1. Changing the sport product: marketing implications for championship rugby league clubs in the United Kingdom.
- Author
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Mackreth, Kacy and Bond, Alexander John
- Subjects
RUGBY football teams ,RUGBY League football ,SPORTS administration ,PROFESSIONAL sports ,ATHLETIC clubs ,SPORTS marketing ,MARKETING management ,ATHLETES ,RUGBY League football players - Abstract
Purpose: Professional sports teams and leagues operate in a crowded market, thus, occasionally change league structures to remain competitive in the marketplace. However, the implications of such changes on strategic marketing planning is seldom explored. Design: Semi-structured interviews with 11 second-tier Rugby Football League (RFL) club executives and 1 national governing body executive. Findings: Very few clubs had a marketing strategy, therefore, engaged in very little strategic marketing planning. Furthermore, the main barriers were resource and skills, and, organisation and leadership. Practical Implications: The RFL need to concentrate on making sustainable shared resources which develop capabilities. For example, developing a standardised yet mouldable strategic marketing package would reduce the financial and knowledge resource barriers. Research Contribution: d This paper makes theoretical contribution to sport management, specifically barriers to strategic marketing practices within professional sports organisations. It also brings lower-tier professional sport clubs into focus, which are often overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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