ZDO Blog
Building a Spectator Base for Women's Olympic Match Racing
With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner and Women's Match Racing making its Olympic debut in London, supporters of the discipline have much to do. Make no mistake, just waiting to see if the event airs primetime on US networks and then watching the event will accomplish nothing, and may, in fact, damage the chance of the event recurring at another Olympics. Simply, we need to be proactive in order to keep Women's Olympic Match Racing from being a one-off event. What is absolutely essential is the building of a spectator base for the discipline. There needs to be a HUGE fan base, and those who matter at the networks and ISAF and the IOC need to SEE that huge fan base so that the popularity of the sport is unmistakable!
Where sailing organizations and yacht clubs have erred in their marketing efforts is that they seem to think that other sailors are the only important target audience. I wonder how successful Happy Meals would be if McDonald's would've only targeted parents in their ad campaigns (since the parents are the ones paying for Happy Meals). We have to appeal to a broader demographic, teach the world about match racing, about the simplicity of its course and laps, the complexity of its maneuvering, about its oftentimes close-to-shore proximity and subsequent spectator-friendliness. Once we've taught them, we can begin to get them excited. Get them hooked. To get them asking for Happy Meals.
There's an indirect effect of building this spectator base that is also essential to the sport, and that is the appeal of a large spectator base to potential sponsors. Big money sponsors want to get in front of as large a slice of the population as they can with their brand's identity. And so a large fan base is far more appealing. And ultimately attracts more participants AND viewers to the sport!
Who's responsible for building this spectator base? All of us. Any one of us who is passionate about the discipline needs to talk about it, write about it, blog about it. Yacht clubs, sailing centers and organizations need to market events by advertising them as broadly as possible, inviting the public at regional and local levels. After all, the idea is not just to market women's match racing or sail racing, but to build interest in the sport of sailing. The payoff will be worth it. It's from the new spectator base that we'll discover, train and watch new Olympians going for the gold in sailboats.
Bryon D. Zimmerman, CEO and Sailing Enthusiast
15.04.2010. 09:45
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