The modern globalized world changed the conditions of the global market competition. The rapid progress of globalization implies that every country, city and region have to compete for their share in the world’s consumer, tourism, investment, entrepreneurship, sporting and cultural events. Also, the impact and the influence of public on political and business decisions has never been greater.
Tourists, foreign investors and consumers, as well as a high-quality foreign labor force, base their decisions on where to go on very few information and recommendations, and the number of attractive destinations is increasing. In such a competitive market, cities and countries must have unique features which will distinct them from others.
The power of „soft power“
Nowadays people are daily swamped with thousands of information and they are more likely to generalize. So, the image of a particular company, product, and even cities and states is increasingly gaining importance. In the modern world, image and presentation are superior to facts and reality. Today it is necessary to be different from the competition.
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American political scientist Joseph Nye has developed the concept of „soft power“ according to which modern states and cities compete less through their military, economic and political power. In fact, more market space is opening up for states and cities whose greatest wealth lies in areas such as nature’s beauty, stability of the social model, cultural excellence, heritage, wisdom and worldview of people.
That concept can especially be applied on smaller countries and cities which can gain their comparative advantage in the market competition against countries and cities that possess more “hard power”. Thus, smaller states and cities have to use other tools in order to assert themselves in the minds of the global public and to have a positive public image. Sport is, of course, one of the best tools.
Sport – one of the best promotional tools
Sport is one of the most profitable industries in the world, and some of the sports competitions have an audience of several billion people. One of the specifics of sports is the fact that in sport, „small“ can often be greater than the „large“, and the whole world can witness their success. The power of promotion through sports should be used mostly by states which are not so „over-hyped“ because that form of promotion has a much greater effect for them. The examples are the Carribean country Jamaica with its athletes and the small Baltic country Lithuania which had great promotional benefits from their basketball team.
My homecountry, Croatia, had a very big problem when it gained its independence in 1991 after the desegregation of the former Yugoslavia. Croatia was a small country with a population of approximately 4.7 million and the global public had known very little about this small and unfamiliar country, which was affected by War for Independence (and war is always associated with negative emotions). But then, Croatian sport has appeared.
Croatian national basketball team, led by the legendary Dražen Petrović, clinched a silver medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and provided the biggest resistance on that tournament to the original American „Dream Team“. Croatian handball selection clinched the gold medal four years later in Atlanta, but Croatia had the biggest promotional benefits in post-war years from the national football team which clinched the bronze medal on the Fifa World Cup 1998. hosted by France. WC 1998. had a television reach of 33.4 billion people, so the whole world had an opportunity to get to know our small country which played its matches in a unique „checkered“ visual identity.
After France ’98., Croatia has often used sport in order to promote itself globally as a small but beautiful country that cherishes democratic values. Goran Ivanišević, Janica and Ivica Kostelić, Croatian football, basketball, handball players and many others frequently „dressed“ in Croatian flag, talked proudly about our country during major sporting events. We can say that athletes did more for the promotion of Croatia than all tourist organizations and politicians put together.
Look what I find so far away from home… #ProudToBeCroat…🇭🇷 Fotografiju objavljuje Mario Mandzukic Official 17 (@mariomandzukic_official)
Promotion through sport is considered to be the purest and most positive type of promotion because all competitors in sports events have an equal chance to succeed. Certainly, sports promotion is one of the most popular and the most far-reaching promotional channel. Therefore, it is necessary that world’s destinations and their governments combine sport with quality promotion and fans who can be the best promoters of a destination given that they are proud of the success and identity of their team.
Benefits of organizing big sporting events
The most attractive and the most lucrative strategy for destination branding and representing it to a million people audience is the organization of global and continental competitions, of which the most highlighted are the Summer Olympic Games and the football World Cup. Organization of such sporting events has a huge effect on the creation of the image of the destination and its positioning in the world. Also, the cities and the countries which organize such events enjoy the benefits before, during, and after the competition.
The organization of the Olympic games and Fifa World Cups enables the strengthening of the international recognition through global media exposure, attracting the investors and arrival of visitors and spectators. But, such organization also has a long-term benefit such as infrastructure construction and reduced unemployment.
Through the opening ceremony, host countries and cities want to tell the world their story, promote their traditions and rituals, and, finally, they want to provoke emotions among billions of people.
The campaign name was „Australia 2000 – fun and games“, and its goal was to promote the positive image of Australia, to increase the long-term investments and to gain social benefits. They didn’t only want to broadcast the usual tourist sights, but to promote the Australian lifestyle and Australia as a brand. In fact, 15 years later Sydney is still perceived as the Olympic city.
Most popular examples of sports destination branding
An excellent promotion of the destination through sport were done by New York with their marathon and NY Yankees, Chicago with Chicago Bulls, France with Tour de France and Roland Garros, Monte Carlo with Formula 1 race, London with Wimbledon, Munich and Bavaria with Bayern, Barcelona, Madrid and Manchester with their football clubs, etc.
New Zealand made an excellent job by branding its rugby national team „All Blacks“ – threatening black sportswear, the silver logo of fern and scary haka dance (a ritual taken from Maori Culture) did quite well in the promotion of that far and beautiful former British colony. All Blacks clinched a gold medal during the 2015 World Cup hosted by England. 
Brazil had a great use of their football national selection, popularly called „Selecao“, which became a platform for presenting the Brazilian culture to potential tourists, local residents and investors. They certainly made a great usage of hosting the latest Fifa World Cup in 2014.
Happy 39th birthday @ronaldolima! The Fenômeno scored his 39th international goal against China PR at Korea/Japan 2002, where his eight goals inspired Brazil to glory. What’s your favourite Ronaldo memory? #Ronaldo #Brazil #Brasil #WorldCup #legend #Fenomeno #9 #Selecão #HappyBirthday #Parabens A photo posted by FIFAWORLDCUP (@fifaworldcup) on
Conclusion
Because of its great popularity, the promotional power of sport in modern globalized society is enormous. In the past a lot of different cities and countries used sport to promote itself to the global audience. In the modern globalized world, a lot of space is opening for destinations which do not have a large amount of „hard power“. Smaller countries can gain a comparative advantage with their positive image in the eyes of the global public.
As it was said, sports can make a strong effect in the promotion of destination. Great example is my homecountry Croatia which used sport to promote itself to global audience after it gained its independence. To promote your destination through sport is assumed to be the most positive type of promotion because all competitors in sports events have an equal chance to succeed. So, sports clubs and national selections should consider talking with local authorities and to cooperate in the promotion of their destinations because the benefits will be mutual.
We would like to know if you have some interesting examples of destination branding through sports?
This for sure is very interesting topic to discuss, even though my opinion is that author missed to point out some of the most crucial things when discussing why or how sport should be used for destinations promotion.
If this article would be written back in 90′, I would go with straight and loud YES! This days – closer to no.
First, I think author mixed three criteria that should be discussed separately – promotion through sport results (e.g. author mentioned importance of basketball or football results for recognition of Croatia worldwide), examples of sports destination branding on one side and promotion through organization of large scale sport events on the other side.
From my point of view, why should this topics (criteria) be discussed separately?
There is no dilemma that Olympic medals from 92′, 96′ or bronze medal in France 98′, as well as Goran Ivanišević, Janica and Ivica Kostelić, or legendary Drazen Petrovic were and still are the best Croatian ambassadors. But from my point of view, it is not fair to compare their personal results and organization of large scale events with the promotional value of sport. Their results are clear, they invested a lot of energy, time, efforts, their own money, very often (at least in Croatia) with a very little or no state support at all. Imagine if only Croatia had invested money spent to build new arenas for World Handball Championship 2009 in development of sustainable sport system, or for example to build 100 of new, small multi-functional sport halls? (this as well would be a great topic to discuss).
Organization of big sporing events this days (and will be in the upcoming years) is „granted“ to a very few countries, look at some of the stats: FIFA World Cup 2014, Brasil; Olypmic Games 2016 Brasil; Winter Olympics 2014 Sochi; FIFA World Cup 2018 Russia, European Games
2019 Russia; FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar; World Handball Championship 2015, Qatar; European Games 2015 Baku; Summer Olympics 2008 Beijing; Winter Olympics 2022 Beijing…
Of course, this does not mean that sport can’t be used as a great promotional tool for this countries, but mentioned events are (or were) followed by great scandals including money laundering, corruption in the public sector, corporate corruption, even deaths (during stadium constructions in Brasil and Qatar) and so on and on..
Boston, Hamburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Lavov, Krakow are just examples of recent withdraws from the bid for Olympic Games. At least Boston, Hamburg, Oslo and Stockholm can be treated as „representatives“ of rich, well developed modern countries which don’t want to organize Olympic Games cause of – money! Meaning, they can’t find enough promotional value in
organization of Olympic Games, basically one of the two most popular sport events
in the world. To sum it up, do you remember „Let the Hunger Games begin“ picture?
At the end, I do think London 2012 can be used as a good example – they used Games to build strong legacy through revitalization of Eastern London. On the other side we have Athens, Brasil (some stadiums are used to organize wedidngs and similar ceremonies), Sochi (organization costs were around 51 billion $ ?!) and we have – Croatia (not sure why it was not mentioned in this article). Spaladium Arena in Split (construction costs were around 50,000,000
EUR – construction is still not finished (6 years after World Cup finished?!) and it produces monthly cost (better to say damage) of 600.000 kn, around 80.000,00 EUR), Arena Zagreb are best examples of non-sustainable sport venues, unfortunately.
To conclude, I think that author made some really good points, I completely agree that sport results and sports destination branding are one of the best promotional tools. But, for a case study, I also think some of the most crucial points were not mentioned and should have been, e.g. that there is a very low interest to organize Olympic Games, there is a very few countries who want to organize FIFA World Cup after recent scandals, that only London and maybe Sydney enjoy the benefits of organizing big sport events and that other are trying to make some use of infrastructure they built, or are trying to avoid bankrupt – ask Tsipras 🙂 So, sport
as a promotional tool is a double-edged sword.
Thank you Nikola for a meaningful comment. This is certainly a very complex topic that requires a more detailed discussion (people are writing their master’s thesis or even a doctorate on this topic) 🙂
I can agree that Croatia practically didn’t have any strategy back in the 90’s when it turned to destination branding through sport. We can say that Croatia was in luck to have such successful athletes who did great promotion for their country, not because Croatian tourist organization or decision makers had great promotional solutions, but because of their love for Croatia and willingness to promote it in the global scene. I mentioned Croatia exclusively as an example of a destination which had great promotional benefits from sports (or because of the great sports results). Later in the text, I am using examples of destinations that did a great job by using sports in their branding. But, as I said before, I agree that Croatia has never fully utilized the potential of Croatian sport for its promotion. 🙂
And when it comes to organizing big sporting events, I agree, there is also a downside of it. Since you have mentioned Brazil, I am aware that they invested (according to some sources) between 11 to 14 billion dollars on preparations for the World Cup. Around 250 thousand local inhabitants were forced to leave their residence so the organizers could build gigantic and monumental stadiums some of which are now standing empty or half empty. Also, I am aware that eight workers lost their lives during the constructions and that big anti-World Cup protests were held in almost every major Brazilian city. And of course, social deviations such as money laundering, embezzlement, corruption and criminal acts of all kind are, unfortunately, inevitable when organizing huge events that involve an unimaginable amounts of money.
But in the terms of promotion, Brazil really did have great usage of hosting the WC. For more than 30 days, billions of people all over the world could enjoy images of that beautiful country. Despite all the negative aspects, I think that they used WC wisely to inform the global audience about Brazilian culture, tradition and heritage. Also, Brazil took a great opportunity to additionally connect developed coastline with the underdeveloped central regions. For example, the city of Cuiabá is located in the very center of South America in Pantanal, one of the world’s biggest ecosystems, so the country employed its great infrastructure to reap promotional benefits for hosting WC in the city of Cuiaba.
To sum it all up, yes, the organization of great sporting events is reserved only for the rich countries and cities. Long-term benefits from organizing such events is at the very least doubtful for host countries (but open to the discussion). Despite that, metropolis like Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul, Paris, Los Angeles, Rome and Budapest still perceive overall benefits in organizing such events, otherwise they wouldn’t have applied to be host cities of Summer Olympic Games 2020 and 2024.
In the end, sport can really be the biggest promotional tool for countries and destinations, not in hosting big sporting events, but by using their local clubs and athletes in well-developed destination branding strategies, which, unfortunately, is still an untapped potential in many of cities and countries around the world (including Croatia).
Thank you Nikola for a meaningful comment. This is certainly a very complex topic that requires a more detailed discussion (people are writing their master’s thesis or even a doctorate on this topic) 🙂
I can agree that Croatia practically didn’t have any strategy back in the 90’s when it turned to destination branding through sport. We can say that Croatia was in luck to have such successful athletes who did great promotion for their country, not because Croatian tourist organization or decision makers had great promotional solutions, but because of their love for Croatia and willingness to promote it in the global scene. I mentioned Croatia exclusively as an example of a destination which had great promotional benefits from sports (or because of the great sports results). Later in the text, I am using examples of destinations that did a great job by using sports in their branding. But, as I said before, I agree that Croatia has never fully utilized the potential of Croatian sport for its promotion. 🙂
And when it comes to organizing big sporting events, I agree, there is also a downside of it. Since you have mentioned Brazil, I am aware that they invested (according to some sources) between 11 to 14 billion dollars on preparations for the World Cup. Around 250 thousand local inhabitants were forced to leave their residence so the organizers could build gigantic and monumental stadiums some of which are now standing empty or half empty. Also, I am aware that eight workers lost their lives during the constructions and that big anti-World Cup protests were held in almost every major Brazilian city. And of course, social deviations such as money laundering, embezzlement, corruption and criminal acts of all kind are, unfortunately, inevitable when organizing huge events that involve an unimaginable amounts of money.
But in the terms of promotion, Brazil really did have great usage of hosting the WC. For more than 30 days, billions of people all over the world could enjoy images of that beautiful country. Despite all the negative aspects, I think that they used WC wisely to inform the global audience about Brazilian culture, tradition and heritage. Also, Brazil took a great opportunity to additionally connect developed coastline with the underdeveloped central regions. For example, the city of Cuiabá is located in the very center of South America in Pantanal, one of the world’s biggest ecosystems, so the country employed its great infrastructure to reap promotional benefits for hosting WC in the city of Cuiaba.
To sum it all up, yes, the organization of great sporting events is reserved only for the rich countries and cities. Long-term benefits from organizing such events is at the very least doubtful for host countries (but open to the discussion). Despite that, metropolis like Tokyo, Madrid, Istanbul, Paris, Los Angeles, Rome and Budapest still perceive overall benefits in organizing such events, otherwise they wouldn’t have applied to be host cities of Summer Olympic Games 2020 and 2024.
In the end, sport can really be the biggest promotional tool for countries and destinations, not in hosting big sporting events, but by using their local clubs and athletes in well-developed destination branding strategies, which, unfortunately, is still an untapped potential in many of cities and countries around the world (including Croatia).
Thank you Niko for a really nice reply. I think we share very similar opinion on this topic. Keep up the good work!