The Power of Branding in Sports

Throughout the world, sports are one of the most popular of all industries. Fan of various sports create an almost romantic bond with their favorite teams/players. Fans labor for countless hours at their jobs, make tremendous sacrifices for the opportunity to don the same shirt as their favorite athlete/team and will pay upwards of their monthly salary for the opportunity to watch them in action. Sports create an almost euphoric feeling for their fans and when their team/player is successful, they are riding a high that is unrivaled to almost anything except child birth and marriage. Millions flock to stores to buy up any piece of memorabilia available that just dons their logo or player's name. The only thing that matters to them is their team. A fan could be sitting at dinner with his/her significant other and their favorite team/athlete comes on the TV and everything stops and focuses on that player. They become a fixture in our life and we name our dogs after that player or team and everything revolves around the happenings of that organization. In a time where everything of value to us is failing and the world around us is crumbling financially, we cling to the one thing we know will never let us down.... our sports team/athlete.

But what sports fans fail to realize is that sports are a business. They work no different then your top businesses in the world (i.e. walmart, target, ExxonMobil etc.) Their goal is to turn a profit, and as big of a profit as possible. Athletes are making obscene amounts of money, cities are basing their financial future on the decision of one athlete and organizations are lining up at the opportunity to throw tens of millions of dollars in the direction of an athlete just to place their name on their product. Some of the largest companies in the world have reached their current level of success through this exact practice. Nike would be nothing but a niche basketball apparel organization without the benefit of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Adidas would be a niche soccer apparel company without the help of countless European soccer clubs. So the stakes are enormous. Athletes can create a brand that revolutionizes the way we live our lives. But with the enormous clammer that is caused by creating a global brand, the fragility of aforementioned brand exceeds their predetermined value.

All it takes is one decision, one ill fated incident, one failed heroic attempt and your brand will crash faster then the stock market in 1929. Branding is the ultimate risk/reward. This risk/rewards applies to more then just the athlete. During the infamous Tiger Woods scandal, advertisers were dropping his brand like flies and realized that anybody associated with his name, would be seen in a negative sense... This will also be felt in the wake of the LeBron James debacle that took place only a few days ago. Branding in athletes is the ultimate game of surfing in shark infested waters. While on the board, you are riding the waves and reaping the benefits of an untarnished image. But as you begin to fall off of the board, your image and brand suffers. Your only option is to get out of the water. Wash your hands of all association to that athlete/brand and find yourself the next "IT" star.