Minor League Hockey

Devils Make The Right Moves For The Brand…

August 30, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Is there a professional team in the corridor from Philadelphia through Connecticut that has made more positive branding strides in the last year than the New Jersey Devils? While the Red Bulls make noise with a new stadium and Thierry Henry, the Nets constantly push for unique promotions and space during their transition, the Yankees make a huge splash with Hero Week and even Philly-area teams like the Union build fan support, the Devils continue to grow both on the ice and off, a combination which each of the others (well, except the Yanks of course) lack.

CHL, IHL Merger Makes Great Sense…

June 7, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

It wasn’t widely covered this week, but the merger between the CHL and the IHL to effectively create a joint program and a de-facto North American “AA” level of hockey was a very smart move and could be a very financially viable one for the minor league clubs at that level in the sport.  In reality baseball is the only sport that has figured out a business model that makes business sense for a viable minor league system.  The NBA has made strides with the D-League but it is nowehre near successful from a financial standpoint yet.  The NFL attempts have been less than fruitful (thank you college football) and the overtures the UFL have made now appear dead. Hockey does  OK in some markets in fits and spurts, but it is not the social sport for the casual fan that minor league baseball is, and the higher overhead combined with limited interest has slowed growth. There is also the alphabet soup of leagies and affiliations with no real centralized plan.  Last week’s announcement, to help in effect create one combined strong minor super league…connected but limited in travel costs…may help to finally right the system for hockey, and in many ways help to alleviate costs from the top of the NHL on down.

Is The UFL A Brand Compliment For The NFL?

March 29, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

There were  some good things that happened in the UFL’s first season.  They proved they could deliver a credible product, gave some coaches and players a chance to showcase their skills and they survived a season full of empty stadiums, inopportune dates, shifting cities, small sponsor support and well produced but negligible eyeballs on TV.

Hockey Gets Another Shot…

March 2, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Thirty years ago we had the Miracle on Ice, and the sports world waited as Jim Craig, the triumphant U.S. goaltender, prepped for his NHL debut with the Atlanta Flames a week later. Coke made Craig the branding darling of the Olympics, and thousands of kids rushed out to buy hockey sticks across the country to try and relive the win of the Russians.  However at that time the NHL was suffering from a lack of aggressive leadership and branding at the top…coverage was not great outside of home markets, there was no social or online experience to expand the moment, and only a percentage of the great young Americans went on to have productive NHL careers, many of whom didn’t gel for a few years and were not ready for the bright lights of the top level of professional hockey at that point.  It was a great moment which has lived on, but a moment in the history of the star-crossed sport of hockey in the U.S.

The Mascot Fills A Bigger Branding Role…

February 17, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

So it’s the middle of winter and you have no idea who your players are…or you are having a terrible season and the trade deadline looms and you need to keep your brand fresh and identifiable.  What to do?  The mascot. Now more than ever, with brands looking for more ROI, fans looking for personal engagement and athletes time limited, the value of having a fun, interesting and marketable mascot is higher than ever.  Ben Hill’s blog on milb.com points out dozens of minor league teams that trotted out nascot’s for Valentine’s Promotions or other teams that have unveiled new or updated mascots during the last few weeks to keep their brand top of mind with consumers.  The New Jersey Nets worked not a player, but their mascot, into a Super Bowl commercial, while NHL teams are trotting out mascots while their players are away or off during the Olympic break.  Now that it is so important to engage the entire family, older alumni may not always work as a compelling interraction, and the ability to have mascots in multiple places works as a fund rasier and a brand awareness tool.  It is true that many major market or more established brands (the Knicks, the Rangers, the Cowboys, the Dodgers) have never embraced the mascot theme, instead relying on the power of their brand and all the pieces around it to drive interest.  However for those really needing relevance, the investment in picking the right looking mascot and then marketing him, her or it appropriately, has become as valuable as any other brand campaign and one that is not taken lightly.

The Military, Don Cherry and Ugly Jerseys Create A Hit In Kingston…

October 25, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Much has been made of the NFL’s use of anniversary AFL jerseys this season. The created buzz and although luckily most of the Denver Broncos striped throwback socks won’t be at retail, the jerseys raised some extra interest. Whether that buzz is needed for the NFL to raise awareness who knows, but it certainly created a little more water cooler talk. However many other leagues and brands do need buzz, and one, The Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League, took three big steps this past week in helping a cause, identifying with a legend and creating some great exposure for the brand and for hockey in general. The Frontenacs hosted a Military Appreciation Fundraiser and brought in hockey legend Don Cherry on the same night, using Cherry’s appearance to move tickets and raise money for Soldier On, a charity which assists injured soldiers. However the team went one step further by creating a Cherry ugly jersey, looking like one of the legends, suits, and auctioned off each one, signed by Cherry himself, as an added fundraiser both online and in arena. The result…by creating a collectable, it was a “one time game used wear,” the team created buzz, and coupled that with a strong grassroots fundraiser that the community could rally around…to make this promotion another great example of how even in the smallest of markets a great idea promoted well can get national play.

In Search Of The Ultimate Fan Experience…

October 23, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The ying and yang that goes on between discretionary dollars fans can spend and getting premium access for those dollars is a battle that is only increasing in intensity for teams, brands and partners. With access to social media, much of which is free, teams have to continuously justify prices, knowing that the revenue stream for those dollars to the bottom line is more important now than ever as the larger pool of advertising spending goes south. So how does one create an effective, attractive and unique fan experience with limited resources and in the face of stiff competition…something which is truly unique for a fan, not cookie cutter…but still justifies both what the fan can spend and what the team, or even the partner brand, can justify as worth the investment.

Old School Branding:Mallards Give Everyone Something To Quack About…

October 20, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Maybe its because baseball just lends itself more to creativity because of the summer communal atmosphere and the tradition of promotion that the minor leagues lends itself to, or maybe we just notice it more because baseball has a bigger platform of a season, but it always seemed like that entreprenurial spirit of creativity should apply just as much to minor league hockey as it does o baseball. After all there are less dates usually to fill, in most cases less seats and in many cases less competition for the discretionary dollar in the winter than baseball combats in the summer. Yet for some reason, minor league hockey in the U.S…maybe there is less affinity to the game, maybe there is less money and less time spent on brand development, maybe the fans don’t connect to the team like in baseball…has never made the promotional impact that baseball has. Well don’t tell that to the Quad City Mallards. The Mallards have taken the page, well probably the whole book, from promotional and brand partnership, and under new owner Chris Lencheski have sought to redfine how minor league hockey brands and markets itself in an area where minor league sports can be king. From lockerroom access for fans to a great new in-goal Hardees promotion (written about by Sarah Talalay in the Florida Sun Sentinel and sure to be copied by others) the Mallards are providing a steady flow of information to media, creating compelling new partnerships and promotions, and making the team a must see for fun if not for hockey. They have created media partnerships with a junior reporter program, and found every possible way to connect to the community to drive interest as the season opens. Is it tough to stay relevant in an area which does not have a huge professional or even college sports following? Maybe. But the Mallards are taking every step possible to give fans and business partners a reason to support their efforts on and off the ice. The result may not be great in-game success but it will be a better, stronger brand, a quality family experience and good exposure to the sport for all involved, not to mention programs that could become even more of a best practice for arenas and their teams as they are for their baseball colleagues and their fields in the summer. Rocket science? Not at all. Understanding the marketplace, what attracts brands and how to communicate that experience to the media and to the fans? Absolutely. Hockey at all levels is a great experiential game. Here’s hoping that the Mallards and the experience they are building leads to an explosion of interest and smart business practices in the sport, just like we have in baseball.

Fan Ownership Worked In Soccer, Can It Work Baseball?

September 30, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Last year the UK soccer club Ebbsfleet United tried a novel approach to resurrect the club. They sold shares that gave fans a voting portion of all club decisions. Not only did they make enough money to have the club be financially viable, the team had a bit of a resurrection on the field and almost got to the point where the success was being shunned by the local supporters who had followed the club and their middling success, or lack there of. over the years. Could Ebbsfleet become a business model for success elsewhere? Thus far, the answer has been no. Probably more because of the economy than anything else, few have tried to find the initial cash and all the other pieces needed to launch such a venture, and the value of most teams in the United States, even at the minor league baseball and hockey level. is still well outside the realm of possibility for public, or fan owned properties. The minors are still much more business, with smart businesspeople and pretty well off owners (even in small towns), than mom and pop these days. However, enter into the mix the group of entrepreneurs in Connecticut, who have looked below the minors into the college wood bat league for an opportunity to give fans their due. The story was recently reported in the local edition of the New York Times, and tells the story of how four young men are taking that Ebbsfleet model, through the digital space and the grassroots to buy a team with fans making the business decisions and putting the team in Torrington, Connecticut. the group has built the site, Our Baseball Heaven, as an homage to the fan, where for a small investment everyone can own the team…a fantasy sports comes to reality approach. Now the idea has its problems…there is limited commercial viability in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, the team and the town do not have the passionate club following of an English soccer team or even a minor league team that has long been a part of the community, and the town recently lost its minor league ties because of lack of support…but the overall idea remains intriguing. Perhaps for the right people looking for a low cost investment in sports, it could work as a labor of love and a way to get on the job training. However for that you still need the capital to get started, and in this economy the explanation of buying some shares without seeing any or little chance or ROI with discretionary income is a stretch. However even if it doesn’t work this time, there is an upcoming time limit for submissions and the entries have not been what is hoped for, it does leave the door open for a larger business plan for another team, or maybe even an owner for the day concept, at some independent franchise. Duplicating what was done with the perfect storm at Ebbsfleet is a difficult task, but for someone with the right plan and the right amount of grassroots support, maybe that Heaven can be created somewhere in an North American field or pitch or rink. All about timing. Just ask the Ebbsfleet folks.

Majoring In The Minors: Sometimes It’s Just The Quest That’s The Fun Part…

August 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the keys to minor league promotion is buzz…buzz leads to ticket sales and family fun, which is key when you are limited on marketing stars, who on the minor league level, are very transient. With that in mind one of the keys in buzz is always “new” or “fresh” or “first” or “record breaking.” The last one, record breaking, is always the most interesting, since it will give fans a sense of history, not to mention giving the team the ability to move more collectables or mementos from the event. World’s largest pizza, world’s largest pillow fight etc etc…have all come down the pike this year. However, as our friend Ben Hill pointed out recently in his column on the Business of Minor League Baseball, getting the “record” is not always that easy, nor is it always important. Hill studied the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ quest for the world’s largest game of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” a fun effort to get fans interested in a between innings promotion, with maybe a little sponsor tie thrown in. Did it matter at the end of the day that there was a challenge issued by the real recordholders in Taiwan? No. Were people excited to be involved? Yes. Did it sell tickets, combined with other promotions? Maybe. Did it generate a little buzz, especially when there was a bit of “controversy” thrown in? Yes. Does it give the Blue Rocks a chance to re-promote and try the assault on the record again? Yes, especially since everyone loves a comeback. The key points here are that the Blue Rocks found a promotion that was affordable, simple, involved all their fans, generated buzz and was at least semi-attainable. Whether it is a real or contrived “record” is not really the point. The point is they created a quest for a record, and sometimes the involvement in that quest is what gets people juiced and contributes to the fun of the experience.

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