Australian Sport Industry

What is sport? Review relevant definitions of sport and build a definition that you can justify and apply to the evolution of the sporting industry and the evolution of the management of it.

In my understanding, sport usually includes all types of physical activities that are competitive which aim (through-organized participation or casual) to improve, maintain, and use physical ability and provide recreation for participants. There is a wide variety of sports ranging from those that require two participants to those that include hundreds of participants competing individually or in teams (Loy, 2007). Evidently, sporting activities are found in the physical dexterity or physical athletic. Other organizations like the Council of Australia use dimensions of preventing activities that do not have physical element categorized as sports. Nevertheless, some competitive activities, which are not physical must be recognized in a category of mind sports. Through ARISF, the international Olympics committee recognizes both bridge and chess as bona fide sports, and the international sports federation association, sport accord recognize five sports that do not include physiques although constraints the number of mind games that are taken in as sports (Beisser, 2007).

Sports are usually regulated by a set of customs or rules that function to ensure that fair competition exists, and provide reliable adjudication of winners. Winning is many cases is determined by scores or crossing of the line first or by adjudication by judges who are evaluating the scoring elements of the competitors, including subjective or objective measures like the artistic impression or technical performance (Bernie, 2008).

2. Is sport an industry? Based on the review of the definitions of sport, which sports belong to the industry and which do not? Build a typology of the sport industry and define the sport industry, classifying and segmenting the various components of the sport industry.

The Australian sporting industry is a market in which organizations, businesses, activities, and are people involved in organizing, promoting, facilitating, or coming up with any activity, business enterprise, and experienced based on sports. In this industry, the products being offered to the buyers are related to the ideas, places, people, services, or goods represent the businesses (Caillois, 2008). Three segments have been identified concerning the sport industry; sport production, sport performance and sport promotion segments. Sport performance is a product meant for spectators and participants of sporting activities. Therefore, this product is given a separate treatment because of the nature of marketing spectatorial and participation products. However, they fall under one category because they exhibit significant similarities. Sport performance is offered as a participation product to buyers in a wide range of product offerings. Consumers have the opportunity to participate in different sports, market segments, leisure activities and performance segments. Sports settings include tournaments, sports leagues, educational classes, and camps. The sports industry offers a wide range of products, which have been consolidated. It is clear that fitness, recreation, and sports activities have different definitions; they offer buyers with similar functions and benefits including stress management, competition, fun, entertainment, and workout (Loy, 2007).

As a product offered to spectators, sport performance comes in different forms of products; spectating by attending sporting events, spectating through media channels, spectating sports events via videos and direct speciation through listening to the radio and forming visual images in the mind. Spectatorial products offered to consumers do not involve any costs on the side of consumers. They include thousands of baseball leagues, softball leagues and volleyball leagues as well as other sporting competitions, which people watch and enjoy events. It is certain that these sporting activities are bound to remain in the status quo. However, recently, a number of sporting products have been provided at the expense of the consumer; pay per single viewership programs. With the increasing number of sport events for viewers to watch, the demand for spectating will increase due to the cost of spectating (Beisser, 2007).

Another important segment is the services and product, which represent a component that represents the percentage of dollars spent on sporting goods. This segment comprises of sport apparel, sport equipment, and sport foot wears. Researchers have recoded that consumers are spending significant amounts of their income on sport equipment and athletic footwear. We also have the recreation and entertainment segment that is commonly referred to as spectator, participant, and leisure sport expenditures. This segment comprises of a wide range of expenditure assortments participation fees paid by youth in recreational centers, tickets for professional sport events, fees paid for visiting sport halls, and fees paid for track events (Caillois, 2008).

3. Consider the characteristics of the various agencies and organizations within the sport industry and briefly explain the evolution of sport management and how it integrates with you typology.

Different people have been involved in the sporting industry coming with their own definition of sports. This indeed is an international industry, and sports arouse deep passion among the players and spectators alike in the states around the world. From a single person’s perspective, sports is an arena for gambling or a mechanism of self entertainment and fitness, ranging from playing tennis, running, cycling or skiing to another one (Bernie, 2008). The perception is different to business people because sports provide a growing and lucrative market place that is accompanied with immense investments. In addition, the perception continues to differ as athlete’s view it as a medium leading to high levels of achievement in person. To professionals, sports is bound to bring fame and fortune. To developers of facilities and local authorities, sports are a venue of creating revenue from local fans and tourist.

Sports are deeply rooted in education, right from the start of elementary straight to university levels. Maybe we cannot confidently state that we are all enriched by sports, they entertain a good percentage of the world’s population. Not only economic impact but also sports in a broad way play a great deal in gripping entertainment. Millions and millions of people are fans to different sports and make follow-ups to their respective sports through online, printed publications, television, or radio as either spectators or participants (Broughton, 2002).

Sports are a big deal. A combination of the top four leagues in Australia namely, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Basketball Association, and the National Football League, brings in estimated revenue of $24 billion in a typical year, but this is just but a part of the pie. In Australia, the sale of sporting equipment at stores for retail of sporting goods, are estimated to be $41 billion annually according to figures by the Australian government. An estimate for the total sports market of the Australia would be roughly $400-$435 billion every year. Nevertheless, the sporting industry is accustomed to many complexities such as facility income, fees for stadium naming, endorsement income, advertising with relation to sports, sporting goods, collectibles, sports video games, licensed products, and ticket sales. It is very hard to compute all the figures in annual revenue. When doing a research of numbers in the sporting industry, be ready for many contradictions. For instance, the National Football League receives an overwhelming amount of money annually for cable and TV broadcast rights as compared to MLB, disregard the fact that teams of MLB plays ten more games than NFL teams each year (Loy, 2007).

When considerations of the astonishing wide range of sectors related to sports are put in place, an overwhelming segment of the developed states workforce such as Australia, Japan, UK and U.S. rely on the industry of sports for their lively hoods. Figures from the Official Australian Bureau of Labor Statistics as of 2012 came to the realization that there existed 12,630 Australian professional athletes and another 193,810 scouts and coaches, 15,630 officials, referees and umpires. In the meantime, the data displayed that 489,200 Australians are workers at fitness centers, 39,700 are now working in snow skiing facilities, 68,300 working in bowling centers and another 342,300 working at county clubs or sectors of golf. Others working in the wholesale trade sell sporting goods (Broughton, Lee & Nethery, 1999).

National Sporting Goods Association research shows that experience in individual sports, recreation, and exercise are evolving continually in Australia. The study of sports participation in 2011 by NSGA showed that kayaking is the fastest growing sport in Australia among consumers aging from seven-year and older. In 2010, kayaking increased with a percentage of 26.6%, and was cross-country skiing came in second at 11.5%. In third place came wresting at 9.4%, followed by aerobics exercise with an increase of 8.9% and closing the chapter was running/jogging with a percentage increase of 8.9%. It is significant to note that these fastest growing sporting activities are accompanied with expensive equipment or expensive memberships for clubs (Bernie, 2008). Partaking in fitness classes like Yoga and Zumba are strong. Tennis is continuously growing, and in 2010, it recorded a 7.0% increase. Tennis sport is less costly; one can nurture this idea of making it to a tennis court without using a lot of money. In the meantime, the number of golf players is depreciating in the long-term, even though the audiences for golf events that are televised still hold their ground (Bernie, 2008).

Evolving fashions and technologies have an immense outcome on the sales made from sporting goods in certain sectors. Manufacturers of sporting goods are continuously seeking for reasons why consumers should buy new equipment. Manufacturers of golf club and golf balls have adapted new technologies, which have proved to be a success to them. Makers of snow ski and board make use of new technologies once they are available. In addition to this, manufacturers of ski gears come up with new fashions and designs in a bid to get more customers purchasing their goods, whether or not new significant technologies are involved. Nanotechnology has played a critical role in enhancing tennis sport equipments like tennis rackets (Rosner & Shropshire, 2004).

The media is increasingly being use in delivering information about sports. Of the most viewed online categories, sports coverage tops the list. At the same time, television devices are assisting fans to watch events as per their schedules. The fast emergence of sports news and video events delivered through excellent mobile screen is bringing in a significant outcome. There is an increasing continuous and rapid change in the entire sporting industry as the taste of consumer and the product line of the manufacture continue to evolve (Broughton, 2002).

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2001). Volunteer Work, Australia. Retrieved From

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/

Beisser, A. (2007). The Madness In Sports. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts

Bernie, E. (2008). Games People Play. New York: Grove Press

Boyle, R. (2007). Sport-Mirror Of American Life. Boston: Little Brown

Broughton, D. (2002). Dollars in Sports – Methodology. Street & Smith’s Sports Business

Journal, 4(41), 25

Broughton, D., Lee, J., & Nethery, R. (1999). The Answers: $213 Billion. Street & Smith’s

Sports Business Journal, 2(35), 23-29

Caillois, R. (2008). Man, Play And Games. New York: Free Press

Caplow, T. (2010). Principles Of Organization. New York: Harcourt, Brace And World.

Fromm, E. (2009). The Sane Society. New York: Fawcett

Loy, J. (2007). The nature of sport: a definitional effort. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett

Publishers

Richard K. Miller & Associates. (2006). Sports Marketing. Retrieved From Sportdiscus With

Full Text Database

Rosner, S., & Shropshire, K.L. (2004). The Business of Sports. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett

Publishers.