3.2 Connections between sport, culture and business

In music and culture field we always have two sides:

one is strongly related to business, the other one is not at all or only marginally.

In the commercial culture, you have something produced quite only for the sale,

designed to be appealing for the largest number of people possible.

This is usually the most prominent side of culture

which is so hard to define as culture because it seems to be a business activity with a business goal and no more.

Some cultural operators work in deep contact with institutions, like us.

We work with jazz music that has a small audience,

so it also works thank the support of institutions following cultural policies.

Some private, cultural business also support these policies

because they are more dynamic, i.e. to manage foreign artists.

The relationship is about cooperation.

It shouldn’t become oppression of business on culture.

That means business shouldn’t decide the cultural activities and agenda.

I think business should support public cultural policies.

It’s a fundamental connection.

We take our resource from companies interested in sports and social activities of our club.

They take advantages of the visibility our TV coverage gives them.

In the last few years, these two worlds have been more permeable.

Managing a sports club means managing a business,

including accounting, marketing, communication, innovation for products etc.

Nothing is only about business:

I think about marketing mix, that is matching price and product…

all of these activities also concern sports clubs and should be introduced in their daily activities.

If not, the risk is a wrong investment, waste of resources or the lost in market competition.

In Marmaduke, I apply basic business models.

I make a calculation of entries and withdrawals we have for each activity, concert and event.

It needs to cover the fixed cost of the agency such as salaries and monthly cost.

Cost-benefits analysis, the return of investment, market analysis, needs analysis,

marketing proposals are always there in our management tools.

The proposals are usually low priced because they aim at promoting a new sport or in a new area.

Our club is like a company.

We make a business plan at the beginning of every season,

we look for the appropriate covers

and we try to implement it in order to improve the number of people we join.