The Future of Sports Marketing

If you have a chance read the following article from the Washington Post titled, “For Red Bull, It's Here, There and Everywhere.” Around the world, except in the United States, numerous companies own sports teams or venue to generate exposure for their business. Think about any sport – basketball, soccer, F1 racing or even Japanese baseball. I believe this is a smart marketing approach since the company has more control over all the messages that are being produced by the team. The company can have a PR and marketing person work directly for the team. The company also has more opportunities for cross-promotional marketing plans.

Interesting tidbit from this article:

“Red Bull's approach lies in the ownership of teams and events rather than just the sponsorship of them; this gives the company not just exposure but also control. Founder Dietrich Mateschitz estimates spending $300 million, or about a third of his company's annual marketing expenditures, on sports sponsorships.

The most well known, and the costliest, are the two Formula One teams. In March, Mateschitz -- who is based in Austria -- bought the New York MetroStars of Major League Soccer and renamed them the New York Red Bulls.

In 2007, Mateschitz will expand that sports budget by starting a two-car NASCAR team not surprisingly named Team Red Bull. There also are the smaller events: Alpine skiing, BASE jumping, sailing, BMX freestyle dirt and skateboard vert.”

Hopefully other companies in the United States will sit down and really analyze Red Bull’s sports marketing agenda. The will see that companies can generate a stronger ROI since they have more control over the whole package.