The sports industry is one of the key income generating industries in the world. It consists of a market whereby the businesses products are sports related. The products may be services, goods, people, places or thoughts. In society, sports play a crucial role and it is clear that it is indispensable. Besides, media involvement in the sports industry has developed close links between sports and other industries.
Sports industry and the economical, rational behavior of sports operators
Though sports industry has been found to be a core revenue source for different states, the industry does not totally apply economic principles in its operations since it is not purely business oriented. Apart from the provision of revenue, it has other crucial roles which include recreation, health promotion of individuals involved, promotion of social contacts and environmental conservation among others.
Mostly, many of the sports industry activities are financed by sponsors who have no personal interests and who not necessarily require anything in return. As a result, this industry has been able to grow at exceptionally high rate.
As the economy becomes unstable, it is expected the sports industry will tighten its conditions if it has to purely apply economic principles. Some of the changes expected to be introduced include increasing the prices of the tickets sold to fans to watch a certain game. If this happens, many fans will opt not to watch their favorite games through televisions. Hence the industry may not achieve its objectives.
Most of the players are sponsored by well wishers in the sports industry because many have talents in their respective sports but not financially stable. If the sponsors applied economic principles, then there would be no sponsors willing to help the economically challenged but talented persons in society.
This will discourage the promotion of social contacts of the poor and the industry would be left for the rich. In addition, there would be no discovery of talents and completion would be low hence the sports industry will have no future.
Sustainability of sporting leagues in Australia (netball, ice hockey and A-league football)
In Australia, there are many sporting leagues in the various types of sports. Sustaining a league requires different stakeholders to support it in different possible ways. Moreover, having many leagues in different sporting activities in a state may be cumbersome to manage.
The fact that all the leagues require finances in order to run, some of them will not be able to acquire enough finances because they will have to share the few available funds. Only the popular leagues will be able to survive because many sponsors will be willing to support them. The netball, ice hockey and the A-league were not sustainable in Australia because it was quite challenging to get enough finances.
Due to the various leagues in a state, some of them can attract a sizeable population of supporters hence gaining popularity than the rest. If a league is popular, it grows faster because the best players, referees, coaches and other stakeholders will be willing to be identified with it.
Other leagues face the challenge of not being able to get the qualified players and therefore difficult to sustain. This explains some of the reasons why netball, Ice hockey and the A-leagues in Australia are unsustainable.
In recap, sports industry is crucial towards developing economies of different states and also to improve the social contact of a community. Hence, it should be managed carefully and all decisions should be based on the success of the industry but not personal interests.