The influence of marketing effectiveness on building long-term relationships in a sport environment

Abstract

The providers of professional sport are influenced by the ever-changing nature of sport as a form of entertainment and its subsequent effect on relationship building in the new millennium. The continuous aim of building relationships of high quality in a lucrative business field can only be achieved by means of effective marketing. In order to ensure marketing effectiveness, the quality of the relationship with spectators is a crucial success factor, influenced by the length of the relationship, value for money and the propensity to leave. An empirical study was undertaken in a sporting environment which investigated the quality of the clients' (season ticket holders') current relationship with the service provider (sporting union). An exposition is also given of the methods and procedures used in the study.