SPT565 Internationalization Of Sports Business

Introduction

The following report will be dealing with the international expansion, global marketing along with the global promotion of the National Women’s Hockey League which serves as an annual hockey league participated by teams from different regions of USA comprising of all women players. To be more specific the following league is an Ice hockey league and was established in the year 2015 with just four teams to start with. These four teams are said to be the founding members of the league (nwhl.zone, 2018). The four teams are Boston Pride, Minnesota Whitecaps, Buffalo Beauts and Connecticut Whale. The following league was termed to be the first professional Women’s hockey league in North America to pay its players. The mission statement of the organization is to help the women players come forward in the industry and earn equal money as their male counterparts. The introduction of the Isobel Cup in the following league helped in the formation of a strong financial base for the league and attracted many a talented young woman to the game. The report here aims to throw light on the target of the following organization to market and promote itself globally. The company has targeted the Asian market to spread its wings in the eastern part of the globe and has chosen the Asian powerhouses China to spread the promotion of the league. The popularity of Ice Hockey in China is one of the main factors behind the selection of the country to spread the following game in China. Apart from this the National Women’s Hockey League aims to capture the growing market of China and enhance the spread of the game across the continent slowly. The League organizing committee will be entering into an agreement with the Chinese Ice Hockey Federation and will invest a healthy amount of money to promote new Women’s Ice Hockey League in China and helps the Chinese women by providing them a new road for their empowerment. The report will be identifying the way by which the company aims to establish the US women’s ice hockey by organizing a number of different events and programs and by also arranging some of the league matches in China.

Overview

Specific Business Data

The management of the National Women’s Hockey league has been undergoing a number of changes since the last year (nwhl.zone, 2018). A serious round of meetings over the past few months has led to the decision of making the organization a much more professional and followed league across the globe. After a round of discussions with the chairman, officials and a number of different stakeholders of the league, the decision to expand the league outside USA was taken. A majority vote by the members of the organization selected China as the ideal market of Asia to promote the league (Sung & Mills, 2017). The main source of increasing the viewership content in the country is seen by means of partnering an American based sports channel with that of a Chinese Television network. Such a deal will be necessary and the most ideal way to promote and increase the viewership content of the country. Apart from this the Sports Federation has also plans to organize live matches of the professional league in China with collaboration with the Chinese Ice Hockey Federation to make the game more popular among the women in the country.

Sales and Growth Opportunities in Target Nation

The interest in Ice Hockey is already present in China. However, the lack of proper infrastructure and proper investment in the game has restricted the Chinese Ice Hockey Federation to promote the game on a large platform. The absence of a professional Women’s Hockey League in China is perhaps the largest growth opportunity for the National Women’s hockey League in China. According to, Hänninen (2017) the organization of different kinds of promotional events and programs to promote the Ice Hockey program in the Asian country can really add winds to the sails of the Women’s Ice Hockey in China. The success of the promotional events thus holds the key to the gradual popularity and spread of the league in the country. The best promotional and marketing event that is being hatched by the ideas of both the federations in USA and China are to start a new Women’s pro League in China with the logical and technical expertise of the National Women’s Hockey League of USA. Apart from this the organization can also arrange some friendly matches amongst the league teams of China and that of USA in both the countries. The organizations can also arrange a friendly international match between the Woman’s Ice Hockey teams of both the countries. Experts believe that the promotional events to be carried out by the National Women’s Hockey League can help in the development of the game in China and will thus see a considerable market rise. The developmental agreement and the programs can also be beneficial for the Chinese players as they may get an opportunity to play in the National Women’s Soccer League in the near future.

Potential Costs Associated

The memorandum of understanding that will be signed by the organizations of both the countries will involve all the technical and financial clauses involved in the lead up to such a complex and varied range of plan. An estimated cost of around $2 billion will be invested by the organization in charge of the National Women’s Hockey League to ensure the best ways of promotion and marketing of the organization. The establishment of the plan and its proper implementation will be helpful for the achievement of the actual goals of the organization.

Sports Organization Analysis

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH	OPPORTUNITIES
Ø Financial Strength of the association along with proper backing Ø Promoting Women’s Hockey is the main strength of the organization	Ø Large untapped areas of Woman’s Ice Hockey market in China Ø Diversification and Scope
WEAKNESSES	THREATS
Ø Absence of proper infrastructure for Women’s Ice Hockey Ø Lack of interest among the woman community on Ice Hockey	Ø Distance is a real threat in organizing matches every now and then Ø Introduction of two Chinese Ice Hockey teams in Canadian Women’s ice Hockey League

Strengths- The financial backing and the financial strength of the organization is a source of great strength for the organization (Hänninen et al., 2016). The presence of American and Chinese investors is strength for the association. Apart from this the pledge to promote Women’s Hockey in China is itself one of the biggest strengths of the organization.

Weaknesses- The absence of proper infrastructure for the conduction of a pro hockey league in China is a major weakness (Turner, 2017). The lack of proper interest is also another main weakness that can hamper the promotional activities of the company in China.

Opportunities- The large untapped areas of Women’s Hockey market in China are a great opportunity for the company to establish itself gradually. The large-scale diversification of the game provides a large scope for its success in China.

Threats- The introduction of two of the teams of China in the Canadian Women’s hockey league obviously indicates the growing influence of Canadian League in the country. Therefore the National Women’s Hockey league have to act fast and smart to capture the market in China.

Readiness of the Organization

The above shown SWOT Analysis has clearly highlighted the strengths and the weakness of the organization. It has also presented the opportunities and the looming threats that tend to disrupt the expansion process (Hänninen et al., 2016). Thought the organization is quite ready to venture in China some crucial points like establishment of the time, planning the budget, lack of expertise still needs to be addressed to ensure the complete success of the following plan. The addressing of all such plans will help to make the establishment totally ready to expand the business accordingly.

Target Nation Analysis

Current Status of the Target Nation’s Economy

China is the second largest economy of the world and the leading country in terms of the growth of the economy. The status of the country in terms of economy is thus quite well enough. As mentioned earlier the availability of large amount of funds will help to execute the plan of promotion of US Women’s Ice Hockey in China a success.

Analysis of the Sports Industry in the country

The rising popularity of Women’s Ice Hockey in China and the ambitious plan of the Chinese Government to help the Women’s Ice Hockey team of China to win the Olympic Gold clearly describe the rising market of the country in terms of the following game.

Political and policy Challenges and Benefits

The US Ice Hockey Federation has to address all the challenges that may occur as a result of the MOU between both the federations of China and USA (nwhl.zone, 2018). The USA Federation has to provide a large amount of money in order to establish a ice hockey base in China. The organization must also share the fees of the match organization with its counterpart. The maintenance of all such facilities will be useful for the success of the goals of the sports organization.

References 

Hänninen, T. (2017). The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool in the Management of Concussion in Professional Ice Hockey.

Hänninen, T., Tuominen, M., Parkkari, J., Vartiainen, M., Öhman, J., Iverson, G. L., & Luoto, T. M. (2016). Sport concussion assessment tool–3rd edition–normative reference values for professional ice hockey players. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 19(8), 636-641.

Leeds, M. A., Von Allmen, P., & Matheson, V. A. (2018). The economics of sports. Routledge.

Nwhl.zone. (2018). National Women's Hockey League. [online] Available at: https://www.nwhl.zone/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].

Sigmund, M., Kohn, S., & Sigmundová, D. (2016). Assessment of basic physical parameters of current Canadian-American National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey players. Acta Gymnica, 46(1), 30-36. (Sigmund, M., Kohn & Sigmundová, 2016)

Turner, P. (2017). Professional sport. In Understanding Sport Management (pp. 62-75). Routledge.