Sports and Entertainment Management - Case Study Example

? Sports and Entertainment Management By Due The case study about San Diego Padres is a great example of how a successful sports management operates. The Padres anticipated the problems as much as possible and did their best to cope with them in a timely manner. They made efforts to highlight the fact that baseball is very important to the city of San Diego. Sports is not just entertainment, some people connect with it at a much deeper level. Baseball is a very important part of lives of the people of San Diego. The fact that their team was not at the level of other teams was painful for them. An increase in investment in the team was definitely going to make it better. It was a very prudent move by Padres to get the opinion of people on their side as they endeavoured to move to a new ballpark called PETCO park. The most important part of this whole project was the redevelopment of East Village. People were beginning to be drawn away from East Village because they were running out of reasons to be there. The location was such that was once very lively but it had little left to attract local people and the visitors. This area required some serious redevelopment and its prayers were answered when Padres choose it for the construction of their new ballpark. It was the very first time that redevelopment was made integral part of a project in which a sports facility was being publicly financed. Further, the Padres made redevelopment a part of the Memorandum of Understanding in which they obtained the approval of public. This meant that even politicians were unable to disallow this project as they had to do what the people wanted. The road to success was not a smooth one for Padres. They had had to face many bumps in the form of oppositions and lawsuits by the people who had to relocate. The protagonist of this case, John Moores, faced a very difficult time because of all the lawsuits and the delays. There was a two year delay in the construction in the area which was now known as the Ballpark District. Conditions had significantly changed in the two year period due to 9/11 and the bursting of the Internet Bubble. One of the setbacks was the departure of Larry Lucchino. Lucchino kept the people of San Diego, particularly the diehard baseball fans, involved in the process so that their support and sympathy was always with the team. This was very difficult to maintain as Lucchino left. Moores handled the matter with great patience and maturity. There were times when it felt like Moores might leave San Diego and take his team to another city. Instead, Moores kept his head poised in the game in which he was involved. He knew that the redevelopment of East Village was not only good for the area itself, but it was also the biggest argument in favour of his project. PETCO Park was an enormous success. From this experience, one can learn that there are always numerous extraneous circumstances that are to be accounted for while pursuing a project of such magnitude. No matter how careful one is, there is always a potential of oversight. ‘There is no such thing as a perfect research’. We can look at the experiences of others and we should learn from them. Similar mistakes must not be repeated. We can clearly see that Moores’ team selection was brilliant but not flawless. He made sure that the team that was working on this project was diverse. Therefore, everyone brought something new to the table. However, it was a slip by one of the team members that resulted in the allegations of corruption. Moores, of course, was not guilty but the two year delay was like a punishment for him too. A punishment for a wrong he did not commit himself, but one of his team members did. Perhaps, everyone else who was involved in the project also suffered greatly. But one tends to think that maybe Moores could have done something to avoid all of this. There might have been no corruption if the team members had a clear knowledge of their limits and boundaries. Moores could have specified a code of conduct under which corruption was not to be tolerated. Therefore, we can learn that we should make efforts to put barriers in the way of corruption. Padres also had to face many legal matters regarding the relocation of people who were affected by the project. Padres anticipated the fair value of relocation and tried to settle. This was successful in many cases but it may have disregarded the fact that leaving a piece of property is very different from leaving home. People who have to leave their homes always want more than what is regarded fair in the market. It is my feeling that Padres did not anticipate this factor accurately when it underwent the PETCO park project. There might have been a way avoid these trials too. Anticipating the requirements of the people who required relocation might have helped. On the other hand, some legal trials may have been beneficial for Padres as they might have ended up paying less than what was asked in the settlement. Legal trials may have successfully stopped both parties from exploiting each other. One of the most commendable factors of these projects is the handling of finances. The condition of redevelopment helped the Padres push a portion of the total expenditures on the taxpayers because they were availing a lot of benefit from this project too. This project was undertaken in such a congenial environment that the taxpayers were actually happy to pay. Further, this project converted a cash drain into a substantial source of tax revenue. The redevelopment also helped in creating a lot of jobs. This has made this project look like an even bigger success. We learn that in order to promote a sports team, sports management needs to highlight how their success is going to be beneficial for the economy. They need to show that their success is closely connected to the success of their city/country. Once everyone understands this and is taken into confidence, the doors of public financing are opened. Padres’ success is actually the story of a successful partnership between the team and the city. Everyone worked together and made the PETCO Park project a success. It is extremely important to make successful partnerships with the concerned people so that they can benefit too. If each connected party is not taken into confidence, there is always a chance that hurdles would be created and problems would arise. Therefore, anticipating problems before their emergence is the key. Read More