"Tanzania’s ‘tentacles’ reach Seattle"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Peter Brosnan in KIN 332 (section 2)

Tanzania, a relatively small East African country that holds a relatively big population of about 43,000, has recently brought attention to itself through advertising in Major League Soccer and the English Premier League. In July, the Seattle Sounders FC signed a one-year partnership with the Tanzanian Tourism Board, making it the third consecutive year that they’ve done so. The relationship between those two areas of the world started about two years ago, when Sounders assistant coach and head scout Kurt Schmid visited Tanzania to scout players and search for talent. Since then, Tanzanian tourism has been advertised through scoreboard messages, LED panels on the sideline, and two large murals on either end of CenturyLink Field, where the Sounders, Seahawks, and University of Washington football team play. The Tanzanian Tourism Board also has a deal with the English Premier League, advertising in the stadiums of six small clubs. They chose a six-team deal as opposed to a single deal with a powerhouse like Manchester United, expecting the former deal to produce a bigger market. It is way too early to come up with any substantial results from this partnership, but according to the Tourism Board, they’ve been hearing from many tour operators in the Pacific Northwest already.

As hard as it may be for me to grasp this concept, the country of Tanzania is itself a product. There are natural wonders there that most people have never gotten the chance to see, and giving people that chance is a way to seriously boost its’ economy. That being said, I believe there are few better ways to advertise a product than through sports, so I believe that this is a smart partnership for both sides. The Sounders have opened up a pipeline with Africa, increasing the possibility of bringing international players over to play in Seattle. Not only that, but Tanzania is now advertising in a market that they haven’t reached before, which should have positive long-term effects on their tourism and overall economy. Soccer is an international sport. In fact, it is without a doubt the most popular sport throughout the world. With the growth of globalization and social media it has become even more popular in recent years, and the Tanzanian Tourism Board has utilized that in order to try and sell its product.