Correspondence: Irving Rein, Department of Communication Studies, Northwestern University, 1815, Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. Tel: +1 847 491 5851; Fax: +1 847 467 1171; e-mail: i-rein@northwestern.edu

¹is a professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. He is the coauthor of Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States, and Nations (1993); the latest Marketing Places book, Marketing Latin American and Caribbean Places (2006); and The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (2006).

²is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. His research is in the area of sports and technology. He is the coauthor of The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (2006).

Received 26 October 2006; Revised 26 October 2006.

Abstract

Places have long sought a defining image to drive their economic and social initiatives. Many of the branding strategies have been examined extensively and utilised in the marketplace. For emerging, transition, negatively viewed, and newly industrialised nations considering the possibilities for differentiation, a relatively underused positioning is incorporating sports into the branding mix as both a primary and secondary tool. There are a number of specific strategies that can be used to implement this initiative, and the authors explore and analyse these sports place branding possibilities.