Abstract
The spectator sport industry is simply one form of entertainment competing for the consumer's disposable income. As the competition for consumer spending intensifies, spectator sport organizations are finding it more difficult to remain as profitable as in the past. The problem stems from two areas: the spiraling costs of funding professional teams and collegiate programs, and the number of entertainment options available to the consumer. Furthermore, spectator sports have seen a steady decline as a percentage of total recreational expenditures from 3.9% in 1970 to 1.3% in 1994. Under these conditions, one strategy for sport organizations to compete with other entertainment options and increase their share of the entertainment market is to form strategic marketing alliances in the form of “regional sports alliances.” The purpose of this paper is to introduce a conceptual framework for regional sports alliances competing in the entertainment industry. A brief review of the strategic alliance literature is followed by a descriptive presentation of the conceptual framework. The paper concludes with a hypothetical example of how a regional sports alliance might operate.
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