Marketing in UK sport associations

This article presents the results of an empirical study into the marketing of UK sport associations. A 44-item scale is used to investigate the extent to which UK sport associations are marketing-oriented. The results suggest a low degree of marketing orientation amongst such organisations. Key variables identified as influencing the degree of marketing orientation are the size of an association and respondents' subjective assessments of the spectating and playing status of their sport. The majority of sport associations possess only a limited understanding of marketing, and view the discipline principally as a promotional or money-making vehicle.