Sports will never be the same. With the fall of Corona, Mantle, and even Nike, sports business 

is now more competitive than ever. The brands that survive will be those who take a new 

approach to marketing and reach out to new consumers. Here are 10 things to consider when building your next sports business strategy.

The future of sports is no longer tied to the fan experience

Corona, Mantle, and Nike took control of the sports business by undercutting their competition 

in price and by targeting their traditional fans with innovative products. The result was a market 

was segmented into casual fans, passionate fans, and die-hard fans – all separated by price. 

Baseball marketed itself to casual fans while basketball marketed itself to passionate fans. 

America watched sporting events on TV while Italy watched them live for free on TV.

 In fear, I wrote a post about the team plane when the Los Angeles Dodgers traveled from Los 

Angeles to Denver for a series against the Rockies. Sure enough, there was a brawl between 

Dodger and Rockie fans. The post was well received and I continue to write about team travel today.

The truth is that unless you’re a sports star, traveling with a team isn’t that exciting or 

glamorous. And if you’re not traveling with a team, going to games live at least once is usually 

worth the price of admission – not to mention food and drinks outside of your home stadium are 

typically priced higher than what you’ll find at home. So while the fan experience may be all that 

matters to you, for most people sports is entertainment and also a chance to get away from it all.

The sports business is no longer tied to TV or live experiences

The real competition in sports business today comes from other forms of entertainment. Many 

people catch the game on TV while visiting friends and family. Others choose to stay home and 

watch the game online or through mobile apps. This leaves two ways for your brand to gain an 

advantage: innovation and original content. Innovation is easily seen on the field during a 

sporting event, where fans can now wear Google Glass, on their wrists with smart watches, or 

on their heads with virtual reality headsets (Google Glass).

As for original content, that’s where the real competition comes in. In an effort to compete with 

other forms of entertainment, sports brands are now putting more emphasis on TV and film. For 

instance, the MLB Advanced Media has been producing live games from cinematography views 

that bring us closer to the action than ever before. The NFL Films has a YouTube channel 

chocked full of videos from locker room speeches to an interview with Tony Romo. And NBA 

Entertainment produces a bi-weekly web series called “The Association.”

The survival of your brand depends on finding a new market for your services

Corona, Mantle, and Nike ruled their respective sports industries by marketing to their traditional 

fans – traditional fans who have been priced out of the business. Since your brand’s survival 

depends on the ability to find a new market for your services, it’s important to consider who 

those potential customers are.

We all know traditional sports fans are passionate about their favorite teams, players, and 

sports. However, they are also reliable customers to whom you can promote the same products 

year after year. This is what Corona did so well – they created a few new products every year, 

marketed them towards their traditional fan base, and sold millions of dollars worth of beer each 

year. The problem with this strategy is that it limits innovation. And for the past few years, 

innovation has moved at light speed because tech advances have changed everything from 

how we travel to where we work – including sports.

Fans are demanding more original content

While the fan experience has improved tremendously, sports fans are now more demanding. 

Fans are no longer willing to settle for generic commercial breaks on television. They want 

something different, something exclusive. Their sports are only as good as their players – or so 

they say. And so sports brands need to start producing original content that cannot be found on TV or online.  Macl Edge

But with the rise of social media, it’s easier than ever to create your own content live at a 

sporting event. For example, last year’s Kentucky Derby was streamed live on Periscope before 

the race began and was viewed by over 130K users – more viewers than even ABC aired that 

day.Learn how these brands are doing so by reading this article!

-The Soccer Ball Blogger blog post “How Sports Businesses Can Survive in a Post Corona” 

An increased competition in sports businesses has become apparent following the recent 

downfall of companies such as Corona, Nike, and Mantle. The companies that survive are those