Sports have been the most popular form of recreation for people since time immemorial. The money made in the sport business from each league is ranging from 280 million dollars to yearly revenue of nine billion dollars (2012 Statistic Brain Research Institute). Sport leagues are being marketed more now than they were before in many ways like other major companies are. Leagues, organizations, and athletes are globalizing their trade and further increasing popularity in other parts of the world (Froetschel). Sports are becoming a growing business in America’s market because of the revenue it has produced for our economy, the marketing aspect in which it promotes fair play and sportsmanship, and, the globalization of sports is giving organizations and leagues a way to promote themselves in foreign countries.
According to the book Principles and Practice of Sport Management the definition of revenue is defined as money that is made or paid to a business or organization (Masteralexis, Barr and Hums). As of 2011 over 414 billion dollars have been spent in sports and the number is increasing rapidly (Masteralexis, Barr and Hums). Alone in college sports revenue has exceeded twelve billion dollars in 2011 alone. Big time athletic programs were spending anywhere from 45 million dollars to 126 million dollars, and generating revenue from numbers as low as 68 million dollars to 150 million dollars, making the profit anywhere from thirteen million dollars to up to twenty-seven million dollars (Karol). Revenue is being produced rapidly throughout the sport leagues and organizations. In spectator sports, revenue is generated from ticket sales, merchandise sales, media contracts, and sponsorships, and in non spectator sports the revenue can be generated through memberships, fees, and even equipment sales. Organizations generate funds and how these funds get allocated and spent are activities the organization does in relation to the business (Gorman 67). The factor of the return of invest is also significantly large when speaking of the revenue produced in sports (Investopedia). The return of investment is greater when buying undervalued athletes because they can generate revenue and will be worth a larger price tag, thus giving an organization the option to increase the money they can make. In the movie Moneyball, the theory manager Billy Bean had with the Oakland A’s was to win games to make the organization good and look good to other organizations while spending the least amount of money further generating profit to prove his theory was correct if a manager was allowed a low budget (Moneyball). Organizations and leagues are not looking for more athletes, but instead are looking for more business oriented graduate with a background in finance (Howard)
Marketing and advertising also play a huge role in the business of sports and how it affects the business. The purpose of marketing the team, league, or organization is to promote, create, and deliver goods and services to consumers and businesses; goods can be considered anything from fan apparel, to the actual game itself. One must create a demand for products, which is one of the golden rules in marketing. The aspect of marketing follows the Four P’s also known as product, place, price, and promotion. The product usually refers to the team, league, or organization. The product is very important because if the product is not any good, then it will appeal to the consumer or to other businesses who want to invest. The price deals with the cost of sport products and events. Price has to accommodate anyone from anywhere because an organization or league does not want to target certain groups because it will be more problematical to receive money from any consumer that does not fit the target market. The place is the area and setting where a product is consumed. The place plays a major role in marketing and advertising because location is everything. If an organization does not pick the correct area to sell their product, they can never flourish and establish themselves. The promotion deals with getting the product out into the market which is also known as advertising (Masteralexis, Barr and Hums 40-60).
Leagues and organizations must follow the money through the six primary sources where marketing is producing the money; properties, corporations, media, venues, merchandising, and agencies (Klatell). Properties are represented by any entity that can sell their rights, name, likeness or indicia for commercial purposes. Primary examples are teams (team owners) and leagues but athletes and personalities are also included in this category. Corporations are the sponsors that use sports as a marketing tool to reach demographic and psychographic groups. Corporations will sponsor properties, venues and media while using agencies to help them in these areas. You can consider Corporations and fans the universal donors in this equation and the properties the universal receivers. Venues are the arenas/playing fields for games. Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has creatively used his venue, Texas Stadium, in his personal war with the NFL. While teams are restricted against signing sponsorships with non-league sponsors, the venues do not have the same restrictions and Texas Stadium now has major relationships with American Express and Nike instead of NFL sponsors Visa and Reebok. Media and Corporations, along with fans, are the primary money generators in this equation. Merchandising/licensing is the fastest growing component of this equation. A company that produces a $1.50 t-shirt in Vietnam receives a licensing agreement from a property (UNC, NFL, etc) and now their $1.50 t-shirt sells for $18.00 because it has a logo on it. Agencies are becoming larger and larger players as the money pot gets larger. Much like the power brokers in Hollywood, Mark McCormack and David Falk on the player side, Jim Millman on the corporate side, and Dick Ebersol on the media side are the men that control the flow of dollars in this business. Their advice, expertise and relationships allow them important seats at the negotiating tables as they advice their clients on how to generate/or save money in the business of sports (Klatell). Sports are being marketed well enough that it is producing an excess amount of money and helping the economy at the same time with all the money generated.
Globalization is defined as growth to a global or worldwide scale (Froetschel). The increasing reach of media, improvement in communication, relaxation of trade barriers, and increase ease of international travel have given leagues and teams an easy way to globalize their product. American sports are becoming very popular in foreign countries. With all of the players being imported into the United States from foreign countries from all over the world, it is only to be expected for some people in those countries to follow those players, and furthermore begin to follow and love that sport. The players might not know it yet, but they want to play in places other than America. Players want to be known as the greatest in their specific sport, and the only way they can be defined as great is to have a worldwide audience who loves and adores them and the sport the play. (Howard). Money and foreign countries economies are even showing how sports are globalizing. Children in Germany are wearing Duke University Jerseys or a NFL team jersey. Reports by Bud Selig had Major League Baseball taking in over $6 billion in revenue this year. In 2005, the NFL pulled in nearly $6 billion in revenue. The Super Bowl itself brings in approximately 100 million viewers, with nearly 1 billion people being able to view the Super Bowl each year. Now that sports are getting the rest of the world involved the money that is being produced and the relationships that are being built with foreign countries are astronomical. In the business of sport, globalization accounts for generating a new market. The product or advertising message must be adapted to account for differences in cultures. Exhibition games are being played overseas to promote the sport to build the market in the foreign country. The NFL plays two games in London because Europe has the potential to produce large revenue for the American business owners who are looking to pocket extra money for their leagues or organizations. Corporations realized they must go outside their comfort zone to sell the product around the world. Sport business and their products have served as a platform for cultures and countries to coexist (Sports Business Digest).
The business of sport is rapidly growing and becoming a hot commodity in our economy. The revenue that it is producing has our economy strong, the marketing of the business is giving American sports a better name and clearing the bad that certain sports carry, and the globalization of sports is letting cultures coexist through the enjoyment of sport. The business is too lucrative, and the popularity of all the sports has produced enough money and drawn enough corporations and business to get involved, it is crazy not to think of sports as one of the largest businesses in our economy. (Gorman)

Works Cited
2012 Statistic Brain Research Institute. Professional Sports Average Salary/ Revenue/ Salary Cap. 28 July 2013. Statistic. 23 November 2013. <http://www.statisticbrain.com/professional-sports-average-salary-revenue-salary-cap/>.
Froetschel, Susan. Globalization and Sport. 2009. Article. 23 November 2013.
Gorman, Jerry. The Name of the Game, The Business of Sports. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
Howard, Hunter. The Explosion of the Business of Sports in the United States. 1998. 23 November 2013. <http://www.unc.edu/~andrewsr/ints092/howard.html>.
Investopedia. Return of Investment (ROI). 2013. 23 November 2013.
Karol, Tom. Big Money in College Athletics. 7 December 2012. 23 November 2013.
Klatell, David. "Sports for Sale, Television, Money and the Fans." Oxford University Press 6 October 1988.
Masteralexis, Lisa Pike, Carol A. Barr and Mary A. Hums. Principles and Practice of Sport Management. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2012.
MoneyBall. Dir. Bennett Miller. 2011. DVD.
Sports Business Digest. Sports are going Global. 19 November 2007. 23 November 2013.