Sports Marketing

Objectives

Sports Marketing is a course where students will analyse the basic relation between sport and communication. As Paul Blakey (2011) states "sports marketing is a matching process -the matching of sport products and services of the demands of sports consumers and costumers". It is a matching process where "communication is at the heart of it". For this reason, this course is not only a workshop on how students will be able to work satisfactorily in a marketing department of a sports organisation, but it's also a course to understand the synergies among the basic actors that take part in the sports media complex: media, sports organisations and commercial sports organisations.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the basic synergies of the “sport media complex”.
• Analyse the role of communication in the relationships between sport organisations and their stakeholders.
• Analyse and understand corporate communication in sport organisations.
• Understand the economic structure of the sports business and the rise of the entertainment multinationals as basic actors in this economic sector.

Competencies

General skills

• Acquire leadership skills for project design and direction by making appropriate decisions and applying problem solving strategies.
• Develop interpersonal skills and be able to work under pressure.

Specific skills

• Master the main skills of journalism as a profession, such as verifying information on the basis of one's own sources, information searches, cross-checking and ordering information, and knowledge of different journalistic genres (information, analysis and opinion).
• Understand the structure, operation and management of communication enterprises and the tools of business, marketing and institutional communication, internally and externally.

Basic skills

• Students can communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialists and non-specialists.
• Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (usually within their field of study) in order to make judgements that include reflection on relevant social, scientific and ethical issues.

Core skills

• Be a critical thinker before knowledge in all its dimensions. Show intellectual, cultural and scientific curiosity and a commitment to professional rigour and quality.
• Interact in international and worldwide contexts to identify needs and and new contexts for knowledge transfer to current and emerging fields of professional development, with the ability to adapt to and independently manage professional and research processes.
• Project the values of entrepreneurship and innovation in one's academic and professional career, through contact with a variety of practical contexts and motivation for professional development.
• Use oral, written and audiovisual forms of communication, in one's own language and in foreign languages, with a high standard of use, form and content.

Content

1. The sport media complex
   1. Basic introduction to the sports business and the basic actors that take part in it
   2. The entertainment multinationals
2. Media clubs and their communication strategy
   1. Excellence in Public Relations in sport organisations
   2. The communication plan
3. The commercialisation of the sports assets
   1. Revenue sources of sports organisations
   2. Media rights in Europe
   3. Hospitality programs and stadiums business approach
4. The collapse of the football industry
5. Place branding and sport
   1. Sport place branding
   2. Sport diplomacy

Evaluation

• Individual book review of sport marketing (50%). The structure of the essay will be as follows (max. 5 pages, Times New Roman 12):
  • Your proposed title and summary of the book.
  • Critical revision of the basic concepts of the book according with the course theoretical framework and extra articles students must find themselves.
  • Conclusions and personal assessment.
  • References.
• A team project, based on event management. Students will have to simulate the organization of a sport marketing conference. Each group will have to identify opportunities, partners, communication strategies and participants to organize a conference which can be suitable for a concrete city.  (30%).
• Commentary of articles and class participation in online forums (20%). During the course, the lecturer will upload different articles and videos according to every topic of the course program. Students will be asked to write essays or to discuss questions in the Moodle forum.

Methodology

The course will be divided into theoretical and practical seminars. The basic concepts of the lesson will be explained at the beginning of the class, later students will have to discuss articles related to the topics with the lecturer, or among themselves.

During the course, some experts and professionals will be in the class in order to explain different experiences that can help students to understand the professional world of sports marketing.

Bibliography

Bibliography

• Blakey, P. (2011). Sport Marketing. Learning Matters.
• Ginesta, X (2020). Les multinacionals de l'entreteniment: Futbol, diplomàcia, identitat, tecnologia. UOC.
• Ginesta, Xavier (2021). La disneyització del futbol. Eumo Editorial.

Reading

Teachers will provide complementary bibliography and compulsory reading throughout the course via the Virtual Campus.