Abstract

Sports can be expensive. Ice time for hockey practice to $200 tennis racquets can discourage some participants. From billion-dollar teams and venues to Olympic Games costing billions as well, where will sports get all the money they need to operate? One vehicle that has been used successfully for almost 100 years has been postage stamps. Funds were not generated just from selling Olympic themed stamps that generated some money for the postal service or maybe a government. The bulk of funds associated with sport-related stamps fundraising has been through semipostal stamps. Semipostal stamps provide for an additional charge over the face value with those funds going to a worthy cause. Worth causes over the years have included tuberculosis research/treatment, disease prevention, supporting the Red Cross, feeding the poor, or winter heating aid. Another beneficiary has been sports. Researching Scott Stamp Catalogues from the 1920s through 2015 has highlighted 60 countries who have issued 920 semipostal stamps to fund everything from Olympics to youth sports, sport venues, and even sport equipment purchases. This article examines how these stamps have been used successfully in the past and how they are still being used. Furthermore, one country, Germany, has been issuing sport-related semipostal stamps for over 50 years and has generated millions of dollars and sold over 250 million sport-related semipostal stamps.

Keywords

Stamps, Olympics, Funding, Stadiums, Revenue,

References

  1. Bassam, T. (2021). The NFL’s new broadcast rights deals: Billions of dollars, evolving contracts and streaming plans. Sports Pro Media. https://www.sportspromedia.com/analysis/nfl-tv-rights-2021-2032-espn-abc-disney-nbc-cbs-fox-amazon-prime-streaming/?zephr_sso_ott=DLllD7
  2. Cohen, J.I., Altman, S. (2021). An historical analysis of united states experiences using stamp-based revenues for wildlife conservation and habitat protection. Discov Sustain 2, 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-021-00031-0
  3. Coliseum. (2023). Pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 cost whopping. Coliseum. https://www.coliseum-online.com/pandemic-delayed-tokyo-2020-cost-huge/
  4. Coubertin, P., Philemon, T., Politis, N.G., and Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games in 1896. Athens, Greece, Charles Peck, Publisher.
  5. Fried, G. (2015). Managing sport facilities (3rd ed). Human Kinetics.
  6. Fried, G., Deshriver, T., and Mondello, M. (2019). Sport finance (4th ed). Human Kinetics.
  7. Fried, G. & Kastel, M. (2020). Managing sport facilities (4th ed). Human Kinetics.
  8. International Olympic Committee (IOC). (2022, June). Olympic marketing fact file: 2022 edition. https://library.olympics.com/network/doc/SYRACUSE/2874760/olympic-marketing-fact-file-2022-edition-international-olympic-committee
  9. IOC Marketing Report, Tokyo 1964. (2021). International Olympic Committee.
  10. Knight, B. (2022). Highest paid athletes. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/athletes/
  11. McAllister, B. & Heath, T. (1996). Olympic T-shirt tug of war ends in draw over image. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/05/15/olympic-t-shirt-tug-of-war-ends-in-draw-over-image/27577466-cb08-49df-8778-67863a989a17/.
  12. Miller, H. Terrell, P. (1991). The charity stamp. Social Service Review, 65 (1) 157-165.
  13. Mojica, A. (2020). The 1984 Olympics marks the last time the Games were profitable. Sportscasting. https://www.sportscasting.com/the-1984-summer-olympics-marks-the-last-time-the-games-were-profitable/.
  14. Oranisationskomittee Fur Die XI. Olympiade Berlin 1936 E.V. (1936). Official report of The XI Olympic Games, Digitally published by the LA84 Foundation.
  15. Ozanian, M. & Teitelbaum, J. (2022). The world’s 50 most valuable sports teams 2022. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2022/09/08/the-worlds-50-most-valuable-sports-teams-2022/?sh=41f3e849385c .
  16. Sama, D. (1990). Grenada tells Pete Rose: You’re outta here. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-06-17-9002190156-story.html .
  17. Scott Postage Stamp Catalogue (2014). 2015 Standard postage stamp catalogue. Scott Publishing Co.
  18. Semipostals, (2022). Kenmore Stamp Company. https://www.kenmorestamp.com/united-states/semipostals .
  19. Slemrod, J. (2008), Why Is Elvis on Burkina Faso postage stamps? Cross-country evidence on the commercialization of state sovereignty. Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 5, 683-712.
  20. Tomizawa, R. (2017). Olympic stamps: A significant revenue generating source that made the 1964 Olympics and the debut of judo possible. Economics, Japan, Judo, Pop Culture, Tokyo 1964. The Olympian. https://theolympians.co/2017/04/15/olympic-stamps-a-significant-revenue-generating-source-that-made-the-1964-olympics-and-the-debut-of-judo-possible/
  21. Ozer, U (2023) Olympic philately: Reading the 1896 Athens Olympics from postage stamps, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 40(1), 18-40.
  22. United States Postal Service (USPS). (2022). Community activities: Semipostal stamps. https://about.usps.com/what/corporate-social-responsibility/activities/semipostals.htm.