NHL Begins Maybe It’s Most Critical “Second Season”…

April 16, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

They had a great bounce for the Olympics, the NHL did.  As a league, they have done more embracing and testing what works and what doesn’t in social and digital media more than anyone else.  They have identified a signature event and have built around it to the point where other groups (the NCAA, the WNBA, the AHL etc.) are copying the format to draw interest and eyes.  They have found ways to embrace their core fans, and they have almost every large market…Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Montreal, Boston, and New York (well New Jersey, but maybe the best energing brand in hockey in the Devils)…all in the playoffs. They are finding new and innovative ways to increase the ROI for national sponsors and work together to encourage regional participation. And if you believe the spin, more people watched, logged on and bought tickets than ever before. So the question is, can the NHL ride this wave of brand growth to even more success, dollars, partners, and casual fan interest in 2010-11 and beyond?  Maybe.

Are The Blackhawks The Model Franchise?

May 26, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

This week in New York The Sports Business Journal will award it’s Sports Business Awards for 2008. The nominees in 15 categories are all more than deserving, and in many ways are very reflective of the leaders who will help innovate and lead the industry thro9ugh the continued tough times and into the future. Many on the list read like the usual Who’s Who, but as with many things SBJ does, there are a few surprises. One brand on the list few could have predicted less than two years ago falls under both executive and team of the year…The Chicago Blackhawks. Under the leadership of John McDonough and Rocky Wirtz, the franchise has become a model for outreach and innovation, with one of the best stories coming in Monday’s Chicago Tribune, which pointed out how the team has not only rebuilt its core base of hockey fans, but has cultivated new fans in both the female and African American communities. In a sport that sometimes struggles to grow outside its borders for the casual fan, the Blackhawks have gone above and beyond in customer service, brand building, community relations and communication to the media and to the fans that it is OK to check out hockey. Now of course winning helps, and the team started turning the corner just as the brand builders hot their stride, but in this economy, winning and giving a fans the reason to invest in both dark and bright days have to go hand in hand, and the Blackhawks played both sides of the brand development card to make sure that a storied but sullied franchise was returned very quickly to its rightful place among elite brands. There is a simple rule of effective communication…listen twice more than you speak. The Blackhawks new leadership listened to everyone…old and new fans, returning and emerging brands, league and television partners, grassroots and professional organizations…and have created a brand that may be the sports gold standard for years to come.

The UFC Experience Picks Its Spots To Build Brand

February 4, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Even with the down economy, Super Bowl weekend continues to be the biggest weekend in Las Vegas. More fans flock to the desert to bet and enjoy the atmosphere than go to the site of the game, and the group that has capitalized on that Super Bowl weekend experience more than anyone is the UFC. Say what you want about MMA, the experience remains akin in brand to what the WWE is to their fans and to what Daytona is to NASCAR, and as much as the mainstream media try to downplay it, the core audience remains strong while the casual fan will still watch. The latest convert was the LA Times Kurt Streeter, who attended not even a UFC fight, but the recent Affliction event in Anaheim, and was blown away by the crowd and the power of Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianko . Even if the Affliction/Fedor fight was not UFC, it was still good brand awareness for the sport, and as George Willis pointed out in the New York Post Friday, the UFC event in Vegas between George St. Pierre and BJ Penn was perfectly timed, well orchastrated and fed into the weekend in Vegas seemlessly. Will MMA ever replace a great boxing match or move further into the mainstream worldwide? My guess is no. But second tier sports can learn a great lesson from the UFC. They have cultivated their core audience very well and speak directly to it wherever they go. That keeps the mainstays sated and gives the casual fan enough interest to attend and drive numbers to a very solid place. The fly in the UFC’s ointment? A Bloomberg report last week that Station Casinos is near default. If true, then the UFC might have to spend less to push the fringes of its brand and not expand as quickly to questionable markets without a large cash flow. Still the times when Zuffa needed the Station money to stay afloat are past. At the end of the day it is still the UFC experience which is the only durable brand in the sport that consistently delivers a demo and revenue, and by conquering Super Bowl weekend in Vegas, the UFC brand will stay solid with their core in tough times.

MLB, NHL Both Use New Year’s Day As Strategic Launch For Things Ahead…

December 31, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With the start of the New Year here, two of the biggest sports brands in the world…Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League, will look to use the day as a launching point for new brand success, new partnerships and a bigger share of the casual sports landscape.  The NHL will use its second Winter Classic to see if the outdoor New Year’s Day game will continue to have the legs it has last year, and can cement itself as the must watch and particpate event for January 1 that the Bowl games used to be.  Richard Sandomir in the New York Times has a good look at the events around the game, which include new sponsors and activation, greater retail and the major market buzz of Chicago (fueled by a rebranded Blackhawks organization).  On the baseball side, the launch of the MLB Network, the largest launch in cable sports history, will look to give baseball and its core and causal fans and partners a 24/7 home.   The launch in the middle of “Hot Stove” season will show that the network and its ancillary programming can be a driver at a time when live games in the U.S. are not being played, while leading towards live play with the World Baseball Classic and weekly games in March and beyond.   It is a big committment for the sport to regain a bigger piece of the sports pie from NASCAR, the NFL, the NBA and those sports that pull a younger demo, but with the volume of library and available games worldwide, it seems like a risk that is much safer than the ones the NBA, NFL and the NHL took in launching their networks.  The first reviews of what will be seen on air at the start have been outstanding. So if all goes as planned, January 1, 2009 may just be the day that both hockey and baseball will point back to as a push forward for both legacy brands.

Hockey’s Version of Crash Davis…Missed Opportunity or One Still Coming?

December 6, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As sports continues to look for ways to connect to the everyman and grab the casual fan with unique opportunities, hockey may be missing out on one that could be fun…his name is Don Parsons and he is about to break one of the ultimate blue collar records…the alltime minor league goal scoring record.  Parsons, who plays now for the IHL’s Bloomington (Ill.) Prairie Thunder, has all the pieces that the casual fan would love…never made it to the NHL, has played in every backwater town just miles from the big city, has crossed paths with a host of future stars, was mentored by journeymen who got to “The show” and he is an American undermarketed in a sport that lives online and is always looking for innovative ways to get casual exposure.  Plus, in the little online stuff that comes up, he seems to be well spoken, fit and good looking.  Now many will remember the Hollywood success that the fictional Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, had in Bull Durham or the legendary status Reg Dunlap (played by Paul Newman) had in Slap Shot.  Here is the real life version, although a bit more marketable and affordable in today’s environment.  If he were chasing the baseball minor league homer record, the bet is some of the savy minor league baseball marketing people, much with the support of mlb.com, could make this into a win-win for all.  Whether it happens for Parsons and hockey will remain to be seen.  Regardless, Don Parsons pursuit of a major “minor” record, hopefully will be captured and celebrated as a solid achievement when we are looking for great stories of the everyman in sports these days.  

Blackhawks just listen…

November 11, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The off-ice turnaround done by the Chicago Blackhawks since John McDonough took over the team last January has been well documented and is one of the best major market brand turnarounds in recent times.  From bringing back venerable announcers to landing the outdoor game this coming January to reconnecting with veteran players, the Blackhawk brand, its place as an institution in Chicago and its bottom line have all risen considerably.  However now that the season is well underway and the team has had some on-ice issues, would the front office continue to listen, adjust and make changes.  Judging by this wek’s Chicago papers, the team is still refining, still listening (literally) and still building towards giving the fans what they want for their experiential dollar.  This time its a return to organ music.  The story is also significant in where it ran in the papers…once again the brand is expanding continually into living and lifestyle sections, thus continuing to capture the casual fan.  It is a great example of how the team shows that they will not just be here for the short term window dressing…they get it and want to build everything as solid as possible, even if it includes a little retro music.  Nice attention to detail. 

Gaming With The Pols…Obama Gets There First

October 16, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As he was first to attract attention to the casual sports fan by playing hoops, Senator Barack Obama has now gone another step to reach the younger casual fan, by integrating ads into online video games, as reported today on gamespot.com and in the Sports Business Daily. As the tight election continues to try and cultivate the undecided or the apathetic votes (witness Sarah Palen’s hockey puck drop last week in Philly) the Obama campaign always looks first to the young and hip and the water cooler talk, areas which sometimes went unaddressed in previous elections.  This will probably be the first step in much-talked about web 2.0 marketing as it involves sports and gaming going forward…the  ablility to imbed online images in games  for download immediately, thus reaching a non traditional audience or growing an existing audience that used to take weeks and months to activate with.  Now whether it will engage the gamer or annoy him or her remains to be seen as there is always pushback when the mainstream comes calling.  One thing is clear though…the move, like the Senator’s ability to play hoops, generates buzz and makes him a little more relevant in a different demo.  Great placement in a space where equal time doesn’t apply yet. 

NHL Sends A Great Global Execution Message…

October 8, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

When looking to stage the excitement of a product in a new environment, leagues will often take the cautious approach and go with preseason exhibitions or friendlies.  More recently both MLB and the NFL have taken the strides to play regular season games around the world, which is usally a better representation of product, and sends the messages to business partners and those in market that they are taking the fan experience seriously.  Teams often balk at the regular season problem, which can result in loss of gate and disruption of schedule in many cases.  However the NHL set some great examples on how to approach the global game this week, and even sent some messages to the Premier League as they take their action globally in the future, as the story in the Mirror pointed out this week.  Was it an inconvenience to the teams to make the trek for the extended period?  Yes.  Did it build brand for the league?  Yes. It it keep the teams away from local media coverage in a time of year where sports have become pretty quiet during the week and media budget constraints did not permit travelling? Yes.  However the brand building, merch oppts and good will, especially combined with quality competition, will probably play in the NHL’s favor as they look to gain brand abroad in hockey friendly and emerging markets with the casual fan.  Kudos to the NHL for getting a good global play and positive reviews.

Brand Resurrection 101: The Chicago Blackhawks

July 24, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

John McDonough left the storied Chicago Cubs to go across town and inside and attempt to resurrect one of the forgotten hallmark franchises in professional sports…the Chicago Blackhawks.  Although the challenges to create the atmosphere, partnership and brand loyalty in hockey are not as clear as they are in baseball, the ability to reconnect with fans, provide exemplary service and find unique ways to make the brand relevant every day were not out of the question.  The efforts undertaken since McDonough came on board were summarized in a piece in today’s USA Today, which goes through the added brand recognition on and off the ice that the team has come forth with, ranging from a partnership with the White Sox to new TV opportunities to fan fest to the announcement of the outdoor game, all coupled with the hope of a young team and better on-ice performance.  Do you need the steak and the sizzle?  Absoulutely.  But the first step in getting there is to treat the brand as a public trust and invest in the fans.  Charles Sternberg led the battle to get that done with the Red Sox and now the Dodgers, the Philadelphia Flyers have always done the little things to retain fans and connect with their past, the Oakland Raiders embrace of their alumni has always been legendary and the New Jersey Nets do an amazing jobs of finding ways to stay relevant.   However the Blackhawks have done it in such a very short time with a leader who captured the vision as a fan and put the business plan for success in place first, while seeing the hockey side start to follow.  First class moves in the second city, with more to come.

Cross Promoting in Chitown…and Good Promotions At The Ballpark

April 8, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day: It used to be all about convergence, as properties looked to combine common assets for cross promotion across entertainment and sports properties.  Disney’s acquisition of the LA Ducks and Angels and the formation of YankeeNets to run the Yanks, Nets and Devils were seen as the way economies of scale  could meld  properties into one efficient merged unit.   Some principals and ideas, like the expansion of business communication and the use of integrated marketing techniques, worked, but many parts of the convergence, especially applying strict business standards  to the fluid world of sports, did not, and most of the mergers were eventually separated.  Today, courtesy of the Sports Business Daily, comes word from Chicago of a new kind of convergence between teams not co-owned but teams that have used savvy marketing and PR platforms to grow their businesses even in lean years.  The Chicago Blackhawks and White Sox announced a platform today to cross market assets to grow awareness.  It is a role that makes great sense and unfortunately is not done enough amongst teams that even have singular ownership.  Now are the fan bases similar?  Maybe.  Do the Blackhawks, who have emerged swinging under the leadership of John McDonough, have more to benefit than the Sox…maybe.  But combining assets can possibly lead to better community involvement year round and potentially joint sales and ticketing partnerships in a market where the Cubs and Bulls are top dog is a very smart idea.  The Nationals and Caps had a similar arrangement a year ago and it seems to be going well, so hopefully more teams will put down the guard and see their in-city rivals more as partners to enhance fan involvement and maximize PR and sponsorship.

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