Racing Back To The Top…

February 14, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As one looks for continued signs of resurgence in sports marketing…record viewership for the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympic Opening ceremonies, more global sponsors building activation platforms, increased and more diverse ad spending dollars being but forth from ‘09…perhaps one should look to racing as a bell weather.  Yes it is true that “The Great American Race,” the Daytona 500, will just beginning NASCAR’s season this weekend, and that the aggressive new launch of IRL is still a few weeks away, but there are continued positive signs which are showing that racing, one of the the industries hit hardest in the recession the last few years, may be returning to form in terms of viewership, attention and brand awareness. NASCAR has started awareness campaigns in theaters across the country, designed to promote the personalities of the sport, has enhanced their digital presence and begun a more intense program to get their faces out to the widest possible audience going into the season.

Who Will Win The Battle of The Busiest Weekend On The Sports Calendar?

February 11, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It is a good thing the NFL moved the Pro Bowl to the week prior to the Super Bowl this year.  The game got much-needed attention and a record crowd, and won’t have to deal with being an after-thought on perhaps the busiest big event weekend on the sports calendar.  Yes a week after the Super Bowl became the most watched television event of all-time, three major events…the opening of the Winter Olympics, the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game, will all battle for eyeballs, sponsor return and casual sports fans within 72 hours. Who will win?  The battle has already begun.

The Business of Baseball Never Sleeps…

December 16, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Maybe it’s because the World Baseball Classic pushed the World Series into November. Maybe its because the winter meetings came at a time this year when the rest of the sports world was Tiger-crazy and not much else was going on. Maybe its because baseball is doing as good a job of strategically stretching out its news over a longer period this year. Whatever the reason, the amount of information that is ongoing for the business of baseball seems endless, and for those involved in the branding of America’s pastime, its probably a good thing. Whether you are following the business of minor league baseball and the great things that so many teams do to stay relevant with offseason promotions, or are part of all the hot stove action going on, or are taking interest in the potential Hall of Fame candidates announced, or even getting ready to purchase tickets for the Sunday Night opener on ESPN, there is no shortage of daily information, news and notes for the baseball fan, ardent or casual. While virtually every other sport on the planet takes an offseason, baseball finds ways to stay relevant. Even on the competition front, as baseball finishes in North America games are starting in the Caribbean, and in 2010, in Australia with a new pro league. Is it overkill? Does it lose relevance? Strangely not. More importantly if you are involved in the branding business of baseball, the sport finds ways to stay top of mind, giving the brands that are involved on some level incentive to stay fresh and informed. While some may decide the actual season is too long, the fact remains that as a business and as an entertainment property, there may be no sport that feeds the sould of its core fan more than baseball, and in these challenged times, that’s a good thing for ROI.

CFL Stays True To It’s Brand…

December 1, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

It is certainly not the NFL…but it was certainly not the UFL this fall either. It is a pro football brand that has seen its ups and downs almost every late summer and spring, helped launch careers and resurrect others, and maintain its distinct nationistic feel every year. It is the Canadian Football League, and a secondary brand for professional football in North America, it is a brand that has weathered the storm, found a commissioner schooled in spin, and has positioned itself for stability in a tough environment.

NBA Packages It’s Messages Home and Abroad…

November 29, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As we move firmly into the winter season and toward the Olympics in Vancouver, NFL Post season, the BCS, and even pitchers and catchers in the distance, it is a good time to remind ourselves of the consistency of branding that is so important to deliver the correct message year round, and there is perhaps no brand that does that better than the NBA. Take a look at the last few weeks, as people start to think more and more about hoops. The NBA announces a larger push to grow the game of basketball globally by naming Heidi Uberroth the first President of NBA International, makes a splash with growing basketball in India, brings teams to London and international teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv to New York, ramps up its partnership with the NCAA to push playing hoops in the States and now rolls out a continued expansion into smaller markets with a revamped D-League (nice piece by Darren Rovell on the D-League this week). Across all those global platforms is the same message…basketball, no matter what level…is good business. It gets kids involved, it showcases products and brands, it is a great social event, it can bring large scale events to small markets and it is the same whether you are in Mumbai or Milwaukee. And there is one brand that is all things basketball…and that brand is the NBA. Are there issues in a challenged economy? Yes. The WNBA flagship Sacramento Monarchs folding this week is a problem. Attendance and sponsorship sales in some markets are a problem. However over all, the image that all partners are pulling in one direction to grow the sport and to use all the elements and power of the NBA to position that growth in so many places is very impressive and remains the model for all sports. That message is very clear…grow the game, and use teamwork to do it…and the brand grows with it.

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.

Nets Give A Glimpse Into The Global Future Of North American Sports…

September 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

While some view the announced potential sale of the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday to be more vanity for billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov and buyout for developer and owner Bruce Ratner, the window of opportunities for others could be much bigger, both on the team side and on the investor side into the future and if the deal goes through.

Using The Freebie KFC Gets The Word Out…

May 7, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

For as long as we have had promotions in sports, teams have worked with franchises for “special prizes” when teams hit milestones in games. Free fries for a 100 points, double chili for six goals etc. etc. have always been a get something for nothing mantra that drives foot traffic as the added bonus for a team partnership for many retailers and franchisees. In February Quiznos took in one step further by using many of its sports platforms to promote its one million free sub giveaway, which generated a countless amount of foot traffic and publicity even with some of its snafus with demand outreaching supply. Then Wednesday, another brand which spends a huge amount of time in sports activation (most recently signing on with the AVP), YUM brands KFC, went to the ultimate tastemaker, Oprah Winfrey, to unveil its free coupons on a new branded website to kick off its new grilled chicken. The combination of an Oprah endorsement, a great viral platform and word of mouth spread the offer to record exposure for the brand, and even spark internet rumors of riots at some New York locations (good buzz but unfounded). Now was it a radical move for a traditional brand to break out of its stereotype and get foot traffic in the door for those who may never try KFC? Yes. The success in repeat customers and internet buzz will carry on for days through the coupon redemption, but the combo of an Oprah endorsement, an internet fury, online brand activation with couponing created a midweek event where there was not one before and probably gave KFC a nice launch platform to now activate even more heavily through its sports sponsorships. Well paced, well timed, and although demand may have overexceeded supply in some areas, so far well done (the plan not the chicken). Now its on to the next fast food move to top the KFC play, which could be McDonald’s elevation of its coffee marketing this week in a take at Starbucks...another brand which will use its sports platform to exploit a new product launch, but not with free coffee yet.

A’s New Partnerships A Sign of “Money Ball” On The Business Side…

January 11, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

A few years ago Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball took baseball fans inside the different views that Oakland Athletics’ General Manager Billy Beane had about the salary situation in baseball, and how it could positively and negatively effect a team and on field success.  While the reviews were generally positive, and Lewis’ writing stellar as usual, many in the marketing community felt that the onfield persona of building stars and then watching them leave would hurt brand value for the team.  That of course was before the current financial crunch, where now the goal is always to do more with less, create more experiential value for fans and partners and find new ways to engage and grow the fan base.  Along those lines, the A’s continue to look to find new ways to expand their brand in a challenged marketplace…one where their stadium is not great and the Giants across the Bay remain king, despite the A’s increased success on the field under Beane’s guidance.  So this week the A’s announced a partnership with the Japanese League team the Rakuten Eagles, to train, share information and explore other ideas to share and learn.  For the A’s this is a very smart move as the ever-growing Asian community in the Bay Area may take another look at them with a stronger Japanese tie.  Also as baseball grows globally, having ties to a fan base BEFORE they arrive in this country will also help, and by finding a growing brand in Japan…not the established Yomiuri Giants but a team looking for opportunities…the A’s have a nice upside.  Like their partnerships with the Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League and the San Jose Earthquakes, this may only help and not damage the brand.  Now have partships like this been tried before, like the Yankees and Manchester United?  Yes and they didn’t do well.  But the reason was you were talking about two mega-brands steeped in tradition and ways of doing business.  Here you have hungry brands looking to grow, and in baseball, the growing world marketplace for the game plays directly into what a hungry brand like the A’s is trying to do.  Good lesson with hopefully more MLB/non-American partnerships to come.    

The NBA Continues to Brand “Basketball” Worldwide And At Home…

November 25, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Many times sports get caught up in their own branding opportunities, often at the expense of the greater good of the sport they represent.  There have been countless stories of MLB chasing down rights fees for Little League or the Cape Cod League, or Major League Lacrosse and the National Lacrosse League fighting against themselves for marketing space and fan dollars.  While in many cases the ideal is valid, the execution may not be, and the brand becomes more important than the essence of the sport.  One league which has seen the growth of the sport as the next evolution in its brand success is the NBA, and the continued recent developments with worldwide and grassroots partnerships show that David Stern’s vision, now more global and more towards all things basketball, is a smart way to marry all aspects of the game and aggregate worldwide eyes and content, which will again be best for the game.  This week’s  Sports Business Journal shows two of the most recent manifestations of that vision.  The first is with the NBA’s new partnership with the Harlem Globetrotters, one of the sports biggest ambassadors worldwide but until today a brand outside of the NBA scope of assets.  The second was the announcement of  Kevin Weiberg to oversee the NBA’s new partnership with the NCAA.  Both relationships may not be 100% favorable to dollars and NBA brand today, but they show to the world an investment in the sport amongst its partners that many other sports are not willing to make, usually for the sake of a dollar today.  That investment, along with the good will and partnership opportunities to be potentially created, will bear fruit as the investment plays out, and makes the NBA as a brand, and then the sport as a whole, more valuable for the future. 

Next Page »