Marketing and communicating products and services to consumers is nothing new and continues to change in light of new ideas, technology, etc. Organizations do not only focus on increasing profits, but also retaining the best employees in the world, and this is something that has grown considerably in recent years. I want to take this topic and run with it to a pivotal area of major interest to me, and that is college football. Narrowing this blog down, I want to focus on college football recruiting, which in its purest form is marketing a specific program at an explicit target audience with the desire for that group to choose your program or product, as you will. College football recruiting has grown into a rapidly competitive “arms race”, with no end in sight to the decadence and ambiance in spending in order to market one’s program to high school recruits. A relevant to question to ask then, is where will the excessive spending stop?
There has been an increasingly uneven playing field in college sports, most notably college football, where a select number of programs continue to surpass the others in regards to expenditures on facilities, player amenities, etc. As mentioned, this causes not only a divide in college football, but also a rift between how funds and donor contributions are utilized for unnecessary athletics spending, while other facets of the university receive minimal upgrades or attention. Brian Bennett from ESPN includes that over the last 15 years, college football programs have spend well over $15 billion on facility upgrades in order to market to these young football players (2014). This whole point runs full circle in what I am attempting to say, in that divulging strategic messaging about what one’s program has to offer in order to allure the top athletes, means putting a winning product on the field, thereby generating increased revenue and profits for the university (Steinbach, 2013).
Unlike many professional sports leagues, the NCAA does not regulate spending when it comes to upgrading and marketing one’s program. I want to generate discussion on this topic of marketing in regards to college football to see how others feel on the issue, and what if any limitations can be implemented to better enhance an equal playing field when it comes to marketing communications spending in this sport. Here are some articles that I found extremely interesting in regards to college athletics marketing and spending: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/15/athletics-cost-colleges-students-millions/2814455/
Keep in mind, all the upgrades and amenities are marketed at young high school athletes, here is a video of some of the example I am talking about.
Bennett, B. (2012, June 14). Arms race proves recession-proof. Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8047787/college-football-facilities-arms-race-proves-recession-proof
Steinbach, P. (2013, June). Schools Strategize to Increase Student Football Attendance – Athletic Business. Retrieved from http://www.athleticbusiness.com/college/schools-strategize-to-increase-student-football-attendance.html
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