Sports Marketing Trends
Prepared by Atomica Sports Marketing, Inc.
China's sports revolution
Basketball superstar Yao Ming makes an immediate impact in the NBA and is poised to lead the next sports revolution.
"According to CSM, a Taylor Nelson Sofres Company, the nation's leading TV ratings firm, more than 6 million Chinese watched Yao's first game, a particularly impressive figure considering it was broadcast live at 8 a.m. on a Thursday. Another 6 million watched a taped repeat of the game the following night.
The NBA signed deals with a record 12 television stations in China this season, up from just one station last year, and it is in negotiations to sign a few more. China Central Television, the national broadcaster, shows two games each week, and the provincial stations show one or two additional games. Chinese sources said the stations each paid $70,000 to $230,000 for broadcast rights, depending on the size of their audience and other factors.
Overall NBA ratings have more than doubled in China. According to CSM, an average total of 15 million people watched the live morning broadcast and evening repeat of each NBA game on the national sports channel last month, compared with an average total of 6 million last year -- and an average audience of 11 million U.S. households during last season's NBA finals." (AP)
Sports Video game industry booming
The video game market in 2001 year was worth $9.4 billion, roughly $1 billion more than Hollywood's box office receipts for the same period. And sports games make up more than a third of the pie. (NPD - market research firm)
Here are some market specifics:
The Tony Hawk franchise is reported to have grossed $425 million over the past three years.
About 60 percent of Americans (145 million people) play video games regularly. (Interactive Digital Software Association)
Despite Weak Economy, Sponsorship Spending Still On the Rise
Sponsorship by companies based outside the U.S. and Canada including North America, worldwide sponsorship should reach $24.4 billion, a 3.4 percent increase from $23.6 billion in '01. Sponsorship spending by North American companies will grow 2.9 percent, to $9.57 billion. (IEG SR)
Emerging Sport hits the big screen
Kitesurfing has hit the main stream. Discovered by the French, popularized by Hawaiians, kitesurfing now has international recognition. Kitesurfing equipment is widely available, and videos and websites on kitesurfing have proliferated. The international association organizes events such as the Kitesurfing World Titles and the World Cup of Kitesurfing. Kitesurfing was also recently featured in the James Bond Movie "Die Another Day"; in the movie, Bond is seen kitesurfing on an enormous, 150-foot-high wave.
(Atomica Sports)
Australia's sports exports growing
"Australia Sports International estimates that exports of sports-related goods and services have grown at an average of almost ten per cent annually over recent years and are now running at $830(AUD) million per year."
(game plan 2006, sport and leisure industry strategic national plan)
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