Brewers Promo Scores…

May 16, 2013 by

Sometimes it’s the smallest markets that are the most innovative, and in baseball the Milwaukee Brewers certainly fall into the category of smaller markets, bigger ideas for fans.  For several years the club has created a cult following by creating scavenger hunts in the spring around the city for little gnomes looking like their beloved mascot Bernie Brewer. Fans would scatter out to find each hidden collectable, with a special prize connected to the beloved trinkets. Many times, within minutes, the trophies would even go viral and find their way on to eBay, helping create a pretty unique secondary market for the Brewers brand regardless of how they were faring on the field. The promotion drew lots of buzz and gave fans a special extra as baseball came into focus in Wisconsin.

This past week the Brew Crew continued the tradition with a little tasty expansion. The club placed thousands of sausage ornaments across the area around Miller Park,  as part of their innovative “Spring Madness” promotion.  Fans were tipped to the promo when earlier in the week, their famous polish sausage was missing from their nighty and popular race around the infield during the game. The result was a hunt that spread virally to help find the sausage somewhere in Miller Park. The popular activity had people lined up on a weekday at 5 am, all with the hopes of grabbing an ornament even before heading to work. Thousands disappeared in a few hours, and the secondary marketplace for the unique and limited collectables again heated up.

The promotion didn’t have lots of flash and a big marketing spend behind it. It took place at a time of year where the other professional teams, and the regions colleges, are in a lull. And it also hit just when the weather was starting to warm up and fans of sport are starting to think more about baseball.  Would it work in a major market? The numbers may get out of control to manage for people looking for something free.  Maybe also major market teams would not see the value in the giveaway like their smaller market cousins. However the Brewers understand their fan base and what motivates them to turn out on a spring morning and show their loyalty to their hometown team, albeit for some freebees. Those freebees can turn into sales down the line, and the collectable hanging around the house is a nice reminder for casual fans on who has been there for them when they have some disposable income to push out during the summer. Scavenger hunts,  even in a high tech would, always seem to have added value despite the logistical concerns, and they tie greatly to the traditions of baseball, which for all of its advances is still an activity steeped in tradition. Maybe Silicon Valley millennials would thumb their ipads at a trek for some trinkets, but in Milwaukee, the promo seems to work just fine.

Filed Under: Gaming, Minor League Baseball, Minor League Hockey, MLB Tagged With: , , ,

YUM! Posts A Derby Branding Win Too…

May 7, 2013 by

Saturday night millions watched on NBC as Orb overcame a very muddy track to win the Run For the Roses for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaghey.   The horse came from deep in the pack over the final quarter mile for the legendary win, and set himself and his owners up for two weeks of hype before the second leg of the Triple Crown, The Preakness Stakes comes along.

The Kentucky Derby remains the horse racing industry’s shining moment for the casual fan, and the kickoff to what the National Thoroughbred Racing Association hopes is a landmark summer that could lead through the Belmont stakes, into a long summer at parks across the country, and then to the Breeder’s Cup in California. Lots of ups and downs, millions gambled legally, and another attempt to continue to revive a business which has seen better days but us fighting to rebound with a new legion of fans.

One of those ways is to leverage its biggest windows with brands that may not have activated in the space for very long, and we saw that on Saturday, when Louisville based YUM! Brands took the presenting sponsor and lots of exposure to Churchill Downs. Now the YUM! brands…KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and others, spend millions in brand activation against sports over the course of the year, and at first glance, the Derby may have been seen as another engagement point, albeit with a slightly different audience that may tune in for the NBA or NFL or college football.  However this was not really what the YUM! partnership for the Derby appeared to be about.

The signage in some places mentioned the company’s consumer brands, but the primary placement, including on each horse, was for YUM! itself. The commercial spots during the race were about the company and its global franchises, not chalupas or slices of pizza. It was a call to action for corporate, not consumer. Why?

First, the support of the Derby, like the money spent on other projects involving sport and consumers around Louisville, helps solidify the company as good public citizens. Big time sports come to Louisville, YUM! supports and helps grow the tradition. Second, the Derby audience is different than most other events one of the YUM! companies would support. It is a little older, a little more global, and one which the dollar figures spent on the activity in gambling, are right up front. Maybe this audience is one that looks more to business buys than a traditional sports audience. So tell then your story. There was no direct pitch to come buy a franchise, but the message time and again became pretty clear. Here is what we are, here is who we are, here are out global faces that run our business, we are growing and maybe…you want to find out more.

Chances are most tuning in knew Stella Artois at least a little, and know what Longines is. But YUM? Maybe not. So the parent company used the opportunity not to sell tacos, but to sell itself.  It was an interesting play in corporate identity rarely seen on a big stage.  Not overt but clearly targeted to raise awareness not as much for thick crust or wings, but for selling a franchise or two.  Will it pay off? Hard to tell as there was not a collection point of data, at least publicly, and there was no place to drive interest either in signage or in broadcast.  Regardless YUM! showed they are good corporate citizens for Louisville with a desire to grow even bigger than they are, and they found an interesting audience to try and tell their story to.

 

Filed Under: College Football, Gaming, Horse Racing Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Can Professional Ultimate Frisbee Fly?

April 24, 2013 by

Amidst all the hype of baseball, the NFL Draft, the NBA Playoffs, the NHL regular season finale, even the start of outdoor pro lacrosse came another property launching in a crowded marketplace. It has cool colors, lots of action, has been played by millions, can be coed, is fast paced and easy to understand. It even received an NCAA sanction to be played on the collegiate level officially last year. Any guess?

 Professional Ultimate Frisbee. An eight team league launched the last few weeks with outposts from New York (The Rumble, although they are playing in Union City, New Jersey in Roosevelt Stadium, nice timing with “42” coming out last few weeks) to Vancouver. They have mascots, telegenic athletes probably with good backstories, female General Managers and a game that is full of fun and acrobatics. What they don’t have are sponsors, television, and real mainstream crossover appeal. They have salaries and ticket prices, even season tickets for real fans following the teams. Can it work? Really tough.

 Now club sponsored teams on the collegiate level have worked for years, and there is now more structure to the college game, with thousands playing for the college championship. It is fun, invokes school pride, is easy to follow and probably gives many winter sports athletes a little respite, but that’s what it is…fun camaraderie amongst schools with some bragging rights packaged in. There may be brands willing to spend against the audience, but with the thousands of choices out there, activating against that group could be tough. Beverages who can pour onsite, or even energy bars would make sense, but large sums spent against it without lots of media and even digital exposure is going to be tough to get. That’s on the college campus.

 Now on the “professional” side? Organizers will point to thousands who play the game recreationally and probably a void for a sport like spring football that may bring people out. It can be acrobatic and testosterone driven as well. But a professional league that can make money…which is what professional sports are supposed to be about? Really tough to sell. With ticket prices comes attendance, with attendance comes hard numbers, with hard numbers comes results. Can they be measurable to have brands spend against it? Well established sports…lacrosse, fast pitch softball arena football, indoor soccer, rugby, cricket, even women’s soccer…have tried with large pockets to develop pro leagues or tours, and most times they have fallen hard, struggled to survive or have failed to launch despite the outcries from the core or passionate fans. A well-established Olympic sport like beach volleyball has gone through several professional iterations and is now trying to come back ye again this summer despite mountains of red tape in the past. Great game, fun to watch, great on site activation but very, very expensive to do.

 Now maybe because it is so new without lots of baggage that professional Ultimate Frisbee can succeed. Controlled costs, fun in the sun, athletes willing to promote, a good feel for digital and social media play in its favor. However there are hard costs…staff, stadia, ticketing, event production, that even with a tight bottom line still cost money, not to mention travel, coaching, medical insurance etc. etc. Probably some brands will take a look, but these days every penny spent against sponsorship is heavily tracked for ROI. Maybe there is a global media company out there with deep pockets who sees Ultimate Frisbee as their gateway to a younger active demo ale video gamers and X Games followers. Maybe.

 It would be great if all these properties survive and thrive. Innovation, diversity, athleticism and compelling content are all good and can create more jobs in the marketplace. However in these challenging times can such niche endeavors bring repeat customers and a good ROI? Is a sport played by millions recreationally needed in the professional realm, where costs are higher and so are expectations? Many have tried, few, if any have succeeded. So we watch, we wait and we toss around the Frisbee and see where it lands. Maybe it will be a win, maybe not, and you have to give those who have put up some dollars credit in some way for trying. It’s a really tough way to fly a business though.

Filed Under: Ambush Marketing, ESPN, FIFA, Gaming, Jobs, Lacrosse, Minor League Baseball, NBDL, NLL, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Wrestlemania Re-Affirms WWE Brand Power…

April 12, 2013 by

There was probably a time when the NFL would have shied away from seeing the WWE as anything but an encumbrance to business. After all for at least part of its history, the publicly trade company has been awash in misogyny, steroid use, violence and controversy.

But today the WWE is a thriving entertainment vehicle worldwide, hell bent on providing fun, exciting and engaging stories in every medium and to fans old and young. The pinnacle of that growth was last weekend at Met Life Stadium, when WrestleMania brought a record crowd of over 80,000 to the new home of the Jets and the Giants, the culmination of a week of tri-state and national appearances with media, charities and athletes and celebrities of all walks of life, all showcasing the value of the WWE brand and how far the company continues to go as an entertainment brand.

Why was this valuable to the NFL? Wrestlemania 29 provided the perfect test of the facility and the area for next February’s Super Bowl. Hotels were filled, traffic patterns were tested, and most importantly, the power sources for the stadium were pushed well beyond what will be used for next winter’s extravaganza, quieting any critics who were wondering if the same power outage that occurred in New Orleans could occur in next year’s home. Every test was passed, giving the NFL another box checked for when the world’s sporting eyes will be focused on Met Life.

From a branding and merchandising standpoint, WrestleMania was everywhere. Kids and adults sporting tee-shirts and hoodies were everywhere from college campuses o Times Square to the three area airports, and the WWE brought out superstars past and present to make sure that every demo could be involved. It was fun and engaging branding, and the next lifting off point for a property that is still viewed as sport because of the athleticism of its performers, but is all about family entertainment for every walk of life. No brands ran from the WWE brand, promotions from Times Square to children’s hospitals came off without protest, and the WWE leveraged the event to show how expansive their marketing pull can be.

For a sports and entertainment property, it doesn’t get much bigger than the WWE, and the brand did its cousins at the NFL a solid last weekend.

Filed Under: Ambush Marketing, Gaming, NFL Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Thanks To New Jersey, Fantasy Becomes Reality

March 20, 2013 by

There are wide ranging numbers attributed to the number of dollars spent and people who play fantasy sports in the United States, but rest assured it is in the millions. Football is king, baseball second and then it goes down from there. The major media companies have found a jackpot in monetizing and aggregating fantasy play, and MLB.com has used the fantasy baseball business as one of the key engines in drawing sponsors, creating promotions and moving all sorts of ancillary services.

Bow when you leave the major media brands…ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports…the business falls off a cliff. There are scores of apps, services, books, seminars that are paid offerings at various dollars, and few do very well. Even more come and go quickly, no matter how innovative the technology. The truth is that the amount of free material,  websites, etc. along with the tribal nature of sports, and fantasy (you try a product and it takes a huge differentiator to get you to switch) makes the secondary fantasy information market very difficult to draw eyeballs and sponsor dollars, let alone consumer dollars that are substantial. If you have a service tied to a media partner that gets you millions of views, you stand a chance even if your offering is mediocre. Without it, no matter how good the product, it’s tough to cut through both the clutter and the big name brands that offer services. After all, if you are a consumer and not playing in a large scale fantasy game with a big financial upside, what’s the need to go invest in better research that may only move the margin for you a point or two?

Well, because of the New Jersey casinos, that may all change. This week the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement published regulations establishing standards for casinos to offer fantasy sports tournaments for money, starting April 22. While visitors to the casinos will be able to risk money on the games, New Jersey will not consider these games gambling, skirting federal law that distinguishes between fantasy sports and sports gambling. The regulations allow casinos to create their own games, or to partner with existing companies that are already providing real-money daily fantasy sports online.

So now if you are a fantasy player of any size, you now have the ability to have real dollars invested and a real upside into success, where the smallest margin good be a bigger payoff. Suddenly an investment in a dollar app or a nine dollar service that gives toy a three to five percent better margin of victory, or gets intangibles like weather or real time updates, becomes even more valuable.

This move to fantasy will be the next in an evolution that will see the US catch up to other parts of the world in regulated, legal online gambling. Services that offer small edges for mobile gambling on soccer in the UK for example, can sell micro payments for bettors to get updates during a game and increase both their wager and chances to win. In a heavy analytic game like baseball or even American football, the possibilities go up exponentially.

The move will also open up the opportunities for large scale analytics and gaming companies to enter the fantasy market as well, which will also raise the stakes for smaller analytic businesses to either grow or get bought out. There will be a gold rush of offerings, but like the gold rush, only the smart, the well-funded, the opportunistic and the ones with the wherewithal and the luck to stick it out will succeed.

It is going to make for interesting times in the sports world as 2013 moves along and States look for more revenue, and gambling sits there. Teams and leagues need more revenue streams, and gambling sits there. Media companies need other resources to tap into, and gambling sits there. Yes it has to be regulated and it has to be controlled, as it is in many parts of the world.

However the first step is now making fantasy a reality business and the Garden State appears to be the first, but never the only one, to make the plunge as we hit spring. The size and value of fantasy sports right now is largely an ambitious estimate. However as the game now changes that estimate, like the dollars spent against fantasy, will become more real than ever before, and many of the biggest gaming players who may have shied away before, will suddenly be in the game. Millions is a term that will measure dollars more than participants as the game of fantasy rises, and the interest grows with the cash.

It will be a whole new ballgame.

Filed Under: ESPN, FIFA, Gaming, MLS, NBA Teams, NFL Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Mixed Martial Arts Winning A Perception Fight…

March 14, 2013 by

If you have been to New York’s Times Square in the last five or six years toy would have seen it, the billboard towering over the Marriott Marquis. Amidst the glowing brand ads throughout the square and the endless video displays is the huge promotion board for the UFC, always telling the tale of their next upcoming pay per view. Every big name in the sport has been featured on the billboard as their event came and went, a constant reminder to everyone that the largest Mixed Martial Arts promotion is alive and growing around the world. Except of course in New York, where the sport remains illegal, one of the few states in the U.S. where professional MMA cannot be held.

However that long battle may soon end, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated this week that he is now open to having the sport legalized in New York, which can open the doors even more for Madison Avenue and others to ramp up their support of MMA. Why and how is this move important for the UFC and other promotions like Spike’s Bellator brand? Simple. There are few sports as experiential as professional MMA for the fan, and as close as New Jersey is, it is still not New York for companies who want to engage in the brand, and an OK in New York will boost the image, and the marketing appeal beyond what it currently is.

Now the legalization move won’t mean that suddenly the Nets at the Barclay’s Center or the Knicks and Rangers at Madison Square Garden are going to suddenly be cast out for cage fighting. In reality, the move will help the State’s casinos upstate even more that the large facilities in New York. Those smaller venues can host profitable smaller promotions that will draw a younger demo into their gambling establishments more consistently. For companies like Fox, the UFC broadcast partner, and Spike, the Bellator broadcast partner, it will give a chance to showcase an elite event a few times a year right down the street from where its main advertisers live and work. It will also provide a new backdrop for the programmers reality shows on the sport, should they choose to use it.  The use of New York as a marketing tool is certainly not new for the sport…like NASCAR and recently Major League Soccer, the UFC and Bellator have brought their athletes into New York for press events and trainings. Now they can deliver the complete package to the Big Apple, probably helping erase some of the doubt of brands that are still on the fence about the sport. No longer will they say…if it’s so hot why can’t you compete here in New York. It is one less objection to battle, and more legitimacy for the sport.

Is the change potentially in New York the be all and end all for the sport? No. Does it mean that suddenly promoters and fighters will have a huge new stream of get rich quick cash? No. Events are still expensive to produce and will be very carefully regulated. However for the promotions like the UFC and Bellator potentially, the legalization in New York is a big win in perception and value, and a nice next step for their business, whether you like fighting or not.

Filed Under: Boxing, CBS, Fox, Fox Sports.com, Gaming, Mixed Martial Arts Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Student Athletes Lose With An NCAA Gamble…

February 22, 2013 by

This coming March the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas will host two men’s basketball post-season conference tournaments. Other casinos, including Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, have hosted men’s basketball games a stone’s throw from the slot machines and craps tables. All of that activity is OK if you are the NCAA. But if you are the undefeated Montclair State women’s hoops team, you need to hit the road, because the NCAA won’t let any postseason games be played in the State of New Jersey die to the pending lawsuit between the four major sports leagues and the NCAA against the State’s challenge for sports betting.

Collateral damage at its best, and the NCAA again at its petty worst. Who suffers? The undefeated Red Hawks, a school that helped rearrange the furniture for women’s athletics during their last great run in women’s hoops. Led by Carol Blazejowski, MSU helped put women’s sports on the map in the early days of Title IX, going to the first AIAW Final Four in 1978 and becoming the first women’s team ever to play in Madison Square Garden.

Let’s not forget that the law New Jersey is challenging is still the subject of what will be a long legal battle, and there is no legal gambling going on right now…or that like in Nevada, college games within state borders would be excluded. Also let’s not forget that there would not even be a way to bet on Montclair State women’s basketball if a profitable sports book existed in the States’ casinos and at their race tracks.

But when it comes to creating collateral damage, the NCAA is again at its best. Montclair goes 26-0, are No. 1 in their region and No. 5 in the country, but they will not get a chance, as student-athletes, to be rewarded for their success.

What makes the ban even more ridiculous is that if New Jersey wins its court battle and its gambling law stands, states will be lining up to follow them and start taking in the dollars that right now go to Nevada, or better yet, to illegal enterprises. Soon after rest assured, the major sports leagues will find ways to incorporate legal, regulated gambling into their marketing plans, and don’t be surprised to see the NCAA follow before too long. There are too many dollars at stake, once the federal ban is overturned, for sports leagues to go the other way. It works abroad, where professional sports wagering is OK, and it will be carefully brought in here after a while.

Now the professional leagues have not run from New Jersey despite their court challenge. The NFL will bring the Super Bowl to the State in 2014, the NBA and NHL will hold their drafts there as well in June. While arenas in Trenton and Newark and East Rutherford may be hit in the pocketbook by not hosting NCAA Regionals until the law changes, those places can fill their seats with other events. Montclair State? Rowan? Ramapo? Even Rutgers in sports like soccer and lacrosse? They might not lose revenue, but they lose a competitive edge that student-athletes worked, many times away from the limelight, to gain the right way. With hard work.

It is the worst kind of collateral damage, one that does not injure anyone who could ever be affected by the big dollars of gambling in any way…Just those who are innocent victims.

Now there is some great debate this week about the NCAA and whether it has outlived its usefulness as a governing body. That is not the issue here…the issue is whether the organization set up to govern intercollegiate sport is penalizing its most ardent followers for no reason other than geography. The answer is yes, and the cost is not dollars, it’s respect and hard work, two principles the governing body preaches to all who will listen.

Whose brand gets damaged? Montclair State? Certainly not. The NCAA? For sure. That’s a bet anyone could cash in on. Go Red Hawks.

Filed Under: College Basketball, Gaming, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Super Gamble Fight Continues

February 2, 2013 by

We reach Super Bowl weekend, a spectacle that has advanced well beyond the vision that Commissioner Pete Rozelle and the others in charge of the AFL/NFL merger had probably even envisioned. So little is about the wins and losses of the teams on the field, the Ravens and the 49ers, and so much more is about the buzz, the National Anthem, the commercials and the social media…and the gambling.

According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, approximately $93.9 million was wagered on the 2012 Super Bowl at sports books across the state, the largest total ever for a Super Bowl, but most of that figure was returned to bettors in the form of winnings. After paying out to bettors, Nevada sports books earned $5.1 million on 2012’s game. Certainly not a figure that would be a cause for major investment, however when you consider of the total amount bet on the Super Bowl, only about 1.5 percent is wagered legally; these bets are made by those over age 21 and physically present in the state of Nevada.

So there you have the reason why New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and fellow legislators like Frank LoBiondo and Frank Pallone are going head to head with all comers…the Federal Government, every professional sports league and the NCAA, to overturn a law that gives the State of Nevada and its casinos the only legal sports books in the United States. It is a law that New Jersey legislators feel is unfair and should it be overturned, will open the way to re-energize the State’s casinos and racetracks and bring millions in much needed taxable income to the infrastructure of the State, much like the lottery and the casinos originally did when they were first brought into State control.

The concept of well-run, corruption free sports wagering is not new around the world, but it is new to the United States outside of Nevada. In the UK, sports gambling, especially with mobile devices is an accepted part of the fan experience, with millions of regulated dollars flowing to government and private entities. Teams have official gambling partners, and many athletes, including tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, endorse an online or traditional bookmaking partner. In the US, it is still seen as a dirty business run out of back rooms.

That all appears to be slowly changing at least in the eye of some legislators. The monopoly that Nevada has should come to an end, and many states, with New Jersey and possibly Delaware leading the way, some quietly, some boldly, to help open up the regulated flow of dollars into a sports book.

For their part, the professional leagues and the NCAA are holding firm with the Federal government against New Jersey. The NCAA has even pulled several championship events from state colleges because of the tact officials have taken to try and change the law…a move, when you consider that fact that the NCAA allows college basketball games to take place in venues within casinos in places like Connecticut and Nevada, seems very petty and hurts the schools more than the State.

It is also worth noting that the WNBA has both a team playing in a venue that is in a casino (The Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun) and this past week had a team approve a casino as a jersey sponsor (Osage Casinos on the front of the Tulsa Shock jersey, not as a patch but across the front of the uniform). Teams in most professional sports in the US also are allowed casino sponsors to bring in millions in advertising  as well, and Canadian franchises like the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Raptors  even have advertising for online gambling sites surrounding their rink at the Bell Centre and the court at the Air Canada Center.  All of which is perfectly legal and very much regulated, but there is no public outcry at all when these entities that involve gambling are infused into professional sport.

As the Super Bowl comes to New Jersey next year, it will be interesting to see where the fight goes. The leagues, without admitting it, are leaving millions on the table in revenue by not having the federal law overturned and States continue to see large amounts which could go to public projects go instead to shady backroom organizations that are not controlled.  This also doesn’t include the millions that could be generated as mobile technology and second screens become more infused with the revenue of sport in North America. The more you can keep fans engaged, the more revenue you stand to make. The more new revenue streams, the less the chance there is to raise ticket prices.

Now this is not to say that the floodgates of legal sports gambling should just open without more study and strong regulations. It’s also not to say that everyone in a Super Bowl pool should suddenly turn their $20’s and $50’s earned into the IRS. What it does is cast another light on a very valuable revenue stream in its biggest one weekend of the year and open healthy debate as to whether an old law should be revisited for the betterment of millions, or whether the status quo should hold and sport should find other streams of revenue.

It is certainly a game, maybe the biggest game, worth watching in sports business in the coming months, especially with Super Bowl 2014 poised to take place in the state looking to upset the gambling applecart again, much like it did with casinos in the 1970’s.

Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, Crisis Management, Gaming, NCAA, NFL, WNBA Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

No Bull…PBR Gets A Chance To Ride A Quiet NY Weekend To Success

January 4, 2013 by

This weekend the New York area will be without a boxing match, an MMA card, the NFL, the NHL, arena football and indoor soccer. There is a smattering of college hoops and a little NBA, but what can someone with a hankering for some action check out. Well the PBR is back for its annual stop at Madison Square Garden. From its bulls to its interactive displays, its riders and its clowns, the PBR experience is certainly a unique one for sports branding coming through New York for what is its only east coast appearance.

In previous years the PBR has tested jousting, marched the bulls through Times Square and offered up first hand visits to try and distinguish themselves from other events in the area. There is usually a Giants playoff game or some NHL looking to draw attention. This year, the sports card is pretty much all bull for a weekend which the Tour uses to kick off its season and remind Madison Avenue that its fans and its product are unique to sport.

Why MSG in January? Even with a slower economy than when the circuit first came to MSG, the PBR still pulls some major brands from Ford to Stanley Tools to Wrangler to Cooper Tires, and even a new official chainsaw in Echo Power Tools (try selling that category, MLB). Their exclusive TV partner, CBS, also needs to entertain and engage partners in the buying capital of the sports world, especially since the PBR does not come any closer than Fayetteville, North Carolina at any point in 2013. We do live in a global sports environment now, but being able to experience an event like the PBR for skeptical brand buyers is very important, and there is no better way than hosting a showcase event in their backyard.

Families may be looking for a post-holiday event to attend that is both affordable and a bit different, and the casual sports fan is looking for some live event that is not of the norm and is a ways away from a normal trip to “The World’s Most famous Arena.” Add in the NASCAR-like appeal of the bull riders, the spectacle and drama of the bulls and you have an event that can actually draw attention and pull in a strong weekend crowd in a very fickle environment.

Aside from the spectacle of PBR, the fact that it is a stand-alone East Coast event for the sport, at the same time every year, can even make the weekend a destination spot for staycationers in the burbs, but also for fans of the sport from up and down the east coast and parts inland. All that works because of the consistency of the calendar, and a willing partner in Madison Square Garden. If the event moved from time to time, or if it had to go up against better weather or any host of other events in the crowded New York schedule, the event would be nowhere near as successful. Casual fans would not seek it out, or be able to circle the date with consistency. Even diehard fans would have to adjust from the rigors of daily life, and any stretch from annual consistency could spell doom.

Consistent and effective year in, year out branding and timing leads to a good churn of the casual fan and builds brand loyalty for the core follower, which translates into three days of an enthused, supportive and engaged fan, which is what all events strive to deliver in these challenging times, especially in the largest media market in the country.

So is the PBR season opener a model for branding success for niche events? It has many of the elements for a good one off, most important of which is exciting live content in a weekend which is as quiet in the area on the sports calendar as any. If it spectacle you like, the PBR certainly delivers.

Filed Under: CBS, Gaming, PBR Tagged With: , , ,

The 2013 Question…Worth The Gamble?

December 30, 2012 by

There is a battle going on in the State of New Jersey that, if played out in favor of the state, will open up and endless trough of marketing and spending dollars for professional sports going forward, one that could help keep costs down for tickets, ease burden on stadium improvements and in many ways enhance the fan experience. It is sports wagering, especially in the digital space, and like other taboo subjects before it…lottery advertising, events at casinos, advertising for hard liquor, even brands on uniforms…would be a huge boost for clubs and those selling media as they seek to find alternative places for cash other than the traditional means.

Now this is different than all the other topics mentioned above…the biggest reason being Federal Law in the US currently prohibits sports gambling outside of the State of Nevada, and no professional organization is going to buck the Federal Government to challenge or push along sports wagering in the States. The leagues and the NCAA, as has been widely documented, are actually doing all they can to battle New Jersey’s challenge to sports gambling. However if New Jersey does win, and other States follow, the revenue that can be had from LEGAL and Federally regulated wagering can probably dwarf most of the marketing revenue currently brought in by teams and leagues. Why is New Jersey challenging the Federal law? Simple. The State needs the income that a sports book can bring to casinos in places like Atlantic City, or to racetracks that offer various forms of legal wagering. The percentage of tax that could come from legal wagering in the United States, it is said, would go to fund an infrastructure that has been suffering with a down economy and made worse by the dollars lost with problems like Hurricane Sandy. They argue that their casinos and racetracks can operate within the law and be both profitable and innovative with sports gambling, just as their partners  in Nevada have been for years.  It’s not “The Sopranos,” it’s smart, legal and forward-thinking business.

Proponents of legal wagering point to the millions brought in across the world by legal gambling, many times without incident. Premier League teams could betting organizations as their biggest brand supporters, with the revenue share that goes on being some of the largest cash streams coming to clubs. The advances in mobile technology, it is argued, will make fan engagement at games that much stronger as well. with fans being able to legally bet on any number of analytic permutations that can occur in the course of a sporting event. A more engaged fan means more dollars spent on traditional revenue streams like food, and all that helps grow the pie for clubs. The other argument that is made is that whether leagues admit it or not, the gambling transactions are taking place illegally now, and those dollars, and the innovation that could come from a formal gambling play, are being left on the table by leagues and teams.

Now the other side is the spectre of fixing games, scandal and shady dealings that could arise from introducing legal sports gambling into America. The argument by the pro-legal gambling side is that those arguments were made with many other innovations that could bring down sport, and once they were introduced, no one suffered and public opinion was accepting and encouraging.

So where will this all go? New Jersey will continue to force the issue and bring about change, while the leagues and the Federal Government will continue to fight against for the short term. The issues on the horizon…will the NFL condone a legal bet when the Jacksonville Jaguars play in London each year…will soccer clubs playing friendlies in the US be allowed to engage with legal betting organizations in sponsorship when they tour the States…how can the NCAA allow college teams to play IN casinos and take appearance fees when they say that the supporting infrastructure is against the rules…will all be used as fodder for and against as the issue grows in the coming months.

The precedent for legalized gambling abroad is already established. Clubs in the US need to grow revenue streams and for sure there is no way the leagues will go against Federal Law with an issue as touchy as legalized gambling. Either way this goes, it will certainly be one of the bigger issues to watch in 2013 from a sports business perspective.

Filed Under: Crisis Management, FIFA, Gaming, NBA Teams, NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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