Sport teams’ brands going international: The ‘Integrated Marketing Strategy on the Internationalisation in Sport’ (IMSIS)

Abstract

In today’s world, going global is a strong leitmotif for companies of all industries aiming at increasing their revenues and profits while strengthening their brand reputation and prestige. Sport has followed suit, since what used to be a predominantly localised event has become an attractive international experience, whether it is a major competition spread over two to four weeks or a sport game played on a single day. With a convenience sample of 46 teams (or clubs) spread across North America and Europe, the main objective of this research paper is to identify the main strategies a sport team brand could implement in order to internationalise successfully. Studying our diverse group of clubs, from an organisational, financial and cultural standpoint, has enabled us to identify five strategies, namely ‘glocalisation’, ‘storytelling’, ‘sportainment’, ‘co-branding’ and the involvement of ‘fan-actors’. Through their synergies and complementarity, these strategies epitomise a conceptual model we introduce as the ‘Integrated Marketing Strategy on the Internationalisation in Sport’ (IMSIS).