After marketing began to be used in sports, it turned into one of the most profitable businesses. Sports marketing and management gives an accurate answer to the question of how to make money on it. It is a collection of activities that result in money. If to study the history of any sport, it becomes obvious that earlier none of them brought money. On the contrary, any competitions were costly before. The situation changed after sports marketing became actively used. This turned the sport into a source of money. The profitability of many sports is the best proof that marketing brings money and it is even worthy to consider top marketing undergraduate programs in the field of sports.
The History of Sports Marketing
As a science and practical tool, sports marketing began to be formed by the middle of the 20th century, when the production and consumption of sports goods and services significantly expanded, and competition for customers and sales became acuter. The struggle for the consumer during this period reaches a stage where the producer could only sell his goods through marketing activities. Thus, by the second half of the twentieth century, many manufacturing companies and professional sports organizations clearly recognized the fact that consumers of the enterprise, sport club fans are one of the fundamental components of the successful business, and marketing is necessary for their attraction and retention.
Sports Marketing Main Tasks
- to impress the spectator, the fan, provide him with a dramatic spectacle, provoke him to emotional empathy, make him feel, choose someone's side, interest in the development of events;
- to involve in the sponsor process, to cultivate loyalty, adherence to the club, to create an associative connection between the brand of the professional club and the brand of the manufacturer;
- to create news stories, not only informing the media, but also provoking them to take a certain position, to involve certain media in a dramatic dialogue;
- to extract from the sporting event profit for the sponsor, for the club, and to control the spectator's impressions;
- to interact with various cultural organizations, creating the illusion of "effect of presence."
Sports Marketing Definition
In connection with the relative novelty of the concept of sports marketing as a scientific, educational and applied discipline, there are certain differences in the interpretation of the main categories and definitions. In particular, researchers and practitioners often differentiate between "sports marketing" and "marketing in sports". The essence of the existing disagreements lies in the fact that the definitions of sports marketing and marketing in sports are not a simple permutation of words, but, according to a number of specialists, it is a rather fundamental issue. These are different concepts, and they must be clearly delimited. "Marketing in sports" means the adaptation of already known and worked out marketing tools in other areas. Professionals agree that traditional methods of marketing in the application to the sports sphere have extremely low productivity, so today this direction is not a priority and promising. Sports marketing can be considered as a special area of marketing activities, an independent practical discipline.
With respect to common marketing principles and rules, it has many differences from marketing in other areas. Sports marketing is a continuous search for the possibilities of a comprehensive solution for both direct and indirect problems of sports consumers, companies operating in the sports field, and other individuals and organizations related to sports in a volatile and unpredictable environment that is characteristic of the notion of "sport".
In other words, sports marketing and marketing in sport differ only in the creativity of marketers, their ability to transfer effective technologies from one sphere of activity to another. Since both concepts deal with a person, psychological, behavioral, economic and other constants remain unchanged. How to generate interest, curiosity, emotion, how to create a proper image, environment, communication, prestigious consumption, form a desire to purchase a product are tasks of one plan, regardless of the name of the profile discipline.
Potential Career Industries
Answering a question what does a sports marketer do, it is necessary to say that a sports marketer is a person who helps the club to earn money through advertising contracts and is looking for sponsors. He also attracts a new audience to the stadium, works with fans, develops the brand of the club and increases its commercial potential. As in any other sphere, the success of an advertising campaign in sports marketing is based on the ability to determine the key advantages of a sports product and to explain to the consumer why he needs it. In sports marketing, advertising topics such as health, emotions, fear, sex, and pleasure are used. In their turn, sports marketers should do so that people see the product or service and immediately want to buy them. The ideal option is this: people like an athlete or a well-known person; they want to be like him and buy the product that he/she uses. All this requires specialized knowledge because it is important to understand the specifics of both the sports industry and the economy and mentality. With the development of sports, the demand for education in the field of sports management and marketing is growing.
Now specialized faculties or programs of professional development for sports marketers are in every Sports University or college for sports marketing, as well as in many faculties of management and economics. The cost of training is most often an impressive amount. The main consumers are former sportsmen who could not reach the professional level, as well as those who plan to work in this field or want to raise the level of knowledge, for example, managers, marketing specialists, journalists, PR specialists, economists. But to get knowledge, it is not necessary to go for a diploma: as in other spheres, it is easier to find a place for practice in a particular club or company.