The sports industry is uniquely different from any conventional businesses. It has its own natural characteristics that we could not find in other industry. Clearly, the industry itself has grown rapidly in the last decade, especially in professional football where money just have been thrown everywhere whether to build a new stadium, buying world-class players, signing multi-million advertisement deals.
Most football clubs also try to portray themselves as a brand and can actually attract other industry to take part and invest their fund to the sport. With that being said, I will explain 5 reasons why sport is unique.
The Importance of Competition
Whatever the sports may be, whether it is football, basketball, rugby to even individual sport such as golf, without the competition it would be hard for the industry to sustain themselves. Each team would not have meaningful existence without direct competitors.
That is the core of the sport industry, literally competing with each other to make it attractive to fans. This is completely different if we want to compare to other industry. Let’s say fashion industry, without direct competitors means that the only organization that exists will potentially strive and get all the market exposure.
Governing Bodies Takes Control
The existence of competition normally is regulated by an organization called governing body. Each and every sport have their own governing body. In football, we have FIFA which represents the governing of the sport globally. Moreover, each country also has its own governing body which subsequently will report back to the global body.
Sport is an Event
I still remember the first time going to a national sport major event in my country, it was a marvellous and absolutely unforgettable moment. Back then sport feels like entertainment for me rather than solely a sport.
You might realize that any sport competition usually related to an event. Whether that be FIFA World Cup, Olympics, Champions League Final or even regular league games, it is usually held at a particular team’s ground. Sometimes in their opposition premises or rarely neutral ground. The reason why it is considered an event is the factor of its fixed place, fixed time and fixed duration.
Uncertainty of Outcome
I personally think this scoreline is just unbelievably crazy. As you can see the picture on the left, who would have thought that Manchester United will be slaughtered by Tottenham Hotspurs by that margin. This has never happened before and there is no way that the fans would expect this result.
That is exactly why the sports industry is unpredictable. It has to adapt to the outcome of the particular team. If your team has a big chance to get relegated, it might not be wise to increase the season ticket price just to cover the potential income loss from getting relegated.
Loyalty of Fans
Continuing the context above, let’s say you are a Manchester United die-hard fan and your team has just got demolished. I am pretty sure you are not going to change to another team instantly just because your heart is already set for it, you grew up supporting the club and it has been part of your childhood.
Reference
Beech, John, and Simon Chadwick. The Business of Sport Management, Pearson Education Limited, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/cardiffmet/detail.action?docID=5173595.
