Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55470
Spotlight For the Sport of It Sports is a business that's increasing- ly crossing borders. That phenom- enon has become a focus of a sports marketing and management course taught by Richard Honack, senior lecturer of marketing at Northwest- ern University's Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois. In the course, offered for the first time last year, Honack's students discuss the movement of different nation-based leagues into foreign markets. For instance, they explored how the U.S. National Basketball Association is building 800,000 basketball courts throughout China and how the U.S. National Football League is moving into the United Kingdom. After delving Second-year MBA student and cricket player Usman Shuja on the field of play. into these expan- sions, Honack's students looked specifically at how fan loyalty can affect the global- ization of sports. They developed a case that com- pared fan affin- ity across three sports—college football, cricket, and minor league baseball. They found that fans remain loyal to their favorite sports and teams, no matter where they are in the world. That means that as more people cross borders to work and study, they'll bring their sports with them. 72 BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 If sports leagues are to become multi- billion-dollar business- es, they'll need well- trained managers. —Richard Honack Students also specifically studied cricket, the latest sport to be export- ed from its active fan bases in Eng- land and South Asia to elsewhere in the world. "It's the newest U.S. 'import,'" says Honack. As more people from cricket-loyal regions come to the U.S. to work and study, more Americans are participating in the sport. In fact, three years ago, the diverse international student body at Kellogg inspired the school to form the Kel- logg Cricket Club. The student-run organization holds matches within the business school, sponsors events focused on the business of interna- tional sport, and educates a new mar- ket about cricket. Second-year MBA student Usman Shuja is an active member of the Kel- Members of the Kellogg Cricket Club practice on campus. logg Cricket Club. He began playing cricket as a child in his native Pakistan and is now a member of the U.S. National Cricket team. He recently worked with Honack on a special research project that examined how well a professional cricket league might sell in the United States. "Outside the U.S., cricket is very commercialized—the league in India is worth almost $1 billion," says Shuja. "It has great potential to make money in the U.S., from sponsor- ships, retail sales of merchandise, and ticket sales at semi-professional league matches." The more global sports become, the more important it will be to include sports-based cases in the classroom. They offer a true reflec- tion of the force of globalization, says Honack. And, of course, the global expan- sion of leagues is good news for students interested in sports-related careers. "In the past, sports leagues didn't hire MBAs," says Honack. "Now their representatives are tell- ing us that if these organizations are to become multibillion-dollar global businesses, they'll need well-trained managers." ■ z