Six Sigma sales and marketing: application to NCAA basketball

Purpose - Today's economic climate has fueled intense competition for entertainment dollars, including those spent on professional and intercollegiate sports. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight and demonstrate the use of the Six Sigma methodology as a way to improve event attendance in a sports marketing setting. Design/methodology/approach - The research utilizes the define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) sequence to evaluate customer requirements and develop recommendations. Surveys, focus groups, and descriptive statistics comprise an important set of tools utilized to accomplish this aim. Findings - The paper concludes that Six Sigma can be readily applied to a sports marketing setting by explicitly demonstrating the steps employed to reverse a four-year decline in attendance for a collegiate men's basketball program. Originality/value - The paper is unique in detailing the use of Six Sigma, a traditional quality improvement methodology, in a sports marketing setting. It also highlights the unique elements associated with fully implementing a Six Sigma project in such a seasonal setting as an athletic enterprise.