Sports marketing strategies and applications

Sports Marketing

An interview with Tom Hoff, Senior Associate Athletic Director, External Relations with Ohio State University (Cobbs, 2007) is upbeat in tone and provides a glimpse into how one of the nations' leading Athletic Departments operates. The primary focus is on how critical it is to create strong relationships with peers, followed by genuine concern for the student-athlete's experience, academic and athletic accomplishment.

In the article, Interview with Tom Hof, Senior Associate Athletic Director, External Relations (Cobbs, 2007) Mr. Hof explains how he is successfully managing a $100M budget that is to a large extent funded by donor donations. Published in the Sport Marketing Quarterly from West Virginia University, the interview also illustrates how important it is to have a mission statement anchored in innovation and a culture focused on collaboration.

Throughout the interview, Tom Hof refers to the concepts of being committed to the mission statement and core values of the Ohio State Athletic Department which are "innovation in approach and spirit" and "a tradition of leadership" (Cobbs, 2007). Balancing between these two core values while managing a $100M operating budget requires a continual focus on how to achieve strategic goals through daily tasks. The concepts of best-selling book Built to Last (Boyle, Collins, 2007) are mentioned in the interview, including the popular concept of the big hairy audacious goals (BHAG) that Jim Collins discovered where critical for organizational cultures to stay the course of transformation. Mr. Hof credits Andy Geiger for introducing the concepts from the best-selling Jim Collins book Good to Great, and also credits those concepts with changing the Ohio State culture for the better in terms of student-athletic mindset. Second, Mr. Hof sees the role of the Athletic Director and Athletics as being equitable across all 36 varsity sports, ensuring that student-athletes in each of these sports have the opportunity to accomplish their academic and athletic goals. Third, Mr. Hof explains that there is less pressure to win a continual series of national championships to gain financial support; it is more critical to focus on building and sustaining trust and collaboration with donors. He implies that once trust and collaboration has been achieved that donors see the value in attaining student-athlete balance in the athletic programs at Ohio State. Fourth, Mr. Hof makes an excellent point about how Ohio State is using technology to ensure greater collaboration with the community of supporters.