Abstract

The World Wide Web (hereafter Web) has been heralded as the most significant new marketing channel since the advent of television. Marketers have the opportunity to create and develop new marketing techniques for the first time in almost 50 years. When marketers first used television to reach a mass audience, revenues for the television industry grew rapidly. As Web business transactions grow rapidly, it is important for sport marketers to learn how to use this new technology effectively. The purpose of this study was to determine the content and general evaluation of existing Korean and USA Professional Baseball team Web sites. The population for the study was limited to the official Web sites of teams as of April 10, 2002. The criteria for choosing the sample included the following : (a) the sites chosen were to be of teams in season, (b) the Web sites were to be the official site of the team, (c) the sites chosen were to provide a broad spectrum of Web design and content, (d) the Web sites were to be of professional baseball teams in Korea and USA. To evaluate the general Web sites of professional baseball teams in Korea and USA, the revised questionnaire and criteria from Hwang(2000), Lee(1999), Weber(1990) were administrated. A coding sheet was developed to catalog the information provided in the official Korean and USA Professional Baseball team Web sites. Web site analysis occurred on April 15∼16, 2002, Content analysis and general evaluation were used to profile current Korean and USA Professional Baseball team Web sites. The content of the sites was categorized by the researcher then arranged in order of frequency measured. Categories for content, based on the marketing mix, were (a) product, which included the physical team, ticket sales through the Web, or merchandise ; (b) price, information on ticket pricing ; (c) promotion, information on team promotions and Web promotional activities ; (d) place, information on preseason or in-season game location and stadia ; and (e) other, Web site information not belonging in one of the previous categories. The content categories were classified according to the marketing mix in order to demonstrate marketing strategies used by the developers of the Web sites. To evaluate general Web site of professional baseball teams, 12 items were chosen. The resources of the Web are currently being utilized by 38 of the 38teams. Product : Roster, News Releases, Player Biographies, Team History. These were the category used by all clubs. Ticket Sales through the Internet-Here Web users could purchase tickets through the Web site. Often, this site would contain a link to Ticket master. 87.5% percent of organizations used this category. Price : Ticket Sales-Used by most of the organizations, this area provided information on individual ticket sales as well as group sales and season ticket sales except KIA and SK Promotion : This area provided many promotional opportunities. Usually, a person, especially a child, could ask a professional ball player about some aspect of the game. E-mail addresses of the players were also available here. Most of Web sites utilized this function. Place : 2002 Schedule-Surprisingly not used by all clubs, 100 percent had detailed information on the 2001 schedule. Ballpark-Here information was provided on each team`s home ballpark. In general evaluation of Web site, LG provided 11/12 items was ranked best Web site among Korean professional baseball teams. LG and Doosan were ranked AAA group in KBT. Seattle Mariners, St Louis Cardinals, NY Mets, LA Dodgers and SF Giants were ranked AAA group in NEB. These teams provided 9/12 items.

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