The Sport Events Sector - Article Example

The Sport Events Sector Introduction (150 words) Commentary ification of Sport Events Based on the spectatorship of sports, sport events can beclassified into two types; spectator driven and participant driven. The example of spectator driven sport events is big events like the Cricket World Cup. On the other hand, participant driven sport events are those at the grass root level. Further evaluation suggests that one sport event like the Olympics may contain a range of sport events. Spectators watching a football match or a cricket match get a variety of sport shows ranging from the pre-game show, to halftime, and finally the post-game show. The spectator driven sport events generate much more income for the players and the sponsors compared to the participant driven sport events. All the different game shows before, during, and after the match are sponsored and heavily advertised which generates a lot of revenue for the sponsors of the sport events as well as the sponsors of the platforms through the sport events are broadcast like television and radio channels. Origin of Sport Events Sport events have a very long history. They have been arranged and organized almost as long ago as any records of ancient human civilizations exist. However, the organization and display of sport events underwent a revolutionary change ever since the advent of television. Initially, the ancient Olympic games used to be a single day event up until 684 B.C., when their duration was increased from one to three days. Later, they were further extended to five day events during the 5th century B.C. (Olympic.org 2015). The ancient sport events like boxing, running, and javelin were much more focused on physical strength and stamina compared to modern sport events in which technique, strategy, and intelligence is just as important if not more, as physical strength. Development of Sport Events Modern sport events have mostly been developed since the 19th century. For example, the origin of baseball is in the 1840s, the origin of basketball is in the 1890s, the origin of American football is in the 1800s, ice hockey was developed in the 1810s and the Modern Olympics resurfaced in Athens in 1896 under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (The People History 2014). Today, sports events are the most developed than they have ever been throughout the history. So many different kinds of sports share a similar timeline in the modern history because their organization and spectatorship was linked to technological advancements in the form of radio, telephone, and television. Demographic Profile of Consumers of Sport Events Demographic profile of consumers varies from one sport event to another depending upon a range of factors including the popularity of game and the socioeconomic and political context in which it is organized. Stoldt and Vermillion (n.d.) carried out research to study demographic profile of the consumers of a Professional Golf Association (PGA) event and found that the consumers were predominantly male i.e. 73.9%, 70.1% of the consumers were educated till college or more, 63.2% consumers were in the age range of 30 to 60 years, and 51.9% of the consumers had annual incomes of at least $100,000. This suggests that most sports consumers are educated people belonging to the middle class or elite and are in the mid-age range. These findings are consistent with the research findings of Clavio (2008) who found that 87.8% of the users of college sport message boards were male, with 90.8% users being White and 76.0% of the users educated at least till the undergraduate level. Clavio (2008) also found that 42.2% of the users earned at least $100,000 annually. These findings suggest that there are generally more male spectator of sport events than female spectators and that an overwhelming majority of sport event visitors is highly educated. Growth Potential of Sport Events Growth potential of sport events is huge. Although generally economic return is greater for the larger-scale events, the smaller community events also possess considerable potential to yield benefits. The opportunities related to sport events accessible for the stakeholders and destinations of sport events and the event organizers continue to expand as well as diverse along with the growth in the rates of participation in the sport and events. The growth in demand of certain sports and other sports’ changing resource requirements may impose significant demands on the event organizers, host communities, and managers of their destinations. Likewise, a constant change is happening in the relationship of sports with the economic, social, environmental, and cultural environments “with the success with which these impacts and legacies are understood and managed very likely to impact on the success or failure of prospective sports events” (Shipway and Fyall 2013). The immense growth potential of sport events can be estimated from the fact that the rate of growth of sports industry is faster than GDP in mature markets like North America and Europe and in fast-growing economies like Brazil, India, and China alike (A.T. Kearney 2011). Over the passage of time, many new types of sports have surfaced and evolved including the games played by the disabled community. Similarly, there has been an overwhelming increase in the participation of women in sports over the past few decades. Sports have traditionally remained a male-dominated and male-oriented regime but in modern times, women’s sports have reached a whole new level with the events being specifically organized on a global scale for women’s sports. Growth potential of sport events is also evident from growth witnessed in the global sports apparel market whose worth in 2012 was US$135 billion and is expected “to grow at a CAGR of 4% during 2012-2019 to reach $178 billion” (Forbes 2013). Growth in the market of sport events can be attributed to a range of factors that include but are not limited to growing fitness consciousness among the people, growing influence of media on people’s lifestyles, and rising levels of income in the developing countries. Market Share of Sport Events The ‘global sports events market’ is the term that encompasses all marketing and media revenues and ticketing for the major sports happening all over the world. The sports events market in 2009 was found to be worth US$64 billion. Of all the sports, football is the most profitable as global revenues for football are worth US$28 billion yearly which is nearly equal to the combined total for all US sports i.e. US$28 billion (A.T. Kearney 2011). There has been almost a steady increase in the market revenue of sports events with occasional downfalls from 2006 to 2015. Statista (2015) reports that sports revenues consistently increased from 2006 to 2008, mentioning that sports revenue in 2006 were US$107.52 billion, in 2007 were US$111.93 billion, and in 2008 were US$120.76 billion. From 2008 to 2009, a drop in sports revenue was observed as the revenue in 2009 was US$112.49 billion. However, sports revenue soared up from 2009 to 2010 as the revenue in 2010 was US$121.31 billion only to be succeeded by another drop in revenue from 2010 to 2011 as the revenue in 2011 was US$118.69 billion. Over the next four years i.e. from 2011 to 2015, sports revenue has steadily increased as the revenues in 2012 and 2013 were US$129.93 billion and US$130.16 billion respectively whereas in 2014 and 2015, they have been found to be even more i.e. US$146.47 billion and US$145.34 billion respectively so far (Statista 2015). Future Developments in Sport Events (511 words) Conclusion (150 words) References: A.T. Kearney 2011, The sports market: major trends and challenges in an industry full of passion, [Online] Available at http://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/6f46b880-f8d1-4909-9960-cc605bb1ff34 [accessed: 26 April 2015]. Clavio, G 2008, Demographics and Usage Profiles of Users of College Sport Message Boards, International Journal of Sport Communication, Vol. 1, pp. 434-443. Forbes 2013, Why Nike Will Outpace The Sports Apparel Markets Growth, [Online] Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2013/05/13/why-nikes-growth-will-outpace-the-sports-apparel-markets/ [accessed: 26 April 2015]. Olympic.org 2015, Ancient Olympic Games, [Online] Available at http://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games?tab=the-sports-events [accessed: 26 April 2015]. Shipway, R, and Fyall, A 2013, International Sports Events: Impacts, Experiences and Identities, Routledge. Statista 2015, Global sports market - total revenue from 2006 to 2015 (in billion U.S. dollars)*, [Online] Available at http://www.statista.com/statistics/194122/sporting-event-gate-revenue-worldwide-by-region-since-2004/ [accessed: 26 April 2015]. Stoldt, GC, and Vermillion, M n.d., Consumer Demographics and Behaviors of Fans Attending a PGA Event, [Online] Available at http://webs.wichita.edu/depttools/depttoolsmemberfiles/coepasm/ConsumerDemographicsBehaviorsFansAttendingPGAEvent.pdf [accessed: 26 April 2015]. The People History 2014, Sports: The History And Evolution, [Online] Available at http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/sports.html [accessed: 26 April 2015]. Read More