M's In Sports Marketing Analysis

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De Varona, D. (2003). ‘M’s’ in football: Myths, management, marketing, media and money. A reprise. Soccer & Society, 4, 7-13.
The importance of Title IX put women’s soccer on the map which encouraged a substantial rise in the number of female soccer participants in both the high school and college level. Much attention prior to this bill was given to male athletes and their respective sports. The evolutionary story of female participation in sport followed a group of impractical “truths” that attempted to rationalize why women should not be allowed to participate in sports. This article presents the effective marketing strategies that made the 1999 Women’s World Cup the most triumphant women’s sporting event ever to be displayed on United …show more content…

It is clear that one of the most important marketing tools/ characteristics any organization must have is to know the wants and needs of consumers. This greatly benefited the WUSA organization because of the way fans responded to the various promotions and media coverages by not only showing their support but attending many of the matches. The committee was strategic leading up to the event by also drawing fans from other/ differing sport realms by collecting and displaying the support of Michael Jordan (NBA), Billie Jean King (Tennis), the WNBA, and even former president, Bill Clinton. The United States Women’s National Team’s victory contradicted the myth that women athletes will never be as popular as male athletes because they would not attract an …show more content…

The notion that WUSA executives had was that their franchise would automatically attract fans and consumers because of the United States Women’s National Soccer Team’s success in the previous 1999 Women’s World Cup where they defeated China on home soil. This World Cup victory created a solid fan base that reached not only the youth or next generation of female soccer participants, but mainstream America as well. The research performed illustrated the multiple errors executed by the organization that eventually led to its downfall. Lasting only three seasons and lacking the coverage necessary to continue the team’s noble status, WUSA’s failure to pull corporate sponsors led to the organization’s decreasing revenues and increasing expenses (Southall, Nagel & LeGrande, 2005). Leading up to the ’99 Women’s World Cup, Nike released a commercial featuring Mia Hamm of the Women’s National team competing against NBA sensation, Michael Jordan. The ‘Anything you can do, I can do better’ theme played into the minds and heart of the nation which proves how effective and essential major sponsorships can be. Thus, the lack of corporate sponsors was the ultimate check that WUSA could not cash. Although the ’99 match was considered a “once in a lifetime event,” the methods

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