What makes a sport local, regional, or global?
Local cultures, communities and individual venues of a location may make sport remain local. Such local sports have a strong connection with history, culture and community of the location. These sports may also be available in other countries. However, participation and connection only remain strong in countries of origin. For instance, the Japanese Sumo Wrestling is only popular in Japan.
Some sports may be local but have a huge fan base and have become commercial enterprises. For instance, the US basketball and baseball are in other countries. However, these sports have their local backings from schools and colleges. Consequently, they have become a symbol of the US identity. Therefore, culture, community and national identity may make sport local.
Some sports have a regional presence. Such sports are present in other locations of the world, but predominately in countries of origin. For instance, we do not only have baseball in North America where it originated, but also in Japan.
On the other hand, some sports have acquired a global presence. This mainly occurs as a result of international competitions in leading sporting events, such as Olympic Games, and Soccer World Cup, among others.
These sports enhance a sense of national identity and culture through international competition (Grimwade and Howard, 1997). Sports like soccer, golf, and tennis have a fan base across international televisions and have become successful through advertising revenues. Among these sports, soccer stands out as the most popular across the world.
What major drivers are responsible for internalization of Manchester United?
Manchester United has international merchandising sales through its Manchester United Merchandising. The club is growing its global fun base through Manchester United Magazine. At the same time, the club has televised games that go beyond the UK. For instance, Rupert Murdoch global media led to global growth of Manchester United in 1990s and early 2000.
In Africa, Manchester United fan base as grown as a result of Super Sport from Dstv. Manchester United also as its own television channel, MUTV. The club’s popularity also grew as a result of Internet activities among its supporters (Bernstein and Blain, 2001). By the year 2003, Manchester United had a global fan base of 53 million.
Manchester United has sponsorships from leading companies such as Nike and Vodafone. These organizations have increased the global presence and financial strength of the club making it one of the wealthiest in the world. In addition, the cross-border take over by the Glazer family in 2005 increased the club’s global popularity (Stotlar, 2009).
Manchester global fan base also grew as a result of its wins in the FA Cup, Premiership, and Europeans Champions League. The wins have attracted a range of regional sponsors (Amis and Cornwell, 2005). Consequently, the club’s revenue and profit have grown considerably.
The club popularity also comes from its mixed players. A half of the club’s players consist of foreign players. Manchester United is a global club and business entity with an international business strategy (Rugman and Collinson, 2008).
How important are Manchester United’s strong local roots to its international success?
Manchester United growth starts from the local team and community. The club demonstrates strong regional culture of the North West industrial England. Rivalry and competition from other clubs such as Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool, among others have created multinational brands in these teams.
The case study shows that 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the local fan base. Manchester United has become part of the cultural identity of its English fans.
References
Amis, J. and Cornwell, B. (2005). Global Sport Sponsorship. Oxford: Berg Publishers.
Bernstein, A. and Blain, N. (2001). Sport, Media, Culture: Global and Local dimensions. Portland, OR: Frank Cass Publishers.
Grimwade, J. and Cox, H. (1997). Global Business Strategy. Andover, UK: International Thomson Publishing Services.
Rugman, A. and Collinson, S. (2008). International Business, 5th Ed. New York : Prentice Hall.
Stotlar, D. K. (2009). Developing Successful Sport Sponsorship Plans. West Virginia: Fitness Information Technology.