Professional sports teams: going beyond the core

Abstract

Purpose The addition of products to the core of matches by professional sports teams (PSTs) has received much coverage. However, there has been limited work as to how their stadiums are used to stage non-sporting events. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how clubs in the English Football League (EFL) use their venues to diversify into other markets. Design/methodology/approach Secondary sources were used to categorise the teams who played in the EFL by: average division turnover, stadium capacity and stadium age. Semi-structured interviews were held with a member of the commercial teams of 21 clubs. Findings Clubs use their stadiums to supply a range of products and working with partners is commonplace. These products are targeted at a range of stakeholders, such as supporters, the local community and regionally based organisations. In addition to their own efforts, increased geographical coverage for clubs usually develops in three ways: via internal marketing by local organisations who use the facilities, agents who market the stadium for the club and the EFL who market the league/clubs holistically. Research limitations/implications The use of a stadium allows PSTs to diversify by providing new products for new markets. In this instance it has led to the development of capabilities in areas such as conferencing, funerals and weddings. Originality/value This is one of the first papers to examine the capabilities developed by PSTs that lie outside the staging of matches.

Building a brand portfolio: the case of English Football League (EFL) clubs

“…Recent literature has examined brand extensions that are not targeted at sports fans but aimed at different markets. These include the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes (Anagnostopoulos, Byers, & Shilbury, 2014) and the use of stadiums as multi-purpose venues to stage non-sport events (Pritchard et al, 2019). Although these studies state that PSCs offer a portfolio of products, they have not examined the branding approach adopted.…”

“…These operate only at certain times of the year, making use of both the event producer's and stadium's brand, enabling PSCs to serve a different market to sports fans and reduce the reliance on income from sport (Frumkin & Keating, 2011). These markets may overlap, as sport fans may attend non-sporting events, which in turn can be used to promote sports brands to non-fans (Pritchard et al, 2019).…”

“…However, as von Schnurbein and Fritz (2017) observe there may be a need to concentrate on generating revenue in a few areas in which an organization has the capacity to operate. For PSCs, a diversification strategy allows their stadiums to be used when matches are not being played and to increase their customer base beyond sport fans (Pritchard, Cook, Jones, Bason, Salisbury, & Hickman, 2019). Additional revenue from staging events helps to maintain the financial viability of a PSC, which may be needed to comply with governing body regulations .…”

Dimensions of Football Stadium and Museum Tour Experiences: The Case of Europe’s Most Valuable Brands

“…Football-also known as soccer-is one of the world's most popular and engaging sports [1,2]. The football team core product has been defined as a 'series of league games with an uncertain outcome' [3] (p. 404), but, according to Pritchard et al [4], the cited definition does not cover all of football stadiums' current uses. These facilities offer more products and services than just sport [5].…”