While some will argue sports marketing is a relatively new concept, others have debating the use of sports marketing as early as the late 1800's. The following paragraphs will discuss early sports marketing, how sports’ marketing has evolved over the years, and current sports marketing methods.
Tobacco companies have often been given credit for the earliest methods of sports marketing. In the late 1800's, tobacco companies began inserting baseball cards into packs of cigarettes, in hopes of boosting sales, and to help develop brand loyalties. This was likely the very first sports marketing method ever used. The baseball card concept quickly evolved to other products, namely bubble gum. In this day and age, baseball cards can be purchased by themselves, unlike when they were being used as sports marketing tools.
As early as 1936, actual athletes were being used in sports marketing methods. Jesse Owens, an Olympic champion, was the first athlete to receive a product as advertising means. He received a free pair of shoes. As the years passed, other known athletes were used in sports marketing, to market products and services including:
• hotel promotion
• restaurant promotion
• clothing line promotion
Now, in the new millennium, the sports marketing trend has grown and evolved, and has become a great method of product or service promotion. As sports leagues become more popular, so do the products and services the players endorse and promote. Even in the day of Mohamad Ali, when people noticed he wore Adidas shoes, they began to wear them, too. The same concept applies to today's world, and today's athletes. People tend to trust a product or service, if their favorite sports personality trusts it.
Different forms of sports marketing have been around for quite a while. Over the years, sports marketing methods have evolved, and are now commonly used to promote products and services.
