Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective by Matthew D Shank

From the Publisher

KEY BENEFIT: Sports Marketing takes a strategic business perspective, keeping pace with the ever-changing environment of the sports world. Organized around a framework of the strategic marketing process that can be applied to the sports industry, it provides an appreciation for the growing popularity of women's sports and the globalization of sport.

KEY TOPICS: This edition concentrates on the rising costs, escalating salaries, the price of new stadiums and arenas, and sports ethics versus the incredible appetite of consumers for sports. Extensive treatment is given to understanding consumers as spectators and participants; in addition to planning the sports marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place), it examines the execution and evaluation of the planning process.

MARKET: An excellent source of information for directors of sports marketing, directors of sports promotion, athletic directors, directors of community/public relations, directors of ticket sales, directors of sponsorship sales, sports marketing coordinators, sports promotion coordinators, and recreation/borough sports directors.

Booknews

A textbook for a college course. Considers a framework or conceptual model of the strategic marketing process that can be applied to the sports industry, an appreciation for the growing popularity of women's sports and the globalization of sports, current research, levels from big-league professional to informal recreation, and concepts and theories unique to sports marketing. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

Overview

One of the greatest challenges for sports marketers is trying to keep pace with the ever changing, fast-paced environment of the sports world. Since the first edition of this text was published three years ago, numerous changes have taken plate and challenges to sports marketers emerge daily. First, costs have been rising quickly. Athlete salaries continue to escalate. Alex Rodriguez was signed by the Texas Rangers for an unbelievable contract of 10 years and an average of $25.2 million per year, the largest contract in the history of sports. To pay for this, new stadiums and arenas have been built at a rapid pace. Industry experts estimate that more than $7 billion will be spent on new facilities for professional teams before 2006. This will lead to an increase in the number of seats. Each ticketholder will also pay more. Ticket prices continue to increase and drive the common fan out of the sport arena. For instance, the average seat at a NBA game climbed from $22.52 in 1991 to $51.02 in 2001. But this may not be the largest problem in sports now. For the first time in a long time, TV ratings for sports are sinking. NBC's coverage of the 2000 Summer Games drew the lowest ratings for a Summer or Winter Olympics since 1968. The NCAA men's college basketball title game dropped 18 percent from a year ago, which was the previous low since CBS started airing the event in 1982. The All-Star games for the NBA and baseball were the worst-rated ever and Fox Sports' telecasts of the New York Yankees' five-game victory over the cross-city Mets produced the lowest-rated World Series in history. New leagues such as the XFL and the WUSA continue to emerge, and establishedleagues like the CBA have played their last game.

The one constant in this sea of change is the incredible appetite of consumers for sports. We get sports information on the Web, watch sports on network and cable tv, read about sports in the newspaper and sports magazines, talk to friends about sports, purchase sports merchandise, participate in sports, and attend sporting events in record numbers. The sports industry has experienced tremendous growth in the 1990s and is currently estimated to be a $350 billion industry in the United States. Moreover, the sports industry is flourishing around the globe. The expansion of the sports industry has triggered a number of important outcomes: More sports related jobs are being created and more students are interested in careers in the sports industry. As student interest grows, demand for programs in sports administration and classes in sports marketing have also heightened.

In this book, we will discover the complex and diverse nature of sports marketing. Moreover, a framework will be presented to help explain and organize the strategic sports marketing process. Even if you are not a sports enthusiast, you should become excited about the unique application of marketing principles and processes to the sports industry.

Why This Book?

Programs and courses in sports marketing are emerging at universities across the country. Surprisingly, few sports marketing textbooks exist and none is written from a strategic marketing perspective. In the first edition of this book, I sought to fill this void. The second edition represents an effort to improve the first edition and capitalize on its strengths. My goals for the second edition are to provide:

• A framework or conceptual model of the strategic marketing process that can be applied to the sports industry. The contingency framework is presented as a tool for organizing the many elements that influence the strategic sports marketing process and recognizes the unpredictable nature of the sports industry. In addition, the contingency framework allows us to explore complex relationships between the elements of sports marketing.
• An appreciation for the growing popularity of women's sports and the globalization of sport. Women's sport issues and international sport topics are integrated throughout the text, and are also highlighted in each chapter with a "Spotlight on Sports Marketing."
• An examination of current research in the area of sports marketing. The study of sports marketing is still in its infancy and academic research of interest to sports marketers (e.g., sports sponsorships, using athletes as endorsers, and segmenting the sports market) has grown exponentially since the first edition of this text. It is important that students learn how academic research is applied to the "real world" of sports marketing.
• A balanced treatment of all aspects of sports marketing at all levels. This book attempts to capture the diverse and rich nature of sporting marketing by covering the marketing of athletes, teams, leagues, and special events. Although it is tempting to discuss only "major league" sports because of their intense media coverage, the book explores different sports (e.g., cricket and beach softball) and different levels of competition (e.g., collegiate and recreational). Moreover, the book discusses the activities involved in marketing to participants of sports-another area of interest to sports marketers.
• An introduction of the concepts and theories unique to sports marketing and review the basic principles of marketing in the context of sports. Even though many of the terms and core concepts are repetitive, they often take on different meanings in the context of sports marketing. Consider the term sports involvement. Although you probably recognize the term product involvement from your Principles of Marketing and/or Consumer Behavior class, what is sports involvement? Is involvement with sports based on participation or watching sports? Is involvement with sports deeper and more enduring than it is for other products that we consume? How can sports marketers apply sports involvement to develop a strategic marketing plan? As you can see, the core marketing concept of involvement in the context of sports presents a whole new set of interesting questions and a more comprehensive understanding of sports marketing.
• Comprehensive coverage of the functions of sports marketing. While some texts focus on specialized activities in sports marketing, such as sports sponsorship, this book seeks to cover all of the relevant issues in designing an integrated marketing strategy. Extensive treatment is given to understanding consumers as spectators and participants. In addition to planning the sports marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place), we will examine the execution and evaluation of the planning process.

Ground Rules

This text is organized into four distinct but interrelated parts. Each part represents an important component in the strategic sports marketing process.

Part I: Contingency Framework for Strategic Sports Marketing

In Chapter 1, we introduce sports marketing and illustrate the breadth of the field. In addition, we will take a look at the unique nature of sports products and the sports marketing mix. Chapter 2 presents the contingency framework for strategic sports marketing. This chapter also highlights the planning, implementation and control phases of the strategic sports marketing process. In Chapter 3, the impact of the internal and external contingencies on the strategic sports marketing process is examined. Internal contingencies such as the sports organization's mission and organizational culture are considered, as are external contingencies like competition, the economy and technology.

Part II: Planning for Market Selection Decisions

Chapter 4 presents an overview of the tools used to understand sports consumers—both participants and spectators. Each step in the marketing research process is discussed, illustrating how information can be gathered to aid in strategic decision-making. In Chapters 5 and 6, respectively, participants and consumers of sport are studied. Chapter 5 examines the psychological and sociological factors that influence our participation in sport, while Chapter 6 looks at spectator issues such as fan motivation. In addition, we will discuss the relationship between the participant and spectator markets. Chapter 7 explores the market selection decisions of segmentation, targeting, and positioning in the context of sport.

Part III: Planning the Sports Marketing Mix

Chapters 8 to 15 explain the sports marketing mix, the core of the strategic marketing process. Chapters 8 and 9 cover sports product issues such as brand loyalty, licensing, and the new product development process. Chapter 10 introduces the basic promotion concepts, and Chapter 11 gives a detailed description of the promotion mix elements of advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotions. Chapter 12, the final chapter on promotion, is devoted to designing a sports sponsorship program. In Chapter 13, the sports distribution function is introduced. Then the discussion turns to sports retailing, the stadium as place, and sports media as a type of distribution channel. The final chapters of Part III tackle the basic concepts of pricing (Chap. 14) and pricing strategies (Chap. 15).

Part IV Implementation and Controlling the Strategic Sports Marketing Process

While the previous sections have focused on the planning efforts of the strategic marketing process, Part IV focuses on the implementation and control phases of the strategic marketing process. Chapter 16 begins with a discussion of how sports organizations implement their marketing plans. In this chapter, we see how factors such as communication, motivation, and budgeting all play a role in executing the strategic plan. We also examine how sports marketers monitor and evaluate the strategic plans after they have been implemented. Specifically, three forms of control (process, planning assumption, and contingency) are considered.

Pedagogical Advantages of Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective Retained from the First Edition

To help students learn about sports marketing and make this book more enjoyable to read, the following features have been retained from the first edition of Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective.

• Text organized and written around the contingency framework for strategic sports marketing
• Each chapter incorporates global issues in sport and how they affect sports marketing
• Sport marketing hall of fame featuring pioneers in the field integrated throughout the text
• Coverage of women's sports issues in each chapter
• Text incorporates up-to-date research in the field of sport marketing
• Internet exercises at the end of each chapter
• Experiential exercises at the end of each chapter that ask you to apply the basic sports marketing concepts and perform mini-research projects
• Vignettes throughout the text to illustrate core concepts and make the material come to life
• Detailed glossary of sports marketing terms
• Use of ads and photos to illustrate core concepts of sports marketing
• Appendix describing careers in sports marketing
• Appendix presenting Internet addresses of interest to sports marketers
• Video(s) featuring the WNBA and NASCAR

Enhancements to the Second Edition

While I have attempted to retain the strengths of the first edition of Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective, I also hoped to improve the second edition based on the comments of reviewers, faculty who adopted the first edition and most importantly, students who have used the book. New additions include the following features:

• A running case throughout the text on the XFL, a football league owned jointly by the WWF and NBC. This case allows students to take an ownership position in one of the teams in the emerging league. Students are asked to make critical marketing decisions that will affect the health of their franchise including: team mission, organization of the team, understanding the external environment in which the team will operate, examining the fans and potential fans via the marketing research process, how to promote the team, how to secure local sponsorship dollars, how much to charge for ticket prices, and how to respond to poor team or poor player performance. The case is designed to reinforce and apply the core sports marketing concepts in the context of the contingency framework presented in the text. Also, it is hoped that this case will allow students to gain experience in "doing" sports marketing, as opposed to reading about it.
• Up-do-date examples illustrating the core sports marketing concepts in the text. As mentioned previously, the sports industry is rapidly changing and nearly 80 percent of the examples introduced in the first edition are now obsolete. It was my goal to find new, relevant examples to illustrate key points in every chapter of the text. These new examples are meant to keep the book fresh and the student engaged.
• New advertisements and illustrations have been incorporated into each chapter to highlight key sports marketing concepts and make the material more relevant for students. These ads and photos are examples of sports marketing principle that have been put into practice and bring the material in the text "to life."
• The spotlights on women and international sports marketing have also be revised and updated for the second edition to highlight these two key areas growth in the sports industry.
• New screen captures of relevant Web sites to illustrate key concepts. Because the Internet is now playing such a large role in sports marketing, screen captures from various Web sites have been incorporated throughout the text to bring the material to life for the students. In addition, Internet exercises appear at the end of each chapter, and discussions of the Internet as an emerging tool for sports marketer appear throughout.
• New videos and test bank have been added to the second edition to support the text. A multiple choice test bank has, been written by the author to supplement essay questions that were included in the instructor's manual in the first edition. The new videos that also accompany the text focus on the WNBA and NASCAR.
• Since the writing of the fast edition, the number of Web sites devoted to sports bus ness has grown substantially. The second edition includes the latest Web sites interest in sports marketers and the sites that have withstood the test of "Web" time.

Instructional Support

• Instructor's Manual—A complete instructor's manual is available to those adopting the second edition. The manual includes: sample course syllabi; project, presentation and experiential learning exercises; using video in the classroom; chapter objectives, summary and outline with teaching suggestions; and sample essay questions.
• PowerPoint Presentations—A comprehensive set of slides have been created to accompany each chapter to the text. The slides can be easily customized for each individual adopter and used to enhance classroom presentation of materials.
• Test Bank—A multiple choice test bank has been created to meet the demands of instructors. Special care has been taken to insure that the questions are reliable and valid measures of the content presented in the text. The questions will range from defining core concepts to demonstrating the ability to apply and synthesize concepts within the strategic sports marketing framework.
• Video(s)—WNBA and NASCAR

Acknowledgments

I incorrectly assumed that writing the second edition of the text would be a walk in the park. Quite the contrary, the challenges of improving and refining Sports Marketing: A Strategic Perspective were even greater than writing it in the first place. Even though this is a sole authored textbook, the project could never have been completed without the expertise and encouragement of many others. Although there are countless people to thank, I was greatly assisted by the thoughtful reviews that undoubtedly improved the second edition of the text. These reviewers include:

Kathleen Davis, Florida Atlantic University
Robert E. Baker, Ashland University
Susan Logan Nelson, University of North Dakota
Mark McDonald, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Eddie Easley, Wake Forest University

I also wish to thank the reviewers who reviewed and helped shape the first edition. These colleagues include:

Ketra Armstrong, The Ohio State University
Chris Cakebread, Boston University
Joseph Cronin, Florida State University
Pat Gavin, New Mexico State University
Lynn Kahle, University of Oregon
Jerry Lee Goen, Oklahoma Baptist University
Deborah Lester, Kennesaw State University
Ann Mayo, Seton Hall University
David Moore, University of Michigan
Gregory Pickett, Clemson University
Joseph Terrian, Marquette University
Lou Turley, Western Kentucky University

In addition to these formal reviews, I am especially grateful to the informal comments that I received from many of you who adopted the first edition and provided me with feedback. I have tried to incorporate all of your suggestions and comments.

I am very grateful to many of my colleagues at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) who have supported me throughout this process. In addition to my colleagues at NKU, thanks go to all of my students at NKU who have helped fuel my interest in sports marketing. Hopefully, by the time the second edition hits the presses, NKU will be able to offer a major in sports marketing in the College of Business. In particular, thanks go to those students who have used the book in my own sports marketing classes and pointed out their likes and dislikes.

A number of organizations have been very helpful in providing permission to use ads and articles throughout the text. Thanks goes out to all the individuals within these organizations who have made this book more meaningful and readable for students.

One of the goals of this text was to provide real-world examples and applications that would make the material come to life. This effort was certainly enhanced through the assistance of Rod Taylor and Tom Wessling of Coactive Marketing. Special thanks goes to Rod Taylor who spent countless hours editing the first edition of the text and making it much more user-friendly and interesting.

Finally, I am indebted to the Prentice-Hall team for their encouragement and making the second edition a reality. Thanks go to Bruce Kaplan for his endless stream of ideas and enthusiasm. Also, I wish to thank Mary Ellen McCourt for taking this book through the production process. Lastly, thanks go to Leah Johnson for her support, professionalism, and confidence throughout the project.