A lot has been made around the world about clubs potentially “buying success” as seen with the meteoric, and seemingly overnight rises of clubs such as Manchester City and Chelsea.

Both clubs were purchased by billionaires, one a Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, the other the Middle-Eastern Prince, Sheikh Mansour. Each immediately pumped hundreds of millions into the club for player transfers and wages. This brought success to each club with Chelsea winning the Premier League 3 times in 8 years(having not won it in 50 years previously) and Manchester City winning the league last year after numerous relegations and no trophies since 1976.

In essentially buying success, UEFA, the European governing body introduced Financial Fair Play rules(FFP) which basically state a club cannot spend money if they are losing more than 30 million euros a year. Even though that number sounds high, Chelsea and City have been known to lose in upwards of 70 million pounds a year.

To bypass this, Sheikh Mansour had a company who he has close links with, Etihad Airlines, pay a sum well above market value for sponsorship, thus allowing him to keep up with his massive spending.

Doing such a thing is not ethical, as the whole reason for introducing such rules is to level the playing field spending wise, and in funding his revenues himself he is bypassing the standards set by UEFA and giving his team an unfair advantage.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/footballfirst/protectingthegame/financialfairplay/index.html

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2866/analysis/2011/05/11/2479628/what-is -financial-fair-play-and-how-will-uefa-enforce-it-on

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jul/08/manchester-city-deal-etihad-airways

In response to Mark Sha’s blogpost on the NHL lockout with regards to questioning professional hockey is a sport, business or both, I believe that unfortunately it is swaying towards a business to the detriment of the fans. Though, this isn’t specific to the NHL but all sports.

Specifically, within the article he referenced it starts to delve into European football, and the economics/business behind it. As an adamant follower of the Premier League, specifically Liverpool Football Club, the mentioning of former owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks struck an angering chord within me.

The pair, bought the club using a leveraged buyout, in essence paying for the club with profits made by it. This did not at all going to plan, with the pair ending up vastly in debt, and the club minutes from administration, which would in essence have knocked them down the table, possibly into the second division, and devoid of the form expected from them on the pitch. Worst case scenario, as seen with historic Scottish club Rangers, would be potential expulsion from any league.

If teams can be expelled from leagues solely due to finances, then sports in general are becoming primarily a business.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/marksha/

http://www.economist.com/node/21563293

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/08/liverpool-nine-point-deduction-sale

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/9327059/Rangers-in-crisis-administration-timeline.html

In 2007 in the anticipation of the inaugural iPhone they used media buzz and hyping of the product to market it,  allowing Apple to spend no money on advertisements , which is more or less unheard. Eventually they did spend 97.5 million, but such a tactic undoubtedly saved Apple hundreds of millions of dollars.

In addition to media hype, Apple uses product placement to advertise, which is many cases costs them none. Apple’s marketing manager has convinced many top producers and directors to include it’s products in movies and TV shows at no cost to the company, to the point where it’s been included in 40% of the top movies of 2012.

Such techniques are part of the reason Apple is so successful. In a marketing world where revolutionary techniques are always trying to be discovered Apple continues to find ways to unearth such things. As commercials become more obsolete with DVRs, Apple finds a way to include their product in hit shows and movies at no cost, which not only saves money but creates an aura of sleekness and modernity around each product.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-10/apple-the-other-cult-in-hollywood

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/apple-marketing-secret-phil-schiller_n_1749313.html