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International sport marketing: practical and future research implications

Vanessa Ratten and Hamish Ratten

Deakin Graduate School of Business, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

Abstract Purpose – Sport is a global product and service that many people around the world enjoy playing, watching and participating in. Whilst there has been an abundance of global media attention on sporting events such as the Olympics and World Football Cup, there seems to be a lack of integration between the sports marketing and international business disciplines both from a practical and also academic standpoint. This paper aims to discuss international sport marketing and why it is an important attribute of business-to-business marketing. Design/methodology/approach – The aim of the paper is to provide practical implications and research avenues for those seeking to further investigate international sport marketing as a unique area of academic research. The introduction to the paper focuses on the importance of sport to the global economy and how entrepreneurship is ingrained in many sport businesses and organizations. Next, different areas of international business management that relate to entrepreneurial sport marketing ventures are discussed in terms of future research directions and practical implications. These include how entrepreneurial sport ventures affect internationalization, branding, corporate social responsibility, tourism, regional development, marketing and action sports. Findings – The paper concludes by finding that there are numerous research avenues for future research on international sport marketing that combine different areas of marketing together with the sport marketing and international business literature. In addition, there is enormous potential for linking the sports marketing and international business literature through focusing on entrepreneurial sport ventures that occur worldwide. Research limitations/implications – The authors demonstrate the need to take an international perspective of sports marketing and business-to- business relationships. Practical implications – The paper discusses how and why sport firms interact in the international marketplace and how future competition will benefit from more sport-based business-to-business partnerships. Originality/value – The paper examines the important area of international sports marketing and how businesses that are both profit and non-profit orientated collaborate. The paper explores the concept of international sports marketing, and discusses the practical and future research implications of this exciting new field of marketing research.

Keywords Sport marketing, Sports, International, International market trends, Future research, Entrepreneurship, Sport business ventures, Entrepreneurialism

Paper type Viewpoint

Introduction

International sport marketing ventures occur worldwide as

numerous companies and organizations involved in sport

focus on the global market as a prelude to achieving economic

and financial success. The worldwide appeal of sport is due to

the sport industry being worth an estimated $141 billion

(Klayman, 2009). Moreover, sport as a business offers

massive potential for revenue generation on a global scale for

all parties involved (Klayman, 2009). Goldman and Johns

(2009, p. 125) state that the business of sport is “a significant

economic sector at the individual, organizational and national

levels and is an important contributor to economic activity

and wealth creation”. Sport has become increasingly

commercialized and has internationalized over the past

decade (Bauer et al., 2005), which has been a result of

entrepreneurial marketing ventures created within sport.

Sport companies in today’s global market need to be

progressive service sellers in order to compete with other

leisure activities (Bauer et al., 2005) and entrepreneurial sport

ventures that do this succeed in the competitive marketplace. Globalization and technological advances have greatly

advanced the business opportunities for sport organizations,

marketers and entrepreneurs involved in sport. The increased

number of people traveling worldwide in addition to

international migration has meant that marketing

innovations within sport travel quickly. Different types of

sport are played worldwide depending on a person’s cultural

background and educational level. For example, many ethnic

immigrants from Italian and Greek backgrounds play soccer

in Australia instead of the more traditional Australian

Football League. College students in the United States

usually from middle to high income class families play

lacrosse as part of their educational experience. In the international environment sport companies and

players need to be entrepreneurial to stay ahead of the

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

26/8 (2011) 614–620

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624]

[DOI 10.1108/08858621111179886] Accepted: 20 March 2011

614

competition and at the forefront of their respective sport.

Entrepreneurial sport ventures in the international context are business activities involving sport that comprise risk taking,

innovation and competitive aggressiveness that occur in multiple countries. Entrepreneurship is inherent in many

sporting activities because of sports universal global appeal. Sport is often referred to as a global language as most people

understand the rules of the game and in many cases no verbal translation is required (Meenaghan and O’Sullivan, 1999). Most internationally orientated entrepreneurial sport

ventures involve a sport product. A sport product is defined as a “good or service or any combination of the two that is

designed to provide benefits to a sports spectator participant or sponsor” (Shank, 2005, p. 216). The practical implications

of sports products within the sports management and marketing fields are important as sport and the activities

surrounding it are based on uncertainty of outcome (Chadwick, 2005). The aim of this paper is to further investigate the fertile research and practical opportunities for

entrepreneurial sports ventures in the broader context of the international business management discipline. Sports marketing are an important aspect of international

sport ventures as it is necessary to the businesses growth and

survival. Many sports teams collaborate with corporate sponsors worldwide through their international marketing

campaigns. Chadwick (2005, p. 7) defines sports marketing as a “process through which a contest with an uncertain outcome is staged, creating opportunities for the

simultaneous fulfillment of objectives among sport customers, sport businesses, participants and other related

individuals, groups and organizations”. From an international perspective, sports’ marketing is defined further as the

opportunity for a corporation or organization to advertise their services in a sports-related context. This could include

buying the naming rights to a sports stadium, sponsoring individual athletes or providing clothing and sports equipment. As international sports marketing includes both

products and services it is important to distinguish how these operate in the business environment. Broadly defined sports marketing can be divided into two

categories: the marketing of sports and marketing with sports

(Shannon, 1999). The marketing of sports includes marketing sporting events and equipment to fans and participants

(Goldman and Johns, 2009). This type of sports marketing is inherent in the introduction of new sports such as action sports and innovative new sports products. The marketing

with sports includes the promotion of non-sporting products or services at sporting events and the use of athletes to

endorse non-sport products and services (Goldman and Johns, 2009). Athletes such as David Beckham, Greg Norman

and Tiger Woods are examples of how corporations are involved in international marketing with sports as these

athletes have become international sports brands that have a number of sports products under their corporate umbrella. David Beckham has utilized his sports celebrity appeal to play

soccer in Europe and the United States in addition to marketing his own brand of perfume. Greg Norman has

utilized his sports business knowledge to create Greg Norman Enterprises, which develops and markets golf courses,

clothing and restaurants. Tiger Woods has become a global brand by being involved in large marketing campaigns for companies including Nike, Gatorade and Accenture. The

next section will further discuss the role of sport marketing in

the international marketplace by focusing on how the

internationalization of sport.

Internationalization of sport

International sport marketing is a rich area for academic and practitioner research because of the cross-cultural ability of

sport to appeal to different generations of people from multiple

geographic locations. An increasing amount of people are now able to view sport events from the internet, which has helped to

globalize a diverse array of sports including cricket, football and surfing. However, as the ability of people to play and watch

professional sport is influenced by the socio-economic

conditions of their country, the research on international sport and in particularly professional sports such as the

National Basketball Association, National Hockey League and

Major League Baseball have come from North America, Europe and Oceania. This has meant that most contributions

to international sport marketing have been from developed economies and less is known about an emerging market

perspective (Goldman and Johns, 2009). Most international

marketing efforts of large corporations have focused on professional sport in developed countries. However, recently

with the increased economic advancement of Eastern

European countries, China and India, more effort is now being placed on attracting more people to professional sport

leagues. In addition, the amateur sport leagues that operate internationally have to a lesser extent been studied in terms of

how they operate in the global marketplace. The internationalization of sport has been seen in

professional sport teams focusing more on the international

market instead of their home country market. The large increase in middle class households in China and India

together with their large population have attracted more

professional sport teams to these countries. In addition, the declining birth rate and ageing population of countries in

Northern Europe and the United States has spurred

professional sports leagues to focus on these regions. The National Basketball Association has one of the most

aggressive international expansion strategies as their home market has seen a decrease in ticket sales and there is

increased interest in basketball from other countries outside of

the United States. Teams in the National Basketball Association have been internationalizing by focusing on the

international marketplace in order to broaden their fan base and sponsorship appeal. An example of this is the Houston

Rockets in the National Basketball Association who have a

Mandarin version of their web site and a weekly Mandarin radio show (Clarke and Mannion, 2006). Entrepreneurial sport ventures have also internationalized

by focusing on their entertainment appeal. Sport is often seen

as a form of entertainment, which has been referred to as

“sportainment” (Goldman and Johns, 2009). Moreover, the global appeal of American movies and television shows has

meant that many professional sports teams from the United

States receive a form of free marketing when people watch this form of entertainment. Examples of entrepreneurial sport

ventures that have internationalized include the recently established Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier

League has newly formed the International Champions

League, which invites players from around the world to play in domestic teams (Goldman and Johns, 2009). Overseas

leagues have also built interest in foreign markets through

International sport marketing: practical and future research

Vanessa Ratten and Hamish Ratten

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Volume 26 · Number 8 · 2011 · 614–620

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“grass-roots” development in which participation in the sport

is encouraged through promotional activities such as

expanded broadcasting of games. An example of this type of

entrepreneurial international sport venture is the National

Football League and National Hockey League recently

expanding into Europe and attempting to build the league

through television viewership. The international law surrounding sports licensing is also

another interesting research avenue that has a large practical

significance for sports agents and law firms involved in sport.

Revenues from global licensed sports apparel and other goods

were $US19.9 billion in 2008 (Moorman and Hambrick,

2009). Protecting a sports teams trademark and ensuring

royalties are paid has become more important due to the

piracy and trademark infringements seen in some parts of the

world. In addition, sports leagues and other sports-related

companies have five of the top 20 positions among global

licensors (Moorman and Hambrick, 2009). Most recently, the

licensing activities of the National Colleagiate Athletic

Association are the target of two pending cases (Keller v.

Electronic Arts, Inc (2009), O’Bannon v. NCAA (2009))

because of the use of likenesses of student-athletes in

computer games. These two pending cases illustrate the

financial incentives for global companies to protect their

investments whilst increasing their reputation in the

international market with loyal consumers that follow

professional sport and also college sport. More research is needed on international sports

management to determine how sport is being built,

developed and extended internationally through

entrepreneurial ventures. Other international perspectives on

sport marketing are warranted that take into account different

cultures, institutions and society. Typically sport has been

studied from an Anglo-American view that has influenced the

way academics and practitioners have addressed emerging

sport-related issues (Chadwick, 2007a). Researching sport

marketing from a global perspective will help to understand

different socio-economic and geographic factors that

influence the development of sport (Chadwick, 2007b).

Sport-based entrepreneurship

Sport in the international context is fundamentally

entrepreneurial as it constantly changes to suit adapting

business needs. Sport has been studied from a number of

different academic disciplines including psychology,

economics and marketing but it has only recently been

discussed from an entrepreneurial paradigm (e.g. Ratten,

2010). Sport-based entrepreneurship is any kind of sport

activity that is innovative, opportunity driven and vision

orientated. Entrepreneurship in sport can exist in a number of

different international contexts including the individual,

organization or team. Sports players, agents and team

owners can be entrepreneurial when they are involved in a

novel risk taking activity that is different to what has been

done before. When an organization or individual involved in

sport demonstrates initiative and innovates then they are

being entrepreneurial. George Foreman is an example of a

sport entrepreneur as he gained recognition as a boxer and

then started selling internationally his barbeque grill using his

name as the selling point, which is called the “George

Foreman Grill”.

The benefit of entrepreneurship is that it offers direction to

business leaders who want to increase their companies’ social

and economic performance (Wolcott and Lippitz, 2007). A broad definition of entrepreneurship is the development of

enterprise and economic development (Hisrich, 1990;

Schumpeter, 1965). Enterprising individuals who apply sport business practices to solve problems are sport

entrepreneurs. These individuals use their entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and management a venture to

induce some kind of change in the business environment. The

primary goal of a sport entrepreneur is to make a beneficial business impact that might also affect other areas of the

economy through its social and environmental influence.

Branding in sport

One of the most important assets of a sports organization is its brand (Bauer et al., 2005). Many brands particularly sports brands have transcended geography by focusing on the global appeal of the sport (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). The most

successful sports teams team in Europe are those that have

been successful on the field such as Manchester United ($259 million brand value), Real Madrid ($155 million brand value)

and Bayern Munich ($150 million brand value) (Bauer et al., 2005). Other professional sports leagues have formed separate business units in order to expand their global reach. National

Basketball Association International has created a department to spread the National Basketball Association as a global

brand (Forster, 2006). The German Bundesliga football

league has internationalized through their international branding effort and increasing the television coverage of

their sports games so they are watched in 206 countries

(Cutler, 2009). Other sports teams have been focusing on international branding efforts by building a global fan base.

Real Madrid football club recently did this by arguing for earlier play times so Chinese fans could watch the games. In

addition, research by Koble and James (2000) found that the

fans of Cleveland Browns in the National Football League liked the worldwide community of fans and this stemmed

from the branding efforts of its football franchise operators. Sport teams globally generate millions of dollars in ticket

sales and official merchandise and much of this comes from

the brand. Professional sports teams are the most visible example of sport as a marketable product (Metcalfe, 1987).

The most valuable sports franchise in the world is the Manchester United brand worth approximately $1.8 billion

USD (IEG, 2009). Due to globalization sports fans are less

likely to support a sports team brand based on geographic connection and more likely to support them for personal

reasons (Lewis, 2001). Major professional football teams like

Real Madrid and Manchester United each have more than 100 million worldwide supporters (Estridge, 2007). As many

people live and work in countries different to their birth country, supporting these sports teams act as an “overseas

sweetheart” as they live far away but the sport team is close to

their heart (Ben-Porat, 2000). In the global marketplace overseas supporters of sports

teams becomes increasingly important because of the reputation of different sports institutions. Sport is controlled

by a number of global sport organizations including the

International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International

Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the World

International sport marketing: practical and future research

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Volume 26 · Number 8 · 2011 · 614–620

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Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) (Forster, 2006). Other less

prominent global sports organizations include the World

Arm-Sport Federation (WAF-arm wrestling), the International Federation of Sports Acrobatics (IFSA-

Acrobatics), the International Federation for Robo-Soccer

(FIFA-robot soccer) and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF-ice hockey) (Forster, 2006).

Corporate social responsibility and sport

Corporate social responsibility involves companies incurring a responsibility to society beyond financial returns. In the sport

context, corporate social responsibility is increasingly

becoming important in shaping business, economic, political, environmental and social policies in the global

marketplace. Corporate social responsibility is integral in the

global business environment but it has only recently been discussed with professional sports teams (Walters and

Chadwick, 2009). Most professional sport leagues have incorporated corporate social responsibility into their business

models with the National Football League having a

relationship with United Way and the National Basketball Association developing the “National Basketball Association

Cares” campaign that encourages players to partner with

social institutions. The United Nations has promoted sport worldwide as a

means to promote education, health, development and peace. Sport has a number of unique factors including mass media

distribution and communication power, youth appeal,

positive health impacts, social interaction and sustainability awareness (Sheth and Babiak, 2010). Little empirical research

has been conducted on corporate social responsibility and sport despite most professional sport teams highlighting their

commitment to corporate social responsibility (Sheth and

Babiak, 2010). Sport is an important vehicle for corporate social responsibility as it can influence the quality of life of

employees, customers, shareholders and residents of local and

global communities (Pava and Krausz, 1997). Sport can help shape corporate social responsibility activities in businesses

around the world by focusing on the changing role and perception of society (Baughn et al., 2007). Increasingly more professional sports teams and sports-related businesses are

using corporate social responsibility as a key part of their overall business operations. Many organizations sponsor local

sporting clubs and encourage employee involvement in sport as a way in which to engage in their local community. Due to

the concern about the growing social divide between lower

and higher classes of society, many companies have refocused their policies on how they can contribute to regional

development (Sagawa and Segal, 2000). In addition,

philanthropic activities offer sports teams a way to increase their social standing in a community and at the same time

partner with organizations who wish to reinforce their commitment to socially responsible projects. All types of organizations involved in sport whether they are

for-profit or not-for-profit have a responsibility to act in a positive way that enhances overall social welfare. Many

organizations in the international environment have the added incentive of helping developing countries with their social

policies and a way that transcends language and social barriers

is sport. Organizations therefore need to engage with their stakeholders and community in order to facilitate social

change (Sagawa and Segal, 2000). Sport has a direct

connection to social issues as it can provide guidance to

organizations on health, the environment and a diverse

workforce. In addition, more sustainability initiatives

involving sport are being utilized as a form of corporate social responsibility as many sports utilize a large amount of

infrastructure from sport stadiums to playing fields and

practice areas.

Tourism and sport

Global interest in sport has been encouraged through mega

sporting events like the Olympics and Football World Cup (Rowe, 2003). The largest world countries now include the

BRIC economies consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China,

which have large populations (Wilson and Purushothaman,

2003) but do not have developed professional sports leagues as is common in the United States and Europe. In order to

encourage the adoption of professional sports teams in these

BRIC countries a large number of sporting events have

occurred in Asia. FIFA held the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan and the FIFA Club World Cup is shared on a biennial

basis between Japan and Doha. Malaysia hosted the 1998

Commonwealth games and India will host the 2010 games. The English Premier League also proposed as international

round, which would be played in international locations

outside the United Kingdom including Asia but was not

pursued. In Formula One motor racing events four of the seventeen events are in Asia (Japan, China, Malaysia and

Singapore). This increased internationalization of sporting

events has encouraged sport tourism as people plan holidays

and work events around sport. Professional sport has rapidly developed into a mainstream

operation (Noll, 2003). Global recognition of sport is found is revenue, governance, entertainment dollars and dynasties

(Hunter and Mayo, 1999). Many governments around the

world invest heavily in sport with the expectation that it will

aid in economic and social development (Hoye et al., 2006). FIFA has a global vision with its motto “For the Game, For

the World” (FIFA, 2008). FIFA was one of the first

professional sport organizations to be international when it

was established in 1904 by the football governing bodies of France, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain and

the Netherlands (Sugden and Tomlinson, 1998). Currently

FIFA now has 208 member country associations, which is second to the International Athletics Association Federation

and the International Basketball Federation that both have

213 member countries. These three sport organizations have

more members that the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations and frequently dictate to

governments and businesses around the world business

terms (Millet et al., 1999). FIFA also has partnerships with many large multinational firms including Adidas, Hyundai, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Sony and Visa (Sugden and Tomlinson,

1998).

Regional development and sport

Many sports businesses are now going into emerging

countries as their traditional markets represented by North

American and Western European countries are maturing (Nys, 1999). As there is a general trend of economies towards

internationalization, entrepreneurial sport ventures are

actively looking for new profitable international markets.

International sport marketing: practical and future research

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Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Volume 26 · Number 8 · 2011 · 614–620

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Many sport teams are expanding to foreign markets

particularly Asia to capitalize on the rapid economic

development of these countries. Manchester United has established foreign outlets to sell merchandise and many of

these outlets are in Asia (Hill and Vincent, 2006). Asia is a strongly targeted market by professional sports teams as they

are highly populated (1.4 billion people for China), they have

increasing levels of purchasing power reflected in their per capita income and are high consumers of sports merchandise

and media. Many Asian sports fans have developed their interest in sport through watching foreign movies and keeping

up to date with developments on the television and through

the internet. In addition, some Japanese fans of Major League Baseball have developed their interest by watching Japanese

players in the United States (Hong et al., 2005). In China, many Chinese have developed an interest in the National Basketball Association by watching Yao Ming play in the

United States (Associated Press, 2007). Team sport is characterized by its multi-level production

structure (Bauer et al., 2005). The first level includes other team members, the second includes another team and the

third is the championships that connect single teams to a

larger competition. Sport is an important component of leisure time activity in society (Moutinho et al., 2007) and in a regions international development strategy. Sport is a competitive and dynamic activity that can be individual or

team based depending on the international context. Some

sports communities around the world can be described as a tribe because of rituals and feelings about sacred sporting

places (Moutinho et al., 2007) that contribute to the development of a country or city based on a sports team.

This is particularly evident in Spain where football clubs like

Real Madrid sell 1.5 million shirts outside of Spain (Davila et al., 2007).

Marketing and sport

Internationalization of the global economy has meant that many sport marketers now look to the global market instead

of one region in their marketing efforts. Innovative

international marketing techniques provide a way to support sport and at the same time enhancing a company’s image.

Technological innovations have encouraged entrepreneurial practices and the use of better products and services

(Schumpeter, 1947). In addition, interactive marketing

approaches that encourage innovation, risk taking and proactive behavior of entrepreneurs encourages novel ideas

to flourish (Covin and Slevin, 1991). Sports marketers are utilizing internationally interactive marketing mediums to

connect with consumers in real time. Cell phones, iPads and

iPhones have enabled people to watch sport games interactively and this has been encouraged through social

networking sites. Technological innovative media made possible by Web 2.0 has enabled marketing to be more

interactive and socially complex (Cooke and Buckley, 2008).

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter have encourage marketers to aim at technologically savvy

consumers (Junco and Mastrodicasa, 2007). An example of an entrepreneurial sports marketing campaign is the AT&T

laptop card with pitchmen and sports figures (AT&T

LaptopConnect, 2009). Other sports marketing ideas have utilized Twitter, blogs and professional networking groups like

LinkedIn to target particular types of consumers.

Action sports

Action sports have also been referred to as alternative, lifestyle,

extreme, whiz, panic, post-modern, post-industrial and new

sports (Wheaton, 2004). Actions sports include risky,

individualistic and alternative sports such as surfing, BMX

bike riding and wakeboarding (Bennett and Lachowetz, 2004).

Snowboarding and skateboarding are considered the fastest

growing sports in the United States and form part of the action

sports family (National Sporting Goods Association, 2006).

Action sports have increased in consumer and corporate

interest during the past decade (Cianfrone and Zhang, 2006).

The growth in the action sports industry has been encouraged

through increased media coverage of sporting events such as

the ESPN X-Games and the Mountain Dew Action Sports

Tour shown on NBC. Action sports offer a practical solution

for sports managers and marketers wanting to see the direction

that future sport will take and how they can enter emerging

types of sports that will appeal to different demographics and

international markets. Sports that were once considered cutting

edge such as windsurfing are now mainstream sports so it is an

interesting research avenue for sports practitioners to consider

what the next type of action sports are and whether changing

international demographics such as the ageing of the

population will affect the uptake rates in these new types of

sport.

Conclusion

Sport is an international business activity that is

entrepreneurial in nature. This paper has discussed the

internationalization of sport with a focus on how to combine

the sports management and international business literature

more so that the practical implications of international sport

can be identified and strengthened. Sport-based

entrepreneurship was discussed that highlighted the many

international sporting endeavors that both amateur and

professional sports organizations are involved in. More

research should focus on case studies of sports

entrepreneurs and how they have internationalized. In

addition, longitudinal studies of the innovation process that

made these international sport entrepreneurs successful

would help to see the practical implications of starting and

maintaining a sport-related international business venture.

The role of branding in international sport was examined that

illuminated how important reputation and image is in the

international marketplace. More empirical work is needed on

comparing different sports brands internationally and the

origins and expectations of the entrepreneurial sport founders

in creating these sports brands. Future research questions

might ask: What is the role of a sports brand in expanding an

organizations market reach internationally? How can sports

celebrities can or hinder a sports brand? Corporate social

responsibility was identified in this paper as being a

cornerstone of an international sports venture. As more

people and businesses worldwide are becoming more

concerned about sustainability and environmental initiatives

it is important that firms focus on how encouraging sport-

related activities can add value to their bottom line. The role of sport tourism was discussed as being part of the

international business environment. In particularly, the

changing economic conditions of many countries worldwide

in changing sport tourism were highlighted and this will be a

International sport marketing: practical and future research

Vanessa Ratten and Hamish Ratten

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Volume 26 · Number 8 · 2011 · 614–620

618

continuing interesting research avenue of inquiry as global

superpowers such as India and China continue their dominance

of the international business landscape. Future research could examine whether professional sports leagues like the National

Basketball Association will be started in these countries as

separate business entities or if the existing professional sports leagues will continue to expand in these countries. It would also

be novel to study whether different types of sport popular in

Asia such as martial arts and taichi will gain in popularity worldwide at the expense of traditional sports such as baseball

and basketball. The role of sport to a regions development was proposed in the paper as being a unique starting point for

understanding international sport business activities. More

research work is required on how regions can harness their economic and social potential internationally by finding ways to

encourage people to participate in specific sporting activities

and events that are endemic to a particular region. For example, how has the Tour de France bike race internationalized the

sport of road cycling? International sport marketing was discussed as it is an important communication vehicle for the

globalization of sports teams and organizations. The last section

of the paper discussed the role of action sports, which incorporates new types of sports such as kite surfing as being

the new vehicles of international sport marketing. Practitioners in the sports management area need to take

advantage of the international marketplace for both their

business activities and marketing strategies. As the shift in international business has focused more on Asia due to the

rapidly advancing economies of China and India it is

important for professional sports teams to spend more money on these emerging markets. It is also important for

practitioners in sport to encourage a form of “glocalization” in

the branding of these sport teams so that the well known international sport brand reputations such as the New York

Yankees can be retained as part of their globalization efforts

but at the same time developing some localization strategies to appeal to the Asian market. These strategies may relate to

clothing or colors used that appeal more to Asian consumers. For example, the color red and the number 8 is a sign of good

luck in China, whilst the color white symbolizes funerals in

Japanese culture. Knowing the right sports marketing campaigns in these burgeoning markets will increase the

successful globalization rate of professional sports teams from

the North American and European markets. Merchandise and ticket sales could be altered to suit the culture and tastes

of different cultures in Asia and different religions. Overall, this paper has focused on the various different

practical and research avenues for international sport

marketing. As the world continues to globalize it is vital that more practical and research inquiry is focused on how to

combine both the sport marketing and international business

literature in order to establish a robust research agenda for future international researchers from around the world to

focus on international sporting developments.

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Corresponding author

Vanessa Ratten can be contacted at: [email protected]

International sport marketing: practical and future research

Vanessa Ratten and Hamish Ratten

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

Volume 26 · Number 8 · 2011 · 614–620

620

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