SPORTS MARKETING (RESEARCH PAPER)

Sports Marketing (Research Paper)

Sports Marketing (Research Paper)

Introduction

For the successful qualifiers who now dream of lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in Johannesburg's sparkling new Soccer City Stadium come July, the countdown to World Cup 2010's kick-off is well and truly underway.

The Brands behind the World Cup Football: Nike/Budweiser/Hyundai motors/ Heineken

Sadly, the same is true for counterfeiters and pirates. While the battle among the world's top players on the pitch begins on 11 June, the off-the-pitch brand and product protection battle is already at its height. That battle pits FIFA, sponsors, merchandising partners and teams of IP lawyers against those who will seek to cash in illegally on the 19th FIFA World Cup tournament.

The problems to be faced by security officials are varied, from counterfeit and sub-standard merchandise through to illegal ticket sales. In fighting back, there's the growing role the authentication and anti-counterfeiting technologies are playing, leading to many valuable lessons other brand managers can learn from the whole scenario. Sporting events are now very big business indeed, with the spin-off sales from merchandise alone worth millions. For its part, the FIFA World Cup - the world's biggest sporting event - typically attracts a global viewing audience of more than 30 billion, and is expected to rake in more than £300 million for the organising committee alone.

Joint Promotion (Media Partner)

The first corporate sponsorship programme for the World Cup (designed for Spain back in 1982) generated $19 million from nine sponsors. This is nothing compared to the sums paid by 15 partners and six official suppliers of the last finals in Germany. Internationally known brands including Adidas, Emirates and Budweiser paid up to $50 million each to supply products and associate their brands with the event.

With such riches on offer, it's little surprise that the World Cup, the Olympics and other popular sports (the FA Premier League, the NFL and the NHL to name but a few) are prime targets for brand pirates. Among the multitude of complex problems encountered across these sports are counterfeit, sub-standard and unauthorised merchandise; illegal and black market tickets, the improper use of logos and trademarks and ambush marketing.

Each of these areas of criminality will be exercising lawyers and customs officials before the finals begin.

Licensed merchandise - from replica football kits through to T-shirts, programmes, scarves and mascots - are among the biggest targets. More than three million counterfeit products were seized worldwide before and during the 2002 World Cup tournament, while organisers of the Beijing Olympics were faced with countless street traders brazenly selling unauthorised merchandise (often mascots) outside key venues.

The situation encountered by the organisers of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics highlights the growing challenge for both organisers and licensees who pay millions for their contracts. Brand police recently uncovered counterfeit shirts emblazoned with the Games' inukshuk logo being sold across the country by a major retail chain. The shirts, themselves counterfeit versions of a product made by an official partner, were supplied to the retail chain by a regular ...