Make Use of History! Advice on What Practitioners Can Do

Chad Seifried

Sport and entertainment organizations regularly engage in activities that center on securing and maintaining a competitive advantage. In recent years, some work that I have been involved with (e.g., Seifried, 2012, 2014; Seifried & Katz, 2015; Seifried, Katz, & Pfleegor, 2015; Seifried & Meyer, 2010; Seifried & Pajoutan, 2014; Soebbing, Seifried, Walker, & Pfleegor, 2016) highlighted and/or demonstrated the contribution and appreciation of history as a special source of competitive advantage. Externally, evidence for this practice is strong across multiple sport and entertainment organizations and within a variety of areas (e.g., marketing, communications, facilities management, development/fundraising). As an example, several marketing and consumer behavior scholars (e.g., Funk & James, 2006; Goulding, 2001; Pascal, Sprott, & Muehling, 2002) recognized history as capable of motivating customers to buy specific products and/or services. Moreover, they identified history as a useful tool to improve and shape their brand image (Seifried & Meyer, 2010).