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In 2004, energy drink company Red Bull considered purchasing the Jaguar Formula One (F1) racing team from Ford Motor Company. F1 was the pinnacle of international auto racing, and Red Bull had previously sponsored F1 teams and drivers. At the time, Red Bull was expanding globally and F1 was one of the top global sports. However, F1 was not popular in the United States. To raise the sport's visibility in the U.S., Red Bull had also developed a program to find and groom outstanding young American drivers, who hopefully would eventually drive Red Bull cars. Describes Red Bull's growth and high profitability as of 2004 as well as the extensive use of sports to promote its brand, the state of F1 racing, the company's involvement in the sport prior to 2004, and considerations in choosing sponsorship or team ownership to promote Red Bull.

In 2006, Futbol Club Barcelona (FC Barcelona) was one of the world's premier soccer teams. Founded in 1899, the club had experienced ups and downs over its history. Following some great years in the mid-1990s, the club had suffered a decline both financially and in its on-field performance, leading to a crisis in 2003. Traces the causes of this decline, and the actions taken by club management to restore the team's competitive and financial positions. Areas discussed include: governance, organization structure, management, fan experience, media, marketing and merchandizing, the club's social initiatives, and developing the club brand. Discusses the global development of European soccer, and FC Barcelona's efforts outside of Europe. The challenge in 2006 was to strengthen, position, and monetize the FC Barcelona brand globally. Opportunities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are discussed, but focuses on Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States, and whether or not FC Barcelona should purchase an MLS club in order to expand into the U.S. market.

Supplements the (A) case.

The Mountain Hardwear A, B, and C cases cover the founding and rise of the premium outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer. The A case (set between late 1993 and 1999) addresses the company's founding, early brand development, and the particular characteristics of the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. The B case is set in 2003 and examines trends within that industry as well as the company's opportunity to be acquired by a larger, more diversified apparel company. The C case is set in 2006, and it examines Mountain Hardwear's athlete sponsorship program.

The Mountain Hardwear A, B, and C cases cover the founding and rise of the premium outdoor apparel and equipment manufacturer. The A case (set between late 1993 and 1999) addresses the company's founding, early brand development, and the particular characteristics of the outdoor apparel and equipment industry. The B case is set in 2003 and examines trends within that industry as well as the company's opportunity to be acquired by a larger, more diversified apparel company. The C case is set in 2006, and it examines Mountain Hardwear's athlete sponsorship program.

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Starbucks was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Ziegler and Gordon Bowkerthree men from Seattle who loved coffee. By 1995, Starbucks had expanded to 676 stores, all within the U.S. or Vancouver, Canada. Only in the next decade did Starbucks make its first entry into the international markets. By 2006, Starbucks had approximately 11,000 stores, with 70 percent in the U.S. and 30 percent in international markets. Outside observers, however, continually raised questions about the likely future growth of Starbucks and the mix and profitability of its U.S. versus international operations. Starbucks faced the ever-present issues of where and how to further expand its global presence. This case explores Starbucks' possible growth modes-organic, acquisition, joint venture, and licensing-and covers issues that influenced Starbucks' growth strategy, such as same versus new country expansion and profitability fluctuations in international markets.

Founded in April 2004 by a former sports agent and a famed blackjack player from MIT, PROTRADE offered an Internet-based stock market for athletes. The start-up company utilized sophisticated algorithms--which were substantively derived from a book and its protagonist--to compute the value of athletes' performance. PROTRADE was targeting primarily two markets: the online sports content market and the fantasy sports market. Tracks the company's progress from idea to launch and focuses on its strategic alternatives for generating revenues.

First conceived as a business plan in Stanford Business School's "Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities" class, the Golden Baseball League is an independent baseball league in California and Arizona. Tracks the development of the business from idea to launch of the first season of play.

This case looks at issues facing three National Football League (NFL) teams in 2004: the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, and San Francisco 49ers. The case is written from the perspective of a consultant that will be moderating a debate on business management priorities facing NFL clubs. Each of the three clubs profiled faced different issues in 2004. The Cardinals struggled with poor attendance, an out-of-date stadium, and public reluctance to fund a new facility. The Texans, a new team that had played its first season in 2002, were building their franchise. The 49ers, once one of the league's elite franchises, were struggling with poor on-field performance, salary-cap limits, and an obsolete facility. The case prepares students for a discussion of business management priorities, including competitive success, financial success, and enhancement of fan loyalty and support.

In June 2001, the men's wrestling program at Marquette University was terminated, despite the fact that the program had been operating for several years with privately raised funding. Bucknell University discontinued its wresting program the same year. An important factor in the termination of these programs was Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which required that "no person...on the basis of sex...be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Title IX was primarily intended to help women overcome discrimination in academic programs, but it also applied to athletics. Marquette and Bucknell sued the U.S. Department of Education to eliminate what they viewed as the unintended consequences of Title IX implementation in reducing opportunities for men. Describes Title IX, its implementation, and controversial issues faced by institutions attempting to meet the objectives of the law.

In 1993 there was a major realignment of college football conferences, as three schools left the Big East Conference to join the Atlantic Coast Conference, leading to a wave of changes as the Big East moved to replace the departing schools. The University of Notre Dame was the nation's premier independent intercollegiate football program, unaffiliated with any conference. Notre Dame periodically had considered joining a conference, and had done so for its non-football sports, but had remained independent for football. Independence brought considerable financial benefits, primarily in the form of a lucrative television contract, but also caused difficulties. With the conference landscape changing, the school reconsidered its future, and the possible benefits of joining a conference. Describes the intercollegiate conference system and the related economic issues.

WebEx Communications, founded in 1996 by Min Zhu and Subrah Iyar, was an Internet-based, carrier-class communications services provider of web conferences and meetings. WebEx's online, real-time, interactive, multimedia communications services allowed its customers to communicate via voice conferencing, video conferencing, and data communication. With data communication, using just a standard web browser, multiple users could share and remotely control software applications and desktops, share and edit documents and presentations, remotely browse the web together, chat live, write on whiteboards, record and play back sessions, and transfer files. The company's services improved the efficiency of many activities: meetings, sales, marketing, training, customer support, etc. The company's early performance was impressive, but analysts had recently pointed out that the revenue growth rate was slowing. WebEx was considering a number of strategies to boost sales: expand the product line vertically to target specific end-user groups like health care or finance; increase partnering agreements with resellers; focus more on enterprise customers, which had the potential for hub-and-spoke acquisition of additional customers; or expand internationally (international sales accounted for about 4% of revenues in 2002). Also, Min and Subrah had to consider the repercussions of some recent news. On January 21, 2003, Microsoft announced it was acquiring PlaceWare, WebEx's most significant competitor.

In 2003, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys football team wanted to build a new stadium complex. The team's existing stadium was aging, and a new stadium offered enhanced revenue potential for one of the NFL's premier teams. The team wanted taxpayer assistance in financing the stadium, and the state legislature voted to put the matter to voters. Discusses the arguments for and against taxpayer financing of sports facilities and the economics of professional football teams. Raises the question of how the Cowboys can persuade the public to support the plan, as well as what alternatives the team should consider if voters reject the proposal.

By 2003, Rupert Murdoch and his team had built an impressive global sports regime within News Corp., while transforming the industry with innovative strategies, implementation, and technologies. Murdoch had used FOX's acquisition of the National Football League (NFL) rights in 1993 to launch an attack on the entrenched Big Three broadcasters--CBS, ABC, and NBC. On the cable side of the business, FOX had identified a gap in the market where unbranded and ungrouped regional sports networks aired local team games. FOX believed in the increasing regional emphasis of America and set out to bring the regional networks together. Despite these successful moves, Murdoch was aware of the ever-changing nature of the sports industry and knew that many key decisions lay ahead.

Visa was the world's leading payment brand and its vision was to be "The World's Best Way to Pay." Visa attributed an important part of its success to high-profile sponsorships such as its Olympic Games sponsorship. Visa also sponsored numerous events such as the Rugby World Cup, Best of Broadway, the Toronto Film Festival, NASCAR, the NFL, the Visa Triple Crown, and the Paralympics, and has an international alliance with The Walt Disney Co. In the fall of 2002, Visa announced its decision to extend its Olympic Games sponsorship through 2012. Thomas Shepard, Visa's executive vice president of international marketing, partnerships, and sponsorship, played a key role in convincing Visa's six regional boards and its international board to allow Visa to extend its Olympics and Paralympics sponsorship. In the summer of 2003, Shepard and his team gathered at Visa's international headquarters located in San Mateo, California, to reflect on the impact and lessons of its past sponsorship activities. Specifically, they discussed the current corporate strategy and refinement of the existing sponsorship strategy. They looked at greater involvement in the field of entertainment and, as an outgrowth of the strategy, selecting and working with new partners such as The Walt Disney Co. (2002); how to evaluate the effectiveness of Visa's existing sponsorships; and how to apply lessons from its existing and past sponsorships to current and future ones.

This case introduces the story of RedMed, the leading provider of sleep apnea devices. The company, founded by Dr. Peter Farrell and Dr. Colin Sullivan (the device's inventor) in Australia, quickly became international. The company set up a second headquarters in San Diego and soon was selling devices in Europe, Asia and the Americas, in addition to its "home" market. The case addresses the various strategies the company followed to establish a position and gain leadership in its various international markets.

Examines the challenges encountered by a start-up company that seeks to operate on a global basis virtually from Day One. Based in Mountain View, CA, NetLogic Microsystems is a semiconductor company that was founded by a semiconductor industry veteran in 1996. Follows the founder's efforts to identify and research the initial opportunity, hire staff and senior management, fund product development, generate sales, form partnerships and alliances (many of them international), raise institutional capital, and evaluate a possible acquisition. Because of the nature of the semiconductor industry, which finds many steps of its value chain rooted in Asia and other countries around the world, NetLogic had to be global early on in its life cycle. Despite the fact that its founder and management team possessed international roots and connections, being global presented NetLogic with a host of challenges not typically faced by an average start-up.