Have you ever wondered why some footballers are earning so much money in comparison with the players from a few decades ago?

What about the top sportmen in other sports like the Superbowl, NBA, Formula One, English Premier League, Golf etc? These men are also getting paid by the millions and we are not even talking about the sponsorship deals! Tiger Woods for example, is the only sportman that has broken the $1 Billion earnings mark and Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, David Beckham themselves are worth in the tens of millions of dollars!.

Even Bernie Ecclestone – the man behind Formula One is widely known to be one of the richest men on the planet. According to Forbes in 2009, his wealth is worth $3.7 Billion and he had even tried to take over SAAB recently in January 2010.

But, surely all this wealth must come from somewhere….

Let’s look at the ardent supporters..

- Are they willing to part with significant amounts of cash for expensive tickets and give full support for their favourite team or sportsmen? Sure they do…

- What about blue chip and multinational companies? Are they willing to spend money on the industry? You bet!

- And let’s talk about the government? Are they willing to spend too? Sure they do. Look at the London Olympics planned for 2012. The British Parliament had approved an extortionate £9.3 Billion Pounds budget in ensuring that it happens successfully.

The bottom line is that there is an incessant demand in this industry and it seems to defy any recession. When there are any sporting events this usually equates to big business!

I anticipate that McDonalds will ‘piggyback’ London 2012 Olympics by up-selling related Olympics products with their Big Value Meal and it’s likely that other companies would follow suit too.

So how can you take advantage of it?

Get involved in it. Find every possible new business opportunity relating to it and find out how you can really get yourself involved. You can be a consultant for the industry, supply products and services or even sell licensed sporting goods offline and online. The choice is endless and it’s yours!

But don’t just stop there… Try and source other opportunities in other profitable industries too. It doesn’t really have to be strictly for the sports industry! There are many potential profitable markets out there. Go for it!

Ambar Hamid