ABSTRACT

This chapter aims to better understand the place of marketing within professional football by analyzing the evolution of sport business and its role. It redefines and analyzes the key concepts and characteristics of the discipline and then address the question of the economic value and marketing potential of clubs, players and coaches. Supported with primary data collected from several professional sports organizations and personalities from sports business, the chapter discusses different football marketing. It discusses analysis of football marketing characteristics promotes the understanding of its emotional impact, its specificities as a sports service, and the definition of the professional sports entity by combining the central stakeholders of its ecosystem. The chapter focuses on strategic construction of a brand based on four key steps: defining an identity and brand image, the segmentation, the positioning of the sports entity in the market, and the development of operational marketing actions.