Marketing Audit
KIN 481
Marketing Audit Paper- PRCL Vancouver
Introduction
As time goes on our society has begun to accept people for who they are and put less emphasis on race, gender and sexual orientation. The sport market has opened up to the homosexual community even though from a “national survey done by NBC reported 61% of people stated homosexuality should not be accepted yet 86% of people agreed that it is okay for male athletes to participate in sports even if they are openly gay” (Hardy et al, 2007. p138). Although there is still a vast amount of controversy within this topic the sport market has labeled the LGBT market “an untapped goldmine” (Hardy et al, 2007. p138). This trend is apparent with the Pacific Rim Curling League – Vancouver’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) curling league, that went from a few friends in 1980 to a collaboration of 48 teams in 2012.
History
The Pacific Rim Curling League (PRCL) began as a small curling bonspiel in the early 1980’s for the gay and lesbian community. They congregated at the Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC on a drop in basis. The success of this league led to the formation of a gay and lesbian curling league in 1983. The Pacific Rim, as it was called, was the first gay and lesbian curling league in Western Canada. In 1993 when the Thunderbird Sports Complex closed its curling arena, the league seemed at a loss. Without a place to practice they would no longer be able to sustain a league. None the less, what seemed like a tragic dead end turned out to be an opportunity for growth when the league moved over to the Vancouver Curling Club that year. With this move, the league was able to grow to 20 teams with a stable program and expansion into the LGBT division. Being partnered with the Vancouver Curling Club gave them benefits along with exposure. After the building of Hillcrest Centre for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the team was able to shift into the facility
Marketing Audit Paper- PRCL Vancouver
Introduction
As time goes on our society has begun to accept people for who they are and put less emphasis on race, gender and sexual orientation. The sport market has opened up to the homosexual community even though from a “national survey done by NBC reported 61% of people stated homosexuality should not be accepted yet 86% of people agreed that it is okay for male athletes to participate in sports even if they are openly gay” (Hardy et al, 2007. p138). Although there is still a vast amount of controversy within this topic the sport market has labeled the LGBT market “an untapped goldmine” (Hardy et al, 2007. p138). This trend is apparent with the Pacific Rim Curling League – Vancouver’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) curling league, that went from a few friends in 1980 to a collaboration of 48 teams in 2012.
History
The Pacific Rim Curling League (PRCL) began as a small curling bonspiel in the early 1980’s for the gay and lesbian community. They congregated at the Thunderbird Sports Centre at UBC on a drop in basis. The success of this league led to the formation of a gay and lesbian curling league in 1983. The Pacific Rim, as it was called, was the first gay and lesbian curling league in Western Canada. In 1993 when the Thunderbird Sports Complex closed its curling arena, the league seemed at a loss. Without a place to practice they would no longer be able to sustain a league. None the less, what seemed like a tragic dead end turned out to be an opportunity for growth when the league moved over to the Vancouver Curling Club that year. With this move, the league was able to grow to 20 teams with a stable program and expansion into the LGBT division. Being partnered with the Vancouver Curling Club gave them benefits along with exposure. After the building of Hillcrest Centre for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the team was able to shift into the facility