The Role of Sports Marketing in the Global Marketplace

Introduction

The many facets of the sport industry constitute major business, economic and social activity, with various operations occurring at different levels and often in parallel (Kauppi, Moxham, & Bamford, 2013). The professional sports events industry is becoming increasingly competitive as a result of a worldwide social trend toward people attending sports events as spectators and an ever-increasing range of available spectator events (Hill & Green, 2000; Robinson, 2006). The sports industry is one of the fastest growing business sectors in the world today and its primary source of revenue is derived from fans (DeSarbo & Madrigal, 2011). Sports have emerged as one of the most important and universal social institutions in modern society, having enormous significance globally (Chadwick, 2009). Sport-based entrepreneurship involves diverse factors, such as proactive behavior, innovation and risk (Terra, Batista, Campos, & Almeida, 2013). Consequently, the bridge between entrepreneurial studies and sport may be constructed from the perspective of sport-based entrepreneurship (Terra et al., 2013). International sports marketing occur worldwide as numerous companies and organizations involved in sports focus on the global market as a prelude to achieving economic and financial success (Ratten & Ratten, 2011). The worldwide appeal of sports is due to the sports industry being worth an estimated $141 billion (Klayman, 2009). Moreover, sports as the business offers massive potential for revenue generation on a global scale for all parties involved (Klayman, 2009). Goldman and Johns (2009) stated that the business of sports is a significant economic sector at the individual, organizational and national levels and is an important contributor to economic activity and wealth creation. Sports have become increasingly commercialized and have internationalized over the past decade (Bauer, Sauer, & Schmitt, 2005), which have been a result of entrepreneurial marketing ventures created within sports. Sports companies in global market need to be progressive service sellers in order to compete with other leisure activities (Bauer et al., 2005) and entrepreneurial sports ventures that do this succeed in the competitive marketplace. Entrepreneurial sports ventures involve a sport product (Ratten & Ratten, 2011). A sports product is defined as a good or service or any combination of the two that is designed to provide benefits to a sports spectator participant or sponsor (Shank, 2005). The practical implications of sports products within the sports management and marketing fields are important as sport and the activities are based on uncertainty of outcome (Chadwick, 2005).