sports marketing: an managers and executive examination of
TRANSCRIPT
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
520 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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
JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 521
(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
522 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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
JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 523
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
524 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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.
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Further reading
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528 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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530 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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Stevens, R.E., Louden, D.L. and McConkey, C.W. (1995), `̀ Sport marketing among colleges
and universities'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 4, March, pp. 41-7.
Stier, W.F. (1992), `̀ Understanding fundraising in sport: the conceptual spproach'', Sport
Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 1, March, pp. 41-8.
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Stotlar, D.K. (1996), `̀ On teaching about sponsorship'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5,
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532 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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Townley, S. (1993), `̀ Some legal issues associated with international sports marketing'', Sport
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pp. 17-26.
Turner, E.T., Bounds, J., Hauser, D., Motsinger, S., Ozmore, D. and Smith, J. (1995),
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JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 533
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competitors on the attendance of professional sport games: the case of a minor league
hockey team'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 6, September, pp. 31-40.
Zhang, J.J., Smith, D.W., Pease, D.G. and Mahar, M.T. (1996), `̀ Spectator knowledge of
hockey as a significant predictor of game attendance'', Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 5,
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Zwartynski, M.A. (1995), `̀ Computerized information systems and their role in the sales
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&
534 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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
536 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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
JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 537
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
538 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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
JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999 539
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
540 JOURNAL OF SERVICES MARKETING, VOL. 13 NO. 6 1999
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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