A “Saintly” Display Of Being A Public Trust…

June 10, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the toughest elements for a sports entity to maintain these days is the balance between being a multifaceted, revenue generating business and being a public trust, like other community institutions that evoke emotion, passion and support in addition to brining in dollars. The endless media presence, a never ending season, the transient nature of athletes have all contributed to the drive to having franchises be more big business and less part of the community as they were in earlier generations.  There is a need to find every way to engage partners and fans these days, and the balance between quality and quantity of brand positioning can sometimes get lost in the dollar search, especially when partners are under continuous pressure to justify their spends, and teams are under constant pressure to deliver more return for the dollars spent by fans. Now it is true that teams have realized this issue and have taken strides to restore community trust and interest, but the true integration into the community is still a very tough balance in these challenging times.

MLK Day A Missed Branding Oppt. For Sports?

January 18, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Monday is a National Holiday honoring the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  It would seem a perfect time…NFL in full postseason, NBA and NHL gearing up for All-Star, college sports pushing ahead, the Olympics on the horizon, the holidays in the distance…for a brand or an organization to take ownership of the weekend, especially in the area of community service and philanthropy. Yes, the NBA does do a good job of playing during the day and looking at projects that serve the spirit of Dr. King well.  Yes, some NFL teams like the 48ers are doing community service events Monday.  However, as brands look to be more community oriented and find opportunities to partner on community programs that give back, there remains no national push.  Maybe it should not be the professional teams or leagues, who would find it hard to muster full support on a Monday in January.  Maybe it should be the NCAA or High Schools that should find a brand to turn the day into one where young athletes and coaches each give back in their community. Maybe it should be the announcement of a mentoring program by each or any of the leagues, with some kind of tie to Dr. King’s spirit. Maybe it should be MLS, coming off their draft and meetings last week, or the PBR, who just started, or tennis or golf, both looking for more diversity. It just seems like with the issues of elite athletes today, and the obvious need for brands to connect to the community, that this mid-January weekend would be a prime spot to reflect, connect and reenergize the spirit and influence that athletes can have, especially young people looking for role models on any level.

When Fantasy Becomes Realty, And Vice Versa…

October 3, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The fantasy sports space continues to grow expontentially with each passing season.  While industry leaders like Rotohog.com get set to launch NBA games on NBA.com and the NFL fantasy space is great water cooler chatter each week, it is always interesting to see what the players…those who both play AND participate…can do in the space.  The answer at least in the NFL, is the players-only site that the NLPA has created, and is featured on wsj.com.    The piece gives fans an interesting insight into who those who play the game actually think can move the fantasy needle from week to week, and it also could give a look into which players can actually judge talent and marketability amongst their peers.  Now could it create some interesting scenarios on the field for those involved on a serious level?  Maybe.  But at the very least it gives the fantasy participant a good feel as to whether those who play the game and actually judge the game and the talent, or are the fans who study all the goings-on just as good as the pros.  Pretty good read and a great way for the NFLPA to get players engaged and understanding all the intricacies of the space.  

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Brings Fans Into Virtual Battles With The Top Stars…

September 19, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The engagement of the fan with the athlete, whether it is onsite, online or in another area, is always the key component in activation and building in long term support for the brand, the team or the athlete.  Once a fan can connect on a personal basis with the athlete, there is more trust and support in lean times and more emotion in good times.  In team sports, where the athletes are in market for large portions of the year, that connection is much easier to do.  In individual sports, like tennis, golf, volleyball, even auto racing, that connection sometimes is more difficult to do because of the lack of potential physical personal contact.  Now NASCAR has overcome many of those issues with their huge play into retail and television…the athletes are tied to products that consumers purchase and that builds loyalty.  The weekly network TV play also leads into more athletes coming into their homes on a regular basis, and the fact that NASCAR is all North American with its schedule gives the fan a window of tuning in that matches usually with his or her viewing habits.  Golf has some of the same opportunities, and the affinity amongst the male viewer also helps take it to another level of identification.  Golfers on any level can understand the nuances of the game, even if only pros can execute.  So on to tennis…strong grassroots, marketable stars but many non-American and a schedule that plays on a world stage that many times does not match fan viewing patterns no matter where on the globe they live.  The Tour schedules, although much more consistent in years past and with the help of the USTA in the United States have a natural run to the US Open now, still have multiple events on multiple continents on multiple weeks, making identifiablity a problem.  So what to do?  The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has found a very simple, very unique way to have fans address some of these issues with an online application, where fans take clips of their favorite players, and conduct a mock tennis battle against them using clips of themselves playing tennis.  Challenge Your Hero is a fresh idea, a great new digital application, it lets the fans identify with the player style of their choice and for the top clipmaster, will have the ability to meet their foe face to face at the season-ending championships in Qatar.  It also gives the individual one-on-one sport a digital and visual edge over team sports that few have ever looked at, as this type of challenge probably can’t be equalled by a team sport or any other individual sport.  Well played and well served by the WTA.  

Taking Advantage of The Quietest Day In Sports…

July 17, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The summer is traditionally slower for the sports industry, even in an Olympic year, but the day always the quietest (especially given Tuesday’s marathon All-Star game) is the Wednesday after the All-Star game.  The day usually offers up a chance for sports in their offseason to grab some headlines or those currently competing to update current plans with the media.  Some of the groups that took advantage of the quiet day included tennis (Venus Williams on Leno), the New Jersey Nets (making GM Rod Thorn available to spell out their plan going forward), Red Bull New York (who got great space in the dailies with Claudio Reyna’s retirement announcement)  and the NFL Network (which did a conference call with Steve Bornstein and new lead announcer Bob Papa).  All got more exposure than they would have gotten on even a slightly crowded day, and were great examples of advance planning.  Good strategic moves by all. 

FAU’S Schnellenberger Sinks His Teeth Into Activation

April 18, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day: The ability for athletes and coaches to participate in sponsorship activation is key for any partnership, but this week Florida Atlantic University football coach Howard Schnellenberger took that activation to a new level, agreeing to get his teeth whitened as part of a promotional campaign with FAU sponsor SmileXpress (as reported by Sarah Talalay on her sports business blog). Obviously FAU, which continues to improve under legendary coach and needs creative marketing to battle for the sponsorship dollar with area powerhouses like Miami, Florida, Central Florida, and Florida State, scored some big points and nice dollars with this one. Hopefully if they land a cosmetic surgery or weight loss center the coach will be able to pick and choose his spots of participation.