A clear and structured introduction to the area of sports marketing

Viktor Magnusson
School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University

The book that is being reviewed below is the third edition of Introduction to Sports Marketing by Smith et al. I reviewed the first edition back in 2010, a review written in Swedish where I tried to put the book into a Swedish sports marketing context. If you are interested in the review, it is available here. Much has happened since 2010 and this site now has an international audience, so this review will have a more general focus on sports marketing. I will start with a short recap of what I concluded back in 2010, and then move on to how this third edition has evolved and adopted to the changes in the world.

Back in 2010, I questioned if there is a need for another book introducing marketing as a topic. After reading the book then, my answer was: yes, there is. Since I really liked the book, how it was structured and how things where presented. With this in mind, I took on this review of the third edition of Introduction to Sports Marketing.

The book is aimed towards beginners in sport marketing – both students and practitioners – and it has a fairly classic layout in terms of chapter structure. After the introductory chapter, there are three chapters aimed at increasing the reader’s understanding of the sports market, the sports consumer and sports marketing opportunities all of which are found in the environment of the sports organization. Then follows several chapters that fall into what the author calls “the process of sport marketing”. That is, a suggestion on how and in what order the work of designing successful marketing strategies for the organization can look. Step 1 is about understanding the organization’s environment and what actors and forces exist there that affect the organization. Step 2 describes how the organization – based on its goals – can work to identify its target group and how they can differentiate themselves from competitors within the target group.

The book covers the professional side of sports as well as the non-profit side of the sport, and deals with these sides in a good way. That is, no matter what sport you have interest in or where in the world you are situated, you should be able to find value in the book.

Step 3 – which includes a total of seven chapters – describes how the marketer works to put together their offer, and here Smith et al. uses the classic 4 P’s (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) to describe the work. Each P has its own chapter, where services – which can be seen as part of the Product – have its own chapter, and  Sponsorship – which is a way to promote something – has its own chapter for understandable reasons. Digital marketing and social media also have its own chapter in the book, even if this is integrated in the book as a whole since we live in a digital era. Finally, a fourth step is presented, which is also the book’s last chapter, implementation and control of the work within the organization. That is, the structure of the third edition is the same as the first edition, and it is roughly the same as you find in most classic introductory book on marketing by, for example, Philip Kotler. A bit “stiff” and square, one might think, but still a clear structure and a reasonably logical process.

What has happened since 2010? The first obvious improvement is the first chapter where the authors put sports and marketing into a business context, something that is missing in the first edition. Now you get to read about how sports have commercialized, that sport is business today and that sport is an industry, just like any other industry out there. This is interesting, but also a bit complicated since the industry of sports is different in different parts of the world. For example, I live and work in Sweden – where I’m also involved in different sport organizations – and here we have a deeply rooted view of sports being a non-profit activity and that sports organizations are there to create health among people and give people a social context, not to make money. That is, making money on sports in Sweden still is a bit stigmatic. On the other hand, we do see in this country a development where more and more sports are becoming similar to what we see in the US, such as leagues owned by the teams or private sports camps and skill services coming into the market. I guess that Sweden is not the only country with this “issue”, and sport looks different on different markets around the world. The book covers the professional side of sports as well as the non-profit side of the sport, and deals with these sides in a good way. That is, no matter what sport you have interest in or where in the world you are situated, you should be able to find value in the book.

Another thing that has improved is the introduction to each chapter. Now you get a more extended introduction to the topic of the chapter and how the content of the chapter relates to the different steps of sport marketing process. This helps you as a reader to understand the topic better.

Back in 2010, the booked used what they called “Interactive cases”, where you as a reader were referred to web sites to look at something or read up on something that was connected to the content of the chapter where the case was found. I guess this was something new back in 2010, but the issue is what happens when the web page change address or cease to exist. I personally also don’t like to be interrupted when reading a text, and this way of exemplifying things means that you need to leave the book and get a device to be able to look it up. So, I often end up not bothering about the cases if they are presented in this way. In the third edition, the authors have chosen a more classic approach with case description in the book, with a clear connection to what is discussed in the chapter. The cases in the book are many and multifaceted. It covers everything from big international cases as the Olympics to national leagues in different sports, it deals with Goalball for players with visual impairments and skiing in Dubai, and also describes more niched cases like the Drone Racing Leauge or Major League Eating in the US (who knew these even existed!). And of course, it covers how big sports brands work with their marketing. For me, cases are essential for introduction books like this and it help the reader to understand how things are applied in “the real world”.

So, is it still at good book? In my first review, I pointed out two weaknesses which are still there. The first is mostly connected to my view of teaching marketing. For me, understanding the consumer and what is valuable for a consumer is central for a marketer. Like most other books that introduces marketing, this one deals with the consumer perspective. But I would have liked it to be more in focus and developed. Understanding customer value is tricky, but it needs to be solved. The second weakness I pointed out was the lack of sources throughout the book. This is still an issue. The problem for me is where should I turn when I want to know more about something that the book describes?

With that said, I don’t think these weaknesses are a big issue. In 2010 I deemed the book a good book both for students and for practitioners, and I stand behind that judgment today. It is easy to read, has a clear structure, good cases and relevant study questions for each chapter. It is a good starting point for anyone within sports that wants to learn more about the fascinating topic of Sports Marketing.

Copyright © Viktor Magnusson 2024