Sports Industry Soars as Spectator Tastes and Technologies Evolve 7-16-2007
While it may not seem like it to the casual observer, the sports sector is constantly evolving in terms of personal tastes, popular games and technologies. For example, the number of people playing golf is dropping, while snowboarding and paintball have seen significant growth. Also, evolving technologies and fashions have an immense impact on sales of sporting goods within specific sectors. Sporting goods makers are constantly trying to create reasons for consumers to buy new equipment. In this thrilling thrill-seeking industry, it is important to stay on top of the consumer and business trends affecting how the business will change next. According to a recent report from Plunkett Research, Ltd., some of the most exciting of these trends include:
- Revenue Sharing Boosts Major League Baseball.
Total attendance for MLB games in 2006 was 76.0 million up from 74.4 million in 2005. Success for particular teams is spread across the entire league thanks to a revenue-sharing system by which all 30 teams in baseball must abide. Teams with revenue above the league average must make payments (worth the difference between the team's actual revenue and the league average) that are split among teams with revenue lower than the average figure.
- Hockey Rebounds from Lockout.
On September 15, 2004, National Hockey League (NHL) owners locked out players, effectively canceling the 2004-2005 season. Owners stood together to demand a salary cap to hold pay to a more reasonable percentage of NHL revenue-a deal that has cut salaries down to 54% of revenue from 66%.
- NASCAR Soars.
NASCAR is enjoying booming spectator attendance, revenue and television ratings. Attendance averages 127,000 per race, up from 115,000 in 1996, while the average ticket price for a NASCAR Nextel Cup series race has risen from $70 to $90 over the past decade.
To find out more about these exciting trends and more, check out Plunkett's Sports Industry Almanac 2008, just released, or go to www.plunkettresearch.com and sign up for a subscription to Plunkett's completely up-to-date online database!
About Plunkett Research, Ltd.
Plunkett Research, Ltd. is a leading publisher of complete business research and analysis resources, designed to enable professionals in marketing, research and finance to access complete trends analysis, statistics, technology analysis and financial analysis of the world's most exciting industries. For more information, visit www.plunkettresearch.com, or call 713.932.0000.