport Journal, Vol. 12, pp. 56-74.

Gauthier, R. and Hansen, H. (1993), `̀ Female spectators: marketing implications for

professional golf events'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 2, December, pp. 21-8.

Getz, D. (1998), `̀ Trends, strategies, and issues in sport-event tourism'', Sport Marketing


Gladden, J.M. and Milne, G.R. (1999), `̀ Examining the importance of brand equity in

professional sports'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 8, March, pp. 21-30.

Gladden, J.M., Milne, G.R. and Sutton, W.A. (1998), `̀ A conceptual framework for assessing

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Graham, P.J. (1992), `̀ A study of the demographic and economic characteristics of spectators

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March, pp. 25-30.

Graham, P.J. (1994), `̀ Characteristics of spectators attending professional tennis tournaments

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Graham, P.J. and Lelchitski, B. (1993), `̀ Obstacles and opportunities for the marketing and

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Grant, E.S. and Bashaw, R.E. (1995), `̀ A collegiate football program confronts a sport

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Gray, D.P. (1996), `̀ Sponsorship on campus'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5, June,

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Green, B.C. (1997), `̀ Action research in youth soccer: assessing the acceptability of an

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Green, B.C. (1998), `̀ Sport volunteers: research agenda and application'', Sport Marketing


Greenstein, T.N. and Marcum, J.P. (1981), `̀ Factors affecting attendance of Major League

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Greenwald, L. and Fernandez-Balboa, J. (1998), `̀ Trends in the sport marketing industry and

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Hansen, H. and Gauthier, R. (1989), `̀ Factors affecting attendance at professional sports

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Hansen, H. and Gauthier, R. (1992), `̀ Marketing objectives of professional and university sport

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Hansen, H. and Gauthier, R. (1993), `̀ Spectators' views of LPGA golf events'', Sport


Hansen, H. and Gauthier, R. (1994), `̀ The professional golf product: spectators' view'', Sport


Higgins, S.H. and Martin, J.H. (1996), `̀ Managing sport innovations: a diffusion theory

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Hilliard, D.C. (1984), `̀ Media images of male and female professional athletes: an interpretive

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Hofacre, S. (1994), `̀ The women's audience in professional indoor soccer'', Sport Marketing


Hofacre, S. and Burman, T.K. (1992), `̀ Demographic changes in the US into the twenty-first

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Huggins, M.H. (1992), `̀ Marketing research: a must for every sport organization'', Sport


Irwin, R., Asimakopoulos, M.K. and Sutton, W.A. (1994), `̀ A model for screening sport

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Irwin, R. and Graham, P.J. (1993), `̀ Sport marketing opportunities in the Commonwealth of

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Irwin, R.L. and Stotlar, D.K. (1993), `̀ Operational protocol analysis of sport and collegiate

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Irwin, R.L. and Sutton, W.A. (1994), `̀ Sport sponsorship objectives: an analysis of their

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Ishikawa, S., Stotlar, D.K. and Walker, M.L. (1996), `̀ Olympic Games marketing in Japan'',


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Kahle, L.R., Kambara, K.M. and Rose, G.M. (1996), `̀ A functional model of fan attendance

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Kahler, J. (1995), `̀ Opening a new arena: a window of opportunity'', Sport Marketing


Kates, S.M. (1998), `̀ Consumer research and sport marketing: starting the conversation

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Kerstetter, D.L. and Kovich, G.M. (1997), `̀ An involvement profile of Division I women's

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Kinney, L. and McDaniel, S.R. (1996), `̀ Strategic implications of attitude-toward-the-ad in

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Kochman, L.M. (1995), `̀ Major League Baseball: what really puts fans in the stands?'', Sport


Komoroski, L. and Biemond, H. (1996), `̀ Sponsor accountability: designing and utilizing an

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Kuzma, J.R., Shanklin, W.L. and McCally, J.F. Jr (1993), `̀ Number one principle for sporting

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Lapin, J. (1987), `̀ How to win with sports'', Public Relations Journal, Vol. 43, pp. 31-2.

Lascu, D.N., Giese, T.D. Toolan, C., Guehring, B. and Mercer, J. (1995), `̀ Sport involvement:

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Ledwith, F. (1984), `̀ Does tobacco sports sponsorship on television act as advertising to

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Lehnus, D.L. and Miller, G.A. (1996), `̀ The status of athletic marketing in Division 1A

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Letscher, M.G. (1997), `̀ Sports fads and trends'', American Demographics, Vol. 19, June,

pp. 53-6.

Li, M. (1994), `̀ A tripartite approach to sports facility financing'', Sport Marketing Quarterly,


Lough, N.L. (1996), `̀ Factors affecting corporate sponsorship of women's sport'', Sport

Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5, June, pp. 11-20.

Lapin, J. (1987), `̀ How to win with sports'', Public Relations Journal, Vol. 43, pp. 31-2.

Ludwig, S. and Karabetsos, J.D. (1999), `̀ Objectives and evaluation processes utilized

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pp. 11-20.

McCarthy, L.M. (1998), `̀ Marketing sport to Hispanic consumers'', Sport Marketing


McCarthy, L.M. and Irwin, R. (1998), `̀ Permanent seat licenses (PSLs) as an emerging source

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McCarville, R.E. and Copeland, B. (1994), `̀ Understanding sport sponsorship through

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McCarville, R.E., Flood, C.M. and Froats, T.A. (1998), `̀ The effectiveness of selected

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McDonald, M.A. and Milne, G.R. (1997), `̀ A conceptual framework for evaluating marketing

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pp. 27-32.

McDonald, M.A., Sutton, W.A. and Milne, G.R. (1995), `̀ TEAMQUAL: measuring service

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Marshall, D.W. and Cook, G. (1992), `̀ The corporate (sports) sponsor'', International Journal

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Martin, J.H. (1994), `̀ Using a perceptual map of the consumer's sport schema to help make

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Martin, J.H. (1996), `̀ Is the athlete's sport important when picking an athlete to endorse a

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Mawson, L.M. and Coan, E.E. (1994), `̀ Marketing techniques used by NBA franchises to

promote home game attendance'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 3, March, pp. 37-46.

Mazzeo, M.E., Cuneen, J. and Claussen, C.L. (1997), `̀ Determining costs and forecasting

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Mazzeo, M.E., Cuneen, J. and Claussen, C.L. (1997), `̀ Retail licensing procedures used by

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Meenaghan, T. (1998), `̀ Current developments and future directions in sponsorship'',

International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 17, pp. 3-28.

Miller, L.K. and Fielding, L.W. (1997), `̀ Ticket distribution agencies and professional sport

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Miller, L.K., Fielding, L.W. and Pitts, B.G. (1993), `̀ The rise of the Louisville Slugger in the

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Milne, G.R., McDonald, M.A. and Sutton, W.A. (1996), `̀ A niche-based evaluation of sport

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Milne, G.R., Sutton, W.A. and McDonald, M.A. (1996), `̀ Niche analysis: a strategic

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pp. 15-22.

Morris, D. and Irwin, R.L. (1996), `̀ The data-driven approach to sponsorship acquisition'',

Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5, June, pp. 7-10.

Motsinger, S.E., Turner, E.T. and Evans, J.D. (1997), `̀ A comparison of food and beverage

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Myers, G. (1996), `̀ Selling a man's world to women'', American Demographics, Vol. 18,

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Nauright, J. and Phillips, M.G. (1997), `̀ Us and them: Australian professional sport and

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Nicholls, J.A.F., Laskey, S.R. and Laskey, H.A. (1994), `̀ Sports event sponsorship for brand

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Nowell, M. (1995), `̀ The women's golf market: an overview of spectators and participants'',

Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 4, June, pp. 39-41.

O'Hara, B.S. and Weese,W.J. (1994), `̀ Advertising theory applied to the intramural/recreation

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Pate, D.W., Moffitt, E. and Fugett, D. (1993), `̀ Current trends in use, design/construction, and

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Payne, M. (1998), `̀ Ambush marketing: the undeserved advantage'', Psychology & Marketing,

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Pitts, B.G. (1998), `̀ An analysis of sponsorship recall during Gay Games IV'', Sport Marketing


Pitts, B.G., Fielding, L.W. and Miller, L.K. (1994), `̀ Industry segmentation theory and the

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Polansky, M., Sandler, D., Casey, M., Murphy, S., Portelli, K. and Van Vlezen, Y. (1995),

`̀ Small business and sport sponsorship: the Australian experience'', Journal of Promotion

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Roam, A. (1997), `̀ The creation of consumer bonds within Reebok running'', Sport Marketing


Rysell, C. and Stamminger, E. (1988), `̀ Sponsoring world-class tennis players'', European

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Shani, D. and Sandler, D.M. (1998), `̀ Ambush marketing: is confusion to blame for the

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Shani, D., Sandler, D.M. and Long, M. (1992), `̀ Courting women using sports marketing:

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Shanklin, W.L. and Kuzma, J.R. (1992), `̀ Buying that sporting image'', Marketing

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Shannon, J.R. and Turley, L.W. (1997), `̀ The influence of in-area promotions on purchase

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Shelton, C. (1991), `̀ Funding strategies for women's sports'', Journal of Physical Education,

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Shilbury, D. (1994), `̀ Delivering quality service in professional sport'', Sport Marketing


Shilbury, D. (1994), `̀ Ticketing strategy in the Australian National Basketball League'', Sport


Shilbury, D. and Berriman, M. (1996), `̀ Sponsorship awareness: a study of St Kilda Football

Club supporters'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5, March, pp. 27-34.

Shoham, A. and Kahle, L.R. (1996), `̀ Spectators, viewers, readers: communication and

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Shoham, A., Rose, G.M., Kropp, F. and Kahle, L.R. (1997), `̀ Generation X women: a sports

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Smith, R.L., Pent, A.K. and Pitts, B.G. (1999), `̀ The World Wide Web as an advertising

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Smith, S.M. (1995), `̀ Meltdown in marketing professional ice hockey: a survey exploring

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Smolianov, P. and Shilbury, D. (1996), `̀ An investigation of sport marketing competencies'',


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Staurowsky, E.J. (1996), `̀ Women and athletic fundraising: exploring the connection between

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Staurowsky, E.J., Parkhouse, B. and Sachs, M. (1996), `̀ Developing an instrument to measure

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Stevens, R.E., Louden, D.L. and McConkey, C.W. (1995), `̀ Sport marketing among colleges

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Stier, W.F. (1992), `̀ Understanding fundraising in sport: the conceptual spproach'', Sport


Stipp, H. (1998), `̀ The impact of Olympic sponsorship on corporate image'', International

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Stotlar, D.K. (1996), `̀ On teaching about sponsorship'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5,

June, pp. 41-2.

Stotlar, D.K. (1993), `̀ Sponsorship and the Olympic Winter Games'', Sport Marketing



Stotlar, D.K. (1992), `̀ Sport sponsorship and tobacco: implications and impact of Federal

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March, pp. 13-18.

Stotlar, D.K. (1995), `̀ Sports grill demographics and marketing implications'', Sport


Stotlar, D.K. and Johnson, D.A. (1989), `̀ Assessing the impact and effectiveness of stadium

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Vol. 3, pp. 90-102.

Stotlar, D.K., Veltri, F.R. and Viswanathan, R. (1998), `̀ Recognition of athlete-endorsed sports

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Sutton, W.A., Irwin, R.L. and Gladden, J.M. (1998), `̀ Tools of the trade: practical research

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Sutton, W.A., McDonald, M.A., Milne, G.R. and Cimperman, J. (1997), `̀ Creating and

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Sutton, W.A. and Watlington, R. (1994), `̀ Communicating with women in the 1990s: the role

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&


Executive summary and implications for managers andexecutives

Sports marketing ± more than a matter of life or death?

Football isn't a matter of life and death. It's more important than that (Bill Shankly, former

manager, Liverpool FC).

Pick up a newspaper ± any newspaper ± and count the pages given over toreporting sport and discussing sport. I'll bet you there's more coverage ofsport in your paper than any other subject ± politics, the arts, business andtravel all get less attention. Sport is the stock-in-trade of conversationsbetween friends and a source of passion and enmity. Yet sport is frivolous ±mere entertainment. Compared to war, poverty, famine and disease sport isan irrelevance. So why did Bill Shankly say it was more important than lifeor death?

Is there something about sport ± and team sports more than individual sports± that reflects something fundamental about our culture? Does sport containan element of our primeval selves placed in a modern setting? Does the RedSox versus the Yankees represent the vestiges of tribal warfare or is that tooextreme a contention?

For the marketer sport is not merely a business or an industry. Sure, sport isboth these things but it is more still. The attention given to sport, its place inour lives and its contribution to language and culture makes it a majorinfluence on attitudes, behaviour and community. The marketer who ignoressport as an influence on the consumer ± and especially the male consumer ±makes a major mistake.

Although much of this special issue on sports marketing focuses on thepractical issues of sponsorship, promoting sports teams and the relationshipbetween sport and advertising, we can also acknowledge that research inmarketing and consumer behaviour has tended to ignore sport. We can hopethat, by focusing on some of the issues in sport marketing, this imbalance ispartly redressed.

Shannon, in reviewing publication of work in sports marketing makes thetelling point that it is academics from other fields ± sociology, physicaleducation, leisure and tourism ± who are making the running with marketerstrailing along way behind. Shannon warns us that this situation leads to`̀ . . .a focus in sports marketing research which is outside of the marketingdiscipline.'' Moreover, says Shannon, marketers, by ignoring sport, run therisk of seeing its marketing implications and issues being `̀ given away'' toother disciplines.

If Shannon's accusation of marketing's failure and my contention of sport'simportance are correct then marketers have to change their attitudes. Thestudy of sport from a marketing and consumer behaviour perspective must bepart of the mainstream rather than something confined to specialistpublications. To understand why this is the case we must start with theprimary element of sports marketing ± the fan.

If sport is important to our customer then sport must be important to usNick Hornby's book, High Fidelity (and a subsequent film of the book) tellsthe story of a dedicated fan (based on Hornby himself) of Arsenal, a topLondon soccer team. There's a point in the story when the hero ± a highschool English teacher ± is asked what he's thinking about by his girlfriend.He answers by saying `̀ D.H. Lawrence'' because, as he says later ± `̀ I can'tsay Arsenal every time you ask''.

JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999, pp. 535-541, # MCB UNIVERSITY PRESS, 0887-6045 535

This summary has beenprovided to allow managersand executives a rapidappreciation of the contentof this issue. Those with aparticular interest in thetopics covered may thenread these articles in toto totake advantage of the morecomprehensive descriptionof the research undertakenand their results to get thefull benefit of the materialpresent

Let me give you a further tale to emphasise this message of sport's

importance. It is said that Clement Attlee, Britain's post-war prime minister,

agreed to a news wire being put in because it meant he could get the cricket

scores more quickly. Forget great world events, it's the sports results that

matter. News could wait but the cricket scores couldn't.

Some of us may laugh at these stories. We may observe how sad it is that

grown men seem to think sport so important. But, for most of us, some of the

time, these tales strike home. We may not be quite so fanatical but we do

watch the sports results and tune in to the great sporting events. We are all ±

or nearly all ± sports fans of some sort.

Given that many people are sports fans we need to have some deeper

appreciation of what that means in practice. Hunt, Bristol and Bashaw

present us with a conceptual basis for understanding sports fans and with

some thoughts on what that means for sports marketing. We read how sports

fans can vary from the temporary to the dysfunctional. From people who like

sport through to people whose entire life is dominated by support for a sport,

sports team or individual sportsman.

Hunt et al. make some important observations that illustrate the paucity of

past research into sports fans. First, team performance is not the primary

determinant of fan behaviour. Manchester City, a UK soccer team, could still

pack in 20,000-30,000 supporters every other Saturday despite being in the

third division and playing against sides with average home crowds of just a

few thousand. Next, Hunt et al. distinguish between different targets for

support ± the sport itself, a particular league, one specific team or even an

individual player. For example, I may be a tennis fan but not be attached to

one tournament or one player. I just want to watch good tennis regardless of

who wins. Another person may be a dedicated fan of Andre Agassi. This

person may attend tournaments to support Agassi, collect information about

him and will suffer a sense of loss in the event of Agassi's defeat. The effect

of the sport on my behaviour will differ from the effect it has on another

person with a different type of support. From this discussion and an

examination of previous work looking at sports fans, Hunt et al. develop a

classification of fans:

. Temporary fans ± support is not central to the fan's self-perception and is

limited by time and place. Many millions watched the England versus

Argentina game in the quarterfinal of the 1998 World Cup in France.

People who would deny any interest in soccer watched that game and,

for the period of the game itself, were captivated and engrossed. They

were fans. A week later that status had gone ± for a few an interest in

soccer may have been sparked but most went back to their previous state

of disinterest

. Local fans ± support is directed to the local team or a local individual. In

1981 Hull met Hull Kingston Rovers in the Rugby League Challenge Cup

Final. The city shut down ± everybody, young and old watched the match

and 50,000 plus made the journey to Wembley to witness the game live.

These were local fans supporting their local teams on Hull's most

memorable sporting occasion. Sport has the power to unite a place, to

bring people together in sharing a local success.

. Devoted fans ± consistent and loyal support for a team, league or

individual. Sky TV ran a series of advertisements promoting the 1999/

2000 English soccer season. These advertisements didn't feature anyone

playing soccer ± no goals, no stars. Instead the ads, in grainy, black and


white film, focused on the fans. On why football is important. On the

reasons why people choose to support a particular team. These are the

devoted fans. Support for the team or individual becomes an important

part of the fan's life. The hero of High Fidelity had measured out his life

in seasons where events on the field served as reference points for the

rest of life's experience. He was a devoted fan.

. Fanatical fans ± support verging on the obsessive with the team or person

becoming more important that almost any thing else. The fanatical fan is

described by Hunt et al. as engaging `̀ . . . in behaviour that is beyond the

normal devoted fan, yet. . .accepted by significant others. . .because it is

supportive of the target ± sport, team or player.'' For the devoted fan the

team or individual object of support gets first call on the fan's attention.

These are the fans that postpone their wedding because of a particular

match or name their child after their favourite player. And such devoted

fans are the core audience for the team because, whatever happens, they

will remain fans.

. Dysfunctional fans ± support is the `̀ . . . primary form of self-

identification''. These fans are those whose support exceeds normal

boundaries of behaviour. It's in this group we find the hooligan and the

person whose life is so tied up with supporting their chosen sporting

object that they cannot function normally. Sport doesn't want these fans

because they disrupt the pleasure of others and undermine the overall

attractiveness of the sport.

. Hunt et al.'s classification uses the degree of `̀ loyalty'' to a given sport,

league, team or player as the benchmark for segmentation. Combined

with other factors such as location or demographics such a classification

provides a sensible basis for those promoting sport to get a better

understanding of fans' behaviour. And, as with other markets, we can

see how communications can be used to create more loyal and

committed fans.

Talking to fans ± effective sports promotionGiven Hunt et al.'s classification, sports promoters can begin to create better

strategies for their particular sport, sports team or individual event. The aim

must be to convert the `̀ armchair'' fan into a real fan ± one that will pay to

watch the games, will buy merchandise and benefit the team's sponsors. At

the same time there is the need to attract new fans to the game and to the

team.

There is no simple answer to the question of how to make a particular sport,

league or team attractive to fans. Success is clearly a factor ± and there is

possibly an element of `̀ double jeopardy'' involved. Big, successful sports or

teams have more fans that are more loyal than smaller sports or teams. But,

as the promoters of the National Basketball Association have shown, a sport

can raise its profile and make the shift from a `̀ second division'' attraction

to become ± in basketball's case ± one of America's top three team sport

attractions.

Since we propose starting with the fan in our contemplation of sports

promotion the following are suggestions for raising a sport or team's profile

and developing a larger, more dedicated base of fans.

. Community links and involvement. The starting point for sport

development lies in getting new fans and these come from the place

where the team is based and from ordinary people in ordinary


communities. Working with schools, community groups and local

charities is seen as part of the local team's social commitment. Too few

teams realise that community involvement is a vital aspect of promoting

the game and promoting the team.

. Working with local media. We've already observed how much coverage

is given to sport by newspapers and other media. The local papers, radio

and TV are likely to show more interest in local teams. Use these media

to promote the team ± run supporter campaigns, competitions and get

profiles of players and coaches. Aim for the team to dominate local

sports coverage. Become an icon for the area ± the local team.

. Use the fans to promote the sport or the team. Few businesses have more

loyal customers than sports and sports teams. Hunt et al. show how

devoted fans are an important market for merchandise but we should

also see such fans as advocates. Car stickers, phone-in programmes and

the local paper's letters pages can all be used by these fans to stress the

importance of the sport.

. Get the support of local dignitaries and non-sporting celebrities. The city

mayor or local council, film or TV stars from the area, national

politicians ± all these people can help to make the team more attractive.

There's no doubt that high profile public supporters of soccer in the UK

have helped that sport recover its public image after years where

violence and hooliganism have dominated the headlines. When the

Prime Minister is filmed heading a football with the England team

manager, it's clear the sport is acceptable again.

. Use sponsors to promote the sport or the team. For too long, too many

sports and sports teams have seen corporate sponsors as a source of easy

cash rather than as partners. Coca-Cola sponsored the 1998 World Cup

finals in France. Their advertising captured the spirit of the sport by

proclaiming `̀ Eat Football, Sleep Football, Drink Coca-Cola''. For the

team, association with the sponsor opens up promotional opportunities

not otherwise available.

Kelley, Hoffman and Carter show how important promotion is to a sports

team in their case study of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team. Creating a

loyal fan base from scratch is not easy. The biggest teams have a history and

their fans live that history in their relationship with the club. Barcelona

Football Club has over 100,000 members and a proud 100-year history. The

club plays on its traditions and place in the life of the city to continue its

success. For a new club or, as is the case with the Carolina Hurricanes, a

relocated club with a new name, the challenge is to find ways to use local

loyalties as a way of getting round the lack of history and tradition. And the

lessons from this case study apply equally to those promoting a new or less

well-known sport. Not all sports have the profile of football, soccer or

basketball. For some sports the fans are fewer in number and the media

coverage is less. But those fans are every bit as dedicated to their chosen

sport and the promoters of the sport have the same opportunities to work

with schools, media and sponsors.

Sponsorship and advertising ± exploitation or partnership?Sponsorship is about more than just putting your company name on the

team's shirts or providing free equipment to a particular athlete. And,

because sponsorship raises concerns about the relationship between sport

and commerce, there is a clear ethical dilemma. We need to understand the


extent to which people see sponsorship and advertising as exploiting sportfor gain and we must appreciate that there are some kinds of company thatare frowned upon as commercial sponsors of sport.

Before I discuss the ethical questions raised by McDaniel and Mason in theirexploration of tobacco and alcohol sponsorship of sport, it is worthexamining the extent to which sponsorship has shifted its focus from`̀ exploitation'' to partnership.

In discussing promotion of sports and sports teams the problems withexploitative sponsorship are clear. Sport has a love-hate relationship withthe commercial world ± on the one hand the need for money dominates thethoughts of sports administrators while on the other hand many people whowrite or comment on sport complain about the malign influence of moneyand `̀ professionalism''. Sport needs money ± to pay players, to build modernfacilities and to develop tomorrow's stars. But the money from fans passingthrough the turnstiles isn't sufficient for these financial demands. For mostsports the money comes from the sale of media rights, sponsorship andadvertising. And these commercial influences compromise the independenceof the sport.

As marketers our concern is to get the maximum benefit from sponsorship forour firms or our clients. And that must mean developing an effectivepartnership with the recipients of sponsorship. Nat West Bank, in sponsoringEnglish cricket, took on a major role promoting the grass roots developmentof the sport. The bank didn't just sponsor the sport's major one-daycompetition; it supported schemes to encourage participation by schools andlocal clubs. Despite the continuing problems of English cricket, Nat West'ssponsorship represents a good example of a partnership between sport and acommercial sponsor.

As well as developing effective partnerships with commercial sponsors,sports and sports teams need to consider the ethics of sponsorship by certainbrands and companies. McDaniel and Mason discuss the attitudes of thepublic to tobacco and alcohol sponsorship. This discussion takes placeagainst a background of regulatory concern about such sponsorship.Tobacco sponsorship is already banned in many countries but the removal ofsuch opportunities presents problems for many sports and especially smallersports. Nowhere illustrates this dilemma better than the UK where sportssuch as snooker and motor racing face a considerable struggle to replacetobacco sponsors before a ban on such sponsorship is introduced. FormulaOne motor racing may have negotiated an exemption (under ratherscandalous circumstances) but for many other sports with a lower publicprofile the future is bleak.

McDaniel and Mason explore how the public view using sports events topromote `̀ unhealthy'' products. It comes as no surprise to find that theAmerican audience used in the study makes a distinction betweensponsorship by tobacco brands and by beer brands. The promotion andadvertising of tobacco products has become a concern of regulators despiteconflicting evidence about the effect such bans have on tobaccoconsumption. Moreover ± in the USA especially ± smokers have beenincreasingly marginalised through restrictions and bans.

The challenge for sport is to seek replacement sources of sponsorship tothese `̀ unhealthy'' products since many sports consumers perceiveincongruity in links between sport and alcohol or tobacco. Beer especiallypresents a problem since there is a close connection between beer and malesports spectators. Buying a six pack goes along with watching the big match


and sports bars are a successful and growing phenomenon in US towns andcities.

At the same time, Hunt et al. note that alcohol consumption relates closely tothe dysfunctional sports fan. In the UK bans on alcohol inside the groundsand stadiums have been an important element in the fight againsthooliganism and violence associated with sport. Sports seek to attract youngspectators while persisting with sponsorship from beer brands. The desire toattract supporters conflicts with the need to secure adequate sponsorship.

The pressures to restrict ± voluntarily or through regulation ± the linking of`̀ unhealthy'' products to sport will continue. And sports marketers andadministrators must pay attention to these problems. One way to address thesponsorship problem is through more impactful stadium and sports eventadvertising.

Bringing sports advertising into the mainstreamAdvertising at pitchside, on scoreboards and at sporting events has beenaround for many years. Despite this such advertising is seen a marginal andinsignificant next to more mainstream media and high profile sponsorship.Yet such advertising reaches a very large number of people both at thegames and through the television.

As a source of revenue for sport, advertising comes after sponsorship, TVfights, gate receipts and merchandise sales. Moore, Pickett and Groveexplore the impact of new advertising technologies at sports events byassessing spectator response to videoscreen and rotational signage systems.It is clear from Moore et al.'s research that these new approaches toadvertising in sports stadiums can increase the impact of advertising andresult in positive feelings towards advertisers from sports fans. Indeed aconsistent presence at sports events provides advertisers with considerableimpact and should be considered as an important element in any advertisingstrategy.

The onus for increasing advertising revenue lies with the event and teammarketers. These people need to promote their advertising opportunities asworthy of attention by media planners rather than as tactical opportunities tolocal firms. Research is needed to show the advantages of linking such eventadvertising to other advertising both through the benefits of association withsports and through the additional reach provided.

As with sponsorship, we can anticipate some ethical issues to arise withadvertising for `̀ unhealthy'' products and this restricts some of theopportunities available to sports marketers. However, it is noticeable thatfast moving consumer goods ± the biggest buyers of advertising ± seldom usesports events or stadiums for their advertising.

The lack of consumer goods advertising (excepting soft drinks and alcohol)at sports venues may reflect the prevalent view that women are the purchasedecision makers for most of these products. But sports marketers need toshow that men are also consumers and that many women attend and watchsports events. For some sports the problems are exacerbated because ofgrowing international competition. As Budweiser discovered with the 1998soccer World Cup Finals in France, domestic regulations can undermineworld-wide sponsorship. France bans alcohol advertising at sports eventsmaking Budweiser's sponsorship of the World Cup less effective.

Sports tourism ± watching or doing?For many sports (although not the two biggest team sports in the USA)international competition is the acme of achievement. And travel to overseas


sporting events now represents a growth area for the tourist industry. Theinternational exploits of Manchester United attract tens of thousands ofvisitors to a city not otherwise noted as a tourist destination.

A second type of sports tourism is travel for the purpose of playing sports orenjoying exercise. Planes from the UK to Portugal and Spain are oftenstuffed with men off to play golf in the sunshine. The skiing industry perhapsrepresents the single biggest area of sports tourism with millions of peopleheading for the snows of the Alps, the Rockies or Vermont.

Thwaites provides a categorisation of sports tourism identifying eight typesof such tourism. We can distinguish between `̀ holiday'' sports and sportsactivity by focusing on the importance of the sporting activity to the holiday.A skiing trip is about skiing whereas a holiday in Portugal's Algarve is aboutrest and relaxation but may involve several games of golf or participation inwater sports. Similarly we can separate travel to watch sport and travel toparticipate in sport. And for active competitors in sport travel separates intotraining and competition travel. Thwaites focuses on one form of sportstourism ± the specialist sports camp. In looking at this type of facility,Thwaites discusses how sporting activity affects the expectations andperceptions of the visitors and has an impact on service quality. On top ofproviding basic `̀ hotel'' services, the sports camp needs to provide first classfacilities and support for visiting sports people. Such requirements have asignificant impact on costs and on the type and training of staff.

Sports marketers need to be aware of how their events, teams or playersaffect tourism. Indeed, as I illustrated with the Manchester United example,sport can provide a stimulus to tourism even in places where tourism is not amajor industry. Therefore, sports marketers need to develop links with traveland tourism organisations so that the mutual advantages of such tourism arefully exploited.

Sport is a very big industry ± bigger than most of us realiseWe don't think of sport as a business activity. Indeed, for many sportconsumers, the business aspects of sport are wholly malign. Yet sport in allits forms is ubiquitous and takes up a great deal of consumer time, effort andmoney. Read the following list (it's not exhaustive) and realise just howinfluential sport is in the modern economy: watching your local team at theground or on TV; playing golf or tennis at the local club; swimming,exercising or playing at a sports and leisure complex; taking a skiingholiday; jogging in the park; reading the sports pages or a specialistmagazine; having a drink with mates in the local sports bar; spending a dayfishing or shooting; playing for a pub soccer team on a Sunday morning;cheering on your children at a school sports day; buying a short break totake in Le Mans or the Monte Carlo Grand Prix; shopping in a sports storeor team shop; getting a satellite dish so you can watch your favourite teamor chosen sport. We could go on further. Sport is an important part ofmodern culture providing us with pleasure, passion and excitement.Marketers must pay more attention to sport and should understand thatsuccessful relationships with sport come from partnership not exploitation.At the same time sport must reassess its relationship with commerce in orderto secure the greatest benefit from commercial opportunities.

Bill Shankly was partly right. Sport is important because ordinary consumersconsider it to be so. Sporting success and failure affects communities,influences consumer mood and provides the basis for social interaction. Weare wrong to sideline sports marketing and sporting links. They should be asclose to the heart of marketing as sport is to the hearts of consumers.


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