- Who is Florida FBLA Collegiate?
- Collegiate SLC Winners
- Adopt-a-Chapter
- Bylaws
- Competitive Event Guidelines
- Competitive Event Rating Sheets
- Competitive Event Regulations
- Competitive Event Topics
- Dues
- Join Florida FBLA
- March of Dimes
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- Collegiate State Officers
- Scholarship
- Standards of Mailability
SPORTS MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING
Sports Management & Marketing challenges members to demonstrate their understanding of the business principles behind managing and promoting sports organizations and events. Through an objective test, members explore topics such as sponsorships, fan engagement, event planning, branding, media rights, and strategic marketing in the sports industry.
Event Overview
Division: Collegiate
Event Type: Individual
Event Category: Objective Test, 100-multiple choice questions (breakdown of question by competencies below)
Objective Test Time: 50 minutes
Career Cluster Framework Connection: Hospitality, Events, & Tourism
NACE Competency Alignment: Career & Self-Development, Communication, Critical Thinking, Professionalism, Technology
Items Competitor Must Provide: Sharpened Pencil, Computer, Conference-provided nametag, Photo identification, Attire that meets the Florida FBLA Dress Code.
Items FBLA Must Provide: Test login information link & password.
Knowledge Areas
• Accounting & Budgeting
• Economics of Sports
• Ethics
• Facility Management
• Financing Sports
• Group Decision Making and Problem Solving
• Human Resource Management in Sports
• Labor Relations in Professional Sports
• Law & Sports Application
• Sponsorships
• Sports Management History
• Sports Licensing
• Strategic Marketing
• Tort Liability & Risk Management
Test questions are based on the knowledge areas and objectives outlined for this event. Detailed objectives can be found in the study guide included in these guidelines.
State
Eligibility
· FBLA membership dues are paid by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on February 1st of the current program year.
· Members must be registered for the SLC and pay the state conference registration fee in order to participate in competitive events.
· Members must stay within the official FBLA housing block of the official FBLA hotel to be eligible to compete.
· Each chapter may submit six students in this event.
· On the state level, each member can compete in up to three different events in the following combinations: three objective tests OR two objective tests and one performance OR two objective tests and one production or one objective test and two production OR one objective test, one performance, and one production. Students may enter the Christopher Heider, Rob Kelleher, Who’s Who event, and one Chapter event (Community Service Project or State of Chapter Presentation) in addition to their above chosen events.
· Picture identification (physical or digital: driver’s license, passport, state-issued identification, or school-issued identification) matching the conference nametag is required when checking in for competitive events.
· If competitors are late for an objective test, they may be either disqualified or permitted to begin late with no extension of the time as scheduled.
· Participants must adhere to the Florida FBLA dress code established by the Florida Board of Directors or they will not be permitted to participate in the competitive event.
Recognition
· The number of competitors will determine the number of winners. The maximum number of winners for each competitive event is 4.
Event Administration
· This event is an objective test administered prior to the SLC.
· No reference or study materials may be brought to the testing site.
· No calculators may be brought into the testing site; online calculators will be provided through the testing software.
Scoring
· Ties are broken by comparing the correct number of answers to the last 10 questions on the test. If a tie remains, answers to the last 20 questions on the test will be reviewed to determine the winner. If a tie remains, the competitor who completed the test in a shorter amount of time will place higher.
· Results announced at the State Leadership Conference are considered official and will not be changed after the conclusion of the State Leadership Conference.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
· FBLA complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by providing reasonable accommodations for competitors. Accommodation requests must be submitted through the conference registration system by the official registration deadline. All requests will be reviewed, and additional documentation may be required to determine eligibility and appropriate support.
Penalty Points
· Competitors may be disqualified if they violate the Competitive Event Guidelines or the Honor Code.
Electronic Devices
· Unless approved as part of a documented accommodation, all cell phones, smartwatches, electronic devices, and headphones must be turned off and stored away before the competition begins. Visible devices during the event will be considered a violation of the FBLA Honor Code.
National
If competing at the National level, be sure to see the National guidelines at https://www.fbla.org/collegiate/competitive-events/
Study Guide: Knowledge Areas and Objectives
A. Accounting & Budgeting
1. Define basic financial terms such as revenues, expenses, income statement, balance sheet, assets, liabilities, bonds, owners’ equity, return on investment (ROI), and how they may be unique within the sports industry and in connection with sport organizations/properties.
2. Explain the significance of budgeting.
3. Identify sources of revenue and expenditures of sports and entertainment.
4. Identify the steps in planning, implementing, and evaluating the budgetary process.
5. Describe the importance of business and financial plans.
6. Analyze basic financial documents: budgets, income statements, balance sheets, and breakeven point analysis.
7. Identify types of budgeting techniques used in local, collegiate, and professional sports.
8. Discuss profit and loss as they relate to the sports and entertainment marketing industry.
B. Economics of Sports
1. Explain the topic of monopolies and the application to and implications for the sport industry.
2. Discuss the importance and describe the economic impact of sports and entertainment events in various areas: locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
3. Apply the basic economic principles of scarcity, cost/benefit analysis, opportunity cost, and supply and demand to the production and consumption of professional and intercollegiate sports.
4. Identify the basic principles of a free enterprise system.
5. Discuss the forms of business ownership related to sports and identify the advantages and disadvantages of each.
6. Examine the economics of sports objectively and scientifically as an economist would rather than as a fan.
7. Be aware of the various antitrust exemptions professional team sports enjoy and understand tehri impact on team revenues and costs.
C. Ethics
1. Define ethics and ethical dilemmas in the sports industry.
2. Define morality and moral reasoning in the sports industry.
3. Explain the importance of ethics and morality and create strategies that can be incorporated into the workplace by codes of conduct, self-examination, and allowing for moral discourse.
4. Explain the importance of ethical issues such as gender equity and providing opportunities for handicapped participants.
5. Analyze the ethical implications of various management practices.
6. Describe ethical issues in sports (e.g., impact of performance enhancing drugs and gambling).
7. Evaluate social responsibility in sports and entertainment industry.
D. Facility Management
1. List the facility financing mechanisms including the various methods and their associated benefits.
2. Describe some of the safety and liability concerns that a facility manager must address.
3. Discuss the business and legal issues associated with facility financing, facility construction, event planning, event booking, and event management.
4. Discuss how certain laws, rules, and regulations directly impact business decisions in the event and facility management context.
5. Evaluate data regarding facility design and equipment specifications.
6. Determine policies and practices for maintenance, scheduling, use, and supervision of sport facilities.
7. Develop a business plan for a sport facility.
8. Plan, design, and formulate construction needs for a specific sport facility.
9. Demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of facility managers.
10. Demonstrate an understanding of risk management and its importance in facility management, request for proposals, booking and scheduling events, and the importance of managing ancillary services in public assembly facilities.
11. Determine the requirements in choosing a location and/or building and operating a facility.
12. Examine concessions sales policies/strategies in sports and entertainment.
E. Financing Sports
1. Explain the significance of fund-raising.
2. Explain various types of financing for different sports activities.
3. Illustrate how an organization generates the funds that flow into an organization and how these funds get allocated and spent once they are in the organization.
4. Describe the scope and scale of revenues generated through the sale of sporting goods and licensed products.
5. Discuss financial strategies for debt service, ticket and concession sales, corporate sponsorships, licensing sport merchandise, fundraising, and franchising.
6. Discuss the impact of revenue sharing and its effect on small market teams in major league sports, specifically baseball.
F. Group Decision Making and Problem Solving
1. Define the role of decision making and problem solving.
2. Identify critical planning and decision-making functions of the sports manager.
3. Compare advantages and disadvantages of group versus individual decision making.
4. Use information management techniques, data analysis, and strategies to guide business decision-making (describe current business trends, monitor internal records for business information, and interpret statistical findings).
5. Discuss the importance of teams and utilize new approaches for systemically involving others in team communication, team visioning, and decision making.
6. Identify the characteristics of effectively functioning teams and how the supervisor encourages their development.
7. Describe the principles of managing group conflict and difficult team behaviors.
G. Human Resource Management in Sports
1. Identify strategies for effectively managing employee diversity and the benefits of costs involved in employment diversity programs.
2. Identify the strategic position human resources plays in sport management.
3. Describe essential human resource concepts related to sport management including employment relations, discrimination law, employer liability, working conditions and labor relations through discussions, case studies, guest speakers, and video.
4. Describe the importance of sound personnel practices.
5. Describe the importance of job descriptions and the separation of responsibilities in a large organization.
6. Describe the roles of scouts, agents, and managers and their benefits.
7. Establish criteria, policies, and procedures to be sued to determine compensation, benefits, and promotion.
8. Discuss the importance of human relations skills and communication for an effective leader/manager.
9. Discuss effective motivation techniques and effective work teams.
H. Labor Relations in Professional Sports
1. Illustrate the storied labor management struggles of the professional sport industry and their impact on the various leagues involved in them.
2. List the factors which influence the wages paid to professional athletes.
3. Describe the role of organized labor and its influences on the sports industry business.
4. Compare and contrast the various adversarial and cooperative approaches to labor relations.
5. Discuss the effect of current legislation regarding labor-management relations, such as Wagner and Taft-Hartley Acts.
6. Examine the negotiation process and arbitration including binding and nonbinding arbitration.
7. Examine the role of the National Labor Relations Board in labor management dispute.
8. Describe the steps and components of the collective-bargaining process.
9. Define what is meant by the term unions, mediation, and arbitration.
10. Summarize the contract negotiation process.
11. Analyze the impact of labor unions on sports and entertainment, including pricing and strikes.
I. Law & Sports Application
1. Identify state and federal laws enacted to address specific issues within the sports industry.
2. Describe the impact of sport law on the issue of sport operation management.
3. Describe some basic tenants of the law as they relate to the business of sport.
4. Understand the court system and how legal issues are decided.
5. Provide examples of how constitutional law impacts sport management decisions.
6. Discuss contract law and describe how it is utilized in sports.
7. Define the principles of tort liability, especially in the area of negligence.
8. Be informed and sensitive to sex discrimination issues.
9. Determine how antitrust laws protect the business sector through regulation to control private economic power.
10. Define collective bargaining agreements as a component of labor law pertinent to sprot.
11. Describe ethe impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on sports and entertainment events and facilities.
12. Discuss the impact of Title IX on management of college athletics.
13. Examine environmental issues/laws as they relate to sports and entertainment industries.
14. Explain the purpose and benefits of copyright protection.
J. Sponsorships
1. Explain the broad range of sales promotion tactics companies use to leverage their sponsorship.
2. Discuss the use and importance of sponsorships and endorsements.
3. Discuss reasons and types of sponsorships.
4. Define the basic theories and terminology pertinent to sport sponsorship.
5. Evaluate the impact of sponsorship in sports and entertainment.
K. Sports Management History
1. Explain the historical roots of contemporary sports management extending to eighteenth-century England.
2. Articulate the structures developed in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century to promote honesty in sport.
3. Illustrate the historic tension in American sport between democratic ideals and race and class and gender segregation.
4. Identify significant people and events in the history of the sports and entertainment industry.
5. Examine the evolution of sports and entertainment marketing/management.
6. Discuss the importance of historical influences on the development and sustainability of successful sport organizations.
7. Provide examples of how sports have changed over the years.
L. Sports Licensing
1. List the various steps in the licensing process and the role licensing plays in generating revenue for licensors and licensees.
2. Describe the prevailing use of endorsements in selling products.
3. State the legal implications of product liability and the authenticity of licensed memorabilia and collectibles.
4. Explain the concept of branding and identify the components of branding within the sports and entertainment industry.
5. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of licensing and the impact of licensing on consumers.
6. Explain royalties and licensed products.
7. Evaluate the forms of product licensing and the product licensing process.
M. Strategic Marketing
1. Define how marketing sport differs from the marketing of traditional products and services.
2. Explain the concept of marketing and demonstrate how the four Ps of marketing apply to sport marketing given the unique aspects of the sport industry.
3. Explain the importance of fostering fan identification and utilizing relationship marketing strategies.
4. Discuss the concept of market identification (target and segment marketing).
5. Explain the function of promotion in sports and entertainment marketing – promotional mix, purposes for promotion, etc.
6. Describe the use of technology in promotion (e-Commerce, e-mail, etc.).
7. Develop a sport marketing plan.
8. Describe the steps in developing a market research project.
9. Identify the challenges, obstacles, and limitations associated with sports marketing.
10. Analyze the various pricing strategies and factors that affect pricing sports and entertainment products.
11. Examine ticket sales policies/strategies in sports and entertainment.
12. Evaluate the advertising forms (print, broadcast, specialty, and social media) suitable in the sports and entertainment industry.
N. Tort Liability & Risk Management
1. Discuss the concept of risk management including the types of risk.
2. List strategies to recognize and avoid legal liability as a sport manger.
3. Describe the legal implications of risk management in supervising events and contests.
4. List potential security risks and take necessary precautions in order to be prepared for and prevent possible security problems.
5. Define safety and security and discuss the considerations for safety and security.
6. Discuss the types of insurance necessary for the sports and entertainment industry.
7. Define negligence, tort, and product liability and its importance in the sport setting.