Author Simon Chadwick in the news

Photo retrieved from theelusivefan.com via Chadwick's podcasts

Dr. Simon Chadwick, professor of Sport Business Strategy and Marketing at Coventry University, has been popping up in the news as a go-to commentator for some of the sporting industry’s headlines. He was recently spotted in the Wall Street Journal, commenting on the Sepp Blatter/FIFA scandals and how the issue could affect the industry in terms of marketing and sponsor revenue. An excerpt:

Simon Chadwick … warned sponsors could potentially pull out and they are implicitly demanding change at FIFA driven by consumers’ concerns.

Companies “want to sponsor the World Cup because it is global, glamorous, exciting and they want these images or qualities to reflect on them,” Mr. Chadwick said. “The problem starts when FIFA starts having an image of being a corrupt organization with poor governance. He added: “If consumers see these companies are complicit and are condoning this, their sales and bottom line could suffer. Sponsors could potentially pull out from the World Cup.”

Not even four days later Chadwick appeared in Bloomberg Online, commenting before the French Open that Chinese superstar tennis sensation Li Na might very well be the next earnings superpower should she win a Grand Slam title. Na did just that, taking the French Open by storm. In the Bloomberg article by Danielle Rossigh, pundits (including Chadwick) see the vast marketing potential in China, since there are now 14 million tennis players, three times as many French players, and about half as many as the U.S. Na’s success – China’s first - might prompt a surge in Chinese tennis, as well as marketability, profitability, and new industry markets. From the article:

“There is a vacancy in the female tennis landscape for a very distinctive and successful tennis player brand,” Chadwick said. “Especially given that she is from China, and given the rapid growth of tennis and the various markets in China, she would seem like the obvious candidate.”

Simon Chadwick is also a co-author of the forthcoming book, Sport Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, to be published by Fitness Information Technology.