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.

Fragmentation In Niche Sports Proves To Be A Killer…

July 3, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Speaking with one voice, whether it is to a business partner, the media, or to fans is always important, especially in the alphabet soup of niche or second tier sports. With the limited dollars and eyeballs available for the casual fan, splitting the marketplace with alphabet soup of organizations usually leads to confusion and can ultimately drive partners on to a platform which is much more simple to understand. The latest example of split markets being a killer is in indoor soccer, which despite the huge success the outdoor game is seeing in the US, just fell further off the roadmap this week. Last year the Indoor game split into two “leagues,” both of which struggled for any kind of existence in far-off marketplaces, and despite the local success of teams like the Milwaukee Wave and the New Jersey Ironmen (who were in two different leagues by the way) the sport is on the verge of extinction. Another sport teetering but doing better with some unity is lacrosse, where the National Lacrosse League extended commissioner George Daniel this week, sending a positive message to all involved. Still, lacrosse, indoor and outdoor, needs to be presented as one platform to be an effective tool, but at least in their case the sport has a platform of success to build on. Indoor soccer has hurt itself with divergent forces for the indoor game, forces which told the sports world they were too fragmented to present a unified front, and in the end, all suffered. Would having one unified league have worked? Perhaps. But with the alphabet soup presented last winter to fans, media partners and business partners there was no chance of survival in an already tight marketplace. Hopefully the indoor game can be resurrected and lifted by the continued success of the outdoor product, but with too many cooks it will be next to impossible to deliver.

Another Example of New Age Message Control…Curt Schilling.

March 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It was probably over a year ago that if an athlete or even an entertainer broke major news on his or her blog he or she would have been vilified. Yet the reports that Curt Schilling, an athlete who is actually working in the digital world with a few ventures, including a gaming company, announced his retirement in his words, on his blog 38pitches.com, and with little fanfare, barely made a negative dent in the media. The Boston Globe report was a great look back at Schilling’s career and his impact on things bigger than baseball, and ironically the access quotes in the story were much more others talking about the pitcher than him talking about retirement. As mentioned, Schilling does take the digital world very seriously, and his blog often offers up opinion and commentary on things that have little or nothing to do with baseball. The issue with this was not the announcement, but the more universal acceptance of the medium. There will be media interviews with Schilling as the days roll by, and he really hasn’t been in the mainstream sports world for a while, but there is no doubt he was an athlete and personality of influence, and it still remains a marvel at how quickly the “missives” controlled by the speaker and used by the media because there is no other access, is becoming the norm for getting the message out. The additional benefit to the speaker is how sites for top athletes who are now building themselves as brands can use news to drive traffic and partnerships. Schilling’s blog and url ran in every major media publication as it was the only source of the statement. Therefore all that traffic and access to his advertisers and “click through’s” become his. If he had called a reporter or a radio show that proprietary traffic would have gone elsewhere. Thus by driving the traffic and controlling the message Curt Schilling won on many fronts, and can now do whatever mass interviews he desires as followup. Another example of the changing flow of media information control.

An Open Opportunity For US Air To Capitalize On The Course Of Events With Their Sports Partners?

January 20, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The “Miracle of the Hudson” involving US Air last week immediately created more goodwill and media opportunities for the airline than they could have ever come up with during any type of branding campaign.  Invites, web traffic and interview requests flooded in (no pun intended) for the survivors and crew, and Marketing Daily had a good piece on the huge spike the airlines social index received coming out of the crash.  The New Jersey Nets were first on the scene, inviting pilot Chesley Sullenberger and crew to their Saturday afternoon game with the Celtics (they couldn’t attend, but it won’t be the last opportunity) while the survivors tales will be told over and over again, and rightly so. One of the more interesting aspects is seeing if US Air would have the ability to capitalize on the great turn of events in their existing sports sponsorships. Since the money spend against sponsorships gives them both a platform and built-in audience, would the teams that are partners get the chance to work with the brand to expand or create opportunities for crew and passengers? As luck would have it, US Air’s two NFL sponsored teams met in Glendale on Sunday (the Eagles and the Cardinals) and with the Cardinals win came a natural opportunty to link the airline and the Super Bowl to potentially get some nice  pop.  Alas, as Darren Rovell reported in his blog on Monday, the US Air relationship with the Cardinals appears now to be more of a media buy than actual partnership,  but the opportunity does exist for some great media and pr between the two fortunate brands in the two week lead-up to the Super Bowl.  The same exists for the Suns playing in US Airways Arena, and for the Diamondbacks going into their regular season and even in spring training...good chances to work with a partner to garner all kinds of exposure and good will. Now is US Airways exploiting the incident or tempting fate by rolling out the PR machine for the brand with their sports partners?  Absolutely not. It is actually exposure well deserved and the stories of those passengers and crew, as well as the rescuers, deserve to be told and and have their moment in the spotlight, so US Air should reap the ancillary benefit as well.  We are not saying that the events of the crash should be exploited through merchandise or paid appearances by US Air.  What we are saying is US Air now has the opportunity to use a very unique asset to build their brand, and use their sports partnerships to do it. All will benefit from the good fortune, and in a challenged economy the push for exposure is a smart one for all.

Blazers, NBA Still Show Promotion Is Worth Effort…

January 17, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Even in a challenged economy, the ability to find creative ways to grow and enhance your brand exists, and recent proof is again provided by the NBA and its teams.  This week, Henry Abbott on ESPN.com gave the Trailblazers props for their annual fun all-star pitch for their guys (this time LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy) with a package of “stuff” sent to key media. While many teams and some select athletes have taken to the digital play to garner votes (here is the YouTube piece with the Nets’ Devin Harris playing off the shoe throwing incident with President Bush) the combination of digital and a good old- fashioned props pack to media is still a great play.  Now in the digital world how many votes will Portland’s pack bring in?  The answer is who knows?  What the package does is simple…it gives added fodder for beat writers to think about writing about these guys and the team when they may not remember to, it shows the athletes that the team is making the effort to support them in many ways, it gives the fans water cooler talk and it helps show business partners that the team is just not sitting still to promote even in a chellenged economy.  As colleges and other leagues cut back on promotion, once again the NBA shows that the little investment in the “little things” goes a long way to build brand and confidence.  Great example that others on all levels should emulate, as creativity doesn’t usually need a big dollar spend to be effective.

Blazers Grow With Hanukah Promo…

December 26, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Appealing to the core fan is always important and pretty simple for brand and fan development.  Yet at this time of year it always seems that most teams will do Christmas or overall holiday promotions and will overlook those of the Jewish faith celebrating Hanukah.  Now it wouldn’t make sense to do Hanukah promotions in arears where there is not a group that would be able to appreciate or support the effort, but in most major cities Hanukah promotions would seem to be a natural, especially since the celebration takes place of a series of days and nights.  Last year the Portland Trailblazers, as they rebuilt their relationships in their community, introduced Hanukah night to moderate success.  This year they expanded the event eventhough the team is doing considerable better, and the result was more coverage and good will created for the team and the brand.  It was a very smart way to connect with core supporters of the sport, have some fun, sell some tickets and even introduce many not familiar with the celebration to a great tradition.  Good move by Portland, and a celebration which can be copied and expanded by most looking to connect with a core fan base and reach out to diverse communities.

Caps May Have Found Innovation In Experiential…

December 14, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Now it may have happened by accident, but an interesting development this past week for the Washington Capitals actually gave a front office staffer a few seconds of a lifetime on ice close to game time, and could unleash a new round of experiential marketing for teams and fans going forward, especially for the minors.  An injury and a late arriving backup forced the Caps to petition the NHL to have a third goalie, that being web programmer Brett Leonhardt, off his computer and into uniform for warmups until Simeon Varlamov could arrive from minor league Hershey.  Now Leonhardt had played in college and had actually worked out with the Caps in some practices, but whose to say a team couldn’t give a relatively competant fan a chance as a coach for a half inning, a batting practice pitcher or a chance to skate a shift on game day outside of the regular prep.  It again gives the fan a chance to have that ultimate experience, is totally sponsorable and would gain media play and in this day of looking for every ounce of justification of dollars, could help lure a new brand or two, especially in markets just below the top rungs.  Does it create distraction or a circus mentality?  Perhaps.  But so did mic’ing coaches, guest ballboys and fans sitting courtside at one point.  But by filling a dire need, the Caps may have opened a door and it will be interesting to see if any brand can walk through.

Leading By Example: David Stern

October 1, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

While the sports world takes a step back and looks at layoffs by the Charlotte Bobcats, newspapers decreasing the coverage of NHL games, arena naming rights deals in question etc etc…NBA Commissioner David Stern continues to speak as the leader in a crisis situation, finding ways not just to spin issues, but to find the right ways to answer difficult questions honestly and with the conviction of leadership.  Stern spoke at length with Marc Spears of the Boston Globe and covered a wealth of touchy topics, but showed the usual poise and balance, as well as tempered optimism, that business leaders today should always have but sometimes don’t.  The interview is a great case of how tricky subjects can be addressed and answered from a position of leadership.  Kudos also to the staff at the NBA who prepped the Comish for the interview.

No Lax of Support, But Can It Transfer Into Consistent Business And Branding?

May 28, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Once again this weekend, and really for the last few weeks, the great game of lacrosse grabbed its share of headlines, with Syracuse winning the Division I men’s title in Foxboro, Mass, Northwestern taking the women’s title in Towson, Maryland, and even the NLL Buffalo Bandits taking the indoor title with a last second 14-13 win over Portland earlier this month. On top of that, the ESPN-backed outdoor Major League Lacrosse season just kicked off, with all the intensity of coverage that “The Worldwide Leader In Sports” can help with.  This past weekend produced great pieces in the Providence Journal and the Boston Globe about the growth of the sport on the grassroots side and the hope of lucrative professional efforts for indoor and outdoor lacrosse in New England, while a host of media outlets took the time to cover both championships, highlighted by a great SI.com piece by Nina Mandell on brain cancer survivor Jaclyn Murphy and the way the Wildcats have helped her.  From St. Catherines Ontario to Roanoke, Virginia, solid support for lacrosse as a sport came forth, all signaling a potential bright future.  However as we have all seen in many sports on the edge, confusion in the marketplace and a lack of consistent branding, pricing and promotion can hurt even the best of efforts.  In order for lacrosse to succeed in the mainstream, the sport should look at the recent merger in open wheel racing and figure out how the outdoor MLL (with its ESPN piece) and the indoor  NLL can work together to jointly market and promote the sport, especially in the same markets.  Now do the NFL and the AFL, and MLS and MISL need to work together?  Probably not, as the NFL and MLS are more established.  But they do work together on certain iniatives, and when you have such alphabet soup in certain sports, finding ways to use economies of scale to reach the masses is important.  Without that joint effort, it will be very hard, even with a strong grassroots following, for the sport of lacrosse to really break through.  Regardless, it was a good few weeks for all involved.

AFL Scores With More Hits…And Athletes Take A Drink Of The Beverage Market

May 2, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With NFL Europa gone, the AAFL never starting, spring football done, CFL not yet on the sked and the draft now over, those who love football now have only to turn to the Arena Football League to tide themselves over until an outdoor game gets going.  Seeing that void, the AFL has done a solid job both in market and nationally (working with the teams and Dan Klores Communications) to identify and drive some nice additional coverage for the brand in the last few weeks.  Some of the latest hits included a solid score on the front page of the New York Times sports ection this week on the value the New Orleans Voodoo is affording to the community in the post-Katrina time, a Men’s Health piece with Dallas Desperados ironman Will Pettis, and a series of pieces on USS Cole survivor and Colorado Crush lineman Charrod Taylor.  All of these are examples of the brand going beyond the game to tell the personalities of their athletes to a larger audience…all the while building stars and finding ways to enhance the AFL and its partners.  Nice job by the AFL to fill the football jones void.

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