The impacts of Digital Marketing on Sports Development at University Level: A Case study of Southern Punjab

Abstract

In recent years, digital marketing has proven to be a game-changer for marketing university sports in areas with limited resources, such as Southern Punjab, Pakistan. The study in this paper explored how digital marketing strategies (social media, website, email campaigns, and content marketing) can be used to drive participation, event organization, funding of sports infrastructure, identification of talents, and engagement of stakeholders within the context of sports development as it applies to the University of Layyah. A survey with a structured questionnaire was carried out with 280 participants (students, athletes, coaches, and administrators). The data were analysed by descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, and multiple linear regression achieved by SPSS Version 26. The results showed that there was a significant positive effect (R² = 0.672, p < 0.001); social media engagement showed the highest effect (β = 0.51). Overall, digital marketing contributed to a considerable increase in participation (mean +28 %) and event visibility. The study suggests that the inclusion of digital marketing in the curriculum of universities' sports programs and providing a budget for social media marketing could help speed up sports development in Southern Punjab.

Keywords: Impacts, Digital Marketing, Sports Development, University Level, Case Study, Southern Punjab