Sports Marketing and Branding Free Essay Example

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Sports Marketing and Branding

Athletic Sponsorships

Besides the pros, college athletics revenue is extremely high.

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One of the reasons for this is the bidding for the rights to supply the teams with their uniforms and equipment. One of the sports with the most money involved is football. The teams with the best and “coolest” uniforms get the best players, so teams are always trying to find the next best thing in uniforms. Nike, Adidas, and Under Armor are the biggest players in the uniform game. When the athletic department signs a deal with an outfitter, they receive products and in some cases cash from the producers each year.

For some of the athletic departments the cash and products factor into their yearly budget, “Apparel deals provide an important revenue stream for athletic departments, sometimes representing roughly 5% of an athletic department budget” (Forbes). The deals that programs sign is sometimes upward of 8 million dollars. Right now, the biggest apparel deal in college football belongs to UCLA and Under Armor. UCLA receives 9 million dollars cash along with 2.25 million in products each year from Under Armor to a total of 12.76 million each year in total revenue from Under Armour. All of this money is to help get eyes on the Under Armour brand. Along with outfitting the athletic teams at UCLA, Under Armour also has the right to sell the team apparel and memorabilia. They will receive a part of the revenue along with UCLA when the items are sold, adding to the huge amounts of money both parties are already making.

Branding` for Athletes

The “branding” of athletes and superstars within their own sports is what the powerhouses Adidas, Under Armor, and Nike look for and market towards. If those companies can land a big-time athlete under their company, they have the potential to boost their company above the competition. If that’s signing a big golfer onto Nike or signing a basketball superstar to a long-term deal. These moves and contracts signed by these athletes is what will bring in the “real” money for themselves and for their chosen company. There are multiple aspects that come into play with the branding of an athlete, that person must have the morals and life that the company wants to be reflected onto the brand. Meaning little kids all the way up to adults will see this athlete wearing, competing in, and advertising for the company. This aspect of athlete branding can either damper the company's image with the public or boost it, therefor the rise and fall of its sales or profits. All this can be referred to as sponsorship.

Athlete transgressions have become much more frequent with the heavy use of social media in today's society. A transgression is when an athlete does something on or off the field that negatively hurts the company or stakeholders involved with the athlete. These offenses are much more common off the field than on. Many common examples include drinking and driving, domestic abuse, drug use, and assault. The most widely known examples of these are Michael Vicks's dogfighting, Alex Rodriguez's steroid use, and Tiger Woods's cheating on his wife.

The effects that these actions and decisions take on are directly seen in the profits or sales of the product that are directly associated with the athlete within the brand that they are sponsored by. There are two types of negative publicity coming from these actions, performance-related and value-related. Obviously, performance-related is the negative impact on the money side of the brand and athlete, while the value side of it is the opinion of the public on the brand thinking the company supports and stands by the mistake made by the athlete.

The steps that need to be taken to try and fix the problem is usually, the sponsor will drop the athlete when they are proven guilty or admit to the mishaps. If the sponsor chooses to not totally drop the athlete, they rely on the athlete dominating in their sport. Following the success in the field can go a long way in revamping the image of the sponsor. Making a public appearance and stating an apology publicly is also another step taken to mend the relationship with the public back together. If there are drug or alcohol problems, it is always looked upon to go get help outside of the sport and daily life. The next big step is to align the athlete with a good cause defending the mistake made by them, if the sponsor and/or athlete can donate to an organization that deals within the mistake they made will also help the image of the public eye.

Industry of Sports

Airing rights is what all major broadcasting companies look to acquire. The biggest prime-time tv events, such as Thursday and Monday night football, the Olympics, and many other spotlight events get auctioned off to the bidder with the deepest pocketbooks. The annual rights for these contracts exceed 20 billion dollars. Making these events staple to any broadcasting companies' arsenal of content. “Fox Sports has agreed to pay more than $3 billion to broadcast the National Football League's 'Thursday Night Football' for the next five seasons” (CNBC). ESPN pays close to 2 billion a year to host Monday night football and NBC pays 200 million to the NHL to air their games.

Smaller networks get in on this billion-dollar industry as well. For example, the Minnesota Timberwolves air most of their games on Fox Sports North. FSN 77 out of the 82 games in the Timberwolves seasons. FSN hands off some of the larger more televised games to the bigger sports networks such as ESPN or TNT but they still get the loyal fans that watch every game. These smaller networks often adjust their contracts with the size of the market the team is in. For example, Fox network’s contract with the Minnesota Twins is worth 29 million annually compared to a larger market team like the Los Angeles Angels who have a worth around 150 million annually. The difference in money really shows how many more viewers the Angels earn compared to the Twins. Both large networks and small networks get a piece of the billion-dollar sports industry.

The money that the sports world generates is insane. The sports market in North America was worth $60.5 billion in 2014. It is expected to reach $73.5 billion by 2019. The highest-paid athletes of 2018 are a list of all-time greats. These athletes acquire a ridiculous amount of money through sponsorships, brand deals, and social media. For example, leading the list of highest-paid athletes is no other than Floyd “Money” Mayweather. You don’t get that name unless you are making a series of income. Floyd is a professional boxer with a record of 49-0. He is considered the greatest to ever put on a pair of gloves. In fact, in his last fight with UFC megastar Connor Mcgregor. Floyd earned a total of 300 million dollars for just over 30 minutes of fighting. He knocked Connor out in the 10th round of the match. That just shows how much money is in the sports industry.

Iconic athletes like Floyd and Connor are paid by certain companies like Nike, or whatever brand it may be to wear their product and logo because they know that millions of people are going to see that. That’s why these athletes get paid so much money. Another reason is advertising during their games. How many commercials do you see during the Superbowl? The answer is a lot, and those companies pay a lot of money to be advertised on a game like the Superbowl.

In fact, it cost about five million dollars for a 30-second ad on a Superbowl commercial. Reasons like these are why athletes get paid so much money. Also, teams sell apparel and items with their team logo on it and know that fans like us will buy them. It may seem unfair that these athletes get paid so much when people who have very important occupations, such as doctors, firefighters, or teachers don’t get paid near as much as professional athletes. So, if you think athletes make too much money, then you should stop watching their games or even buying their products and maybe just pick up a book, or at the very least stop being surprised that pro athletes make so much money because we are the ones helping pay their very high salaries.

In the end, sports are a big moneymaker for not only the athletes, but the brands, teams, and owners as well. Sports marketing is a delicate balance applying technology, posters, banners, brands, scholarships, and sports figures to ultimately increase the net worth of a specific team, brand or sport. When people think of the world of sports, they often imagine the superstars, the dominant dynasties, and the great rivalries and traditions that pull us in and make fans for life. That is the great thing about sports in the end. Sports bring people together and that is why companies profit so much. Strangers can come together and root for their team or their favorite player. That is worth more than any amount of money. Sports have come a long way since the last decade, and sports will continue to grow and thrive throughout the future.