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22. Miami Dolphins NFL Stephen Ross US$1.01 billion
23. Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Daniel Rooney and US$996 million Art Rooney II
24. Tennessee Titans NFL Kenneth Adams, Jr. US$994 million
25. Seattle Seahawks NFL Paul Allen US$989 million
26. Barcelona La Liga Club members US$975 million
27. Kansas City Chiefs NFL Lamar Hunt family US$965 million
28. New Orleans Saints NFL Thomas Benson US$955 million
29. San Francisco 49ers NFL Denise DeBartalo York US$925 million and John York
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30. Arizona Cardinals NFL William Bidwell US$919 million
31. Boston Red Sox MLB John Henry and US$912 million Thomas Werner
32. San Diego Chargers NFL Alexander Spanos US$907 million
33. Cincinnati Bengals NFL Michael Brown US$905 million
34. AC Milan Serie A Silvio Merlusconi US$838 million
35. Atlanta Falcons NFL Arthur Blank US$831 million
36. Detroit Lions NFL William Clay Ford US$817 million
37. McLaren F1 McLaren Group US$815 million
38. Los Angeles Dodgers MLB Guggenheim Baseball US$800 million Management*
39. Buffalo Bills NFL Ralph Wilson Jr. US$799 million
40. St. Louis Rams NFL Stanley Kroenke US$779 million
41. Minnesota Vikings NFL Zygmunt Wilf and US$774 million Mark Wilf
42. Chicago Cubs MLB Ricketts Family US$773 million
43. Oakland Raiders NFL Mark Davis US$758 million
44. New York Mets MLB Fred Wilpon and US$747 million Saul Katz
45. Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Wayne Weaver US$725 million
46. Chelsea Premier Roman Abramovich US$658 million
47. New York Knicks NBA Madison Square US$655 million Garden
48. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Jerry Buss and US$643 million Philip Anschutz
49. Juventus Serie A Agnelli family US$628 million
50. Philadelphia Phillies MLB David Montgomery US$609 million and partners Source: Badenhausen, Kurt. “The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams.” July 12, 2011. Forbes. Retrieved July 24, 2011 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/07/12/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams/
Players Unions, Associations
These are labor organizations whose purpose is to represent and protect players’
interests concerning wages, working conditions, hours and their rights as professional
athletes.
Coaches, Managers, Agents
Coaches and managers are concerned with team and individual player development,
developing strengths and unique skillsets, and strategizing athlete/team performances
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throughout each season against each opponent. Agents are paid
consultants/representatives of each athlete, helping negotiate their playing contracts
and endorsement deals (agents receive a percentage of the athlete’s playing and
endorsement contracts). Agents help maximize the athlete’s marketability during their
primary playing years.
Stadiums, Venues, Arenas
The stadiums, venues and arenas where athletes and teams play are essential to sports
marketing. Not only do they provide seating for fans, but they have facilities for
owners and leagues to develop additional revenue streams through the sale of
merchandise and food and beverage items. In addition, most sports facilities provide
signage and similar marketing communications vehicles for corporate sponsors and
advertisers. Additional revenues are often realized by offering pricing tiers based on
seat type (standing, reserved, luxury box) and location. Furthermore, as the teams and
athletes competing in stadiums, venues and arenas develop over time, so too do the
reputations of these facilities, leading to a phenomenon known as home team
advantage (due to the presence and support of their home fans and the psychological
comfort of playing in one’s own facilities). Naming rights are often another way for
owners of teams and facilities to generate additional financial gain for their sports
franchises.
Loyal Followers
Sports fans are a type of customer in the classic business sense. While sharing some
similarities with traditional business customers, loyal sports fans differ in that their
commitment and devotion to their favourite team and/or athlete tends to remain
steady, even when their favourites are underperforming. Finding similar loyalty from
typical non-sports customers for a company whose products are of inconsistent
quality is rare, particularly since most products have competitive substitutes that
consumers will use if their previously favourite brand disappoints them. Given this,
media companies such as television broadcasters, as well as advertisers and sponsors,
find loyal sports fans to be a particularly attractive and valuable audience.
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Casual/Attendees
Many sports fans are more casual and less loyal to their favourite teams and athletes.
These fans may follow sports only occasionally, such as during big games with rivals,
or during the end of season championships. Or, casual fans may have a light interest
in a given sport and watch it if they are seeking an entertainment alternative. Even
though they are not as committed as loyal sports fans, casual fans are still attractive
and important to media companies and corporations since they typically represent a
larger portion of the population than loyal sports fans, comprising a significant
audience. There are also members of the viewing audience with little interest in
sports, but still watch them occasionally because of the social nature of the event (i.e.
their friends are watching, or a unique entertainer will perform, or a special promotion
is being advertised, or other similar appeals attract them…).
Broadcast, Print, PR
Broadcast, print and PR (public relations) are also known as traditional media because
these have dominated the media landscape for decades and have well-developed
methods for making full use of their media type for marketing communicators.
Traditional media are particularly effective for raising awareness among large
audiences and communicating a clear, simple message that is memorable. Sports
marketers, particularly in Europe and North America, still significantly rely on
traditional media to reach mass audiences. Most sports events are still broadcast
through conventional televisions, or aired via radio.
Cable, Digital, Social, Internet
Since the advent of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, the pace of technological
change in media has been rapid, showing few signs of slowing down. Cable, as
opposed to airwave broadcasts, has facilitated the rapid development of new
programming in sports, increasing access around the world and allowing media
companies and advertisers to tailor their messages to narrower audiences. The
emergence of digital and social media in the 2000s has added to the range of tools
sports marketers can use to appeal to various audiences. Digital and social media has
also fostered a much stronger and more demanding consumer audience, effectively
changing the relationship between organizations and their customers from one
controlled by the organization to one controlled by customers. This change has also
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coincided with a shift from one way (from organization to market) to two-way
simultaneous communications (an ongoing dialog between the organization and the
marketplace). The result is that organizations (sports companies, teams, leagues…)
are finding that they must listen far more actively to their customers than ever,
otherwise the risk of a fan backlash increases noticeably. This is not meant to suggest
that fans control the business decisions of their favourite organization (such as player
trades). Instead, the implication is that any sports organization, or athlete, must be far
more attuned to the feedback from their fans to ensure their reputation and brand
value remain strong.
Suppliers, Merchandisers, Licensees
Suppliers, merchandisers and licensees supply the products sports fans and athletes
buy. Sport governing bodies, teams (and owners), sporting goods manufacturers, food
and beverage companies, and sports agents all play a role in generating additional
revenues through officially approved products with protected trademarks, logos and
slogans purchased by sports fans. These offerings are an important mechanism for
fans to stay connected to their favourite athletes and teams and to display their loyalty
to others. A form of social pride is an important by-product of fans wearing and
consuming the products of their favourite sports entity. These products also help
reinforce the brand image of that sports franchise and often serve to inspire demand
from other consumers.
Sponsors
Sponsors are typically companies that wish to be associated with a given sports entity
(league, event, team, athlete, coach…). Sponsors pay a fee for this right and, in the
case of major sports events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup,
companies invest in extended sponsorship relationships lasting years. The rationale
for sports sponsorship is to raise awareness of the sponsoring entity and associate the
values of the sponsored entity with their firm. Paying sponsorship fees represents only
part of the investment. Sponsors then have to activate their sponsorship by spending
additional money on buying media time, hiring an advertising agency, developing
creative communications, and even developing and launching new products.
Activation activities can cost another 2-3 times the initial sponsorship amount, but the
potential benefits are significant when a sponsor/sports entity relationship succeeds.
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Advertisers
Advertisers are those organizations that seek to use a sports event, team or athlete to
promote their products and/or companies. An obvious example is the stadium signage
seen during the UK’s Premier League and Europe’s UEFA football matches. The
SuperBowl game, pitting the top two teams from the U.S.’s National Football League
(NFL), is known for being a successful event for companies to gain exposure. The
SuperBowl is also well known for the unusually creative, even weird, advertising
companies have. Not all advertisers are sponsors (nor do they have to be), but all
sponsors advertise since they want to leverage their sponsorship investment to attract
new customers, reinforce existing customers and develop their brand image in front of
a large audience.
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The following excerpt is from Sports Marketing-Creating Long Term Value.
Each team is allowed two drivers. If those two drivers finish in the top ten, then they
each receive the points associated with their particular order of finish per the scale
above, and the points then count toward the driver’s championship. In this example,
since both are from the same team, then the combination of their two point totals are
awarded toward the constructor’s championship. F1 has become one of the largest and
most popular sports while also nurturing an image as the world’s most prestigious
racing sport.ii i Williamson, Martin. “A brief history of Formula One.” n.d. ESPNF1.com. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/3831.html. ii F1. “Points.” n.d. F1.com. Retrieved November 14, 2011 from http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/sporting_regulations/8681/.