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Sport Marketing Quarterly, 2018, 27, 197-210, 2018 West Virginia UniversityA Conceptual Framework for RetroMarketing in SportZach Scola and Brian S. GordonZach Scola is a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. His research interests include consumer behavior, retro marketing in sport, and sport fan ritualistic behavior.Brian S. Gordon, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences at the Universityof Kansas. His research interests include consumer behavior/psychology, brand management of sport organizations, and fanloyalty.AbstractRetro marketing has become a staple in sport marketing practices. Teams and leagues are attempting toconnect their fans to the past in a magnitude of ways. Despite the influx of retro marketing in sport, there hasbeen no examination of it to date. This study examined the various usages of retro marketing in sport andthrough an inductive approach created a framework that categorized and broadly defined each usage. Thefive practical areas of retro marketing in sport were constructed: imagery, merchandising, venue, gamedaypromotions, and advertising. The authors shaped and framed retro marketing in sport through these fivedimensions, as they encompassed the retro marketing practices examined and are often relied upon marketing elements. Further, the authors suggest multiple avenues for future research on this topic, includingunderstanding a sport organization’s usage of these practices and the impact they have on sport consumers.Keywords: retro marketing, conceptual framework, nostalgia, brand management, strategic marketingIntroductionIt has become commonplace for sport teams andleagues to utilize retro marketing, often coined withphrases like “throwback” or “turn back the clocknight.” Despite the heavy usage of retro marketing insport and increased attention in popular press, therehas been minimal academic attention attempting tounderstand these practices. In the general marketingfield, scholars have given the concept a requisiteamount of examination, primarily involving the impact of producing retro brands. Brown, Kozinets, andSherry (2003) defined retro branding as the relaunching of a product or service that is also brought up tocontemporary consumers’ standards. Reflecting onhis retro marketing research, Brown (2013) describedhow he thought the “nostalgia boom” was just a fad,yet more than 15 years after beginning his researchon retro marketing, it has grown and continued to bea successful marketing strategy. The sporting realmis no exception to the ever-growing usage of retromarketing as many professional teams and leagueshave continued to incorporate retro elements into theiroverall marketing strategies.Sport marketers have found a plethora of avenues toutilize retro marketing while teams and leagues alsocontinue to implement retro marketing strategies.The ways in which teams can utilize retro marketingand remind their fans of the team’s past are immense.Retro marketing can stretch from the intensive processthe Toronto Raptors went through of redesigning theiruniforms and court to resemble a former basketballteam from Toronto called the Huskies for multiplegames during the 2016–2017 season (Dator, 2016) tosimply implementing throwback uniforms as alternatejerseys like the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Piratesdid during the 2016 season (McGuire, 2016; Snyder,2016a). Even when teams go through a redesign, theyoften consider retro elements. Both the Golden StateWarriors in 2010 and the Toronto Maple Leafs in2016 utilized aspects of their past in a complete logoand uniform redesign. The two teams went back tologos and colors that had been used in prior years andpaid homage to their successful pasts (Creamer, 2016;Volume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing Quarterly197
“Golden State Warriors Unveil New Logo,” 2010).Retro marketing is heavily utilized in imagery bothtemporarily with throwback uniforms and in morelong term ways when teams conduct logo and jerseyredesigns.Throwback uniforms and logos appear to be themost commonplace utilization of retro marketing; thisis likely due to the fact that each throwback uniformcreates a new line of merchandise for their fans topurchase. There are numerous other avenues teamsutilize with retro marketing in mind. One example is“turn back the clock” nights, which often use throwback uniforms and encourage fans to dress up as ifthey were in a different era; both the Seattle Marinersand a summer collegiate team, the Eau Claire Express,had turn back the clock nights during their 2016 and2015 seasons, respectively (“Express Announce,” 2015;Young, 2016). Additionally, teams do promotionalgiveaways that are retro, as the Chicago Cubs did bygiving away 1916 jerseys during the 2016 season tocommemorate their 100th year playing at WrigleyField (Yellon, 2016). The Detroit Lions went as far ashaving a retro pricing promotion during the 2016season, where they offered beer and hotdog pricingfrom the 1991 season (“Detroit Lions to feature,” 2016).Another way that teams use retro marketing is bycreating team hall of fames or museums such as theGreen Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New EnglandPatriots, and numerous other NFL teams have toremind their fans of the team’s past success and toallow the fans to reflect on it (Belson, 2014).As the authors have detailed, retro marketing isheavily utilized by sport teams and leagues, yet ithas received scant academic attention in the sportmarketing literature. Sport marketing has becomeits own academic discipline, in part because of theincredible uniqueness that the sport product offersto managers and consumers (Coakley, 2007; Mullin,Hardy, & Sutton, 2014) and it is necessary for sportmarketing scholars to examine how the field itselfdiffers from the general marketing context. Sport isunique from general marketing in that it cannot bemarketed like a general good or service (Coakley,2007), and the most unique feature may be how fanscan develop an irrational passion for their team thatnormal consumers do not demonstrate (Hoye, Smith,Nicholson, & Stewart, 2015). Beyond this irrationalpassion from consumers, a sporting event differs fromtraditional goods and services in its unpredictability,simultaneously consumption and production, andin the subjective experiences from fan to fan as notwo fans have the exact same experience (DeSensi& Rosenberg, 2010). These factors together make198Volume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing Quarterlymarketing a sporting product distinct, but additionallyoffer extensive avenues through which sport marketerscan implement retro into their marketing plan.To this end, scholars have argued that nostalgia isan under researched area in the sport realm (Gordon,2013). We also know that nostalgia plays a prominentrole in impacting consumer attitudes and intentionsin the general marketing context (Merchant & Rose,2013; Pascal, Sprott, & Muehling, 2002). Given thefact that sport consumers tend to join social categories(i.e., become fans of a specific team) that will enhancetheir own self-concept (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) as wellas associate them with successful teams in an effortto reap self-esteem benefits (Cialdini et al., 1976), itstands to reason that a salient and successful sportteam brand heritage may be a considerable marketingasset. Further, an in-depth knowledge of team historyhas been found to be one of the hallmarks of theallegiant sport consumer (Funk & Pastore, 2000) anda central team brand association along with nostalgicfeelings (Bauer, Stokburger-Sauer, & Exler, 2008;Gladden & Funk, 2002; Ross, James, & Vargas, 2006).As retro marketing is so often utilized in sport andpast research has hinted at the immense potential ofnostalgia as a sport marketing asset, it is important forscholars to have a conceptual framework that explainsretro marketing in sport in detail. Therefore, thepurpose of this paper is to use an inductive approachto create a conceptual framework of what comprisesretro marketing in sport and categorize these practicesinto broad, established themes that encapsulate sportmarketing retro practices.Theoretical FrameworkIn order to understand retro marketing in sport, it isfirst important to understand the theoretical underpinnings of retro marketing from past literature. Inthe field of sport management, it is important that weconduct theory-based and theory-building research(Doherty, 2013). The theory that was utilized tounderstand the potential impact of retro marketingin sport on the consumer was the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework (S-O-R), which describes theway in which a stimulus, which can include an aspectof marketing or environmental factors (Bagozzi, 1986),impacts the consumers feelings and decisions. Beyondthe S-O-R framework, the authors felt it was importantto review the literature on nostalgia and retro marketing in sport.Stimulus-Organism-Response FrameworkMehrabian and Russell’s original S-O-R frameworkconsidered the environment the stimulus, primaryemotional responses the organism, and behavioral
responses as the response (Mehrabian & Russell,1974, as cited by Vieira, 2013). The three aspects ofthis framework have been used in numerous studieson consumer research. In this model, the stimulusis considered the factors that impact the internalstates of the consumers and influence the individual’sdecision making (Eroglu, Machleit, & Davis, 2001).Next, the organism is the “internal processes andstructures intervening between stimuli external to theperson and the final actions, reactions, or responsesemitted. The intervening processes and structuresconsist of perceptual, physiological, feeling, andthinking activities” (Bagozzi, 1986, p. 46). Last, theresponse is the ultimate decision or outcome that anindividual comes to (Chang, Eckman, & Yan, 2011).Using the S-O-R framework, consumer behaviorresearch typically examines approach behaviors asthey are the positive outcomes that marketers hopeto see out of their consumers (Chang et al., 2011). Theoriginal framework considered aspects like color andtemperature of the stimulus and focused on pleasurearousal and dominance as characteristics describingthe emotional response or organism (Vieira, 2013).Exploration, affiliation, and preference comprised theoriginal responses under examination while manyother responses have been considered in studies thathave adapted this model, primarily examining consumer preference behaviors (Vieira, 2013).Specifically, the S-O-R framework has been usedto examine consumer emotions (Sherman, Mathur,& Belk Smith, 1997), traditional and online retailatmospheres (Chang et al., 2011; Eroglu et al., 2001),hospitality and nostalgia (Hunt & Johns, 2013), andthe atmosphere of major sporting events (Uhrich &Koenigstorfer, 2009). This framework has been usedin a variety of research settings involving consumerbehavior and has been successful in encapsulating thebehaviors of the consumers (response) based on themarketing practices (stimulus). Hunt and John (2013)suggested the positive emotions primarily evoked fromnostalgia acting as a stimulus operate as approachbehavior, thus creating positive marketing outcomesfor the organization. The fact that S-O-R has beeneffective in understanding consumer behavior andincorporating retro marketing into a multitude ofmarketing tactics is a distinct example of adapting thestimulus. The authors deemed this framework appropriate to explain the underlying mechanisms of howretro marketing operates in the sport environment.Before examining the retro marketing practices insport, it is important to understand the literature onnostalgia and retro marketing in sport.Literature ReviewNostalgiaThe definition and understanding of nostalgia hasdrastically changed since it first appeared as a medicalterm in the late 1600s (Batcho, 2013). Nostalgia hasprogressed from being considered a physical sickness,to a mental illness, and now to a feeling of longing forthe past (Batcho, 1995; 2013). Others have found andclaimed that nostalgia is positive for individuals, yetmay be brought on by negative feelings such as loneliness (Sedikides, Wildschut, Arndt, & Routledge, 2008;Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006).Nostalgia has been considered in the traditional marketing literature to be an effective strategy to positivelyimpact their consumers.Numerous studies have considered what impact aretro marketing practice may have on consumers andmost consider the influence of nostalgia. Pascal et al.(2002) found a positive correlation between nostalgicfeelings for an advertisement and improved attitudestowards the advertisement. Scholars have found thatconsumers have different types of effective nostalgiathat can be tapped into via marketing schemes andhave specifically found that drawing on a consumer’s past group memberships may be exceptionallyeffective (Sierra & McQuitty, 2007; Zhao, Li, Teng, &Lu, 2014). Interesting for the sport context, Merchantand Rose (2013) found that vicarious nostalgia couldimpact consumers when exposed to marketing practices paying homage to the past. This concept meansthat individuals can feel nostalgic about a time beforetheir existence. Brown (2013) contends the termsretro and nostalgia are related but not synonymous.To specify, retro marketing utilizes modern materialsand technology performance wise, but hints at thepast, whereas nostalgia marketing would be simplyrecreating an old practice. For example, when a teamuses a retro uniform or a retro give away item, theperformance and quality of the item is up to date andthe imagery or coloring is meant to elicit the past. Ifa team were to simply reuse an old advertisement, orgiveaway a jersey that was created in the 1970s and hasnot been updated, this would be nostalgic marketing.Based upon the findings from this study, the authorshave deemed the practices utilized by sport marketersto be retro, not nostalgic, marketing. Retro marketinghas become extremely prevalent in the sporting worldand similar to traditional marketing scholars, most ofthe research has focused on the impact of nostalgia.Retro Marketing in SportOver the last 20 years, marketing scholars haveexamined retro marketing and many claimed theVolume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing Quarterly199
heavy reliance on it was due to consumers’ increasednostalgia from the fin de siècle effect (Stern, 1992).The fin de siècle effect explains that there is culturalanxiety about the experiences involving discontinuitythat is associated with the end of an era. The usage ofretro marketing was considered to be a fad that wouldlikely fade away at the turn of the century (Brown,2013). Retro marketing has been investigated in thetraditional marketing literature and deserves the sameattention in the sport management field.Sport management scholars have examined retromarketing practices and nostalgia in past literature.First, Gladden and Funk (2002) developed a teamassociation scale that was utilized to examine howimpactful numerous associations of an individual’sfavorite team were. The scholars found nostalgia was acentral brand association among sport consumers andthey attempted to determine how memories of theirfavorite team impacted their fandom. The idea thatteams and leagues may try to create nostalgic feelingswithin their fan base makes sense and is supported byFunk and James (2006), where they found nostalgia tobe one of the associations most related to allegiance infans. Another scale was developed to measure brandassociations with professional sport teams and this oneincluded team history as an association (Ross et al.,2006). Bauer et al. (2008) created a model to examinewhich aspects of brand image impacted fan loyaltyand treated nostalgia as an experiential benefit. Whilenone of the aforementioned work centered on retromarketing practices, it is evident that nostalgia andteam history play a vital role in sport team brandingefforts.Seifried and Meyer (2010) examined NFL and MLBstadiums and concluded “that sport facilities hostedattempts to create nostalgia related feelings by offeringstructures within the building which mythologize thepast through the promotion of past heroic achievements and the embracing of authentic values (i.e.,hall of fame, museum, monuments, statues, producedvideos)” (p. 69). Other studies have found that nostalgia plays a role in sport heritage overall (Ramshaw& Gammon, 2005) and that it was the main elementbehind the experience of an extreme traveling Australian Football League fan club (Fairley, 2003). Much likethe sport management literature, Gordon (2013) notedthat nostalgia was an under researched aspect of sporttourism and that nostalgia may be vitally importantto a sport fan’s attraction to these sites. Scholars havealso created an in-depth model for nostalgia in thesport tourism domain that distinguished sport fromtraditional venues (Cho, Ramshaw, & Norman, 2014).This model classified nostalgia around sport tourism200Volume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing Quarterlyinto four segments (experience, socialization, personalidentity, group identity) and expressed the importanceof each type of experience as well as suggested a greatdeal of future research. Additionally, Stride, Wilson,and Thomas (2013) examined statues associated withthe European Football teams and found that one ofthe primary motivations behind constructing thesestatues was to evoke nostalgia in their fans. From anexamination of the related literature and organizational practices in the realm of retro marketing, retromarketing in sport can be defined as a strategic sportmarketing practice that connects consumers with aformer historical era, oftentimes connected to theirteam or league’s past.The authors utilized a general inductive approach,as the conceptual framework was not created from apreconceived theory but rather from the numerouspractical examples in sport and construed into amodel (Thomas, 2006). A general inductive approachis effective at taking raw data, grouping it by similarities, and developing a framework that structures theraw data (Thomas, 2006). Thus, an inductive approachwas deemed appropriate given the bevy of differentstrategic retro marketing practices utilized by sportorganizations and the lack of an existing frameworkto classify the practices. The authors searched for andexamined numerous examples of retro marketing insport and categorized them into broad groups. Then,after further examination, they created subgroups foreach (Thomas, 2006). To uncover practical examples ofretro marketing in sport, the authors utilized a bevy ofresources, including academic literature and industryexamples. This included an extensive search of relevantacademic articles throughout Google Scholar, generalgoogle searches, examined numerous sport websites(i.e., espn.com, sportlogos.net, bleacherreport.com),scoured the various public communication outlets(websites, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) of professional (primarily NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, MLS, andEnglish Premier League teams) and collegiate (primarily Division I, FBS schools), and examined Twitter forexamples. Using these databases, the authors utilizedterms such as “retro,” “throwback,” “retro promotion,”“hall of fame,” and “historical” to guide their initialcollection of retro examples.In the following section, the authors have detailedwhat they discovered when examining retro marketingin sport through a general inductive approach. Thisexamination led the authors to the five practical areasof retro marketing in sport (see Figure 1). Aligningwith the authors’ methodological approach, thefollowing section is broken down into each theme. Foreach theme, a general description of each marketing
Five Practical Areas of Retro Marketing in SportImagery Logo/uniformredesigns ThrowbackuniformsMerchandising Retro-centric sportmerchandisers Team retromerchandiseVenue Team hall offames HistoricaldisplaysGamedayPromotions Giveaways Theamedgames/eventsAdvertising Elements intraditional ads CampaignscelebratingmilestonesFigure 1. Five Practical Areas of Retro Marketing in Sportpractice is provided. Further, numerous practical examples of how retro marketing is utilized in the overallmarketing practice is detailed. The five practical areasthat emerged from the analysis are: imagery, merchandising, venue, gameday promotion, and advertising.Five Practical Areas of Retro Marketing inSportImagerySport marketing practitioners utilize retro marketingin their imagery in multiple ways, primarily utilizingthrowback uniforms and in-brand redesigns. As brandimagery can be one of the most prevalent features ina consumer’s overall perception and opinion of thebrand, it is reasonable that retro marketing is utilizedin imagery (Park, Eisingerich, Pol, & Park, 2013). Themost simple and heavily implemented way is whenteams and leagues introduce throwback uniforms,names, or courts during their games. Numerous teamshave employed throwback jerseys including the GreenBay Packers and Miami Dolphins during the 2015 NFLseason (Lukas, 2015), the Golden State Warriors andSacramento Kings in the NBA, who utilized a throwback court along with a throwback jersey during the2015–2016 season (#FlashbackFriday games and finalregular season home game, 2016; Whitaker, 2015),and by the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates ofthe MLB, who used throwback jerseys throughout the2016 season (McGuire, 2016; Snyder, 2016a). Beforethe 2016 season, the University of Miami footballteam had a launch party for their “Legend of the U”throwback jerseys, which were a tribute to the jerseysthe team wore in the 1980s (Ducey, 2016). For the2017–2018 season, Liverpool of the English PremierLeague featured an orange alternate jersey considereda throwback to their 2000–2001 season, and theTottenham Hotspurs slightly altered their logo toresemble the one they used from the late 1950s untilthe early 1980s (“Premier league kits,” 2017). The usageof throwback jerseys has been extensive in professionalsports as of late and includes leagues’ usage of retromarketing. In 2013, the NBA had adidas unveil seventhrowback jerseys as a part of their Hardwood Classicsseries (Young, 2013). Beyond temporarily using retroaspects in uniforms, logos, and courts, teams haveincorporated retro into their logo and jersey redesigns.As many teams are often redesigning their imagery,for numerous reasons, some have relied on retro marketing factors in the process. Two examples includethe previously mentioned redesigns by the GoldenState Warriors and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Whenthe Warriors conducted a redesign of their logo anduniforms in 2010, they went back to a color schemethat they had not used since 1997 and created a primary logo that was similar to the logo they used from1966–1971. The Warriors Team President explainedhow the redesign was using retro elements: “This newlogo pays homage to our organization’s rich history,and unique standing in the Bay Area sports community” (“Golden State Warriors Unveil New Logo,” 2010,Volume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing Quarterly201
para. 3). Another team who made changes to theirlogo and uniforms with retro marketing in mind wasthe Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs redesignedtheir logo for the 2016–2017 season that was incredibly similar to their logo from the 1963–1967 season.Specifically, the new Maple Leaf’s logo had 17 veins tomark their inaugural season (1917–1918), 31 points torepresent the 1931 season when they won the Stanleycup and opened the Old Maple Leaf Gardens, and thetop half of the leaf had 13 veins to represent the teams13 Stanley Cup victories, all of which pay homage totheir history and past success (Creamer, 2016). TheMaple Leafs and Warriors are great examples of teamswho have ingrained retro aspects into their logo anduniform redesign, and this reliance on retro elementsfor the team’s logo and jersey redesign add credenceto the importance of retro marketing in sport. Theauthors have deemed throwback jerseys and logo andjersey redesigns utilizing retro marketing elements asways that sport teams and leagues use retro marketingin their imagery. A sport marketing activity that oftenimplements retro imagery is merchandising, as teamsand leagues sell a great deal of merchandise with retromarketing in mind.MerchandisingIn 2005, sportswear sales were estimated to be 61billion dollars in the United States, making merchandising a great avenue for sport marketers to implementretro (Chi & Kilduff, 2011). With the influx of retromarketing in general business and sport, there havebeen companies created simply on the concept of retrobranding. Mitchell & Ness and Ebbets Field Flannelsare two prominent and successful retro apparelcompanies and a great deal of their products are sportsapparel (“About us”, n.d.; “Our story”, n.d.). There mayhave been a true “nostalgia boom” as past scholarshave suggested if you consider Mitchell & Ness andtheir meteoric rise in sales over a small two-year window between 2000 and 2002, as they saw an increasefrom 2.8 million to 25 million in sales (Century,2003). In fact, by 2000, all four of the major sportleagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) had grantedMitchell & Ness licenses to create merchandise linesand produce their official retro jerseys (Our story,n.d.). As companies are striving and existing throughretro brands alone, it is no surprise teams and leaguesare also heavily invested in promoting and selling theirretro merchandise.Sport leagues and teams are promoting a great dealof retro merchandise through their online sales departments. The Green Bay Packers have a “throwback”section of jerseys for which Mitchell & Ness is oneof their two featured brands (“Green Bay”, n.d.). The202Volume 27 Number 3 2018 Sport Marketing QuarterlyNew York Rangers have a similar throwback sectionon the NHL shop (“New York”, n.d.). Additionally, anofficial soccer jersey supplier that features teams fromthe English Premier League contains a section thatis called retro soccer gear (Retro Soccer Gear, n.d.).Merchandising differs from teams utilizing throwbackuniforms in the sense that these are items available forpurchase by consumers and not necessarily worn byplayers. A team may very well use the same throwbackjersey to change their imagery by having their teamwear it and in their merchandising as they sell it tofans, but it is the action involved with the jersey (teamwearing it or selling to consumer) that differentiatesthe two. Because merchandising generates a significantamount of money for these teams and leagues (Liu,2011), and it is apparent that teams and leagues areusing retro marketing in their merchandising practices, it must be included in the practical areas of retromarketing in sport. Another effective area of retromarketing that has been utilized in sport involves thephysical space that the team plays in.VenueThe physical space that an organization offers in theservice industry can be very influential on the consumers (Bitner, 1992; Wakefield & Blodgett, 1994), andfor sport teams, the physical space falls within theirvenue. Many teams are using aspects of their stadiumor arena to promote their past and remember thesuccesses they have had. Over the last few years, manyNFL teams have begun to add historical displays oreven their own hall of fames to their stadiums (Belson,2014). In 2012, the Green Bay Packers had their onemillionth visitor to their Packers Hall of Fame Museum, which has been a part of their stadium, LambeauField, since 2003. The Packers were the first to havetheir own hall of fame museum, but many teams havebegun to follow suit (Belson, 2014). The concept ofhall of fames extends beyond the United States to theAustralian Football League that in 1996 began theirleague hall of fame, which consisted of 251 membersby 2014. Through other historical displays, manyteams remember their past players, sometimes usinga ring of honor like the Washington Nationals andVancouver Canucks (“Frank Howard to be inducted,”2016; Staff Writer, 2016) or by retiring numbers anddisplaying them around the stadium or arena as theBoston Celtics, who have retired 21 jersey numbers(“Should Boston Celtics un-retire,” 2015), and theDuke basketball team have (“Duke to retire,” 2007).Another prominent historical display that teamsutilized to celebrate past success is with statues ofplayers and coaches around their stadiums. In 2017,the Cincinnati Reds honored Pete Rose with a statue
outside of Great American Ballpark, making him theeighth past star to be honored that way (AssociatedPress, 2017) and English Premier League power houseArsenal has five statues honoring 3 past players, 1manager, and even 1 vital member of their staff (“Fivestatues of Arsenal Legends,” 2017). Another way thatmany teams utilize retro marketing in their venueis by putting banners up commemorating past teamsuccesses, whether that’s winning the division, conference, or championship. When teams utilize a ring ofhonor, hang retired jersey numbers, or put up statuesof past greats, they are celebrating the success of theirpast players as well as the heritage of their brands, andmany teams are using this form of retro marketing attheir venues. The immense usage of retro marketing inand around teams’ venues created this practical area.The fourth practical area considered the promotionsduring games.Gameday PromotionTeams utilize retro marketing in their promotionsin a few different ways. The first way is very simpleand involves using retro marketing in their gamedaygiveaways; the items given away can vary greatly.The Georgetown basketball team gave away a bobblehead of former great Allen Iverson at a game in the2016–2017 season (Chippin, 2016) and the PhoenixSuns gave away a tank top with their retro logo at onegame during the 2016–2017 season (Emerick, 2016).During the 2016 MLB season, t
Brian S. Gordon, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kansas. His research interests include consumer behavior/psychology, brand management of sport organizations, and fan loyalty. Abstract Retro marketing has become a staple in sport marketing practices.
