Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PDF Sport Marketing Bernard J Mullin Ebook Full Chapter
PDF Sport Marketing Bernard J Mullin Ebook Full Chapter
Mullin
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/sport-marketing-bernard-j-mullin/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...
https://textbookfull.com/product/strategic-sport-marketing-5th-
edition-karg/
https://textbookfull.com/product/international-sport-marketing-
routledge-research-in-sport-business-and-management-1st-edition-
taylor-francis-group/
https://textbookfull.com/product/muscle-injuries-in-sport-
athletes-clinical-essentials-and-imaging-findings-1st-edition-
bernard-roger/
https://textbookfull.com/product/bioethics-genetics-and-sport-
mike-j-mcnamee/
Arthritis Sourcebook 5th Edition Greg Mullin
https://textbookfull.com/product/arthritis-sourcebook-5th-
edition-greg-mullin/
https://textbookfull.com/product/nutrition-for-sport-and-
exercise-andrew-j-doyle/
https://textbookfull.com/product/nutrition-for-sport-and-
exercise-4th-edition-j-andrew-doyle/
https://textbookfull.com/product/global-marketing-eighth-global-
edition-warren-j-keegan/
https://textbookfull.com/product/electrical-wiring-
residential-19th-edition-ray-c-mullin/
2
Sport Marketing
Fourth Edition
Aspire Group
Human Kinetics
3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sport marketing / Bernard J. Mullin, Stephen Hardy, William A. Sutton. -- Fourth edition.
pages cm
1. Sports--Marketing. I. Hardy, Stephen, 1948- II. Sutton, William Anthony, 1951- III. Title.
GV716.M85 2014
338.4'3796--dc23
2013031098
Copyright © 2014, 2007, 2000, 1993 by Bernard J. Mullin, Stephen Hardy, and William A. Sutton
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
The web addresses cited in this text were current as of December 2013, unless otherwise noted.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper in this book was manufactured using responsible forestry methods.
Human Kinetics
Website: www.HumanKinetics.com
Champaign, IL 61825-5076
800-747-4457
e-mail: humank@hkusa.com
e-mail: info@hkcanada.com
Stanningley
e-mail: hk@hkeurope.com
4
57A Price Avenue
08 8372 0999
e-mail: info@hkaustralia.com
P.O. Box 80
e-mail: info@hknewzealand.com
E5690
5
Check Out the Web Study Guide!
You will notice a reference throughout this version of Sport Marketing, Fourth Edition, to a web study guide.
This resource is available to supplement your e-book.
The web study guide features exclusive video interviews with leaders in the sport industry, offering insight into
how they incorporate marketing strategies into their daily work. Activities built around these clips guide you
in using core concepts from the text to answer questions about the applied situations in the interviews. Web
search activities also provide opportunities for you to compare strategies found on sport organization websites,
YouTube, and other online locations.
1. Visit www.tinyurl.com/BuySportMarketing4EWSG.
2. Click the Add to Cart button and complete the purchase process.
3. After you have successfully completed your purchase, visit the book’s website at
www.HumanKinetics.com/SportMarketing.
4. Click the fourth edition link next to the corresponding fourth edition book cover.
5. Click the Sign In link on the left or top of the page and enter the e-mail address and password that you
used during the purchase process. Once you sign in, your online product will appear in the Ancillary
Items box. Click on the title of the web study guide to access it.
6. Once purchased, a link to your product will permanently appear in the menu on the left. All you need to
do to access your web study guide on subsequent visits is sign in to
www.HumanKinetics.com/SportMarketing and follow the link!
Click the Need Help? button on the book’s website if you need assistance along the way.
6
Guy Maxton Lewis, 1926-2013
We dedicate this book to the memory and legacy of Professor Guy M. Lewis, a true genius and visionary. Guy
was a key founder and builder of undergraduate and graduate programs in sport studies and sport
management at both the University of Massachusetts and the University of South Carolina. Throughout his
long and active career, he constantly searched for ways to integrate the theoretical with the practical, scholars
with practitioners. His professional contributions include the North American Society for Sport History, the
Sport Management Arts and Sciences Conferences at UMass, and the International Sports Business
Conferences at South Carolina. We happily consider ourselves among the many students, colleagues, and
professional associates who have benefitted from his wisdom and counsel. He will be missed. His
contributions will endure.
7
Contents
Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Web Study Guide
Instructor Resources
Acknowledgments
8
Chapter 6: The Sport Product
What Is the Sport Product?
The Sport Product: Its Core and Extensions
Grassroots Ideas
Key Issues in Sport Product Strategy
Wrap-Up
9
Building an Audience
Engaging Fans
Driving Behavior
Social Media Platforms
Avoiding Pitfalls
Leveraging Players and Talent
Wrap-Up
10
Contributors
Leigh Buwen
Turnkey Intelligence
Kathy Connors
Kirsten Corio
NBA
Jaclyn Cranston
Turnkey Intelligence
Evelyn Dwyer
Turnkey Intelligence
Jay Gladden
John Grady
Associate Professor
Haynes Hendrickson
11
President
Turnkey Intelligence
Steve McKelvey, JD
Associate Professor
Nikolay Panchev
Turnkey Intelligence
Steve Seiferheld
Turnkey Intelligence
12
Foreword
As my 30 years as NBA commissioner comes to an end, I can’t help but reminisce about just how far the sport
industry has come during this period. Perhaps nowhere is this growth more evident than in sport marketing.
It is hard to believe that just 30 years ago when the authors of Sport Marketing, Fourth Edition, wrote their
original manuscript, the term sport marketing was rarely used. Now, the term is common and regularly used
to encompass all of the activities in this book—activities that accurately depict the evolution of the sport
industry as I have experienced it during my tenure at the NBA. I have had the good fortune of working with
many of the most talented executives in the industry. As the industry has evolved, so have the leadership and
business capabilities of the teams. Now, most of our teams have more than 100 employees who sell tickets and
sponsorships; provide great customer service; develop marketing, advertising, and branding strategies; activate
platforms for marketing partners and sponsors to drive their businesses; produce TV and radio broadcasts
locally; service the media and place proactive messages; develop and produce the shows; and do meaningful
work in the community through innovative and socially responsible programs. This latest edition continues to
place those activities in a comprehensive framework, showing how the moving parts work together to develop
the sport business locally, nationally, and globally; and it refreshingly illustrates where the use of new
technologies now play their essential part. Particularly insightful are the data collection, aggregation, delivery,
and targeting technologies used in ticket marketing and sales and for increasing fan engagement using content
delivered predominantly via mobile devices.
The principal authors have a combination of academic and professional experience that is extraordinary. Their
education and experience as university professors provide them with unique perspectives. Their research and
analytical skills lead to objectivity and an ability to identify key industry needs. The theoretical framework
they have created into which every marketing strategy is set—the marketing planning process—leads to a
consistency in all branding, sales, and marketing strategies. Better yet, the authors have practical experience in
the field in senior executive capacities covering several segments of the sport industry, which has given them a
wealth of knowledge on best practices and the understanding of what actually works and what doesn’t.
Collectively, they have implemented just about all of the best practices firsthand for leagues, sport conferences,
and the most challenging of all situations, start-up teams and turnarounds.
I have observed the work of the authors for almost fifteen years as they contributed to the way NBA teams
conduct their business. Clearly the most significant contributions were the substantial increase in the sharing
of best practices and real data, increased adoption of direct marketing techniques, focus on the customer
"driveway to driveway" experience, and the basis of teams’ business strategies on the authors’ landmark work—
the attendance frequency escalator. As a result, most NBA teams today have much more sophisticated
database-building and customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. The teams more effectively use
proactive outbound fan relationship management centers or telemarketing sales and intelligently targeted e-
marketing programs that are designed to increase trial, improve retention, and drive attendance. These
successful teams focus on the stepping-stone approach to fan development: Encourage more people
(particularly youth) to play the game, connect players and coaches more favorably with the community, get
13
more fans to watch or listen to broadcasts, progressively encourage fans to get off the couch or off the
computer or mobile device and sample the NBA game in person, and offer a full menu of full- and partial-
season ticket plans designed to move fans up the attendance frequency escalator. The greatest benefit of this
approach has been a significant increase in the lifetime value (LTV) of fans in the respective team markets,
and ultimately, the league itself.
Mixing in their unique intellect and personalities, the authors use their vast academic and practical experience
to make this book a must-read for future generations of sport marketers, managers, and perhaps even
commissioners in their “retirement.”
David J. Stern
14
Preface
There is only one way to describe the massive changes in the sport world since the first edition of Sport
Marketing came out in 1993: “Holy cow!” as the late Harry Caray always put it. In 1993 most people would
have thought that the Internet was a spy ring and that a web page was something in a newsletter of Ducks
Unlimited. When our second edition appeared in 2000, the Internet was old hat, but it was still the most
innovative medium of the age. File sharing was just beginning in 2000. And what of the concept of social
media? In 2000 Internet nerds would have thought that YouTube was a phrase deriding old media. Hardly.
By 2007 YouTube.com had become the hottest site on the Internet. More than a million video clips were
viewed each day, many of them sporting events. In 2014 we can add Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other
social media as both products and experiences that have transformed the way that consumers engage sport.
And just about everything has gone wireless, especially with the explosive growth of smartphones. Marketers
have adapted. Executives throughout the sport world get their industry news and data through online services
such as SportsBusinessDaily.com and SBRnet.com, and trade publications, such as Street & Smith’s
SportsBusiness Journal and Athletic Business, have online versions. But they all employ social media and wireless
technologies to gather and dispense information. We have incorporated many of the latest marketing ideas in
this edition, but new products and services are emerging daily.
Some things haven’t changed much. The competition for the sport and entertainment dollar is as heavy as
ever. Sport marketing is a competitive business involving as much front-office strategy, risk, discipline, and
energy as that shown by the players and coaches who figure so prominently in the public’s imagination. The
fourth edition of Sport Marketing offers abundant examples of the latest issues in the competitive marketplace.
As academics, we have been studying changes in the sport industry for over 40 years, long before Forbes and
Fortune began to take sport seriously with regular coverage. When we started out as graduate students in the
early 1970s, few scholars were willing to accept sport as a serious topic of study. Now leading academics in
marketing, management, law, and economics (to name only a few disciplines) are rushing headlong for book
contracts on sport. We have both followed and helped build this growing body of literature. More important,
each of us has also worked inside the industry, trying to make sense of the ways that fans, players, coaches, the
media, equipment companies, and others interact to make the game tick. We have planned, administered, or
consulted on literally thousands of events across just about every sport considered mainstream and at just
about every level. This book emanates from our own fusion of experience as academics and practitioners. We
have written a survey that we hope is as useful for the classroom student as it is for the athletics director of a
college or high school or the marketer of a professional franchise.
We have tried to balance theoretical models with case studies from the rinks, fields, courts, slopes, gyms,
tracks, and other venues that make up the sport marketplace. If theory is the skeleton that gives structure to
thinking, then case studies put meat on the bones. Although most of our examples are from the United States,
we have added considerable material from sports in other countries and cultures.
15
\INSERT bookstore e-book icon here\
Readers of past editions will find both continuity and change in this book. Chapters 1 through 3 provide an
overview of the sport market and sport marketing as an area of study and as a process. Chapters 4 (by Haynes
Hendrickson, Steve Seiferheld, Nikolay Panchev, Jaclyn Cranston, Leigh Buwen, and Evelyn Dwyer of
Turnkey) and 5 consider conceptual tools and steps of preliminary market research and market segmentation,
which are critical to overcoming a tendency to equate promotions with marketing. Chapters 6 through 13
explore the nuts and bolts of marketing plans—the five Ps of sport marketing: product, price, promotion,
place, and public relations. But these Ps are conceptually robust, so readers will note special chapters or
chapter sections on branding (Jay Gladden), sales and service, engagement and activation, community
relations (Kathy Connors), and social media (Kirsten Corio). The last three chapters offer some important
elements on legal issues (Steve McKelvey and John Grady), control, evaluation, and projecting the future. The
book is filled with sidebars written by other industry and academic leaders. We thank them all for their
contributions.
The world of sport marketing continues to challenge and excite us. We only hope that this edition is as
enjoyable to read as it was to write.
16
Web Study Guide
A new and exciting addition to the fourth edition is the web study guide (WSG), which gives students the
opportunity to listen to sport industry leaders talk about how they incorporate marketing strategies into their
daily work through exclusive video clips produced by David Perricone, who has experience as an academic and
practitioner. Activities are built around these video clips, asking students to do what these industry experts
already do: integrate core concepts and strategies from the textbook into applied situations.
Besides the video-based exercises, the web study guide has web search activities in which students will assess
and compare strategies that can be found on sport organization websites, YouTube, and other online
locations. These two activity types ensure that students will have even more opportunity to engage in the
material found in these pages. Throughout the book, students are directed to the web study guide with cross-
references like this:
College sport marketing has traditionally been centered in the United States. In this WSG
activity, you will learn how a globalized marketplace is changing college sports.
17
Instructor Resources
A full array of instructor resources are available:
Presentation package plus image bank: The presentation package includes more than 400 slides that
cover the key points from the text, including 30 select figures and tables. Instructors can easily add new
slides to the presentation package to suit their needs. The image bank includes all the figures and tables
from the book, separated by chapter. These items can be added to the presentation package, student
handouts, and so on.
Instructor guide: The instructor guide includes a sample syllabus and ideas for semester-long activities
and case studies. Individual chapter-by-chapter files include a chapter summary, chapter objectives,
chapter outline, and classroom ideas, which include the suggestion of case studies from the online
journal Case Studies in Sport Management.
Test package: The test package includes more than 200 questions in true–false, multiple-choice, fill-in-
the-blank, and short-answer formats. These questions are available in multiple formats for a variety of
instructor uses and can be used to create tests and quizzes to measure student understanding.
Chapter quizzes: New to the fourth edition are chapter quizzes. These LMS-compatible, ready-made
quizzes can be used to measure student learning of the most important concepts for each chapter. More
than 150 questions (8 to 10 questions per chapter) are included in true–false, multiple-choice, fill-in-
the-blank, and short-answer formats.
18
Acknowledgments
Our chapter notes acknowledge the sources that we have used. In addition, we offer special acknowledgments
to a number of people. The first is David Stern, one of the premier sport marketing minds in the world. We
thank David for giving two of us the opportunity to work in the NBA as well as for sharing his insights and
providing daily inspiration through his strategic marketing initiatives. We also recognize the contributions
and value of the late Bill Veeck, whose writings and innovations continually remind us of the importance of
the fans and sport consumer behavior. Likewise, we appreciate Mike Veeck because he has done the same and
has forced us to examine our own practices and approaches when we forget about the fans. On the academic
side, we are indebted to Philip Kotler for his numerous contributions to the field of marketing, which have
influenced our thinking in terms of sport marketing. We have dedicated this edition to Dr. Guy Lewis, who
has been instrumental in shaping the academic coursework and program content for many of the
undergraduate and graduate programs in sport management. Matt Levine of SourceUSA, one of the original
and leading sport marketing consultants who helped shape the study of sport consumer behavior, has also
continued to inspire our thinking. We acknowledge the many academics who contribute to Sport Marketing
Quarterly and are members of the Sport Marketing Association (SMA). The research of our academic
colleagues and their tireless preparation of the sport marketers of tomorrow provide constant inspiration and
motivation to us.
We also offer special thanks to our chapter and sidebar contributors: Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, Leigh
Buwen, Ward Bullard, William Carafello, Catherine Carlson, Leigh Castergine, Kathy Connors, Kirsten
Corio, Jaclyn Cranston, Lou DePaoli, Ari de Wilde, Evelyn Dwyer, Jay Gladden, John Grady, Shane
Harmon, Adam Haukap, Chris Heck, Haynes Hendrickson, Jeff Ianello, Dae Hee Kwak, Amber Lilyestrom,
Jordan Maleh, Amy Jo Martin, Steve McKelvey, Brian Norman, Nikolay Panchev, Dave Perricone, Sarah
Sceery, Jared Schoenfeld, Susan Schroeder, Steve Seiferheld, Chad Seifried, Dr. Alan Seymour, Peter
Stringer, Jennifer Tobias, and Eric Woolworth.
Many other people helped us obtain, organize, and develop materials for the book. Mia Ramer, Madison
Southerlin, and Ben Holmes at the Aspire Group did research work to update data on participation,
demographics, and other sidebar facts. University of South Florida graduate students Kristine Carcione, Kayla
Chesanek, Katie Hatch and Amanda Puccinell also contributed their expertise. Abe Madkour and the staff at
SportsBusiness Daily (now an essential resource for anyone trying to make sense of the sport industry) have
been ever gracious with their help and permissions. Abe also contributed his views on the future in our last
chapter. Others who have given constant support and inspiration include Dot Sheehan, Steve Metcalf, and
Marty Scarano of the University of New Hampshire and Roger Godin of the Minnesota Wild. Thanks also to
Kirstin Kay and Tanya Downey at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst for providing us with the picture
of Guy Lewis on the dedication page.
This book could not have been done without the help and dedication of our editors from Human Kinetics—
Myles Schrag and Amanda Ewing. They whipped us, encouraged us, and coddled us as the time and case
19
required. They are outstanding professionals.
In our capacities as sport administrators and consultants, we have worked with hundreds of dedicated
executives, marketers, coaches, salespersons, customer service professionals, public and community relations
personnel, and sports information directors who have inspired us with their energy, dedication, and passion.
As academics, we thank and salute our colleagues and students over the years at the University of
Washington, Robert Morris University, Ohio State University, the University of Massachusetts, the
University of New Hampshire, the University of Central Florida, and the University of South Florida. These
colleagues and students have challenged, stretched, reshaped, and indulged our thinking on all the topics in
this book. We hope that we can convey to our readers their wisdom, their enthusiasm, their wonder for
learning, and their passion for moving the field forward.
20
Chapter 1
The Special Nature of Sport Marketing
© Human Kinetics
21
Objectives
To understand the market forces that create the need for enlightened marketing strategies in the
sport industry
To understand marketing myopia and other obstacles to successful marketing strategy
To recognize the components of the sport product and the sport industry
To recognize the factors that demand a different approach to the marketing of sport
22
Linsanity and the Global Sport Marketplace
Sports Illustrated was clear in its assessment: “Nothing, anywhere, has ever resembled the ascendance of
Jeremy Shu-How Lin, a legend seemingly pulled from the imagination of a goose-fleshed David Stern,
if not Disney’s most hyperbolic global marketing exec.” And this was only five games into Linsanity or
Linmania or . . . Linmarketing. Overlooked out of Palo Alto High School, taunted with racial slurs
while playing at Harvard, undrafted and twice cast off by NBA teams, Lin made the most of his
February 2012 chance with the New York Knicks. He was an early Valentine gift for his team, for
Madison Square Garden, for the NBA, for the world of basketball, and for sports fans everywhere. Oh,
and don’t forget marketers. Nine games into the drama, Lin had led the Knicks to an 8-1 record as he
threw up all-star numbers by averaging 25 points, 9.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game. Both Lin and
the Knicks cooled off a tad by the All-Star break at month’s end. By mid-March they had suffered a
losing streak that mirrored the earlier run of wins. The team changed coaches. And then Lin went down
with a season-ending injury, fueling an equally strong conversation with a long lineage in sport. Would
he last in the league, or would he flame out? In July 2012 the Houston Rockets ensured the story’s
extension when they signed free agent Lin to a three-year, $25.1 million deal.1
Time would tell whether Jeremy Lin endured in the NBA. But action on the court was only half the
story. Linsanity, regardless of how long or short the run, offered a miniseries on the world of sport
marketing in the early 21st century. Jeremy Lin was both a player and a product to be branded,
monetized, and distributed in a global system. He embodied key ingredients of the successful sport
brands of the era.2
Stickiness
Jeremy Lin and his performance held the public’s imagination because they contained all the elements
that Chip and Dan Heath claimed were crucial to the “stickiness” of any product or idea:
Simplicity—Basketball statistics are simple. Unlike the economy or the political landscape,
basketball did not require observers to unravel or parse complicated formulas or polls in
considering Lin’s performance.
Unexpectedness—Few basketball experts predicted that Lin would even play in the NBA, let alone
be a phenomenon.
Concreteness—No conceptual fuzziness was involved in watching a YouTube clip of Lin
highlights.
Credibility—This question would loom large over time, as it does with every player in every sport,
at every level. Jeremy Lin was the real deal in February 2012. Would he hold up?
Emotion—One look at the way Lin played or the way that fans responded in Madison Square
Garden revealed great depth of emotion.
Narrativity—Lin’s background, his struggle to succeed, and his triumph (however brief) were the
23
fodder for endless stories.
International Reach
As with David Beckham in world football and Alex Ovechkin in ice hockey, stories about Jeremy Lin
played up his following across continents, in this case to China. One mid-February report from China
noted that “The clearest sign that Jeremy Lin’s appeal has spanned the Pacific to mainland China may
lie not in the 1.4 million Chinese microblog [Twitter-like] messages mentioning him in recent days, but
in a rare failure to meet demand here in the heart of one of the world’s largest centers of pirated garment
manufacturing.” As one store clerk near Shanghai noted tellingly, “His jerseys have sold out, even
including the counterfeit ones.” A Chinese friend of Lin reported that Lin highlights were streaming out
of mounted video monitors along the Beijing subway. “Everyone thinks it’s crazy in the U.S.,” said
Cheng Ho, “but it’s a much bigger storm here in China.” For two decades, sport properties (players,
teams, leagues, events, venues) had expanded their market horizons from the national to the global.
China was on everyone’s mind, especially in basketball. After all, 65 million Chinese viewers had
watched their national team play a preliminary match against Greece in the 2010 FIBA World
Championships held in Istanbul. That figure far exceeded the 24 million who watched Butler versus
Duke in the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. Jeremy Lin might not solve America’s trade
imbalance with China, but he was surely contributing.3
Lin was a symbol of many things to many people. He was hope to underdogs of any nationality,
especially those of Chinese heritage, and especially on the Chinese mainland, where a Communist party
chief posted a microblog focusing on Jiaxing—the home of Lin’s maternal grandmother. Xi Jinping, vice
president of the People’s Republic, happened to be visiting Barack Obama when Linsanity was at an
apex. He told the Washington Post, “I do watch NBA games on television when I have time.” Only four
months earlier, party leaders had announced a new initiative to promote “spiritual affluence” and
“creativity” so that Chinese culture—with “core socialist values”—might match other Chinese products
on the export market. With the great Yao Ming in retirement, apparently the capitalist NBA’s Jeremy
Lin would do in the short run. But if Chinese Communists wanted to claim him, so did Chinese
Christians, who emphasized his great grandfather’s conversion and hoped that young Jeremy’s success
and faith would help their cause. So did Taiwanese, because Jeremy’s family had fled the mainland. Like
most popular players and teams, Jeremy Lin could symbolize many things to many people.4
Media Squabbles
For many in the New York metro area, Linsanity was the condition caused by an inability to watch the
Knicks on television. At the height of the mania in mid-February, some 2.5 million New York state
Time Warner cable customers could not watch the Knicks because of a squabble over carriage costs
demanded by the MSG network, which televised Knicks games. One Chinatown resident summed up
the frustration. “It doesn’t make sense,” he complained, “for a New Yorker to not be able to watch their
24
home teams.” Welcome to the dollars and cents world of sport product distribution, where teams and
leagues have formed television networks (e.g., Big Ten, Pac 12, University of Texas) that require carriage
on a cable system, preferably on a standard platform that reaches all customers, and returns a hefty per-
customer fee. In other words, every new sports network wants the deal that ESPN has. Negotiations in
New York turned bitter and led to a 48-day blackout. In this case Linsanity won the day. Governor
Andrew Cuomo and public pressure corralled the two firms to reach a deal, in time to watch Lin and the
Knicks cool off. Given the ever-rising rights fees that networks have paid to teams and leagues, however,
we may expect more squabbles and more blackouts for sports fans.5
Just a few decades ago, a meteor like Jeremy Lin would have been measured solely by playing stats and
salary. Although Lin’s numbers were closely followed, the media circulated an equal amount of
information on his value as a commodity. As Sports Illustrated’s Pablo Torre reported, three weeks of
Linsanity had spiked stock in the MSG Corporation (owner of the Knicks) by 11 percent. The Knicks
online store had seen traffic and sales skyrocket by over 4,000 percent. The MSG cable channel had seen
its metro ratings rise 70 percent. An area sporting goods chain had sold over 50,000 items of Lin
merchandise. Over the first week of the run, Lin got more social media buzz than President Barack
Obama. Even after the cool-down, fan interest kept rising. Two late February games drew ratings over
7.3 for the MSG Network, both higher than the regular-season record set in 1995 for a game that
featured Michael Jordan redux. On the other hand, when Lin injured his knee, sales of Lin merchandise
suffered. The Modell’s sporting goods chain was stuck with 40,000 items to sell. His July free-agent
departure to Houston cut T-shirt prices from $20 to $5; replica jerseys sank from $60 to $20, and that
was the day after the Knicks announced that they would not match the Houston offer. 6
In 2012 Jeremy Lin was a product that captured attention, emotion, and sales on an international stage.
Despite sport scandals of all stripes—racism in the English Premier League, endless doping sagas in
cycling, match fixing in cricket, a cover-up of pedophilia at Penn State—fans around the world remained
eager to embrace someone like Jeremy Lin, who combined hard work with inherent talent and made the
most out of his chance, no matter how long it lasted. In many respects, he was simply repeating a
fundamental sports story, only he was living and playing in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Although entrepreneurs have been selling sport for centuries, rational systems of marketing sport are relatively
new. In this chapter, we discuss the need to employ modern marketing principles in the sport domain. We
examine sport industry trends in growth and competition that heighten the need for scientific, professional
approaches to sport marketing. We consider examples of lingering marketing myopia in sport, as well as
significant progress. Next, we consider the components of the sport product and the sport industry. Finally,
we outline the numerous features that in combination make sport marketing unique.
25
Activity 1.1 Recent History of Sport Marketing
In this WSG activity, you will consider how sport marketing has changed in the past 30
years, why sport is unique to marketing compared to traditional products, and how sport
marketing professionals can be more successful in their work.
26
The NBA and Global Marketing Strategy
Jeremy Lin is a marketing parable, but so is the NBA. Over the last three decades, David Stern emerged as
lord of a far-flung, international empire inappropriately called the National Basketball Association. When
Stern became commissioner in 1984 (he had been NBA general counsel since 1978), the NBA was a
struggling enterprise, despite having stars such as Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Teams were playing in
arenas filled to less than two-thirds capacity, NBA merchandise sales were only about $15 million, and
network television coverage was limited—the finals were shown on tape delay. Worse yet, corporate sponsors
were scared off, in large part because of a poor public image resulting from drug scandals and labor strife. As
one NBA executive recalled in a 1991 profile of Stern, “If you had 30 minutes with a prospective sponsor,
your first 20 minutes were spent trying to convince him that the players weren’t all on drugs.”7
Even before his elevation to the commissionership, Stern had laid the foundation for the NBA to become one
of the most successful brand names in sport. He did it by recognizing and using standard tools of marketing.
He knew, among other things, that product recognition required a more expansive television package. In turn,
the broadcast networks demanded a more stable product with a cleaner image. That meant getting owners and
players to agree on several fundamental issues, including revenue sharing, salary caps, and tougher drug
testing. As a Spalding executive concluded, “A good marketing guy knows that he has to get the product right
before marketing it. That’s what Stern did with basketball.”8
If Stern spent the 1980s getting his product right, he focused the next decades on worldwide product
distribution. More than anything, Stern believed in going global. The NBA could create an empire along the
lines of British mercantilism—with fine, finished products moving from North America to distant centers of
exchange like Moscow, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, and Beijing—especially Beijing. Some surveys conducted
in 2003 suggested that among China’s more than 1 billion people, basketball had supplanted soccer in
popularity. In the first four years of the new millennium, the Chinese edition of the NBA’s Time and Space
magazine had boomed to a circulation of over 200,000. NBA games were a regular Sunday feature on China
Central Television. NBA logos adorned the apparel worn by the coolest kids on China’s hoop courts, which
now drew the crowds once reserved for Ping-Pong tables.9
By 2004 the NBA finals were broadcasted to 205 countries in 42 languages. The international traffic on
NBA.com was well over 40 percent of the total; the league had nine foreign-language websites. Yao Ming was
only the tallest of the internationals on NBA rosters; the total number had expanded from 65 in 2002–2003 to
84. The synergy was obvious. For instance, Dirk Nowitzki’s success with the Dallas Mavericks translated into
five television outlets in Germany. And every new foreign star meant more foreign exposure. By October 2004
the NBA had 212 international television deals.10
27
28
David Stern (center, holding trophy) has helped to turn the NBA into a global empire.
Much of the NBA’s success stemmed from what might be called an open-architecture strategy in its global
expansion. That is, the focus of effort was as much to promote basketball as it was to promote the NBA brand
of basketball. The NBA did not initially look to enter markets with total product control. In 1987 David
Stern visited Beijing with the simple notion that Chinese national television, CCTV, might be interested in
showing weekly NBA highlights for a share of advertising revenues. That arrangement slowly grew to include
live games broadcast on provincial and local television stations during Michael Jordan’s heyday. When Yao
Ming joined the NBA in 2002, the stream of distribution and revenues turned into a torrent. Run-of-the-mill
games drew up to 15 million viewers for morning broadcasts and triple that number for a game with Yao.
Stern was hardly alone in his China strategy. In 2009 alone foreign enterprises invested $572 million on 34
sport projects. From 2000 through 20009, total foreign sport investment increased 12-fold. The NBA learned
by hard experience that the Chinese wanted partners to build their own talent and their own league, the CBA,
and Chinese Central Television could be a hard-nosed negotiator. Stern and his associates have suspended
their notions of an NBA China, instead planning for exchanges for Chinese referees and coaches to obtain
advanced training in the United States and for a player’s academy in southern China. Working with China as
a partner fits with David Stern’s long view that what is good for the global game will be good for the NBA.11
Stern’s “soft power” approach to global presence has paid off in many ways, not least of which is a good
working relationship with FIBA, the game’s international governing body. In early 2011 FIBA secretary
general Patrick Baumann, a Swiss, told the international SportsPro Magazine that David Stern ranked among
the three most influential people in the history of basketball. “The NBA is probably the very best at marketing
its league,” he emphasized. Although not conceding on the level of organization or growing the game, he
noted that on “the exploitation of the rights and making this property a valuable property from a commercial
standpoint, I think there is no other league than the NBA.”12
The global economy also boosted prospects for other sport leagues. The National Hockey League and Major
League Baseball, for instance, both attracted top talent from overseas, such as Europeans to the NHL and
29
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
A revolução de setembro surprehendeu-o tanto como a todos;
mas inquietou-o mais, porque desorganisava a ordem da sua vida,
pondo em conflicto diversos aspectos da sua opinião. Decidira-se
pela unica solução adequada ao seu genio—abster-se. Mas se na
rua o amavam, no paço conheciam-no. Elle era o homem unico para
evitar que a monarchia, assaltada, caisse. Talvez esperassem fazer
d’elle um Monk, ou um Saldanha, mas se assim pensavam, illudiam-
se, e illudiram-se. Sá-da-Bandeira foi um Lafayette. Trahir era um
verbo que elle desconhecia por instincto. Se a monarchia julgava
que nem a revolução, nem os principios de 1820 eram
inconciliaveis, elle, que no fundo do seu coração amava o povo, elle
para quem a liberdade era a humanidade, folgava em não ter de
mentir a nenhum dos seus deveres; e faria o possivel por alcançar a
conciliação, corrigindo todas as demasias democraticas que
puzessem em perigo a solidez do throno. Instado, acceitou, porque
lhe disseram ser isso, exactamente isso, o que lealmente se queria;
e com leal serenidade foi sentar-se ao lado do tribuno para o
aconselhar, moderando.
Ora o paço esperava sempre que elle fizesse mais alguma cousa:
não conhecia o fundo do seu estoicismo, e logo que o percebeu
mudou de rumo.
2.—A BELEMZADA