It takes a lot of time and effort to plan an event, and especially so when you’re dealing with a sports event. There are rules to be clarified, teams to classify, and officials to hire – not to mention the amount of promotions you’ll need to make sure that people actually show up to watch. As with other events, sports events should have their own marketing team to take on the task of spreading the word and ensuring that the audience turnout is a success.

While not all tried and tested promotional strategies might work as effectively in outdoor sports, here are some marketing ideas that can and should be applied to sports events:

1. Schedule a press release to announce the event.

An official press release allows you to get all the details of the event out in an organized and concise way. A press conference allows you to do even more by inviting press people to cover and report on your event announcement, which can then reach more viewers and readers who might just be interested in the kind of sports event that you’re promoting.

2. Utilize social media.

Nowadays, you can probably count the people around you who don’t use any form of social media faster than the people around you who do. Using social media to promote your sports event can reap great rewards, as word spreads fast online what with the effectiveness of the Share and Like buttons on almost every social networking site.

3. Enlist relevant guest bloggers.

Prominent bloggers with a niche can amass hundreds of thousands of followers. Their influence goes as far as the internet realm stretches, reaching people who live thousands of miles away and across the seas. Enlisting the help of guest bloggers to feature your event on their blog can be a very effective way to get information on your event out to a lot of people from all walks  of life, and when you tap into a well-recognized sports blog, well, you’re pretty much inviting sports fans to come and check out your sports events.

4. Early bird discounts.

Sports events usually require a ticket, and selling early-bird discounted tickets can get people to be more interested to actually buy them and witness the event. A promotional tent with banners and customized table covers alluding to the sports event can attract more attention, and should be a great way to market and sell your early-bird discounted tickets.

5. Promote your location

For sports events, location can be a determining factor to its success. People who might be interested in the event but live too far out with no means of transportation to get to the event might be turned off from attending. So if the outdoor event location is advantageous to both participants and possible interested guests, then highlight that in your promotions. In fact, even if it isn’t in the middle of anything remotely accessible, highlighting the positive aspects of your location can be persuasive enough to get people to actually go and check out your sports event.

There are definitely a number of other ways to market sports events with the main purpose of getting people to be interested enough to come and participate or watch. What’s definite though is that marketing ideas are certainly necessary as it not only gets the event its well-deserved recognition, it can also attract new fans or even sponsors.