Bowling For New Audiences…

May 10, 2013 by

As the NBA and NHL Playoffs heat up, the Triple Crown heads towards its second league, baseball moves along, college’s spring sports move into their postseason, soccer hits its stride in North America and wraps up across Europe, bowling tries to find its niche for awareness and growth.

Bowling? Yes bowling. Still enjoyed by millions in a world where things still need to be done yesterday and a younger generation is all about mobile, bowling is fighting as a brand to try and stay more relevant but generating buzz through some new partnerships.

The first one, which will formally get rolling this week, is with NASCAR and Pocono Raceway. This week approximately 2,100 participating bowling centers nationwide will launch an integrated marketing and awareness campaign tied to the GoBowling.com 400, which will take place at “The Tricky Triangle” in August.  The winner will receive round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations and VIP tickets to the race all designed to link participants to NASCAR fans.

The deal was created between Pocono Raceway and Strike Ten Entertainment, the sponsorship activation arm of the bowling industry, and will try and link two core fan groups…NASCAR and bowling.  At first glance it seems to make sense…brands that try and spend against one should enjoy the other…beer, snack foods, family entertainment, soft drinks etc…and bowling’s audience is still not as brand heavy as NASCAR’s. Both groups are also trying to figure out deeper digital engagement with fans, and although bowling is obviously more participatory, it would seem fans of one can beget the other.

The program will also include the GoBowling.com 400 “Stop Your Thirst & Start The Race” Sweepstakes, which will provide one grand prize winner with an opportunity to be selected as the ‘Honorary Race Starter’ for the GoBowling.com 400 on August 4, 2013 at Pocono Raceway, earning the right to wave the green flag that will officially start the 400-mile race.  The partnership program will also include a series of GoBowling.com-themed bowling league promotional contests and in-center marketing elements, as well as other initiatives to be rolled out across the more than 4,000 participating bowling centers.

Pocono also makes good sense because of its physical location, so close to the New York and Philadelphia markets, still key demo areas for bowling and a very important touch point for NASCAR as it continues to find ways to always improve its relationship with Madison Avenue. It is a partnership that makes sense to try, linking the two sports in a solid and well marketed and strongly targeted push.

Then there is the celebrity side of the sport, and the “team” concept that bowling launched this past year, bringing in celebrity athletes like the LA Clippers Chris Paul and others to raise awareness with casual sports fans.  This past week the name to surface was former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, who has been eyeing a return to the NFL, and leveraged that news through bowling.

Owens made his United States Bowling Congress Open Championships debut at the National Bowling Stadium Wednesday in Texas, and is celebrity owner of the Dallas Strikers. So leveraging one to gain exposure for the other was timely during a quiet period for the NFL and a key engagement  point for bowling.

Now what a “celebrity” owner really does, other that promos and rolling some frames, isn’t really clear, but it isn’t important anyway. Neither is the concept of “team” pro bowling with celebrities.

What is important is that bowling is trying to find ways to not just stay relevant but to grow in a very challenging environment. Whether they work for the long haul remains to be seen, but they certainly seem to be thought out and not outlandish money spends to hit some core audiences. Certainly some stories worth following for a sport that had been down but is looking to strike back.

Filed Under: ESPN, NASCAR Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rawlings, SABR Hit A Homer…

March 8, 2013 by

One of the interesting questions around the endless numbers crunching that takes place this time of year around baseball is what exactly, other than team player evaluation, fantasy play, and sports talk, is the real value for all of the statistical analysis.

Teams need ways to properly analyze talent for sure, and the minutia that goes with baseball fandom is interesting to some, but is it really quantifiable for brands that spend millions supporting and activating around the sport? Is there a way for a brand to effectively use analytics to market and get a return on its investment?

On Friday one such partnership seems to have been announced that can maybe help solve that opportunity, and if it works ay open up a door for brand analytics partnerships with some great upside. SABR (The Society For American Baseball Research) announced a partnership with sporting goods company Rawlings to give hard data analysis to its tentpole award, the Baseball Gold Glove.

This collaboration will add a new sabermetric-based component to the award selection process and gives the brand another step in the lifting of the profile of one of baseball’s unique and historic awards

As part of the multi-year collaboration beginning with the 2013 season, SABR will develop an expanded statistical resource guide that will accompany the Rawlings Gold Glove Award ballots sent to managers and coaches each year. In addition, SABR will immediately establish a new Fielding Research Committee tasked to develop a proprietary new defensive analytic called the SABR Defensive Index™, or SDI™. The SDI will serve as an “apples-to-apples” metric to help determine the best defensive players in baseball exclusively for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award selection processes. The collaboration also installs SABR as the presenting sponsor of the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award.

Since its inception in 1957, the Rawlings Gold Glove Award voting process has included national sportswriters, a secret players-only ballot, and the current system where each manager and up to six (6) coaches on his staff vote from a pool of qualified players in their respective league, but not for players on their own team. Beginning in 2013, the managers/coaches vote will constitute a majority of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners’ selection tally, with the new SDI comprising of the remainder of the overall total. The exact breakdown of the selection criteria will be announced once the SDI is created later this summer.

The SDI’s ability to accurately compare players from different positions will help determine the updated Rawlings Platinum Glove Award presented by SABR. Fans will continue to have a voice during this process, once the newest class of Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners is announced in November.

So what does this mean? It means that an award, perhaps for the first time, will have hard statistics, in a formula, attached to the voting process. While the human element will still be a large factor, using this new index provides a first-time measuring stick for what was once totally arbitrary, and can really give shape to this, or any awards voting process. If successful, this type of analytic formula could officially apply to help alleviate some controversy in any voting process. Should a certain formula for success be used in determining Hall of Fame balloting, or even an MVP choice? How about the Heisman?

Of course it won’t be totally driven by analytics, but the Rawlings/SABR partnership shows that going forward, randomness won’t be as essential in the voting process for an award which does have its base in statistical performance. It doesn’t take any of the mystique out of the award. In many ways it sets the right benchmark for success, at least partially, and it puts everyone on an even playing field that is unbiased. The numbers don’t lie.

For Rawlings, a brand with long roots in baseball, it is a very smart move. It gives the Golden Glove even more legitimacy for a casual fan, and it provides the voters and the hardcore fans with a benchmark to work with, instead of just going on a hunch. It improves the brands ties to MLB, and shows all its interested parties that the company is being progressive and smart with its sponsor dollars and with a model that could be cutting edge in the way awards are judged in the future.

Sure sometimes sports, especially baseball, can be victims of paralysis by analysis, But in this case SABR found a way to take all those numbers and increase the value of a brand that is wed to the success of the sport, and that makes the partnership both unique and a winner for everyone.

A smart business move for both parties, and one with some nice opportunities for replication by other brands in a host of sports who are enamored with statistics but aren’t sure how to use the numbers to improve on the ones that matter most for them…those in the sales category.

Definitely a hit from a sports business perspective, as Opening Day approaches.

Filed Under: College Baseball, ESPN, Minor League Baseball, MLB, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , , ,

“Brand Tennis” Gets A Bounce…

March 4, 2013 by

It’s never easy to create a global initiative in anything for one day, let alone anything to do with sport…on a weekday at a time of year when most of the sporting world is thinking soccer, pitchers and catchers, basketball, ice hockey, lacrosse or any myriad of ideas. Tennis? The hard courts of Melbourne are a memory, the clay of Roland Garros and the grass of Wimbledon is still covered and even in the US the spring outdoor events at places like Key Biscayne and Indian Wells are only starting to come into focus. Then you lop on schedules for indoor events both exhibitions and scheduled tournaments, Davis and Fed Cup, and getting casual fans and the media to focus on tennis  on a Monday in march seems like quite a challenge.

 However the International Tennis Federation, with a huge lift from two mega-exhibitions in New York and, and the support of over 40 countries have put a stake in the ground, proclaiming Monday March 4 World Tennis Day…a day where lessons indoor and out, events big and small, will serve as a call to action to remind people of the benefits and star power that the sport has, as the weather in many places gets warmer and people start to look for outdoor activity. It will also serve as a good call to action to event promoters around the globe with tickets to sell for upcoming events to give media and fans a chance to engage with them at a time when thoughts may still be elsewhere for tournaments this summer.

World Tennis Day is centered around two high-profile events; BNP Paribas Showdown in New York’s Madison Square Garden that this year will see Rafa Nadal highlight a card that also has  World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and  Juan Martin del Potro,  and a new event of the same name to be played at the AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong with Agnieszka Radwanska, Caroline Wozniacki, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl.

In the US, The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has already established promotion were clubs are asked to open their doors as part of a month-long drive to get children playing the sport. Over 2,200 clubs in the United States took part in this initiative in 2012 and the goal is to eclipse that number this year.

For their part, the ITF has offered up their own simpler grassroots style event to clubs around the world with a similar goal…so the question is, will it work?

An initiative of this size needs two part…star power and commitment to follow through at the grassroots. For the two anchor events, New York and Hong Kong, the stars for the night are in places, and the global television audience should effectively help merchandise the benefits and the fun of the sport at a time when many won’t be thinking tennis top of mind. The mobilization of thousands of club pros around the world not just on the day, but n the weekend prior and the weeks following, is also key to making the promotion effective.

 Now is this a global media event with millions watching live? No. Does it need more brand opportunities away from New York and Hong Kong to activate at a consumer level? For sure. Will it suddenly vault tennis back into a higher level of daily awareness? No. What this event does do is give those casual fans a strong reminder to start picking up a racquet, it creates some nice brand awareness in two key markets for the stars of the game (especially Nadal whose injuries have kept him out of the spotlight as one of the game’s most telegenic faces) and it gives the hyper local a great rallying point. Sure it needs lots of follow-up to sustain the bounce the game will get for a night, but as an attempt to create buzz and grow the game, the concept of World Tennis Day is a good one, and one that as it expands can have even more impact on healthy lifestyles than it will on finding the next Grand Slam Champion.

 A good promotion, and a nice next step for a game that needs the boost.   

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN/ABC, NCAA, Olympics, Tennis Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Danica Delivers Early…

February 18, 2013 by

 It looked like a slow start for NASCAR leading into the week’s Daytona 500. The NBA All-Star Fame, pitchers and catchers reporting, the sudden controversy with the Olympics and wrestling, the Oscar Pistorius  tragedy, even the NHL’s “Hockey Across America Day,” were grabbing headlines and casual viewers. Next weekend was Daytona, along with the NFL combine and more hoops and hockey, so what to do to break through.

Enter Danica Patrick. By stretching out the coverage of Daytona over a week, NASCAR stuck gold for the casual fan, as Patrick grabbed the pole position for the race next weekend, giving the sport a huge jump in the minds of casual fans who might not remember where Daytona is on the sports calendar. They do know Patrick, who continues to match her driving skills with her marketing prowess, a combo which would be another big win for NASCAR growth, especially amongst young women who love her style but could now identify a little bit more with her as a successful racer. Maybe they won’t follow her to the track, but to a dealership down the line…now that’s another boost the sport and its sponsors could use.

Make no mistake NASCAR is doing just fine.  There is still no sport whose fans are more brand loyal and the push to connect the personalities of the drivers to fans even more…especially through social media…will continue to elevate the sport. Another big winner in the Danica pole position could be Miller Coors, who is the circuit’s official beer but doesn’t have huge positioning on cars on race day. However what it does have is sponsorship of the Coors Light pole award for each race. Dropping Danica in at the start of Daytona, with thousands of photos of her this week in the media, could give that partnership an even bigger boost  as the hype builds toward race day. Brands love being part of history, and putting Danica on the pole for this week is one of those intangibles that large scale sponsors like Miller Coors can reap an unintended benefit from.

Now of course lots of this goes away if Patrick goes out early in the race next weekend.  Regardless for this week at least, It is a monumental next step in the career of a driver who has delivered off the course and looks to now win on it, and for a sport which may have to push just a little bit less to cut through the clutter as its season rockets off in Florida next weekend.

Filed Under: Fox Sports.com, Indy Car, NASCAR Tagged With: , , , , , ,

MLS Casts A New York Net To Capture The Media…

February 12, 2013 by

It has been tried before, bringing the bringing the mountain to Muhammad idea, sports business version. NASCAR, LPGA, INDY CAR, USOC have all done it, finding a strategic time in the calendar to bring their elite athletes, the stories, their personalities to New York as a group, sometimes tied to a mega-sponsored promotion, to drum up casual interest, especially TV and brand awareness, in advance of a big event or the start of a season or even a season-ending championship race or event. Sometimes it works really well; sometimes it becomes a cash drain and a law of diminishing returns that goes away after a time. After all, most of the sports that take the caravan idea to New York do it because they never play or engage fans in the area…lack of courses, lack of tracks, lack of opportunities…so coming to New York as the one off event gives them, it is thought, ample face time to remind people they are viable media sources worthy of coverage. Another reason is the massive tours come and go with the medium we live in today…hyper local, highly digital engagement, where that “personal” touch can be offset in the minds of many by Skype, video streaming, and any other way to have a virtual tour or relationship with decision makers. Many groups also have massive pressure from promoters and media who need to access to hype their events locally and regionally as well, so the governing body needs to decide…worth bringing everyone to Gotham or is it better to do one off events where an almost immediate ROI can be felt in ticket sales and promotion for the next tour stop?

One thing is for sure, when decisions on budgets and time are being made on the business at hand today vs. the long term, taking the local road is safer than the less traveled national one which runs own Madison Avenue.

However now you have Major League Soccer, and the sport itself. There is little question that the sport from the grassroots to the highest levels of play, has taken hold with fans in the States. MLS has had its own steady growth as well, and with a World Cup now on the horizon should get an even bigger halo effect than it ever as before in terms of visibility and market viability. Still for all the growth of the sport, the greatest global names, even some of the most visible American stars, play elsewhere for most of the year, coming to the States for “friendlies” or for USA National matches. They are not here every day. That does not mean MLS does not have its share of vibrant personalities and good stories, they just sometimes get lost in the shuffle on the elite team sport mix in the States. That has changed in recent years, with more TV coverage, greater sponsor involvement and a stronger marketing push by clubs, but it still has a ways to go. Part of the answer for this year? Bring the guys here now.

This week MLS brought a trove of its talent from its teams, from young faces to veterans, to New York for two days of diverse media coverage, brand building and storytelling. They will engage with fans from New Jersey to Long Island, they will spend time playing video games and chatting up interested parties, some may cross paths in Fashion Week, however they can be, visibility to what they seek.  It will be the first of a series of loud statements MLS is going to make far and wide in the next few weeks, from player appearances to new jersey rollouts, to try and up the ante for a season less than a month away…a start which usually gets lost amongst the start of baseball,  March Madness, the climax of the NBA and NHL seasons and even the roar of Daytona. There is never an easy place to break through, but MLS sometimes has the hardest start because of the loud voices of others during March.

So why is this massive blitz of New York different or better than other leagues? Well better is hard to say, as it doesn’t have the roar of engines travelling around Times Square, or the frolicking of bulls or even beach volleyball players for people to stop and take notice of. It’s cold in New York this week, and even with the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue unveiling (maybe there will be an MLS face or two there as well!) getting any sports fan to stop and take notice will have its issues amidst the slush.

This is different for the reason that MLS plays in the area…just across the river in New Jersey at Red Bull Arena, as easy a place to reach by public transportation or to watch an event as there is in the area. Media won’t have to travel to far outposts on busy weekends to follow up on the players they meet during the tour…they just need to check the schedules an head over…the MLS schedule is also not the daunting game every night of say, baseball…there is some down time for follow-up interaction. While other sports come here for their tour because they don’t  play here, MLS has a distinct advantage, and it’s one that should bring the athletes back top of mind once the season starts.

Is it a game changer overnight? No way. It will take time still to keep growing the affinity with the players, the teams and the markets. It is a great and a smart next step for the league and for the sport, and is hopefully one which those around today will see value in, and those marketing the game as we move closer to another world stage in 2014 and beyond will get to see as a must have, even when the league grows beyond the audience of loyal followers and casual fans it has today.

 

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

Can Football Spring Eternal?

February 7, 2013 by

This Wednesday those fans of the gridiron reach what is an unofficial official end to all things football for a while…the media frenzy of national signing day. From coast to coast on every sports network and radio show, young men who are the best at their sport tell the world in choreographed press conferences, streaming video feeds and press conferences where they have decided to go to join the big business ranks of major college football. From this day, booster hopes rise, coaches careers are stabilized, dreams are dashed and season tickets are sold, all on the backs of 17 and 18 year old student athletes. Ironically the day follows another American tradition that is also based on what might be…Ground Hog Day. Whether a little furry creature sees his shadow doesn’t really determine the fates of thousands, but it is just as safe a prediction as to whether those who commit to college on National Signing Day can turn the fortunes of college football.

Signing Day has turned from a clerical necessity to a media extravaganza in just a few years, but now for football it really serves as the end of a long trek that starts at the NFL Draft and marches almost unceasingly through the Super Bowl. On every level across America, the pageantry of college football starts in Radio City Music Hall in New York and goes through the day when high school players officially make their mark for where they will go. After that, the sport goes into a lull, despite the passion and yearnings for millions of fans who can’t seem to get enough.

Now there is the Arena Football League, although the latest version is nowhere near the media and entertainment draw that its previous bankrupted version was. This spring there remains the specter of the UFL returning to finish a season which started in the fall and never went anywhere amidst a sea of red tape and financial losses. Other than that, fans have to wait for the draft, and talk about the perils and fortunes of free agency for the NFL, with maybe some spring practice banter mixed in.

So with the lull in gridiron action, is there a chance that a spring football league can fill the void? It is a sexy, intriguing idea, but can it work?

The sad thing is that the UFL could have made great brand inroads had they played in the spring in their first few years, as the NFL went through its now completed labor pains. Into the void they could have gone loudly, filling an interest for the casual and the disgruntled, testing the marketing dollars of brands who may have been worried about the NFL, and providing a great showplace for the free agents and unsigned who needed a chance to play somewhere. It would have also continued to have been a great testing ground for new rules, new styles and coaches looking for a chance to either re-engage or find a new home.

Alas we received none of that.  There remain mid-markets that love football that probably can use cost-containment professional football, and if the NFL does not grow roster size there has been proof that there is still a solid amount of talent waiting to be turned over. Would brands take an offseason Hertz to the NFL’s Avis? Would TV support a promotable spring product and not have to worry about NFL backlash when new deals come up? One thing is for sure, America is a football crazy country. The question is…is the market important enough to support year-round football? The WLAF failed with the NFL’s backing, as had other leagues. The UFL started off with the right capital infusion and found some niche’s, but at the wrong time of year for fans to get energized. The argument that you have one NBA. one MLB and one NHL is different…those seasons are very long and give fans ample opportunity to see the product. The NFL, even at 16 games, still limits the in-season experience for fans, which could create an off-season alternative.

Over a quarter century ago the USFL saw that opportunity and had some level of success, in the days before regional sports networks were en vogue. The latest version of the USFL has made some noise to grab the space again, but a 2013 launch was scrubbed and a 2014 season announcement has come and gone with little talk of capital raised, TV contracts signed or cities announced. Another spring league has proposed public funding, selling shares to raise the millions needed, but that effort is doomed before it starts, as using the public markets for sports is fraught with needs to satisfy millions of investors and pay down the large administrative costs needed to keep a business running in the public sector. If you can’t find investors in the private market, forget the dealings of a business that has to be transparent to all who come looking.

So is there a need and a void to bring football back to play in a league format in the space from say, early March to early July? The NFL could use a developmental component, especially one they would not have to fund but could look seriously at technology and enhanced player safety. The plethora of regional and now national TV networks still have time to fill, albeit not on their own dime for production. There are any number of brands which would enjoy the engagement of football but not at NFL prices, and technology partners would crave using the space as a way to test activation projects that they could then implement at the NFL level in a more refined manner. Would fans turn out in numbers to make franchises financially viable? Would TV audiences tune in to watch a product that may be quality but not at the level of the NFL, on a national level? Would the digital space provide enough of a revue stream to also offset costs of running an expensive proposition like professional football, given its size of rosters and events? Could you find stadia that would be of the right size and standard in enough markets?

We don’t know the answers yet, but the demand for more football has grown in recent years, not shrunk. There are markets that clamor for more professional sports, but whether the private sector will take such a high risk remains to be seen. Secondary leagues in an age where the primary major team sports are striving to give fans more access are not what they once were, and the launch of any league in the United States, major or minor, has not seen any level of true success since Major League Soccer.

So while we hit the football lull, the specter of a never-ending stream of live games to tide the public over is still ripe in the entrepreneurial mind. Whether that mind can bring the league to bear is a pipe dream right now, but certainly one that bears watching as the dollars and the interest in football still seem to hold strong as we head into the final phase of a winter where the gridiron falls silent, at least for 2013.

Filed Under: CBS, College Football, ESPN, NFL Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Did Some Brands Post Wins During Bowl Month? Sure.

January 8, 2013 by

Monday night marked the end of the College Bowl season, one of the longest, and probably last few, extended series of Bowl games as  college football moves toward a national playoff and a trimming down of the games that lead to what is now the BCS Championship, which title sponsor Discover has paid a hefty price to activate against.

But what about all those other bowls and what is their value for title sponsors? Why sponsor a January game in Mobile, Alabama or Birmingham or December in Boise or Pontiac, Michigan? Is there a better way to send those dollars? Brands think so, especially when those bowls, no matter how insignificant they seem to the national media and the casual fan, still capture national media attention, philanthropic exposure and match the needs of the brand that ante’s up for the dollars.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Russell Athletic brand for example used the Virginia Tech and Rutgers matchup in Orlando, to not just court consumers, but to get a chance to speak to decision makers at a host of schools about their commitment to college athletics year-round. It also gave the brand a special tie-in to a Bowl and a city that may be in contention for a BCS Playoff game in years to come, a smart hedge by the brand for now against a future payoff. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl may get mocked for its name, but for the consortium that grows and markets spuds to a nation of millions it provided a cost-effective and well controlled infomercial for their products to a core audience of consumers who also happen to be passionate football fans. It also showed a loyalty and give-back to those in Boise who make their living in the agricultural business, a good local investment with a national media play on ESPN. Will it make more people buy potatoes v. broccoli? Hard to say, but given the location of the game the fit seems pretty strong. While Chick-Fil-A ran into some issues with the company’s stance on Gay marriage earlier this year, they ran into no problems sponsoring the game between LSU and Clemson in the Georgia Dome. The brand got the chance to direct market to a host of cities where Chick-Fil-a does a huge amount of business, and they took their home city and turned it into a week-long celebration for all things about their product, a great way to thank the consumer and their employees while continuing to connect again with loyal fans of their product…like spuds in Idaho, chicken works in Georgia.

For anyone in the financial world, the turn of the New Year means tax time. So if you are an up and coming brand ,maybe you use the heavy play on New Year’s to exposure your url to a casual consumer trying to find a way through the fiscal cliff. Welcome to Taxslayer.com at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Ads a plenty on TV and on the field, which the brand things gives them an edge over the Turbo tax and H and R Block spends that will follow in the weeks ahead. Might not convert buyers right away, but it got them in the marketplace. For GoDaddy.com and BBVA Compass, the two brands that titled the Bowl games AFTER New Years? GoDaddy’s spend may be curious since it was in Mobile, Alabama with a game featuring Arkansas State and Kent State, but it was in the heart of NASCAR country at a time when fans are starting to look toward Daytona, and it brought the GoDaddy marketing machine, led by Danica Patrick, to the city as a reminder of what’s to come. It also served as a good kick off for the brands usual strong campaign that leads toward their always popular NFL post-season spend. The game was also relatively unencumbered for fans looking for a little more college football, on the weekend leading into the BCS Championship. A little out of the ordinary for the domain company, but a good appetizer for their key spends on the horizon. As far as BBVA Compass, the European bank with its US headquarters in Birmingham made the event as much about hometown and regional support and branding than anything really national, but it fits in their continuing growth of activation that includes Houston Dynamo soccer, the Dallas Mavericks and on a larger play the NBA as well. A hometown bank that wanted to find a way to remind national sports fans of their growing presence but also needed to reinforce their brand messages to the community where they live.

Now not all sponsorships worked out great. From snow and high priced pizza in Detroit for the Little Caesar’s Bowl to no military ties in Washington for the Military Bowl to smaller than expected audiences on crowded nights for some earlier games, the system is not perfect. However for a brand that knows its market and needs to hit very specific criteria, the bowl season was not in any way a loss. What the future will hold with a coming playoff and the shifting of conferences is really unclear, but for 2012 at least, some of the “lesser” bowls may have delivered more for those who put up the dollars and their names. Those that hit their goals certainly chalked up a win for effort and activation in what was a really busy six weeks for the ever-growing business of college football.    

 

Filed Under: College Football, ESPN, Fox, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Can Athletics Inspire Not Just Social But Political Change?

December 19, 2012 by

12-16-victor-cruz-shoes-4_3_r560The horrific incident in Newtown, Connecticut Friday night has had an effect on people that comes close to, if not surpasses, the feelings around the incidents of 9/11. Then the feeling was more toward revenge and nationalism as well as healing. This tragedy, because of its randomness and its targets being innocent children, seems to have shaken consciousness not just in America but around the world, to its core.  The response, similar to the shooting of innocent children in Dunblaine, Scotland several years ago, has been personal passionate and widespread, and it ill continue as the young innocents and those adults lost are laid to rest for the remainder of the week and into the holidays.

The global response from the athletic community has also been impressive, from the Queens Park Rangers donning arm bands to Providence College re-doing their uniforms as a sign of support to all the efforts in social media by NFL and NBA players this past week. The New York Giants Victor Cruz showed his humanity by traveling to the town to visit with a family whose son adored him. Coaches have worked thoughts into their media appearances and others have made efforts to support those affected by contributing to scholarship funds. The emotional outpouring of support, as well as the financial, will not mend the lives and hearts completely, but it certainly will be appreciated not just now buy in the dark days ahead for those families and a town whose emotional landscape has forever changed.

So while that all that support has been very personal and much needed, can athletics now provide a platform to help invoke change in areas like gun control and mental health. Syracuse University head men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim took a bold step this week by speaking out for a change in the legal policies with regard to guns in American society this past week, when he had a national platform around his 900th career win. n the next month, many high level athletes and coaches will have a very unique place to help change public policy on the gun issue by using their traditional and social media platforms to implore millions of others not just to grieve but to act and continue to push for change. Can Notre Dame and Alabama find a way to ask for change around their national championship? Can the NBA teams or athletes on Christmas Day  find a way to get a message out to have people push politicians in an anti-gun campaign? The NFL did an impressive job in pushing messages of healing this week, will it go further?

Now for sure this political issue will not be tackled directly by leagues because of the political sensitivities. You will not see PSA’s with athletes asking for reform of gun laws on ESPN. The NRA, and its supporters both in the corporate world and the political world, are very very strong. However athletes and their ability to reach millions have helped social change in many ways in recent years. From world hunger to sexual abuse to anti-drug messages to anti-bullying campaigns, the influence of athletes around the world as role models has had a profound effect on human events. Coaches have banded together to raise millions for cancer research. Can this cause turn from support of a Connecticut community to one that puts real pressure on officials to change laws and a culture that has accepted the use of guns as instruments of violence for which the Second Amendment was not intended?

As time passes people will go back to their lives and their activities, pausing from time to find to reflect and remember last week’s horrific events. Lobbyists count on that passing of time and the influx of other issues to help people forget about the push for change, which does not take days, it can takes months, if not years.  While politicians and advocacy groups will continue their push, there is no industry that has the constant  stage like athletics, and perhaps no group can keep the push going, subtly and overtly, as coaches and players when they get their chance to speak. Maybe it is orchastrated, like the Miami Heat’s message last weekend standing with their own children, or maybe it is spontaneous like Boeheim’s comments in a press conference.

For sure there will be some who will not think that any political stance has no place in athletics, and there will be others who will feel that guns of any kind do have their place in society. There is always room for debate. However athletes have seen room to be more socially conscious than ever before, whether it is supporting local causes or ones like the Arab Spring. Now they have a chance to invoke change against a powerful lobby to use their influence and their passion that has been expressed this week to push for legal change. Will they do it? Will they care enough about the cause or will it fall back into the mix of other issues that may be closer or easier or more directly relevant to their everyday lives?

Right now the hurting is still very public and the issue is still very top of mind. Athletics through the media have a chance to keep it there until change is invoked in the legal system.  Whether they do or not will be worth watching in the coming months. It will be interesting to follow to see if the power of highly visible and visibly  shaken athletes can move the needle on what is now and again very much a national, if not international hot button.

 

Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, ESPN, MLS, NBA Teams, NFL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Global Soccer’s USA Brand Play Makes Great Sense…

December 15, 2012 by

This past Friday amongst all the chaos around the tragedy in Connecticut came a story from Bloomberg’s Scott Soshnick that Manchester City could become the founding partner/owner of a new Major League Soccer franchise, the one that will be based in New York City.  While those on the fringe may raise some eyebrows as to why this would be a good idea, the plan, if it does to fruition, makes great sense not just for MLS and Man City  or whatever club it would be, but for global sports business and the growth of soccer specifically .

Here are some thoughts as to why.mls

1-Brand soccer continues to be one of the hottest opportunities in North America. There is perhaps no sport that has benefitted more from global media than soccer in the United States. While basketball is rock solid in the States and continues to push outward into emerging countries, soccer’s global success is finally coming to roost in North America. This past summer the friendly tours by some of the biggest clubs in the world drew not just large crowds, but great brand recognition across the continent. Matches didn’t just fill stadia in New York and Los Angeles and Chicago; they drew fans to Kansas City and Dallas, Boston and Columbus. Those seats were not just filled by die-hards of national teams or prominent clubs like Chelsea or AS Roma, they were also filled by elite club teams from Poland and Ireland and Mexico.

With those matches came apparel sales, social media projects and grassroots programs that created a tremendous halo effect for the sport not just for this past summer, but for whatever comes next. Those fans who engaged now are following more regular season matches for the Barclays Premier League or Serie A than ever before, both on television outlets and in digital and social media. The global clubs of soccer have found a home in the States. There is no better example of that home than the current ESPN commercial which features not fans of the Mets or Yankees or Steelers or Cowboys but one each from Man U and Man City talking about their loyalty and devotion. The most amazing thing is that never does the spot mention who they are rooting for. You know its soccer, but it’s assumed you know the clubs and there is no way that spot could have ever worked in an environment where global soccer is not now mainstream.

2- MLS has welcomed and embraced the growth. While some may say that the global clubs presence has put Major League Soccer on the backburner, the opposite is probably truer. A rising tide of soccer lifts the MLS ship as well, ad by working with elite cubs when they come to the States, MLS gets a benefit. Clubs find casual fans coming to their stadia and seeing the work they have done to create a fun and innovative fan environment, and MLS provides a quality and affordable way for those fans of global soccer to take in a match when their favorite club is playing elsewhere in the world. Those running MLS and USA Soccer have done a tremendous job in also building “brand soccer” from the grassroots which now has created a core group who not only play but engage in following all forms of the professional game. As the quality of MLS continue to improve, those with a love for the most elite clubs will also assimilate more to professional soccer here as well. By welcoming the global push into the States, MLS has found willing and interested partners who see the growing market and now can work proactively to get new pieces of a pie that wasn’t anywhere near baked five years ago.

3- More and more global brands are looking to engage the US consumer, and the combination of soccer and sport is the perfect entrée. The US marketplace is not the easiest to crack for brands looking to engage, but sports are still the most intriguing entry port. Emirates Airways, through its tennis and horse racing sponsorships, has done a great job of finding ways to reach the right consumer, and soccer as it becomes more and more mainstream, is a natural next step. Does  Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national airline which sponsors Man City, want to start a US marketing push? If so, how about through the auspices of American sport, and if that’s true why not ride the wave through a club building ties in the US. That back and forth has also not been lost on many American brands which are using elite soccer clubs to bring their message outside the States as well. The ability to bring that brand message direct to American consumers through sport has never been bigger.

4- With the millions invested, elite clubs realize they have to engage a wider audience than ever existed before. Even with the mania that exists around soccer across Europe, there is a revenue ceiling that will be hit, so elite clubs know that the time is now to find ways to engage and grow their brands globally. The tours this summer really drove home the engagement ability in the marketplace, with Chelsea for example running a massive digital campaign aimed at consumers in the States. It identified and rewarded fans of the club for their loyalty…a loyalty not based on trips to the UK but on how much their fandom resonated in the States. In order to keep those pockets growing, friendlies will not be enough. There needs to be a way to touch fans continuously in market to supplement what they can do in the digital space, so finding a way to do that with an actual club not just in the US, but in places like Asia is a way to remove the ceiling and enhance the brand growth.

5- If the idea of cross-Atlantic play will someday be possible, it is good to invest now. This concept has been talked about for years…will an NBA franchise land in Europe, can the Jacksonville jaguars investment in London pay off with a permanent home, could rugby or cricket find places to have global franchises in the States, could hockey through system work the KHL and the NHL together for the regular season etc. etc. Thus far it has been lots of talk but no real logistical solution. The sport that would make the most sense to do such a global investment in play would be soccer though. Why? Matches are spread out enough that travel back and forth would not be as big an issue as it would be for hockey or hoops, who have a more rigorous schedule and need multiple games and opponents in market. The NFL does play once a week, but American football still does not have the playing footprint elsewhere that soccer has. So could the Barclays Premier League drop two franchises in the States somewhere down the line?  Not yet, as the market still has to flesh itself out, and there are many, many issues with work rules and taxes and ownership that would have to be worked through. However as a trial balloon, a club-owned MLS franchise playing in MLS makes for an interesting test.

Now let’s be clear that this is not all rosy. There are some big financial and brand hurdles that need to be clear before the idea comes to fruition. The cost of both a stadium and running a franchise in New York is very, very high. There is a risk of brand damage because the franchise will not be Man City itself, it will be an MLS club under the Man City (or whomever else it is) brand. So diehard fans of the club and its level of play could be turned off. The marketplace is also very crowded and the homesteading Red Bulls have done well, but not great in bringing MLS success (many feel that MLS has succeeded in spite of the New York franchise). All those could be stumbling blocks to making the idea a reality.

What is real is that soccer is growing and that the current immigrant into the US loves the game. The interest in brands looking to engage this audience is very high and elite clubs see the opportunity with a savvy and engaged fan of the sport who wants more. MLS has been very smart in leveraging the sport for growth, and with a World Cup again on the horizon and brand marketers at clubs willing to make a leap, the timing may be right for all concerned. Who that party will be remains to be seen, but the opportunity of linking soccer 24/7 from sea to sea seems to be closer than ever, and if so, what a grand opportunity it will be.

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

Change In College Athletics: The Risk Of Forgetting Who You Are

November 30, 2012 by

This past week college sports was again thrown into disarray as schools bolted from Big East to ACC to Big 10 to Conference USA to WAC to Sun Belt and back and forth. The jockeying and rumors continued, with those left as not moving felt hurt and disappointed while those moving looked to greener fields ahead. Greener in terms of dollars for most, if nothing else.

The nothing is really the concern. Certain schools talked about aspiring to be with more elite academic institutions (Maryland and Rutgers) while thumbing their noses at the elite institutions (Georgia tech, Duke, Georgetown, Villanova) they are leaving behind. Others (Grand Canyon) moved to a league even though they have never played at the level of any of their league partners, and unveiled plans to sell some sort of stock to raise funds. Still others (Cincinnati) spoke of defeat when they were not selected by a league while having a solid place in the league they are in. They need the money to balance the books after all. In the end, success on the field and core values with other schools seem to have little to do with alignment athletically these days, “It’s not about success it’s about geography,” Central Florida head coach George O’Leary said earlier this week, while the Washington Post’s John Feinstein pointed out on Sirius XM that the schools like Rutgers and Maryland talk about academics but they only reason they are of value is because of their location. If Rutgers was in Albany, NY, they could be the best program in the country and they would not be of interest to the Big 10.

So as Louisville, departing for the ACC and Rutgers (off to the Big 10) battled in an exciting game for the Big East title Thursday night on ESPN, I thought about when those schools in their new leagues might play for such high stakes again. It may be a while, if history tells us anything.

While schools that have bolted for bigger conferences have done so with much fanfare, few have been successful athletically. Boston College was a nationally ranked football team and had a basketball team that advanced to the Final Eight in 1994 before it left for the ACC in 2005. Miami won a national championship in football as a member of the Big East in 2001, has yet to win an ACC title since it left. West Virginia, which played in two BCS games and was picked to contend for the Big 12 championship, is 6-5 after losing five straight games. Virginia Tech is struggling, and Pitt and Syracuse are nowhere near where they were in football during their best Big East years as they transition out of the conference. Colorado in the Pac 12? More money and some bigger stages? Yes. But not a whole lot of equity for any of the schools that went elsewhere.

If you go back a little further there are even more examples of being careful what you ask for. Temple to the MAC? How did that work out. They are now back in a much better fit, the Big East again. How about a school like New Jersey Institute of Technology, who plays in the…Great West…with schools like Texas an American and Utah Valley…who they have a great deal in common with.

From personal experience I have my alma mater Fordham University, long the also-ran of the Patriot League and the doormat of the Atlantic 10. The Rams took their highly successful program in the MAAC and moved it to the Patriot League, which at the time was non-scholarship but more aligned academically with the Fordham. When that didn’t work out the school moved to the Atlantic 10, where they have had two winning seasons in…17 years. While it is true that Fordham has thrived academically it has died from a branding standpoint in athletics. Yes there are common bonds between schools like St, Joe’s and maybe even Duquesne and maybe Dayton, but there are no ties on any level to state schools like Charlotte or Rhode Island or in past years Virginia Tech or even VCU and Butler. No history, no common groups of alumni, no common academic platforms no rivalries. Football? Four winning seasons in 20 years, three of which were in a short stretch of prosperity under one coach, Dave Clawson. Prior to that, Fordham had great success in athletics with local and regional opponents in all sports, and enjoyed some solid national success while sacrificing nothing in academics. Better off now? Hard to see how. There certainly is no identity with their league opponents.

So that leaves us where we are today on a much larger scale. Do Wisconsin and Rutgers have any common ties? Maryland and Northwestern?  There was a point where the term “directional schools”  had a negative connotation…some land grant school that existed only to play sports. Now it’s a “locational school” that has great value, not for what they stand for but for where they are located.

So we forsake tradition and common bonds for the dollars…dollars which are seen as coming in to offset huge deficits that athletics drain. Instead of funding smart business practices to fund programs (some schools like the University of Michigan have hired smart business people to find alternatives to raise dollars and bring in brands to cover costs) schools act like startups…spending all the money until it runs out and then going to find more capital to keep funding the idea. It has started to change, but not yet to the degree it should.

Now maybe all of this talk about tradition and brand and core values is pie in the sky and gone somewhere else. Does it matter really if St Johns ever plays Syracuse in hoops again? Maybe in a bigger picture, a big time world of athletics today it doesn’t. It doesn’t if somehow those dollars brought in at the sacrifice of tradition go to pursuits that also benefit medical programs and the arts and technology…places where cancer can really be cured. Then the sacrifice of tradition is really for a bigger good. That remains to be seen.

In the end if all the movement is only a stopgap to balance a budget that will be thrown out of line again in a few years has expenditures grow and creative marketing and sales don’t then it will be a great tragedy. There are precious few major conference jumps…ones not with a shred of tradition tiring schools together that have really worked. For sure the global world of athletics could not rest on the past for all schools. Change and progress is inevitable. However when schools say they can move and break with all their ties of their alumni and their current athletes in a matter of days it seems something is amiss. Careful study and great reasons? For sure, let’s make it work. But a jump for just the dollars before someone else gets there is tough business planning for the long term.

Personally, I ache when I see Fordham getting waxed week in and week out but I also take pride in what was athletically, and what the University does in areas like business and science. It is a great school, even if its athletics (football and men’s basketball anyway) are lost in an ill-fitting sea.

This may all work out on all levels with all the change for these schools. Syracuse and Clemson alumni may start hanging out together; Rutgers staff will be welcomed with open arms in Lansing. Seton Hall may play a record setting and memorable volleyball match in Dallas against SMU.  Louisville grad students can do summer shares with Miami. The dollars for sure will flow and traditions can always be started anew.

What you don’t hope happens is the haves…the established schools with the established traditions, endowments, and rivalries…fully crowd out the new coming have-nots. The LA Clippers and Pittsburgh Pirates for sure get the Benjamin’s, but that doesn’t mean they are great brands who have enjoyed success. They benefit, save for some years of success, not because of what they have built but because they are in the club almost by default. Other members have to be tolerating them, but accept them as equals? Nah.

Sport above everything else is about tradition, passion and chemistry on the field. Without it you have fantasy sports. Looks great on paper, but making it work is a chore. On the college side, a person goes to a school not just for the programs but for the experience. It helps shape people into whom they become, and that comes from so many shared experiences socially, politically and academically. There is a ritual and a common bond. For those doing the shifting that common bond in many cases is probably leaving for now. Can it be replaced and does it have to be mark of the mix for success? Hard to say it doesn’t.

We live in a world today where sense of purpose and sense of self can get misplaced. Many of those touchstones that bring us back are formed during our younger years, many through the time and traditions spent socially on campuses and in dorm rooms and gyms and stadia. It molds who we are. Maybe it’s silly but for many people those simple traditions are what we can hold near and dear for years to come. Maybe the dollars and the new alignments can offset that need, maybe it can’t.

Maybe like Fordham, other institutions will find out that they can grow without successful athletics for the most part, that what happens away from the field of play is way more important, and those dollars to be doormats for big time football do flow to places that need the money. Maybe also like Fordham, people see the grass greener somewhere else and when you get there you see the field isn’t really grass, its synthetic turf and it’s not something the landlord really wanted to let you play on anyway.

Hopefully all the changes give schools that have moved a new sense of self, and for those schools who don’t move on find their own niche. The Patriot League and the MAAC have moved on to do just fine without my Rams, hopefully the Big East and Conference USA and whomever else will do the same without their old partners.

Yes college sports are big business now…bigger than ever. You just hope at some point that balance…moderation in all things as the great leader Ben Franklin preached…gives this process some sense of normalcy again.

The biggest mistake any brand makes is losing its core focus, and the curious shifting of some  in the collegiate circles can make one wonder if the dollars forsake the brand and with that, will the identity go too.

Hopefully in this case the movements will create the right mix down the line, but the danger exists in forgetting who you are and trying to be something you are not. It doesn’t work most times in big business, and it probably won’t work in the big business of college athletics, where sense of who you are as an institution is just as valuable as at any Fortune 500 Company.

You are molding the minds of our future, collegiate leaders, don’t let us down.

Filed Under: College Baseball, College Basketball, College Football, ESPN, NCAA Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
«Older Posts
None :P None :P