MLS Scores With “Food Week”

July 6, 2012 by

It hasn’t gotten a huge amount of play sandwiched in between the MLB All-Star leadup, NBA free agent madness, the lull after EURO2012 and the Canada Day and Independence Day holidays in North America, but Major League Soccer launched a very smart and infinitely growable platform this week with “Food Week.”

Done almost totally as a digital play, “Food Week,” has taken fans into the best places to eat around MLS Cities, spent time with players and their pre-match eating habits, talked to trainers about proper eating habits, even visited fans with their tailgate rituals and recipies, with each day building on the next. The placement was very well spread around the league, and it ties very nicely into the beginning of summer and all the thoughts that have gone into activity and healthy eating for a demo that thrives online. It’s simplicity makes it a very easy niche to copy and expand upon for teams, athletes and youth organizations, a great test case for a very sellable platform.

Sellable how? A host of brands, from nutrition partners to CPG brands already part of the MLS famility can build contests year round leading to “Food Week.” Education programs can tie in as the school year ends, with local incentives for students to contribute. Their is a huge video component  that can host fan-created themes. The cookbook is always a great added value sales tool for fans, whether it is done by players and coaches or by wives, families and girlfriends, it is always a nice slice of life inside players lives. Also let’s not forget the huge Hispanic population that follows MLS, and the need for education in healthy eating habits. “Food Week” is the perfect entree into that demo as well, along with a look at all the other multi-national followers and expats who call MLS their favorite American sports league. Lastly let’s not forget the grassroots and the constant beating of the drum for healthy eating habits among the young. Few sports have grown from the grassroots like MLS has, and “Food Week” provides another engagement platform through soccer to speak to healthy living habits to millions of kids.

There is nothing glitzy or glamorous about the promotion this year. It is a solid test to continue to grow and expand, with health and fun as its core. It is a clear message that all can relate to, and for that MLS deserves some solid points for again innovating and leading with a solid effort that makes sense for all its fans.

 

Filed Under: ESPN, FIFA, Fox Sports.com, MLS, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Soccer World Keeps Getting Smaller…And Bigger…In The U.S.

May 20, 2012 by

There used to be a time in the 1970′s and 1980′s when fans of professional soccer in the United States would find a time to tune in on PBS and hear the legendary announcer Mario Machado call highlights of games gone by in a one or two hour edited show to satisfy the thirst for video of the world’s most popular game. The North American Soccer league came and went, World Cup action was shown on some third tier UHF stations or on closed circuit. There was not much “there” there for fans of Man U. or Real Madrid or Lazio, especially when you left many urban areas where the game was still popular.

Fans today of anything soccer would find that very hard to believe. Today we have networks dedicated to the game in the States, the most healthy of grassroots sports, an ever-improving MLS prospect and more Americans contributing to the growth of soccer globally than ever before. However what is even more impressive is the way that elite clubs and the professional leagues from around the world, starting with the Barclays Premier League, have made such inroads into the American sports landscape. The last two weeks have seen record numbers of viewership for Manchester City’s title run and for Chelsea’s Championship League title, and this summer will see a record number of friendlies for elite clubs, from AS Roma, Chelsea and Tottenham to The French League Championship to Liverpool to Zaglebie Lubin and many other clubs. While it is not unusual for some friendlies to be played in the States before soccer kicks off around the world in August, the breath and depth of clubs and the stadia they will be playing in is rising, and that is reflective of the rising tide of interest in the sport in the States. It is not all about Americans and MLS. It is about seeing the best clubs from around the world, ones that have worked with American media companies like Fox and ESPN, to integrate matches year-round into broadcast and news coverage, so that young people in the States especially are just as big fans of Wayne Rooney as they are maybe of Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. The brands that support the elite soccer clubs around the world are also going to continue to get added ROI with the marketing and broadcast of elite soccer in the States, as companies like Emirates Airways now will have a growing affinity to an American marketplace through their non-American sports sponsorship.

The broadcast and digital world has opened possibilities for elite soccer clubs in the States much in the way the NBA (of all U.S. based leagues) has expanded their growth globally outside of the borders of the U.S. Stars are now easier to follow, the passion of clubs and the beauty of the game is easier understood, and it is no longer a stretch to watch the best clubs in the world compete live on TV (with much being in the mornings in the States when there is little live sports competition) where it may have been in years past. The highlights are now brought in as they happen through sports-specific networks and dropped side by side with baseball, hockey and hoops scores. It no longer is unusual to see a great Real Madrid goal during the morning SportsCenter, where that would have seemed very strange just a few years back.

This rising tide is also a boon to MLS, which continues its steady path of growth. While some may say the friendlies are what “real” fans want to see in soccer in the States, those matches draw more attention to the game, which in many markets brings casual fans to MLS and gives the league a great chance at conversion on a consistent level. All things good about soccer means better opportunities for all in the business.

Now none of this is to say that soccer is reaching its highest point of engagement in the States any time soon. MLB, the NHL, the NFL, and the NBA still rule the roost consistently, and soccer even at the highest level still has to compete with those four as well as NASCAR and a passionate intercollegiate audience that only exists in the States. That won’t change overnight. However what is changing is the growing acceptance of elite soccer as a must watch and talk about event in the U.S., with the numbers of the last week showing that to be true. It hasn’t happened in a vacuum or that suddenly. It has been a steady and strategic build, but it is a build worth watching and admiring as most of the soccer around the world takes a brief respite before the heat turns up again in mid-summer, much of which will start in the States.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN/ABC, FIFA, Fox, MLS, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Of Soccer, Meatballs, and Overtime…

March 10, 2012 by

As we reach Selection Sunday and heading to daylight savings, some thoughts on a few innovative ideas that have come about…

New York Life Goes OT: A few years ago the Foxwoods Casino and Resort came up with an innovative takeover of Knicks games, sponsoring the last five minutes of the fourth quarter with extra signage, promotions, giveaways etc. It was a smart, unowned territory which ironically has not really been copied or even expanded with a social media component yet. So along those lines kudos to New York Life, who, with their partner IMG, grabbed the overtime sponsorship of The Big East Tournament wall to wall. Now of course its a risk (someone should still grab rain delays in baseball and NASCAR and golf as well) but the risk turned to reward with three games heading to an extra session, and cameras and fans laser focused on the drama as it unfolded. Great way to get into a major event that works only if something unique, like an OT, happens.

Great Idea, Wrong Day: Friday was National Meatball Day, as fun a promo for brands that sell the product as there can be. Few people don’t like meatballs and everyone knows what they are, whether you are fans of Swedish or traditional Italian. Only one problem, the promoters picked a Friday in Lent, when Catholics, and some other Christian faiths, abstain from eating meat. While some who don’t observer may think it is nitpicky, it alienated a portion of those who could celebrate, which, if you are trying to drum up niche support, isn’t smart. Move to another day next time guys, support may be even bigger.

Soccer Kicks Off: This weekend MLS begins its regular season with much hype, goodwill, positive energy and a new TV deal across the board with NBC Sports. A new franchise in Montreal will look to broaden the appeal of the league and replicate the startup success in places like Portland, Philly, Vancouver and Seattle, while Sporting Kansas City’s state of the art stadium with all its tech innovations will continue to be the model for which other stadia will look to. However the deal with NBC could be crucial for the league as it grows beyond its current fan base. Like the NHL, MLS took a bit of a risk going with NBC over its former partners, but now with the rebranded VERSUS, the Olympics and the cross-marketing oppts. NBC offers its partners, the exposure and upside for brand MLS could be maximized much more. MLS also has the chance to be more of a center stage priority on NBC, who does not have the NBA and MLB this spring, a time when MLS got lost in the mix sometimes with ESPN. It will be interesting to watch as MLS puts another pedal to the floor and looks to keep all the positive going in a crowded marketplace. A worthwhile and fun brand hoping to take its next big step.

Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, ESPN, Fox Sports.com, MLB, MLS, NASCAR, NBA Teams, NCAA, NHL, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Free Engagement? Manchester City Takes Another Step To Grow…

December 7, 2011 by

The cultural and business differences in how digital sports is offered in Europe and North America is in many ways as wide a divide as well, the ocean that separates the two continents. The early growth of mobile and digital platforms by the sports consumer outside of the United States, as well as the passion and tradition of club followings, gave elite brands like those in the Premier League a decided advantage in fan engagement at an early stage.

Club followers could gain access to all sorts of content, but only for a fee. Followers of Manchester United and Arsenal would buy in for extended content and access, much of which was delivered via a mobile platform to hundreds of thousands of fans around the world. Conversely in the United States, most clubs and properties, faced with a more fickle fan base and a consumer not yet fully in tune to the mobile pace, chose to go the free route to provide content access. Volume of coverage and the ability to engage those fans was the way brands would activate digitally in sport in North America, with digital being less of a hard dollar stream than it is abroad. It was complimentary and a needed addition, but not the hard source of sponsor or fan dollars as it is in the UK and other places.

One club that has looked to buck that trend, one of many ways they are trying to change the view of sports marketing in Europe, is Manchester City. The world’s wealthiest soccer club rolled out a number of new digital initiatives to help drive support and increase fan engagement earlier this year. It was the latest step by the club, purchased by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2008, to increase its casual following globally as well as find new ways to engage its traditional followers. The club became one of the first to launch a YouTube channel and cross promote the content posted through all their traditional and non-traditional media, and followed that up with free tweets and chats involving many of the club’s players and staff. While it may seem normal for American sport to do such programs, having an EPL team take that step is a departure from the norm of putting all such top content and access behind a pay wall

The latest step of giving fans a bit more engagement took place this past week, when the club announced it would start implementing tweets and Facebook posts by fans in stadium during the course of matches. The posts would be monitored as to not be offensive, and will come directly from the Manchester City sites, giving fans the ability to engage with the team and those in attendance, an immediate real-time global reaction to performance, support and buzz around one of the world’s premier sport brands. While some may say the giving away of premier content, or providing such a large forum as a stadium message board is counter to the revenue stream that existed, it may actually be the opposite that is true. The EPL teams have done a great job of monetizing content, and are well aware that there are legions of fans around the world who either can’t or won’t pay a price for the added value. Giving away snippets, creating new content platforms and reaching out to those fans to get them more engaged may actually increase the dollars coming in down the road. The casual become more engaged, and their interest grows with the potential for up-sell and engagement. The perceived “loss” is really sweat equity not hard dollars or investment, as all the tools needed for the social media “freebies” already exists, and much of the content is going to be user generated.

The move by Manchester City is also the latest by clubs to find ways to use social media even more in their real time fan engagement platforms. Hashtags have started showing up in college football stadia. Now of course most of this has to do with experimentation, building critical mass and presenting a new avenue engagement that can in turn be packaged and monetized. Broadcasters have used live feeds of fan comments to try and enhance and not distract television audiences for years to mixed reviews. Whether bringing the comments to the huge screens in stadia as an addition will be welcomed remains to be seen. Regardless it is an interesting move by one of the world’s richest clubs, who realizes that the next step of engagement needs to be to a wider audience, and hopes that the dollars that flow from that free step will far offset the gamble they will take.

A great example of best practices from both sides of the Atlantic coming together.

Filed Under: ESPN, FIFA, MLS, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Beyond Sport Unites, Makes An Impact

September 28, 2011 by

On Tuesday at Yankee Stadium several hundred professionals, many in community relations from teams from around the world, gathered for the Beyond Sport United “Sports Teams For Social Change” conference. While cynical may say that the event was a chance to have professional sport gather to network and then go back about their business of making money, in truth, the assemblage was so much more.

What the event really was, was an affirmation to those “in the game” of the volume and depth of potential sport has to positively impact the lives of others around the world. The gathering of MLS Commissioner Don Garber, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for a pre-lunch roundtable hosted by CNBC’s Darren Rovell gave each of the league leaders a chance not just to pat themselves and their leagues on the back, but to really address the breath of what each league can do in areas ranging from global warming to combating malaria around the world. The panelists and stories throughout the day looked at sport as a driver of change not just in the United States, but in leagues and organizations across each continent, and perhaps for the first time gave those who run vast community programs from the mega-leagues of Europe to actually engage in peer to peer discussions with those who do similar work across North America. The discussions were frank and not rose colored, and the obvious need for more work to be done to better coordinate all the efforts that are done locally was evident throughout all the sessions.

It was not a day of pollyanna promises and boasts, it was a day to look constructively at best practices and hopefully learn how to improve on what is done on community outreach locally, regionally and nationally. The call to continue pushing ahead was clear, and the importance of both fundraising and allocating adequate dollars in a challenged economy from cash-strapped organizations was also evident. Another key point touched on time and again was the need for better and clearer communication on the good works sport does in a community…the need to tie the business side of sport with the philanthropic, and to find creative ways to best tell the positive stories of athletes, leagues, brands and teams with a unified push.

Now of course when the smoke clears and the passions wain that teams still have their own agenda on how to promote sport for good in a community. Each market, each athlete, each cause has its own challenges and opportunities, and the call for more assistance is never ending. What emerged from the event from such a wide range of senior leadership is the value that cause marketing has for brands, teams and leagues, and the commonality of purpose all the efforts have…the ability to use sport to change the lives of those around the world.

It is not an easy task, and is probably not at the top of the list of most organizations today who are looking to find positive business solutions and combat the image that sport at the professional level is all about the dollars. However what became clear by the sheer numbers of attendees on Tuesday is that the ability to impact social change and the passion to do so does not exist in a vacuum. It was a great opportunity to share thoughts and take back ideas that may not have been considered before, as well as reinforcing the mission of positive impact for sport across the board. An amazing assemblage of talent, thought and leadership, and a great set of examples as to what sport can do to impact and deliver good.

Filed Under: Darren Rovell, ESPN, FIFA, MLB, MLS, NBA Teams, NFL, NHL, Olympics, WNBA Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Who Really Benefits From World Cup? Brand Soccer.

July 21, 2011 by

They are on every talk show…one player adorns the rarefied air of the cover of Sports Illustrated. They are the new darlings of sport, despite their loss on Sunday. They are the women of American soccer, and their media tour this week has again helped to lift the profile of a sport…soccer…as much as if not more than women’s sports. So how does all this help in the long term for brand soccer?

While the natural assumption is that these heroes coming home could bolster the much beleaguered path that Women’s Professional Soccer is on (teams have reported increased ticket sales, at least for the first few homecoming games for the league), the bigger picture is how this success can be weaved into the overall interest in soccer…not men’s soccer, not women’s soccer, not youth soccer…overall. Next up for the sport in the United States is the very high profile All-Star game at Red Bull Arena…MLS vs. Manchester United…and the league will be pulling out all the stops to showcase the game, it’s brand and its stars across the river in New York to fans, advertisers and media partners. Having some of the recently successful women on hand would also be a nice help. Women’s World Cup will surely be mentioned in the same breath as MLS next week in and around the marketing and the soccer community.

The other big bridge World Cup success builds is to next summer and the London Olympics. Much as officials will say that there will be a huge bump in interest in WPS, the fact remains that professional women’s soccer, both here and even more so abroad, still does not register. Go up to the casual fan next week and they will know Hope Solo or Abby Wambach maybe, but ask if they know what Sky Blue FC is, even in New Jersey where the team is based, and you will probably get a blank stare. Publicity and media attention is great, but without continued reinforcement with marketing dollars and TV, the pro interest will wan as it has in the past. The real value is toward the next group of bright lights at the Olympics. USA Soccer and key brands now have added bounce to profile the women of soccer going into London, something they might not have had before this past weekend. While women’s soccer may not have been key for NBC before, it could be now, and those who played in World Cup and shined, and will play in the Olympics a year from now, will get more stage time. That helps the athletes and it helps the sport on all levels, as every ounce of exposure continues to be critical for the game’s growth in the States.

So as we look back at the real value of this past weekend, with its record tweets and posts and TV numbers and drama, we should look for the real winner, which is brand soccer. A sport which has enjoyed steady growth over the last ten years got another bump, this time from the women’s side, and that bump helps the game more than the individual, which is what team sports is supposed to be about.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN/ABC, FIFA, MLS, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What’s In A Stadium Name? More Than Dollars….

June 26, 2011 by

A few years ago the new owners of the Miami Dolphins were met with a skeptical eye when they effectively came up with a creative and short term naming rights solution for their oft-confused stadium. Land Shark Stadium, part inspired by a minority investor (Jimmy Buffett) became the temporary name of the home of the Dolphins and the Marlins. Those in the business community wondered if the short term fix for cash and publicity would become the standard and effectively devalue the naming rights deals around the country and around the world. After all, the naming rights business, like the economy, had taken a heavy hit in recent years, with corporations thinking twice and three times about spending millions to slap a name on a buildings, and owners thinking even more about the investment in branding only to have a company be sold and change its name. The always skeptical media also had their own issues, trying to figure out what to call a building once a name changes, and how far the corporate rights went into editorial.

Since the Land Shark deal, there hasn’t been a flurry of short term deals coming to the table. What we have seen is the retention of team names in lieu of short term, and then some creative naming deals that look to other assets to play with in addition to just the building names. In Kansas City the value of the newly opened and recently named Livestrong Sporting Park (profiled in SBJ this week) is not in a dollar for naming rights, it is in a community branding partnership that will make the team (Sporting Kansas City) more of a public trust than just a brand that plays in the area. That feeling of public trust, which makes the players, the logo, the coaches, a part of the community year-round was felt to be more valuable than the dollars a local company may have invested as a good buy. It is a co-investment designed to grow the Livestrong brand and the MLS franchise, while at the same time finding other like-minded paying partnerships that could capitalize on the relationship. Risky? Yes. Was there an alternative? Perhaps. Can it work? TBD.

Then there is the deal that Rutgers University cut this week to sell its football naming rights to New Jersey-based High Point Solutions. Critics say that the deal sullies tradition and further corporatizes college sports. Proponents see it as a way for Rutgers to keep funding and growing their athletic programs without dipping into the public til, which is strapped in New Jersey for anything education related, let alone sports related. What the deal essentially does is help Rutgers, and grow a New Jersey based company’s awareness and visibility at no loss to the taxpayer. Rutgers becomes only a handful of colleges to effectively sell its naming rights at a price that the market dictated. Is Rutgers the last University to do so? No. it probably set a new standard for such deals. Those who worry about “tradition” at the birthplace of college football should be more encouraged about a new tradition that Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti, and those who helped broker the deal at Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment, created. One where a local or state-owned rising corporation can partner to find private sector dollars to fund public projects. An endowment it is not. But an opportunity to tie a technology company to an institute of higher learning is smart and creative and was not done in a vacuum. It is not selling scholarships, it is showing the value that Rutgers football has to the business community in New Jersey, in a way that makes sense for all involved.

Lastly, there is this feeling by some that the selling of such rights and packaging them as large scale partnerships will cheapen team brands or tradition. There are some team brands…Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium, Fenway Park etc…that transcend the value of corporations. Those brands are multimillion dollar investments on their own and can stand above a flood of alternative dollars. They are however, the exception and not the rule. The cash challenged environment sports works in today has created both challenges and opportunities, and the creative ways to address those concerns are showing up in many places, even in naming rights deals. Maybe in a better economy these deals would not exist. However we are challenged today to fund and grow businesses in non-traditional ways, and these are the latest examples of how to generate interest, offset cost and grow brand in a new way. It’s not easy, it may be a bit controversial, but it certainly is creative.

Filed Under: College Football, ESPN/ABC, Minor League Baseball, Minor League Hockey, MLB, MLS, NBA Teams, NFL, NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Soccer Gets Another Kick Forward In The States…

May 30, 2011 by

Yes it’s lead in was a half hour Wonderbra commercial and yes the football vs. soccer comparison by Michael Strahan was unneeded and more than a tad insulting (or maybe it was more a statement about how far soccer still has to go in the States?), but “Brand Soccer” in the U.S. took another step forward Saturday with Fox televising live the Champions League Final between F.C. Barcelona and Manchester United from Wembley Stadium. Dropped on a quiet sports afternoon as a lead-in to baseball…yes a holiday weekend but one with no noise from NASCAR, the NBA or the NHL and little from baseball…the match was a two hour showcase for both the die hard soccer fan in the States who may not yet be an MLS convert, and for the casual fan who has chased his or her kids around a pitch and maybe has caught more interest in the game through the World Cup or the expanded efforts of MLS in its markets. It was also a good litmus test for Fox, who has invested and harvested large sums from the game around the world, and has put a good chunk into marketing the Fox Soccer Channel in the States (a great but sometimes hard to find tool for the sport in growing its footprint).

Moving the Champions League Final to broadcast television, despite the solid coverage ESPN has given elite club soccer as well as the World Cup, also helped enhance the image of the sport to a global audience, showing that Americans maybe, just maybe, can take soccer not just on the vaunted all-sports network but on a broadcast station, the home of so many other elite sporting events that Americans follow. Now will the ratings be huge? No. Holiday weekend, great weather, not huge marketing dollars put forth and no real American presence doesn’t lead to big numbers of people leaving barbeques to tune in. However more importantly was the willingness by Fox to show the game live, and to make the investment not just in putting up a feed but in making the show just a little more American to an American audience. It was more education and investment in the future than a sales and branding win for today. With the uncertainty of the 2022 Qatar World Cup now in the play, showing more elite soccer in broadcast TV also sends another message to officials that the game is indeed growing and more appreciated in the States than before. Should that bid come loose, Fox’s broadcast could be another good message to send to FIFA that the U.S. is the rightful home for that World Cup.

Regardless, it was another positive move forward for soccer in the States Saturday. A year that has seen MLS continue to grow as a property and a brand, and with it, more interest and understanding of the global game and its positive messages and elite play.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN/ABC, FIFA, Fox, MLS Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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