How did the sports and entertainment industry get so big? There’s probably only one answer for that, and that is the marketing strategies used within the industry. Back in the day, sports and entertainment were luxuries, and many families could not afford this because of many factors that included price, place and other expenses that are linked with the product. When the industry just started out there was only one certain group of people buying these products and those were the wealthy because of the lack of income coming into the middle class. Families with discretionary income could in fact be a key part in this massive industry. How is this? Discretionary income is extra money spent on leisure activities, and when families started to spend more and more of their money on these activities they started to become consumers. Labor unions fought for higher wages and better working conditions so that they could make this discretionary income. Public transportation also allowed for easier access to sports and entertainment activities. As simple as that sounds transportation during the 1880s was very expensive and if you did not own your own vehicle it was pretty much impossible to attend any entertainment events. William Veek was a pioneer in the development of sports marketing. He conceived the idea to expand the game in marketing activities and events such as the 7th inning stretch, fireworks for the winner, etc. Adolph Zuker was also a key character in the development of not sports but entertainment marketing. Zuker was the founder of Paramount Pictures; he was one of the first film producers to draw big-box office crowds and owning his own chain of local movie theatres. The first sporting good deal was signed by Golfer Gene Sarazen in 1923 to Wilson sporting goods. Another key figure was Mark McCormack, linking athletes to corporations, including Roger Federer and Gillette. Sports and entertainment marketing has progressed quickly