Market your game
It is very difficult to estimate the size of the sports industry. In India, sports industry is estimated to have an opportunity of about 20 billion dollars. It is very clear that there is a lot of money circulating around this industry. When the revenues are so high, marketing component should be competitive enough to grab the opportunities revolving around. Sports Marketing exists for a long time but only now it is discussed in the mainstream. In this article, sports marketing is discussed under various perspectives.
Why should we market a team? Marketing a team indirectly markets the sport too. Irrespective of the sport, format, tournament – marketing a team is very important to boost the revenue and to establish fame. This helps to promote the sport as a whole. In India, cricket was not so popular among the female population. With the advent of IPL, it created new fans for the tournament. It created additional revenue of $1.6 billion for BCCI.
How can it be done? Marketing a sports team is equivalent to marketing any other product. It can be marketed across various channels. We have to be very clear as who are our target customers. In case of IPL teams, target customers are the sports fans who are mostly youngsters. They can be well targeted through mobile marketing. It makes it easier for the teams to connect with fans one on one, thereby creating a meaningful interaction. Sports brands use this medium effectively to reach their customers who are well-educated, tech savvy youngsters. Teams organize mobile contests to keep their fans engaged and keep them entertained through contests. Kolkata Knight Riders joined hands with 22feet for marketing via social networking sites and with Indigo consulting for mobile marketing.
The next question would be how to position the team. During IPL season, every team positioned themselves differently with a logo and an official song. Consider Kolkata Knight Riders. An excellent brand value has been created by promoting it with high celebrities Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. Cricket fans in Kolkata and the Eden Gardens, one of the battle grounds of this team helped to position Kolkata Knight Riders as the ‘People’s Army’ which means an army of soldiers. The jersey of the team with armour, song ‘Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo’ and the team logo further positions the team as an army. Pune warriors went one step further by using their traditional dress and culture for positioning.
A sports person himself is a brand. His public appeal boosts the revenue, pulls the media attention and increases the interest towards the sport. He is better marketed by sports agents who look after his endorsement contracts. The endorsements work well if the player performs himself well on the field. Today, every sportsmen use social networking sites like Twitter to interact much with their fans. This strengthens the loyalty the fans have on their players.