Mixed Martial Arts

Racing Back To The Top…

February 14, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

As one looks for continued signs of resurgence in sports marketing…record viewership for the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympic Opening ceremonies, more global sponsors building activation platforms, increased and more diverse ad spending dollars being but forth from ‘09…perhaps one should look to racing as a bell weather.  Yes it is true that “The Great American Race,” the Daytona 500, will just beginning NASCAR’s season this weekend, and that the aggressive new launch of IRL is still a few weeks away, but there are continued positive signs which are showing that racing, one of the the industries hit hardest in the recession the last few years, may be returning to form in terms of viewership, attention and brand awareness. NASCAR has started awareness campaigns in theaters across the country, designed to promote the personalities of the sport, has enhanced their digital presence and begun a more intense program to get their faces out to the widest possible audience going into the season.

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

January 7, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

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 sales.

The Sports Branding World Continues To Shrink…

November 18, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With every passing week the global transparency of sports events continues to grow. Whether it is high school hoops stars looking to build their brand and their game going to Israel, Emirates Airways using the Breeder’s Cup in Los Angeles as a prime global marketing tool or more Chinese brands signing endorsements to promote brands never seen before in the United States, the sports and entertainment world continues to contract in distance and expand in potential opportunities.

Northern California Brands Take Leadership Positions That Mirror The Area’s Tech Innovators…

November 14, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

While most of the world views the Silicon Valley for its high tech innovation and nearby Sonoma for its wines, there is no doubt that a great deal of sports branding and innovation is continuing to flourish in the region as well. While it is true the Oakland A’s remain challenged for a new stadium (although GM Billy Beane’s Moneyball approach to the business of baseball was certainly innovative) and the Oakland Raiders remain a struggling piece for the NFL, the areas other franchises, both big and small, are certainly viewed as leaders in many areas.

MMA Takes The Big Stage To Try And Grow Audience and Interest…

November 7, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The World Series is now over, the NBA and NHL seasons have begun their long stretches, college football is missing a compelling weekend matchup, the luster of the NYC Marathon is gone and the NFL is passing its midpoint. So into the mix when there is a lack of marquis events this weekend falls the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, which returns to CBS in primetime still looking for a challenger to provide any mainstream competition to the UFC. Can either capture the casual fan on a slow weekend? The CBS/Strikeforce show will feature perhaps MMA’s largest and most enigmatic star, Russian Fedor Emelianenko in a heavyweight bout at the Sears Center in Chicago. With nowhere near the mainstream hype that Kimbo Slice had during CBS’ earlier MMA test with Pro Elite, and without female star Gina Carano on the card, Emelianenko will have to carry the card and try to find a way to endear himself to a public and to marketers that appear to be even more agnostic to MMA as a whole than they have been in some time. Make no mistake about it, the UFC continues to be the number one experiential brand in the sport and maybe in all of fight sports, but the strides to add new partners and even build mainstream names other than the MMA vets that have grown in the past few years, continues to hold MMA back from jumping to a level of growing mainstream acceptance. Saturday night could be another chance to provide that move forward, even with a promotion in Strikeforce that is a great regional event but has not caught national acceptance with the casual fan.

The Lance Brand Lives Strong…

October 8, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

There is perhaps no other athlete who can so dictate the rise and fall of his or her sport over the long term than Lance Armstrong. Yes TV ratings rise and fall with Tiger Woods on golf, but the weekly coverage of the sport, along with events and brand activation, do continue. Michael Phelps raised swimming to a new level in Beijing, but even with Phelps in a non-Olympic year the draw to the sport for casual fans is still limited. However with Armstrong, the sport of cycling exists for the casual fan. Without him it does not. Now are there other compelling stories to be told amongst professional cyclists, ones that casual fans and those who train and cycle recreationally would care about? Yes. Are there lots of brand dollars spent on cycling abroad? Absolutely. But for the eyeballs, and probably for many brands in North America, a race without Armstrong’s presence is almost irrelevant. So for an elite athlete to carry the sport on his shoulders is both a great responsibility and a great opportunity. Many will debate the exposure role David Beckham played with MLS in this country, and whether the brands that came in and the exposure was good or bad for MLS. Our feeling is it was good and probably could have been better if he played more and included more of his teammates in the broader scope of exposure. However with Lance Armstrong, the ancillary exposure for the sport, and the ability to drive interest and perhaps create other stars that feed off the Armstrong has great potential. Some recent examples of the power of Lance. First was Live Strong Day earlier this month, a viral and grassroots campaign which was a call to action for service and activation around Armstrong’s charity work. The results are hard to measure in the short term, but the global exposure and the ability to do positive philanthropic work through the influence of Lance Armstrong is massive. The second recent piece is Armstrong’s just announced deal with Anheuser Busch, a departure from traditional fitness brand partnerships, but one that speaks volumes as to the unusual drawing power of an elite athlete (Barry Janoff took a good look at the deal on his site). So what does it all say about cycling? Simple. If Lance continues to “Live Strong” as a viable brand that can draw eyes and dollars there remains the chance that brands and fans can be drawn in and then captured by the competitive nature of the sport. After all, who can’t relate to bike riding? However the sport itself, and the teams and athletes involved, must make a concerted effort now to make that play to a larger audience and feed off the Lance wave. Like in so many sports, the assumption that a positive wave will live on the competitive nature of the sport to a mass audience is a mistake. The NFL has seen other football leagues come and go, and even in a niche sport like MMA, the UFC brand is what carries, not the sport itself. So spending the time to cultivate, nurture and convert those fans for cycling must happen now, before the Armstrong window closes. However if that doesn’t happen, there is one fact that will remain… The impact of one man to move the needle up and down from a brand perspective may never have been stronger than with Lance Armstrong and cycling, whether it is a dollar, television, brand or even philanthropic perspective.

Playoff time…Dodgers Take Brand To The Streets…

October 5, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It is now playoff time in baseball, with Tuesdays Twins-Tigers winner take all game getting fans started. The Los Angeles Dodgers, however, had the luxury of something the teams that battled to the wire didn’t have…the luxury of time. Yes they struggled and almost blew the division lead to the Rockies in the last week, but Joe Torre’s team will be in the postseason, and coming down the stretch used that time to get out and find new ways to engage fans especially with the Angels also heading to the postseason. Now have the Dodgers had to struggle to sell tickets and gain brand recognition? No, they remain one of the iconic draws in MLB. However, their brand development folks, led by people like Dennis Mannion and Charles Steinberg, have found ways to make it grow, just like Steinberg did with the Red Sox before he moved west. Recent case in point, the Dodgers took the ticket and memorabilia item to the streets, by using the neighborhood ice cream truck model and turning it into a door to door ticket selling truck. It was a very smart move in a region that is spread so wide and not connected by mass transportation…a way to bring the Dodgers brand literally to the doorsteps of each community with a vehicle that people can relate to as it has been seen in their neighborhoods countless times before. It is not the “fan van” that many teams use for community and traditional field marketing. It looks different and offers a different product and leaves a solid branding impression, whether it sells tickets on the spot or not. Nice piece of innovative and simple branding that resonates with the community in a very unique way. An initiative that is surely going to be copied and expanded on.

Hard Knocks A Smart Move By Bengals Brand…

August 13, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

They have been a lost franchise on the national scene for well…almost forever, even with a Super Bowl run, the Icky Shuffle and Ken Anderson, a great underrated QB. So giving the access to HBO’s Hard Knocks was a great move for the Cincinnati Bengals brand, and eventhough it is a risk for HBO and the NFL, it gives the show a different look than in previous years, especially coming off last season’s Dallas Cowboys run. Already the Bengals brand has gotten national exposure in what would norrmally be a quiet offseason for a small market team with a 4-12 record, and with a Spongetech practice jersey sponsorship on the table, the team has scored some much needed additional visibility. Let’s also not forget the national interest in Chad Ochocinco, and the way he will be able to use his tweets and branding skills to also drive interest to the show, along with the casual interest for football fans in hearing president Mike Brown and head coach Marvin Lewis, perhaps for the first time. HBO’s quality production with NFL Films could also stir interest in the team, at least for the first few weeks of the season, and give the franchise a much-needed boost. It is a bit of a departure for the series, but in terms of using the power of the NFL and the vision of HBO to try new things and give a franchise a lift, it could be a very smart move for the long term, especially if the team performs well and the story lines and drama effectively transfer to the show.

Why Second Tier Leagues Struggle…

August 5, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The announcement this week that the Arena Football League, other than minor league baseball seemingly the strongest and most successful of any second tier leagues, is finally going out of business, raises the question why…in this economy, with people looking for affordable events at affordable prices, can’t second tier sports succeed. Even with solid branding plans, decent attendance in second tier markets, and understanding of grassroots marketing and good stories to tell to a fan base, leagues in soccer, football, tennis events, gold events, Mixed Martial Arts promotions, lacrosse, all seem to be falling by the wayside. The real answer is twofold really…the cost of event production is very high, and the support of the largest ticket buyer, the corporate support, is waning. Factor in the reality that television production for these events, although reduced through technology, still remains the true barometer of success, and rights fees are a thing of the past, and the ability to produce becomes a huge barrier to entry. Even minor league hockey, with a similar model as baseball, struggles now in many places. So why does minor league baseball succeed? First of all baseball is a social event more than a game. It is cost controlled by MLB in most places and the operators and marketers are a little more established in their markets than most other second tier sports. The length of season also gives so many more built in nights to sell and with the right revenue stream can become very lucrative. The teams are also year-round solid members of the businesses in those communities, an aspect that many second tier properties lack. Sometimes as the case now with the AFL and some others, the success of the league and the growth that is accompanying it creates failure itself…you simply become to big. Now can cost-contained arena football or indoor soccer exist and succeed? Yes. It actually did in some pockets last year, with af2 and other leagues. The question is can it be a sustainable national property which will draw media, TV and sponsors outside of the local market, or at least in regional partnerships. That remains to be seen. Lastly, does the consumer really need these events with the plethora of entertainment options available today…is it better to invest in participation sports and not worry about professional or elite events in some of these areas? The hope is that these events bring enough to the local economy and to the industry that they again become self-sustaining. However with the lack of public outcry…people these days seem to be content with moving on to another entertainment option…the real “need” for the AFL, the XSL, the IFL and so many others…may not be seen for some time by fans, brands or cities.

UFC’s Recent Moves Shows More Business Savvy Than Some Give Credit For…

August 2, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Many people can criticize the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, but one thing that cannot be criticized is the continuing rise in business savvy of the UFC. Friday was a great example of how far the “NFL of MMA” has come. In their usual fashion, the UFC announced well, probably way too far in advance, that they had a “big announcement and press conference set for this past Friday. The hype machine had the much anticipated Fedor Emalianenko vs. Brock Lesnar fight finally signed, a heavyweight battle which would lift MMA more into the mainstream with big fight buildup worthy of two crossover athletes, one American, one Russian. However the day came and went, and the press conference went off with its own news, news that was not the hyped up and teased announcement the sport had hoped for. Instead, White announced the return of former UFC star to the organization, and talked very candidly and at length about the problems as to why the Fedor-Lesnar fight did not happen. White talked at length about the issue’s with Fedor’s management team and the large purse and concessions being demanded, and sent a strong message not just to those in the MMA business, but those watching the MMA business, especially the UFC business, who are interested but not yet involved. The message was that the UFC has the business savvy to know what a good deal for all involved, especially financially for the UFC, is, and that with their current success the cost/benefit of going over that at this time does not make good business sense. It is a departure from the free wheeling spending in exchange for buzz that has slowed MMA’s potential outside the UFC, and even more interesting is it seems to avoid the pratfalls of overspending, alphabet soup and mismanagement that has severely hurt boxing in recent years. It also was a great move by the UFC to take the stage and turn the messaging squarely against the Fedor Management team, especially for the casual observer. Does it mean that the UFC will not get its dream matchup at some point? No. It does mean that the UFC knows its business, its negotiation tactics that work and its audience and by being the only player in professional MMA they have sent a clear message that they can dictate the correct business terms for success, which if you are a brand or a media partner looking to invest, maybe you are now closer to working with them. Well positioned, well thought out, and well timed.

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