Sports Marketing and Public Relations — Sports Management Marketing

BUY THE BOOK-”SPORTS PUBLICITY: A PRACTICAL APPROACH”

"Sports Publicity: A Practical Approach" was published by Reed Elsevier in August of 2007. It is the most detailed, comprehensive step-by-step guide for sports publicity for the student, entry level publicist or marketer or even the seasoned pro who wants to learn more. The book is really a collection of great examples of some of the best in the business over time, and it has been very well accepted. Copies of the book are available for $39,95 USD on Amazon.com, for bulk to students at Elsevier.com and at a discount in the National Sports Marketing Network's bookstore. For more information about the book, ...

Services

Over 22 years of work in sports publicity and brand building have given me the opportunity to advise clients and individuals on a wide variety of topics that include: Crisis Management and Media Training Speech writing and effective messaging Local, national and regional story pitching and placement Identifying and developing effective story lines. Creating unique promotional campaigns. New media management and placement. Social networking and mentoring. Business plan creation, planning and writing. New business cultivation and pitching. Consensus building and product management. Troubleshooting and agency evaluation. Identifying and recruiting talent of all levels. Motivational speaking and coaching. International and multinational business development I am available to advise, create and tailor ideas, and kick around new ...

Legends of sports publicity and what we learned from them…

Some of the greats of the industry...feel free to email me more and tell me why... Joyce Aschenbrenner One of the trailblazers for women in the industry, Joyce Aschenbrenner made her first mark in the collegiate ranks at the University of Pittsburgh, having a hand in the publicity and promotion of future NFL stars Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett in a time when very few women were fulltime in the industry, especially on a major college level. A graduate of the University of West Virginia and a Pittsburgh native, Joyce moved on to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1982 ...

For All The Segmenting and Shrinking, Broadcast TV is Still King For Big Events…

Maybe it was the bad weather that blanketed much of the Middle Eastern states, or the rain that hit the Western United States. Maybe it was the allure of a quarterback who has been able to flourish as a marketing maven for brands like Oreo and Direct TV despite being in a small market. Maybe it was because America wanted to see a team from a devastated region rise higher than the flood waters did... [Read more ...]

Can Vancouver The Brand Be The Biggest Olympic Winner?

There has been much talk about Lindsey Vonn’s suggestive Sports Illustrated cover, Stephen Colbert’s great sponsor play, “The Flying Tomato” worrying about snow, Heather Mitts being a klutz and the Jamaican Bobsledders missing the cut, but can Vancouver the city and the region be the biggest winner in this year’s Winter Olympics? The coming events have not had the hype... [Read more ...]

Be It Snow or “Sol,” Niche Sports Continue To Struggle To Build Brand

Even as we move to some of the most lucrative, buzz-filled and highly anticpated events of the year in the next few weeks…Super Bowl, Daytona 500, Vancouver Olympics, NBA All-Star Game…the struggles for second tier and niche sports continue. This past week, the Los Angeles Sol, arguably WPS’ most successful franchise in year one, folded despite leading the league in attendance. ... [Read more ...]

Why Embracing The Blogosphere Works…

On Sunday, I was part of a group that helped pull together an event to expose the new analytic products Bloomberg Sports and MLB.com are developing and will soon introduce to the consumer market for fantasy baseball, as well as a more fun, indepth way at looking at the sport of baseball . While the products, one for the fan and one for professional teams, are compelling on their own, what was even... [Read more ...]

NASCAR Goes To The Big Screen(s)…

As we near Daytona and the start of NASCAR 2010, it is good to see the brand is again looking for more ways to engage the brand, the consumer and grow relevance among the casual fan. The latest offering is a program launching in thiusands of movie screens across North America, the first of a series of “short” videos that will promote ties to brands, drive personalities of the drivers... [Read more ...]

The Nets Keep Making Chicken Salad…

You only worry about the things you can control. That should be the slogan for the Nets this year. Their sales and marketing staff cannot worry about the injuries, the fired coach, the record losing streak, they just have to find a way to keep a brand relevant in a year of transition and uncertainty. New owner, a Russian billionaire, new city and arena, first maybe Newark and then maybe, finally... [Read more ...]

Racing Looks To Find New Fans…Pinewood Derby Anyone?

We are coming up fast on Daytona for NASCAR’s start, the IRL is looking to rebrand and re-emerge after unification with IZOD as a title sponsor, even Forumula One is looking to find its place again. So as the economic times start to recede and sponsor dollars are becoming a tad looser again, what can racing do to find audiences to grow and keep adding fans for life. One idea is for one of... [Read more ...]

Why Baseball Fan Fests Work…

As we head toward pitchers and catchers reporting in less than a month, we are seeing the seeds of baseball pop up in the most remote locations, where spring seems lightyears away. In Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee…talk of baseball, and ticket selling and autographs are all on the minds of the die hard and the casual fan these next few weeks. Why? Yes its because baseball remains the casual... [Read more ...]

Are The Colts The Model NFL Brand?

Jon Wertheim’s great piece on Colts owner Jim Irsay this past week in Sports Illustrated has stirred a bit of a debate as to whether the Indianapolis Colts could now be the model franchise for the NFL. Without the flash and dash, and the oversized suites and prices, of the Dallas Cowboys, or the tradition and big market cache of the New York Giants, or even the celebrity buzz of the Miami... [Read more ...]

Hearing Cricket In The States?

Slowly but surely we are seeing non-American brands find spots in the American marketplace. Banks like Barclay’s, sneaker brands, Emirates Airways, are all looking now to the American consumer to find ways to activate their brands through American sport. Just like American brands looking to activate overseas, it is not a quick fix and in the case of some brands like Red Bull, can take a few... [Read more ...]

MLK Day A Missed Branding Oppt. For Sports?

Monday is a National Holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It would seem a perfect time…NFL in full postseason, NBA and NHL gearing up for All-Star, college sports pushing ahead, the Olympics on the horizon, the holidays in the distance…for a brand or an organization to take ownership of the weekend, especially in the area of community service and philanthropy. Yes, the... [Read more ...]

Beach Volleyball Gets A Collegiate Push Toward Building It’s Brand…

Beach volleyball is unquestionably the darling sport of the Olympic Games. Every four years the men’s, and especially the women’s competition, draws one of the largest windows for NBC and has helped make pop culture stars of athletes like Misty May Treanor, Holly McPeak, Karch Kiraly, Kerri Walsh, and many others. More importantly, the AVP has used the Olympic platform to effectively... [Read more ...]

Maybe Not A Homer, But McGwire Plan Hit Its Points…

It was a long time in coming and caused many people a great deal of angst over the years, but Mark McGwire’s long-awaited and often doubted announcement that he used steroids was actually well orchastrated this week, and was effectively communicated on a number of levels. While many will look back as to the quality of answers and what the future will be in terms of acceptance and media interraction... [Read more ...]

Sports Philanthropy For Brands…Same Spend, Twice Return?

Cause related marketing for brands, even in a down economy, remains one of the growth areas for active consumer brands. With overall marketing dollars slashed last, companies had to find more efficient ways to reach consumers, and one of the biggest ways was combining dollars earmarked for straight advertising and rallying behind a cause. Instead of just asking the consumer to buy product straight... [Read more ...]

Colleges To Take A Shot At Message Control? Be Careful What You Ask For…

Several years ago the Toronto Maple Leafs took what was then considered a very bold step by breaking a coaching hiring first on ther website, which at the time was unheard of. Since then, the Washington Redskins have used their Daniel Snyder-owned sites, and radio stations to break and try and control news, a host of athletes, including Tiger Woods and Roger Clemens, have broken news with their own... [Read more ...]

Soccer Looks To Philly For A Dose Of Brotherly (and Sisterly) Branding Love…

One of the biggest problems that professional soccer in the United States has had to deal with in terms of brand growth was the barren area of success from south of Boston to Washington, DC. The Revolution, under the Kraft family, built a solid business in New England, while the United enjoyed both on field and marketing success in the Washington area. However despite one of the most fertile grassroots... [Read more ...]

Can MMA Grow In The Garden? State, That Is.

There is still more than a little contention over how “hot” professional Mixed Martial Arts is as a sport. One thing is for sure, the UFC as an experiential brand, is certainly very hot and very active for the men’s demo, and that experience was again in full force for their New Year’s weekend card, which again saw a sold out crowd in Las Vegas and put a cap on a record year for pay-per-view... [Read more ...]

Hall of Fame Voting: A New Brand Through The Power of the People?

This month two of the strongest, if not the strongest, Halls of Fame will reveal their 2010 selections, the Baseball and Football Halls. The annual selection issue always operates under stealth and the very tight control over the voters, and usually has more than enough intrigue, suspicion, and debate. However with an ever shrinking number of potential voters on the baseball side, and the need... [Read more ...]

Yes, Virginia

THE BEST COLUMN EVER WRITTEN. MERRY CHRISTMAS Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies,... [Read more ...]

St. John’s Pulls Out Some Nostaligic Threads With “Ugly Sweater Night”

College hoops in New York has been dormant for too many years. The last two years, not one local college even reached the NCAA’s or the NIT, so all the good brand equity and loyal following that had been built over years of success for Rutgers, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Manhattan, Hofstra, Fordham et al… has been lost. That doesn’t even begin to take in the losses from the casual... [Read more ...]

Can The Ivies Derive Green From Athletic Marketing?

Before the recent economic downturn, the whispers regarding the upgrading of the competitive level of Ivy League athletics were abounding. The large endowments of many of the schools were bringing the institutions to perhaps remove the paperwork and qualification for financial grants and give all students who qualified for enrollment a basic grant for free tuition. The thought was that it would... [Read more ...]

Sports Books Worth Reading And Giving From 2009

I will be the first to say I am not a strong critic, nor do I read every book out there. However I do read a great deal and try to figure out what are the books that teach me something, even of some of the most public of figures, that I didn’t know before and what can I take away from this that can apply to work, personal life or friends, colleagues or family. Also, what do I think are just... [Read more ...]

Is President Obama Losing His Sports Jones?

One of the smarter moves President Barack Obama used during his campaign to lure the interest of the casual voter was to introduce his athletic side and interests into his platform discussions. It started with shooting baskets with Sports Illustrated’s Scott Price, while discussing his background in and affinity for basketball. He threw out a first pitch and donned his beloved White Sox cap;... [Read more ...]

The Business of Baseball Never Sleeps…

Maybe it’s because the World Baseball Classic pushed the World Series into November. Maybe its because the winter meetings came at a time this year when the rest of the sports world was Tiger-crazy and not much else was going on. Maybe its because baseball is doing as good a job of strategically stretching out its news over a longer period this year. Whatever the reason, the amount of information... [Read more ...]

Can The Paralympics Be A Marketing Platform For Brands?

As we head toward the Vancouver Olympics and continue to immerse ourselves in the Tiger Woods train wreck, it is interesting to look for other opportunities where a brand like Accenture can potentially look to re-invest the millions just pulled away from Woods. Is the Paralympics an opportunity for Accenture or other brands looking to partner with great stories? This past week’s Sports Illustrated... [Read more ...]

On Heisman Weekend, “The Rudy Awards” Score Points…

“Rudy.” Great story, great movie. Yes the real Rudy is a bit over the top, bit that’s another story. It never detracts from the essence of the message the movie conveys. “Rudy” resonates with people on so many levels, and if the idea gives rise to ways for others to have their story told and be inspiring to those around them today, then its a very noble effort for the... [Read more ...]

Sports Marketing and Public Relations -- Sports Management Marketing -- Sports Event Marketing