Sports Marketing

TERM PROJECT: CREATE A MARKETING PLAN IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY

This project gives students the opportunity to apply marketing principles to the sports field by creating an original Marketing Plan. This project is 30% of the final grade. Through detailed research and planning, sports organizations of all types know their success depends on thinking strategically and designing a marketing plan. Students will select a product/service in the sports industry and write an original marketing plan. The marketing plan should accomplish one or more of the following:
• Engage and develop more fans, sell more tickets, build fan loyalty
• Establish a position in the marketplace
• Revitalize a sport or a team, etc.
• Introduce a sport, stadium, league, etc.
Students can choose from but are not limited to the following: a sports organization (MLS, WNBA, NFL, PGA, NHL, The First Tee, NBA2K, etc.), a national, regional, local sports team (NY Yankees, Baylor University Bears, LI Nets, LI Ducks, etc.), a sports stadium, a venue, a sports event (Olympics, Grand Prix Racing, etc.), etc.

COMPONENTS OF THE MARKETING PLAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• What is the purpose/goal of the Marketing Plan?
• What is the product?
• Who is the target market(s)?
STRATEGIC PLANNING
• What marketing research did you conduct; what does it reveal; what marketing mix decisions have you made based on the research?
• Which factors in the marketing environment address the Marketing Plan’s purpose or goals? How do they address them?
• Conduct a SWOT Analysis? How does it affect your Marketing Mix?
• Define your positioning strategy

MARKETING STRATEGIES
The Target Market
• Describe the potential market segments and current target market(s)
• Define them using segmentation variables.
• Discuss: their needs/wants, their motivations, etc.
The Product
• What are the tangible and intangible components of your product? Include all aspects of the product based on the Total Product Concept: the sport, the venue, the team itself, the experiential benefits that attract the fans, the significance of the brand, necessary services, etc.
• What should the brand image communicate? What is its positioning in the marketplace?
The Price
• What are your pricing objectives?
• How much are fans willing to pay?
• What is the value fans receive in return for the price? What are the fans’ perceptions of the value offered? Explain.
• Which pricing strategy is used?
The Promotion
• What are the advertising and promotion objectives?
• What is the message being communicated with the target market(s)?
• How will the promotion mix elements be applied?

• Detail the social media tactics. How will the fans/target market be engaged through social media.
• Detail the public relations/publicity tactics and how they will be used to accomplish objective(s).
• Discuss brand partnerships and sponsorships.