Asiasports-how to grow?
...ying rather than paying a fee. The loss and the high cost would be offset by increases in sponsorship revenues. In the following analysis, I will analyze each of the option and give some recommendations and implementations. Overview Hockey has a long history development and is very popular in most western countries, such as U.S.A, Canada, and Norway. It had been played on an informal basis in Hong Kong for many years. In order to take advantage of the opportunity and promote hockey in Hong Kong, Asiasports was founded. Although the competition for those sports management companies in the world is fierce, it is totally different to Asiasports. Because we are specialize in one particular sport- hockey. If we use five forces to analyze, we found that our existing competitors on hockey are rare, because we are the only company in Hong Kong to support and promote hockey. We are renting all the rinks in Hong Kong to play hockey. And there is impossible for other companies to build a rink for hockey because of the high building cost. So the new enters are also rare. From the substitute aspect, hockey is not as popular as soccer and tennis. People choose hockey maybe want to try some new sports for entertainment. Since tennis and soccer are so hot and major sports which are kept broadcasting on TV, they seem to be the best substitutes for hockey. There are no significant suppliers for our company, because we are sports management company, and we do not produce any tangible product or intangible service. For the customer aspect, players and sponsors are all our customers, because they are our major financial resources. Although we are facing less direct competition in Hong Kong, we still experienced loss in 1998. Facing the 1999-2000 seasons, we should seriously consider the expansion issue within the limited financial resource. Based on our prior analysis and experience, we found that there are three major driving forces that will lead our company to be more successful in next period. The first one is the high quality service provided to customers. Since more people are interest in hockey and tend to spend their time and money on such sport, we should constantly provide education and training programs to those people who have interesting but know hockey less. And we still need to improve the equipments used in hockey rink to make those players feel that they play as professional hockey player and really enjoy such sport. The second one is the net working and good relationship with sponsorship. Since we are small private company, we cannot afford any tournaments without sponsor income, we should keep good relationship with our sponsor. And also, we should extend our existing sponsor range. The third one is advertising and media promotion. Since hockey has no so much high involvement as horse racing and tennis, we should use media to attract more people participate in this game. All above forces are interrelated each other, AD and media will attract people attention, and the more people were involved in this game, the more sponsors will be attracted to sponsor our company. In addition, the high service performance will attract more participators, which will also enhance our brand reputation. In turns, good reputation will attract more sponsors. Analysis for five options Based on above three driving force analysis, and considering our present financial condition, we should consider following aspects as we thinking about which options to choose. First of all, customers will be our first considered factor when we make choices. Only those options that will provide high quality service and create customer satisfaction, we will choose. Once we chose such options, we will set up our brand image and customer loyalty, which in turns will increase our profits also. Secondly, all the choice should base on our present financial condition. Since we just recovered from 1998 financial loss, we cannot afford too high expanding and promotion cost. Thirdly, we are not risk taker; we are searching for moderate or low risk options to operate our existing properties. Fourthly, we will evaluate if an option could attract more sponsors or not. If the option will bring more benefit not only to me, but also to sponsors, then, this option will be chosen. Finally, we will see if the option will bring us good brand image and reputation, which also means that it will extend our company affection in and out of Hong Kong, even in the whole Asia. And this extended affection will absolutely bring more profits to us and to our sponsors. Based on above analysis, we found that the first option that set up hockey leagues in Southeast Asia is necessary and must choice. Since the popularity in Asia has grew in past few years, and the ice hockey in Southeast Asian did not draw more attention from other world leagues, such as IIHF. It is good opportunity for us to get into such areas. And the state of hockey in these cities was similar to that in Hong Kong in the early 1990s, and each city possessed a viable rink on which hockey could be played. So it won’t cost our too much to solve the rink problem. In addition, one of our shareholders, Mr. Bill Gribble has some groundwork experience on hockey in Taipei, which will definitely help us set up such league. Finally, setting more hockey leagues will definitely enhance our brand image and attract more players. In turns, more participators will attract more sponsors to finance our tournaments. The second option that developing and expanding existing tournaments is also a necessary and must choice. Because we organized four to five tournaments each year across several cities in Southeast Asia, considering the multi-nationality feature in Hong Kong, if we chose the option, it means that we could attract more people who come from western countries to join the game. And on the contrast, if we could hold more tournaments, which will attract more sponsors involved. So, it will help us to solve many financial problems. Thus, this is less risky activity that will also enhance our hockey brand image. For the third one, develop in-li...