Marketing Sports

Sporting events are thought to be significant economic generators for the areas in which they take place. Nations from all over the world compete for major entertainment events including as the Olympics and the World Cup. Sporting events such as the NHL are deemed helpful to the hosting communities in countries such as Canada (Kidd, 392). The NHL teams require the use of stadiums, and such facilities are typically expensive to fund. Private investors can fund such routes, especially if they are assured a return on their investment. Some, however, are too expensive and do not promise speedy returns to investors. In Canada, it is common for stadiums to be funded by the public so as to retain teams within the community and increase revenues from the events of the teams. This marketing plan intends to gather funds from the residents in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to build a new Stadium in their community. The audience is the local community of Edmonton which is to be asked to support the construction of the new stadium using their funds (Carey & Mason, 118). The funding worth $ 600 million will be the issue of public bonds and from the private investors that own the team in the NHL that will be using the stadium. The intent of the plan is to convince the residents to purchase $ 400 million in bonds to finance the construction of the NHL Stadium. The plan essentially intends to convince the residents to support the construction as well as entice them to become part of the investors in the project. The other audience for the market is also the investors from the local team who are expected to fund the remaining $ 200 million for the stadium.

Situation Analysis

The Canadian culture is more receptive to hockey games. In the 2015-2016 season, the average attendance per game was 17, 481 fans (Cintron et al, 20). The NHL incorporates teams in Canada and the United States making it a very lucrative league. The culture in Canada and the US, in which the league is prevalent, welcomes hockey and people are willing to pay much for the events. In Canada, hockey is deemed to be part of the national culture. The local community is quite incorporated into the hockey culture. The Edmonton team is part of the NHL which and thus influences the hockey culture in the local community. It is clear that the Edmonton society is culturally ready to have a stadium. The economic environment is vibrant. Canada is experiencing growth in its economy, and it is one of the world’s top economies. The community is financially capable of attending the games even though most of the attendance is anticipated to come from people outside the community (Soebbing 1682). The community has affluent individuals who can easily subscribe to the bonds that will be issued by the local authorities. The local government is also able to sustain the payment of the bond interest to the investors over the stipulated period of thirty years. The team investors are also financially capable of contributing their part for constructing the stadium. The investors will be willing to input their share since they will stand to gain after the completion of the project.

The political-legal process will be quite challenging (Cherney 78). It is, however, a common practice in Canada for the projects of stadiums to be funded by the public. In some economies, private stadiums are rarely recipients of public funding. The Canadian Federal government is known to fund such projects. The biggest political issue that often arises is the source of the public funds. It is common for people to argue federal funding of such projects and instead prefer local government funding. The main argument is that such project will mostly benefit the community in which the stadium is located and not the whole country. It is therefore considered to be politically inappropriate for the funding of the stadium to come from the monies of the Federal government with the intent of only benefiting the small community. The other political controversy that arises is the use of public funds to finance private premises. Once the investment is made, the main use will be for the NHL team. Many consider that the investors of the NHL team are financially capable of funding the projects without public assistance. The private investors often try to coerce private funding by threatening to move their teams to other regions. Though most communities disagree with the public funding ventures, they are willing to accept if the projects stand to benefit the community. The project is thus likely to be legally prevented if the funding is sought from the federal government. The political issue will be mostly from the local people who will object their funds being used to aid capable private individuals.

The competitive environment is probably since other towns have similar stadiums. One of the main threats for the proposed stadium is the probability of the decline of the local team. If the local team fails to compete in the NHL, that will result in the number of fans attending the matches and thus threaten the revenues to the stadium. The progress of the stadium is largely hinged on the local team being part of the NHL. The other potential competition is that of existing stadiums. However, the commitment from the team will ensure that all its activities are done in the new stadium. The technological environment has also advanced (Hollensen 113). The management of the stadium will be easier than before due to better communication systems. The construction technology is also sufficient to sustain the design and the model of the stadium required. In fact, the construction will be cheaper, and the management will be easier due to the existence of advanced systems. The stadium will try to incorporate all the designs of modern stadiums. The competition for modern stadiums has increased since more teams want bigger and more technologically advanced stadiums. It is practical that newer stadiums are likely to attract a better audience than the traditional stadiums.

SWOT

The main strengths of the stadium are that it will attract revenues to the local community and thus encourage their support. The hockey culture can also be considered as a strength for the project. More people will support the project due to the love for the hockey game. A key strength of the project is the investment by the team. In some cases, the public funds are used to pay for similar projects and the NHL team moves away even before the bonds are paid. If the club invests in the stadium, they will have a reason to stay and not move out as they please and thus securing the public investment. The other strength is that the stadium will have a multipurpose use such as that of hosting concerts. The multiple uses will ensure that the stadium has multiple revenue sources instead of relying on a single activity (Galician 56).

The main weakness of the stadium is the cost it has to the public. People might deem that the borrowed funds would have been used in community-based projects such as education and infrastructure (Scherer 43). The large debt to the local community is a major weakness. The opportunity, on the other hand, is the prestige that the town stands to gain from having the stadium. The creation of the stadium will further provide a recreational facility for the community. The community can have events such as music concerts to increase the revenue stream for the community.

The threats to the stadium include the possibility of the local team relocating. The investors might be unwilling to contribute their share and move to a town that is willing to finance the whole cost. The other threat that exists is that of technological advancements. The stadium could be designed to match the current technology level which is at risk of being drastically changed upon the project completion which is estimated at three years. The other threat that exists the possibility of the local government to deny the funding of the project. Another considerable threat to the stadium is the possibility of the local team exhibiting poor performance. If the team has poor performance, it could be locked out of the league and thus have poor ticket sales. Essentially poor ticket sales are the major threats to the project since they are essential in paying the public debt.

Strategy and Tactics

Strategy

The marketing strategy will be focused on convincing the local community that they will be the investors in the bond and therefore all the interests payable will remain within the community. The slogan for the strategy will be “You are the investors, and you are the beneficiary.” This approach is meant to convince them that the funds for the project will be retained within the community (Baker, 56). To foster this strategy, the proposed stadium will be built by local contractors and all the material used will be sourced locally and any material brought from outside will be that which is not produced locally. In essence, the strategy will be to convince the local community that the stadium will prioritize the local community (Canada Business Network). They will invest in the bonds, and they will carry out the construction. The strategy will further try to encourage the investment since the stadium will bring more economic activities in the region. The tourists will be prevalent, and the hotel industry will be booming (Shank and Mark 143). The monies that will be brought in by the visitors will be sufficient to pay for the stadium and thus guarantee that their money will be returned. The fact that the local team will be invested in the project indicates that they will not depart the stadium since they have a vested interest. This is an essential fact since it will guarantee that the local community will continue generating revenues as long as the team is in the NHL.

The other potential strategy is that of playing into the pride of the local community. As any other society there are needs to have a landmark that portrays the progressiveness of the society. Building the stadium will create such a landmark that will attract tourists as well as become synonymous with the society it is located. It is pride for the community especially if their stadium has the potential of hosting important matches in the NHL as well as other grand events in the country. The communities in having a grand and modern stadium will make them appear progressive and advanced than others. It is a moment of pride for them to participate in the historical construction of a monument that will last for generations and still contribute to the economic progress. This strategy essentially intends to appeal to the ego of the community members. By supporting the project, the community will be adding prestige to their name. The local hockey team by having a place to play will bring victories and pride to the home community. It is shameful for their home team to go to neighboring communities to hire stadiums instead of playing at home. By accepting the projects, they will be part of the vibrant Canadian hockey culture. This strategy is appropriate to those that might consider that there are no financial benefits that could emanate from the unobscured construction of the stadium. This is an entertainment avenue, and most societies do not anticipate financial rewards from entertainment activities.

The two strategies that exist are therefore that of appealing to the prestige and pride of the local community and that of promising economic progress as a reward for supporting the project. The preferred strategy is that of proposing a financial gain to the society. Most societies require an economic progress (Small Business BC). The politicians promise the creating of jobs and the improvement of the economic activities in the community. A project is likely to be supported by the community if it will financially benefit the society. The approach suggesting an economic benefit will be sufficient and more acceptable given that a lot of public funds are going to be utilized. The prestige strategy should only be used to convince the few who will not accept the financial gain aspect. It is quite challenging to justify that pride should be the reason that nearly $ 400 million of public funds will be used. Therefore it will be easy to convince the individual that the use of the funds is more of an investment and not a haphazard expenditure.

Tactics

Product

The product that is being sold is a bond that is worth $ 400 million. The product will mostly target the local community as the main subscribers (QuickMBA). Essentially locals are the ones that will be sought to finance the project and earn interest from future revenues. The sales of the bond will be an indication of the acceptance of the stadium project. People by buying the bond will have allowed the construction of the stadium. The idea that will be marketed is that of a financially viable multi-purpose stadium. The individuals in the local community are promised work in the stadium, and more business as visitors from other towns will come to attend events at the stadium. The bonds will be paid from the tax on ticket sales, stadium parking and tax on facilities in the stadium. The product is the stadium, and the bond issue will be its selling point. The stadium will bring an increased financial activity in the local community as well as provide a sense of pride to the community members.

Pricing

The pricing of the stadium is $ 600 million. The funds will emanate from the public accounts as well as from the local team owners. The decision to split the cost is to ensure that the local team does not leave the field upon completion in case it receives an offer from another town. A single bond will be valued at $ 100 to make it more affordable to the locals. The minimum number of bonds to be purchased will be ten units to help manage the issue process and still allow for local people to participate in the investment.

Place

The place that the bonds will be located is the local municipal offices. The resident will be able to purchase the bonds from these offices. The online platform will also assist in the selling of the bonds. This will be easier since more people will have easy access to the stadium project.

Promotion

The promotion for the project will be through various forms of media. To restrict the audience to the local community, the promotions will be through local television stations and Radio stations. Community centers will also promote the bond sales and also the local leaders will do it in local events. Several billboards will be set up within the community advertising the sale. Furthermore, a special launch will be performed at the municipal grounds to kick start the sale of the bonds (Wikihow).

Expected Results

The main expected results of this marketing plan are to obtain the approval of the bond issue and also have a successful issuance of the bond. The strategy will be successful if most of the locals agree with the construction of the stadium. This will be evidenced if the local leaders vote to approve the issue of the bonds for the construction. The approval by the leaders will indicate an acceptance by the people they represent. If the leader votes against the bond issue then the marketing plan will not have worked. If the vote has a narrow victory, then the bond issue will have been accepted by a lesser majority in the community. If however, the overwhelming majority supports the issue, then the marketing campaign will have reached the whole community.

The other measure of the success of the plan will be in the quantity of bonds sold to the local community. The number of local investors in the bond issue will be a measure of the plan’s effectiveness. The percentage of local investors should exceed the percentage of external investors to prove that the plan was sufficient. The other measure is the number of subscribers. The investors are to be spread across the community and not limited to a few wealthy individuals in the community to show that a majority of the community support the stadium construction. The most critical measure will be the number of bonds that will be sold. A complete sale of the bonds will prove that the people believe in the project and are willing to risk in its success.

Works Cited

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Chernev, Alexander. The marketing plan handbook. Cerebellum Press, 2015.

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Hollensen, Svend. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education, 2015.

Galician, Mary-Lou. Handbook of product placement in the mass media: New strategies in marketing theory, practice, trends, and ethics. Routledge, 2013.

Kidd, Bruce. ”Toronto’s skydome: the world’s greatest entertainment centre.“ Sport in Society 16.4 (2013): 388-404.

Scherer, Jay. ”Resisting the world-class city: Community opposition and the politics of a local arena development.“ Sociology of Sport Journal 33.1 (2016): 39-53.

Shank, Matthew D., and Mark R. Lyberger. Sports marketing: A strategic perspective. Routledge, 2014.

Small Business BC. ”How To Write A Marketing Plan“. Small Business BC, 2015, http://smallbusinessbc.ca/article/how-write-a-marketing-plan/.

Soebbing, Brian P., Daniel S. Mason, and Brad R. Humphreys. ”Novelty effects and sports facilities in smaller cities: Evidence from Canadian hockey arenas.“ Urban Studies 53.8 (2016): 1674-1690.

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WikiHow. ”How To Create A Marketing Plan“. Wikihow, 2017, http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Marketing-Plan.