Sports Marketing: How Does it Work?

In 2011, The National Football Foundation reported that over 49,000,000 people attended at least NCAA Football game, and that over 110,000,000 people were tuned in for Super Bowl XLV. Sports captures the attention of millions of fans, die-hard or casual. Due to this, marketing in this business is surely worth it. 

Marketing is simply the business of promoting and selling products and services, including market research and advertising. It is the production of getting your brand out into the public so consumers can see what you are selling. 

Sports Marketing

Sports Marketing uses sports in any way, shape, or form to help sell a product. Sports Marketing can include a commercial during your favorite teams game, or an advertisement on a professional teams' jersey. This isn't only limited for professional sports, and may include NCAA and other college events, minor league events, and world games.    

Because of the variety of platforms sports can be seen on, sports marketing can also take many forms.

Sports programs and organizations will sell space throughout their stadium for advertisements going to the highest bidder. This is a very effective way for companies to get positive recognition from the teams and the fans. Another way is from TV networks selling advertisements during the games. More people will be watching the game at home rather than in person, so this strategy reaches out to a larger audience, but it might not be as effective. 

The biggest advantage for sports marketers is piggybacking on the love the fans feel for their beloved teams or players. If a fan has been a fan for a specific team since birth, then the company that is associated with that team will gain instant credibility from the consumer. The biggest disadvantage for sports marketers is that the industry is so massive, it may be hard to stick out and create an impression. Fans are exposed to so many ads and other forms of sports marketing that it may be hard to stand out at the end of the day. 

Sports marketing is a broad industry. There are many forms and different types of ways for the information to get to the consumer. Stay tuned to find out more ways and strategies to make an impact on the sports marketing world. 

- Jackson

works cited

"Sports Marketing." Marketing-schools.org. N.p., n.d. Web.