Beyond Football (2) – Sports Federations

In the first part of this series we examined broadly some case studies of how different markets have developed alternative platforms for sponsorship and consumer engagement. We established from the case studies that it is possible to build other platforms as we have seen in the case of South Africa and India.
Talking about India, there was a newsbreak last week that the Indian Cricket body has been approached by the All India Football Federation to help fund the Indian national football team. The Telegraph reported that the BCCI, the Cricket body could give a $2m grant to the AIFF’s ‘Goal 2011 Project’. The project involves withdrawing 25 players from club duties for nine months to build the national team for the 2011 Asian Cup Finals in Qatar. The richest sports body in India is obviously the BCCI. The body earned about $222m in 2007/2008 and it has set aside a fund of $11m to fund other sports!!!!
The Nigerian case is clearly demonstrated in the number of medals the country has won in the Olympics over the years. There are several reasons why the status quo has not changed over the years. While football has continued to command a wide gap in the market, the other platforms have not offered any credible opposition. Because of the structure of sports administration in Nigeria, the marketing and running of sports is entrusted to Federations, which are funded by government and controlled by the government. In a lot of cases, the federation officials do not actively promote or market their products to corporates.
Each sport has its own essence, its own appeal and its own target audience that cannot be replicated. There are people who are more passionate about athletics than football or about polo or cricket or handball. The federations need to understand the essence of their sports and the brands that will benefit from this core essence. In doing this, they must also understand the different brands and their positions.
For instance, the marathon or any road running generally offers a proposition that is unique and more engaging than many football events. The marathon is perhaps one of the few sports that bring about 10,000 to 20,000 people actively participating in an event at the same time. It offers different opportunities for engagement. Apart from the group dynamics and the competition that it offers, it also offers personal assurance, confidence and conviction. A runner may not be running against the other runners but just running to show that he can finish a race no matter what time it takes. Some runners are running as a group to promote a cause or just to bond, while others are running to beat a certain time. At the core, the marathon offers certain benefits that football may not offer. Up till year 2002, the marathon was seen from the competitive professional perspective. But from year 2003, when MTN picked up the sponsorship of the half marathon, the appeal and essence was expanded to reach thousands. Glo has carried on with the same benefits and the federation has continued to reap the benefits of the properties. Even within the same marathon class, the essence of the Glo Half marathon is different from that of the Obudu Mountain Race, another road race. The essence of the Obudu race is serious and competitive while the Lagos Half marathon appeals to the essence of achievement, friendship and conviviality. The marathon could be used as a window event for the athletics federation.
The more the federations can fine-tune the essence of their sport brands, invest in building their brands and understand the brands that will be best served through their properties, the more they will be able to command good sponsorship deals. Rugby may not be popular with the mass audience in Nigeria but the game has its own followers and its own essence. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that any of the federations invests in research or any other fact finding tool to enable them to sharpen their marketing focus. This could be partly due to the structure of the federations, the nature of succession and the absence of guarantee of tenure in the federations. If the federation is not sure of its tenure, how can they sign up a marketing company for the long term? It is difficult to sell without first building the property and developing different niches.
Most recently, the Basketball Federation signed up a partnership deal worth N163m over four years with Multichoice. The league will be known as the DSTV Basketball League. Based on research, basketball commands very high followership in Nigeria. However, because the sport does not feature on television as much as football, the appeal is muted. The Federation has also not seized the popularity and youth appeal of variations like Street Ball to build the popularity of the game. With the right strategy, investment and timing, basketball can be more popular than the Nigeria football league among young people.
Research is essential in crafting enduring long-term strategies and if the federations do not invest in this key tool, they will continue to struggle. The problem is the short-term attitude of some federations and the lack of long term thinking from others. In some other cases, it is more about money that can be made right away and not the long-term interest. Federation heads often chase sponsorship from companies or individuals on emotional basis. Sometimes they do get sponsorship commitments using the emotional connections and other personal relationships. The challenge is that once the benefactor or the MD’s tenure ends, the new MD does not see any benefit from the sponsorship and therefore the platform is dropped. This inability to drive sustainable, long-term partnerships is one of the key challenges for federations.
There are different strategies available to federations who want to breakthrough in their sponsorship drive. The outlook must be long term and the approach must be clear. There must be some good level of assurance of the tenure of the federation because there must be good investment in the federation’s brand. The more the sport can attract the desired audience, the more the federation can sell their properties. The federation can employ the window strategy to attract interest. They can promote a sub-platform that is attractive and use it to sell the main platform. This example has been shown in cricket worldwide. Different variations of the sport can be organized to gain pop-appeal. The PGAN, from its approach, seems to be setting a clear example for others. From the business-like set-up and the tenure guarantee, in the long term, the PGAN is likely to attract serious sponsors, other things being equal.
In the next series of this article, we will examine this issue from the point of view of the brand owners and managers. The final series will look at the non-sports platforms. Please join our discussion on our blog to discuss your perspective. Join us at http://connectmarketingonline.com to continue the conversation.