It is now a year since I became editor and an appropriate time to reflect on developments, to outline future editions and speculate on where sports marketing practice and research might be going next.

Clearly the Journal has grown in size as we have moved from three scientific papers to four, and our recent Football Special Edition carried a total of seven, all of the highest calibre. The improvement in quality and increase in the number of submissions seem to have occurred for two reasons: first, sports marketing and sponsorship is growing in importance as a research area for academics; second, the diligence and professionalism of our editorial board members have enabled us to ‘raise the bar’ when reviewing submissions. As a result, the robustness, relevance and appeal of the Journal have improved dramatically.

The three special editions included in this volume represent current research activity in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, yet the success of the Football Special was notable because it drew many highquality submissions from across the globe. The next volume will include special editions on broadcasting, new media and technology, and sports marketing in Spanish-speaking countries. In addition, we will examine marketing in sports such as tennis, ice hockey, swimming and football. Readers can also expect studies of relationship quality, sponsorship effectiveness, global branding and internet marketing. Looking further ahead, the Journal is already preparing for Beijing 2008 with an Olympics special edition, and we will be taking sports marketing back to its roots, examining its philosophical development.

What of the major developments we might see over the next 12 months? In the aftermath of this summer’s football World Cup in Germany, it will be interesting to see how successful the activities of marketers and sponsors have been. Turn on a television anywhere in the world in June and one was confronted by names, images and logos associated with the event. Such was the intensity of this activity, the extent to which consumers were ‘turned on’ or ‘turned off’ constitutes a significant research opportunity. The lessons learned from the marketing of such a global event are likely to have a major impact.

Brand consultancies are engaging in increasingly sophisticated studies of brand value, with the Dallas Cowboys, Real Madrid and Ronaldinho having all been recently identified as leading sports brands. How the value of these brands is measured would make for an interesting study in its own right. In addition, given developments in sports branding – what brands are, how they are built, developed and extended, how they are managed – and given some of the ethical issues facing sports branders, this looks like a very fruitful area for sports marketing research.

Another important area that some marketers may seek to address is the need for creativity and innovation, both in developing strategy and in enabling tactical response. Teams, clubs, competitions and events must take seriously the need to establish competitive advantage by using unique approaches in, say, promoting attendance; and commercial partners, whether sponsors or equipment suppliers, should not be content to think that a multimillion-dollar contract will in itself ensure an effective association with sport. My own feeling is that innovation and creativity must increasingly come to the fore in sports marketing, so that sport itself, and the fans and customers associated with it, benefit. A thriving sports marketing industry coupled with excited, enthused fans and customers can only be good for commercial partners. The researchers examining innovation and creativity in marketing are therefore well placed to emphasise their importance in sport.

Simon Chadwick