Extreme sports

Résumé du document

The sporting culture penetrated our quotidian as a major reference. Even if it is difficult to define, sports is known by everybody and is omnipresent. Today, sports profit from a positive image (to be well, healthy). It occupies an important place in the media (newspapers, TV, sporting press, sports channels). The sports competition success with 32,000 participants registered for the Paris marathon, 9,000,000 spectators for Tour de France and more than 250,000,000 for the last Superbowl are examples of the importance given to sports in these modern times. The image of the champion is used much in publicity, the sportsmen of high levels are models and make sales.
Everyone knows this famous sentence of Miles in the movie "Cliffhanger": "I like it extreme" when he is speaking about the bad conditions (weather) before making his jump (with a parachute).

These last years, extreme sports has been with the modern life mode. The figures show that extreme sports are especially the prerogative of young people from the upper social class, it is an evidence easy to make: tennis is annoying and other similar sports are becoming boring. The traditional sports are not any more fun, we need more!

As time goes by, the notion of "Extreme Sports" has evolved. Between the 1970s and the 1980s, sports considered as "Extremes" were only the ones with risks of fatal accidents in case of error. From 1990s, auto-proclamation of extreme sports became common, with the aim of valuing the activity.

Since the 2000s, the definition has considerably become supple, and is classified in this category of sports which offers wild sports. It is also a variation of classic sports which initially were without dangers and now are more hard, more complex and unsafe.

People are now looking for new experiences, looking for thrills, looking for sensations, they want to surpass themselves.

The extreme sports' popularity has created a lot of new businesses; many companies indulge in extreme sports for their growth.

Tourism is taking advantage of these new kinds of activities and creates various offers including the practice of extreme sports.

The objective of this paper is to define how extreme sports has become an industry in France, so all the first parts of this section are dedicated to the French market. Nevertheless, as it is a relatively new segment of the sports market in France, we will also find out other results from different countries.
The section will focus on the sports industry with a global overview of the situation in France (the market, the customer). Secondly, we will find out the situation of extreme sports in the general sports industry.

In order to show how much importance it takes, we will present you an example of the extreme sports market: the case of USA and an example of the new opportunity: the case of the UK with the Extreme Sports Channel.
To finish this part, I will highlight on the sudden rise in using the word "extreme" and why it is impacting on other markets.

Extraits

[...] For the second-hand, eBay appear as the best websites. C. Promotion To communicate to their target, the big companies of kitesurf such as Wipika, Neil Pryde, BIC Sport, Quicksilver, Billabong or even Tiga, have recourse to several strategies. First of all, they appear in the specialized newspaper like Kiteboarder mag and Kitesurf mag, informing the readers (most of all kitesurfers), on all the news of the kite and its components. The culture of the kitesurf is also conveyed on Internet with many websites dedicated to this sport. [...]

[...] Research of admiration The extreme ski followed the standard evolution of the activity with risk, passing from a simple activity of passionate people to a sport very popular with a large audience, from the stage of amateurism to the professionalism level. The extreme ski became a real business and still its beginning never stops growing. (hiring a mountain guide in order to practice ski off, rent a helicopter in order to reach highest mountain top or the competitions of extreme ski as the descent of the northern face of the Mount Blanc sponsored by RIP curl and showed on MTV and Extreme Sport Channel. [...]

[...] Primary, the section will focus on the sporting industry with a global overview of the situation in France (the market, the customer). Secondly we will find out the part of extreme sport in the general sporting industry. In order to show how much importance does it takes, we will present you an example of extreme market: the case of USA and an example of the new opportunity: the case of the UK with the Extreme Sport Channel. To finish this part will highlight on the sudden rise in using the word “extreme” and why it is impacting on other market. [...]

[...] In addition, he researcher did not use this approach because it is very difficult for a student to have access to quantitative information on a new market, lot of research are not free but you have to pay. Indeed, most of data are protected by the firms. The inductive approach seemed more adapted to lead this study. According to Saunders (2002), this approach is based on qualitative data and a close understanding of the research context. Therefore, the generalisation of the results is not compulsory. As far as cosmetics companies are concerned, it is difficult to understand the context and to answer the research question only with questionnaires. [...]

[...] It thus can very easily to retake off. This new wing thus makes evolved the world of the kitesurf by extending its practice. Today of the sold wings are wings with rolls. Now, it is the former kite surfers who use wings with boxes The system of control The wings also build with a system of control (two or four lines): The system of control with two lines is known for the beginners. Indeed, this system is easy to install, moreover, it helps the beginner to have a certain stability with the kitesurf, it thus exists a facility of training, it is the same concept of fly a kite. [...]