Does The World Love This Game? If You Are The NBA, The Answer Again is Yes…

October 7, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

This month three of the four major sports leagues in North America…NHL, NBA and NFL…will make their annual pilgrimage across the pond to court fans, build brand and extend what is hoped to be a more global reach in the coming years, when the economy improves and the time becomes right for leagues to play on both sides of the Atlantic. Two, NHL and NFL, have taken the regular season route for games, while the NBA continues its preseason schedule of games, this year in London. All three have their basic effectiveness and have slightly different goals…the NHL looks to markets that have a built in understanding of the sport and a strong professional base…this year Finland and Stockholm…while the NFL uses the game as a one week showcase for American football for expats and those who watch on TV.

Media Guides Go The Way Of The Dinosaur…

July 30, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As we see the printed word fade into the distance in favor of digital space, we now see another “staple” of the media business, the media guide for professional teams, heading in the same direction. John Lombardo in this week’s Sports Business Journal pointed out that the NBA has dropped the requirement for teams to print guides for the first time, instead deferring to the team’s discretion to use one on a memory stick instead. In addition to being a cost savings and green move by the league, the move to digital books gives the teams the ability to update information, and even insert business partners and promotions, into the books as the season goes on. The elimination of the printed books totally at this stage is probably a mistake, as there will be media, a dwindling few, who will come in to get information without the use of a laptop, and news rooms will still have to have hard copies available for non-game coverage, but an idea which seemed out of touch for the NBA as little as three years ago now seems more realistic, and can have not just a cost reduction, but an upside in profit and brand integration as well. The coverage by mainstream media actually is a plus in the effort to remove hard copies of media guides…as there is a major market familiarity with teams, staff and players through the course of the season. Ironically it is in college and the smaller markets where hard copies, perhaps not glossy full blown books, but information guides, still will have a need for media that are not readily familiar with the team. Still even in those markets and at the college level, the ease of upgrading and adapting to technology can give team communications staff s greater opportunity to be more cost efficient and creative by using the digital space.

Global Brands Continuing To Look Toward American Sports Leadership…

July 15, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The announcement in this week’s Sports Business Journal that Tom Fox will join Arsenal to run their startegic marketing is the latest in a series of moves by elite clubs and sports around the world to try and not only capture ways to engage their own fans, but to try and begin carving niches to make their brands interesting and meaningful to fans in North America, whether those fans are expats now living in the States, new fans or sport like cricket and rugby, and more importantly, brands that may be looking to activate more on a global level. As the digital world blurs traditional boundries and is able to unite fans of a sport or a sports brand more and more in real time, sports like Indian cricket have looked to the west to adapt their game to a more global and less traditional audience. Even rugby has looked to changes, using Rugby 7’s as opposed to the full sided game to get into the Olympics and draw fans who are more interested in a fast-paced game. Now does this mean that we will be seeing Thundersticks and cheerleaders in the Premier League? No. It means that there are many smart brands who realize there are global opportunities to expand and draw more fans, bodies and brands to them and that the economy today has created a need to bring in savvy folks to show clubs and sports how to be successful and use their connections to build brand like they have with American sport. We have seen traditional American brands like the NBA and MLB continue to make strides in establishing their global footprint for several years, so it now makes sense that the established hierarchy of sport outside the States now also take advantage of that know-how by bringing those who have been successful building brands with fans into their offices to show them how they too can be more cost-effective and forward-looking.

Cinco De Mayo…Lucha Libre A New Branding Opportunity On The Edge Of Sports

May 6, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It is definately more entertainment than sports, but it has athleticism and now all the flash and dash of entertainment so as Cinco de Mayo ends we decided to take a look at the Mexican wrestling niche phenomenon Lucha Libre, and its crossover into burlesque and entertainment in LA, Lucha Libre Vavavoom. NPR highlighted the new entertainment property on Tuesday morning, and pointed to its crossover from the Anglo to Hispanic audiences, its fun entertainment appeal, the showmanship and the athleticism of the performers and many of the brands that are looking to crossover, from mainstream American brands like Miller to traditional Mexican brands to grab that audience. Again, as brand marketers look to embrace the growing Hispanic demo it may not be that much of a stretch, but it also may be a good example of finding ways to access both audiences with fun and a bit of athleticism and showmanship, and learn what the elements are that have made the property work, even as a niche. Not a traditional sports play, but one that has lots of efficient and interesting elements for the right brands.