ESPN Target Market

The Cleveland Indians fans have earned the reputation of being extremely dedicated and loyal to their team. According to Rosko (2016), Cleveland Indians’ fan base was ranked in the top 250 in the world. It is no secret that the baseball team has a devoted following, but it does beg the question who are these fans? The followers of the Cleveland Indians’ brand will be segmented into groups based on their demographics and geo-demographics. For the Cleveland Indians, this will entail categorizing consumers into groups based on age, gender, family size, and region.

In order to thoroughly understand sports media, it is critical to understand the way in which sports media impacts its consumers. Millington and Wilson (2010) explores the impact of sports media by focusing on its impact on a group of boys in a Vancouver High School. Millington and Wilson (2010) analyze the way in which sports media impacts ones’ activity in physical education and the way in which one interprets sports media. Through their research, Millington and Wilson (2010) found that young boys are equally susceptible to the impacts of both physical education and sports media. While the impacts may vary, both sports media and physical education promotes the importance of masculinity in sports and general society (Millington & Wilson, 2010).

Sports are played and viewed on the television by individuals from every social class, however, the general population is mostly accountable for the tremendous popularity of sports. People from all over the world watch popular social events, such as the

Sports of old were merely competitive activities rooted in heroism and romanticism. Sports activities today, however, have no such innocence or simplicity. Currently in America, the activities that make up our sports culture is not only the competitive events themselves but the processes and issues that underlie and surround them. Entwined in our sports culture is the giant business of mass broadcasting. Indeed, sports and the media go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly, like Mickey and Minnie, Darth Vader and Luke. They are intertwined and depend on each other to continue to grow. Sports media includes television, radio, magazines, newspapers, books, films, and, now, most importantly, social media devices provided by the

In 2008, a study showed that the percentage of people who watched football in America (30%) was equal to the combined percentages of people who watched the next three top professional sports. (Baseball-15%, NASCAR-10%, Hockey-5%) This shows how drastically football’s audience in the country has increased. It is hard to believe that such a huge organization came from the passion of a few men determined to revolutionize the sports world. An insight to how, when and where it all started might have the biggest baseball fan asking, “Is it Sunday yet?”

Throughout the Michigan Sports Business Conference, undergraduate and recently graduated students were able listen to an impressive list of speakers speak about the sports industry and the digital age. This conference was able to create a smart and innovative agenda where various facets of the sport industry were discussed. Since people are extremely passionate about sports and would love to work in this field when they graduate from any university, MSBC put together this conference to attract top sport executives like Jaymee Messler, Erik Sorenson, and David Bowman to educate and develop the potential leaders of this industry. While every speaker and panel was fascinating to listen to, the speaker that was most captivating and alluring was the final speaker of the day, Jaymee Messler.

In today's media saturated culture, sports' programming has become a big business. The sporting industry, with annual revenues of over $100

Marketing plans and strategies are an important part of almost any business today. One of the biggest industries marketing plans have benefited and changed in a number of different ways is the sports industry. The development of the sports marketing industry has led companies to invest millions of dollars to have their product associated with specific teams, players, and sporting events attempting to connect with consumer and create profit for both parties involved. The money involved in sports marketing calls for these sponsorships and endorsement decisions to be made both strategically and confidently. After researching the sports industry from a business perspective the importance of marketing decisions is

Flashback to before September 9th, 1979, all televised sporting events were on ABC, NBC, or CBS, and fans had to wait for the 5 o'clock or 10 o'clock or the next morning's paper to see other teams' highlights and scores of. That was the pre-ESPN era. Now, sports fans have unlimited access about sports anytime they want 24/7 in today's sports world dominated by ESPN. William Rasmussen was the mastermind behind the fresh edgy network that's broadcast to over half the countries in the world. Blossoming into a mini-media conglomeration in its own, ESPN has conquered of the so-called "Sports Nation" does not show any signs of slowing down anytime take over. In addition of being a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company, ESPN's

This article continues to explain that once a sports marketer creates a product and advertises it on a small scale, “Sports marketers get ahead by gradually representing bigger, more important and more prestigious sports teams, companies, associations, and athletes.” In other words, sports marketers need to have a plan of action to promote their product on a larger scale over time. Also, sports marketers spend much of their planning on the aspect of promotion. Mihai verifies that the category of promotion serves to prove that the product is desirable through advertising, sales, sponsorship and public relations. If a sports marketer follows these planning steps, his/her work will lead to a successful product with a large margin of profit.

Brand sharing is extremely relevant across all brands except for Media Networks (because it covers ESPN and other adult audience channels).

Sports’ marketing is becoming more readily known as the vehicle that drives the sports business to success. It is “orientated toward consumers and about thinking, deciding and acting in terms of the final consumer. You have to know who your consumers are, what they want and need and use this effectively as a sports marketer orientating the drive more toward the market, not the product (Sports Marketing: The motor that drives the sports business

Through market research, Nike found the most impressionable consumers were these Football Obsessed Teens. Generally, these teens were around 17 years in age, Nike’s target age. Nike felt that the “17-year-od consumers were more independent, more driven in their football goals, could choose their own brand, buy their own products and form brand loyalty.” However, Nike recognized that this change would require an adjustment in their marketing efforts. Primarily, these consumers were not just “aspirational” but rather “inspirational,” a type of consumer that will want the tools to become the best possible player.

One important issue marketers need to realize is that it is essential to have a heavy commitment and solid customer focus and to attempt to satisfy customer wants and needs. (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012) Companies need to be able to gauge their threats and opportunities to fully understand the different roles in the marketing environment. Environmental forces, such as demographic, economic, technological, etc, can play a huge role in the marketing environment. Nike has been analyzed to give an example of the importance of understanding its marketing environment.

As teams use youth marketing to make their organization grow, they must realize it’s important to know the most appropriate time to deliver certain messages. Marketers must understand that marketing to a seven year old must be different than marketing to a ten year old. For example, the NFL has been working in the past few months to sharpen their focus. They have really focused on the eleven to fourteen year old group. Statistics show that the time in the life cycle when kids are making decisions about participating in football and long-lasting decisions about sports consumption and viewership.