This book explores key and topical issues that are emerging in the field of sport marketing, while calling for further attention to the thriving sports industry.

Marketing was one of the first topics to attract sport academics? attention, based on its close relationship with revenue generating activities, for example ticket and merchandise sales, and television coverage. Soon after, sport marketing begun to be appreciated no longer as a mere commercial tool, but instead as a wider umbrella of promotional elements that encapsulates aspects such as commercial sponsorship, advertising and publicity, while centring on the fans and the engagement with them. Recent developments in technology, such as the creation and adoption of new and social media have also attracted sport marketing?s attention, with ample literature exploring this new hybrid element of the marketing communication mix and how it is utilized within the sport ecosystem.

This book will be relevant to scholars, practitioners, and students interested in the evolving strategies of sport marketing and the impact of technological advancements on fan engagement and industry practices.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Strategic Marketing.

Table of Contents:

Sport marketing?s past, present and future: An introduction to contemporary issues in sports marketing 1. Brand consistency and coherency at the London 2012 Olympic Games 2. Sponsorship programmes and corruption in sport: management responses to a growing threat 3. Social media and sports: driving fan engagement with football clubs on Facebook 4. There goes my hero again: sport scandal frequency and social identity driven response 5. Exploring value co-creation in Fan Fests: the role of fans 6. The influence of sport sponsorship on brand equity and purchase behavior 7. Role of the stadium in the value enhancement process of a rugby union match