Advertising in Sport Everywhere You Look Essay

Advertising in sport everywhere you look Pure and simple. My brother loves the game of hockey. He doesn’t care about all the media and advertising surrounding the game, he just simply loves the sport. Tonight he’s going to a New Jersey Devils hockey game purely for the love of the game. He’s going to wear his Reebok, New Jersey Devils jersey and go to the Prudential Center to see the game. The Prudential Center is located near the new Red Bull Park and not far from the Izod Center, which until recently, was known as Continental Airlines Arena. As usual, he’ll park his car in the Ford Lincoln Mercury Parking Lot and proceed past the Verizon Tower to get to the PNC Bank Tower. He’ll proceed up the elevator past Lincoln Mercury Level 1 and give his Ticketmaster ticket to the attendant. He will then meet his friends near the Bud Light Goal Bar. Because he’s not 21 years old yet, he won’t be able to take advantage of the bar experience, but he’s sure to be thinking about the enticement at the entrance which reads â€Å"The red light is on! Time to hit the Bud Light Goal Bar. Occupying an expansive area on the north end of Prudential Center on Lincoln Mercury Suite Level One, the Bud Light Goal Bar offers fans a hip, modern bar atmosphere overlooking the ice. The Bud Light Goal Bar features dozens of flat screen televisions, so while you and your guests enjoy a cold one, you are guaranteed to see all the action. † Next, he will take the elevator up one flight to the Ford Level 2 seating area and buy a program before he gets settled into his seat. If he’s thirsty, he can buy a drink that comes in a Coca Cola cup, even if it’s not Coca Cola. The game will begin soon after the TV advertising time is done. As he waits, he will probably remove his NHL hat and peruse the Devils program to check the team’s statistics and information. Or, he can read about the best investment bank to use, or where to trade stocks for a bargain price. He’ll find out where his favorite team’s apparel can be purchased or what the official mouthwash of the New Jersey Devils is. There are many other events that are coming to the Prudential Arena so maybe he will think about attending one of them. So much to think about before game time arrives. As the game begins, all focus will be on the game itself, if he can manage to not be distracted by the lighted advertisements that continuously change to hock a variety of goods and services. After all, he is only there to watch the game. As to not be confused about who is winning the game, he can look up at the PSE&G scoreboard to know who just scored a goal and what the game score is. I’m sure it will be an exciting night for him, because, purely and simply, he just loves hockey. Relationship between Sports and Media â€Å"Sport and mass media share a very symbolic relationship in American society. On one hand, the staggering popularity of sport is due, to no small extent, to the enormous amount of attention provided it by the mass media. On the other hand, the media are able to generate enormous sales in both circulation and advertising based upon their extensive treatment of sport. † The amount of advertising in sport has become very extreme. In almost every aspect of a sport you can find some form of advertising or media being exposed. The players, the coaches, the memorabilia stores, the stadiums, the teams and especially the commercials during televised games, all include media or advertising in some way. Athletes and Advertising As the saying goes, â€Å"If the shoe fits, wear it†, especially if you’re being paid to wear it. Many all star athletes are given opportunities for endorsements. Popular athletes in advertisements can make a product more attractive to sports fans. Although it is effective to use athletes to promote products, sometimes it becomes a little excessive. Instead of advertising for a couple of products, athletes today are spokespeople for numerous companies. Peyton Manning, the star quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts is said to be the NFL’s, â€Å"Most Marketable Player. † He is currently associated with over seven different products including Gatorade, Reebok, Sprint, and DirecTV. By participating in all these advertisements, it makes it visible that he is doing these ads just for the money. In cases like this, an athlete can be involved with too much advertising and become overexposed. Another case of athletes being overly concerned with dollars is that of Michael Jordan. In 1992, Jordan participated in the Olympics as part of the United States Basketball â€Å"Dream Team† and won an Olympic gold medal. When he learned that on the gold-medal stand he would be expected to wear the official red, white and blue United States warm-up suits with the Reebok logo, he threatened not to appear at the ceremony. â€Å"I don’t believe in endorsing my competition,† Jordan said. â€Å"I feel very strongly about loyalty to my own company. In saying this, it seemed as if his loyalty to his country didn’t matter to him as much as his loyalty to his brand. In the end, the United States Olympic Committee came up with a compromise that said basically anyone who has a personal corporate sponsor who objects to the team sponsor’s name showing on the United States Olympic uniform has the right to obscure what he does not want to show. In this case it wa s the Reebok logo. Television Advertising The Superbowl is known as one of the biggest and most watched events in all of sports. The crowning of the World Champions of football has an enormous audience. In addition to the game, we get to be entertained by the half time show and wait for the cleverly scripted television commercials. The Superbowl is known for its elaborate advertising. Every year, people look forward to seeing the creative new commercials being broadcasted during the football game. For companies to broadcast in a thirty second time block during the event, they must pay nearly two million dollars. In the past, television commercials were a time to leave the room for a quick break from watching the game but now they have evolved into an advertising extravaganza. In the case of the Superbowl, the NFL almost makes more money from advertising then they do for simply broadcasting the game. Advertising on Uniforms The sport with sponsor advertising being the most prevalent on team jerseys is soccer. If you turn on the Fox Soccer Channel to watch the English Premier league you might notice that a large majority of the teams uniforms have a sponsor’s name posted across the front of the jerseys. For example, the 2008 Barclay Premier champions, Manchester United, wore red Nike jerseys with their sponsor’s name (AIG) written across the chest. When soccer fans buy replica jerseys such as Manchester United’s they become part of the advertising scheme. Sponsors believe that the more jerseys sold, the more their name is out for the public to see. Therefore, the sponsor’s goal is to place their logo everywhere possible to expand the popularity of their company. Conclusion In conclusion, to answer the question posed, â€Å"Is sports based media and advertising excessive? †, the answer would have to be â€Å"yes. † Advertising isn’t as simple as the old song, â€Å"Take me out to the ballgame† suggests. When we heard the lyrics, â€Å"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks† we thought about the experience of being at a ballgame and enjoying the day while munching on some ballpark staples. In today’s advertising environment, we would have to sing the song with some updated lyrics. It won’t be easy to sing â€Å"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks.