Can the Pac 10 Make An Eastern Impact?

July 29, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

This spring and summer, perhaps more than any other offseason, the Pac 10 Conference and its schools have made headlines that have transcended game coverage across the nation.  Whether it was the continued controversies surround USC, the expansion and shift of schools, television contracts, Bowl alliances, coaching shifts, the Pac 10 has grabbed its share of headlines.  The latest came this week, when Commissioner Larry Scott announced the latest national plans to grow the face of the conference, completed with a rebranding plan and vision and plans for a larger east coast presence for the conference (designed by Ed O’Hara and his team at SME), which because of its geography, continually lags behind overall exposure in the winter to conferences like the Big East, Big 10 and ACC in the mind not just of sports fans but of marketers and sales folks on Madison Avenue.

Athletes Hands On Involvement Making A Difference In The Business Plan…

August 6, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

There is always much debate over athletes establishing themselves as a brand, and what the viability is of “brand athlete” when he or she is injured or not performing well or moves from city to city.  Some great examples on building a brand as an athlete regardless of consistent athletic success are people like Jerome “Big Dog” Williams, who parlayed a journeyman NBA career into a series of businesses, investments and charitable endeavors or even Bob Uecker, who played a somewhat subpar MLB career into acting, announcing and endorsements.  The ability to think beyond the game days, to network with executives and fans when an athlete is an a favorable position in a market, to ask questions and to have an understanding of his or her value at that given moment are all keys to building out success.  In many cases, except for the top athletes, the days of getting a check for a straight  endorsement are gone.  So to make up for the void, a number of digital ventures have popped up with athletes taking lead roles in branding and developing as well as looking at the b to b and social networking aspects of what value each athlete would hold both in his community and amongst his peers.  The first is WePlay, the social networking and brand building site developed by CAA, which now has the second round of funding to expand the site and its ability to brand athletes (with some select athletes showing the savvy to reinvest in their brands themselves).  The second platform that is buolding out is ProPlayer Connect, a b to b and athlete to athlete connection where savvy athletes building their brands can connect with the business and fan marketplace for business opportunities and advice beyond their careers, and where companies looking to work with athletes beyond the game can source candidates.  Both are great examples of the new leverage beyond the field the athlete has at their fingertips, and how smart business plays can and hopefully will fulfill athlete and business partner concerns with very streamlined connections and opportunities going forward.    

Dishin Digital…CAA Makes The Big Play With Weplay…Gillette Reaches For The New Stars…

March 28, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The marriage of social networking and sport as celebrity may have reached a new level with CAA’s announcement yesterday of WePlay, a social networking site designed to reach out to millions of active kids and their parents, as well as pulling in hours of childhood photos and video and current “look backs” from some of the biggest stars in sports today who have taken an equity position in the venture. Those athletes, ranging from Tony Parker to LeBron James to Derek Jeter, will have a chance to create pieces and dictate content which can directly reach a huge portion of young people interested in sports and communicating online. Unlike other ventures in the past where athletes became endorsers of sites which sold goods and promoted images, the site appears to have it all…unique original and archival footage, the ability to communicate with a peer group in real time, and the ability to merchandise sponsorship and partnerships to a large, active audience. Great concept which could be groundbreaking in the marriage of the professional and grassroots side.