The New Superstars Competition…Kobe vs. Joey Gathright Jumping Over Cars?

April 21, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As both the Lakers make their playoff run and the Royals continue their surprising start, we take a look at the glories of YouTube past and present to see the potential for a new kind of one on one competition, ala ABC’s legendary series “The Superstars.” (although it may be just a virtual one but one that could afford some unique branding oppts).  It is car jumping, as we have seen recently with the Lakers star Kobe Bryant  ”jumping” over a speeding car online last week. While the authentic YouTube stunt of Royals outfielder Joey Gathright  has been documented since 2002, when the athletic outfielder became one of the first internet legends by jumping over a stationary car, Bryant’s stunt, real or virtual obviously drew more attention.  So the next level of “challenge” occurred Friday on ESPN, with Gathright challenging Bryant to an offseason car jump.  Nice move by the young outfielder looking to make his own stake, a smart move to issue the challenge whether it plays out or not…hopefully there will be a Bryant response and some trash talk after the Lakers season ends that could play out in a nice branding opportunity as well as some new media hijinx in the summer, so long as no one actually tries the competition this time.    

It’s Even More Entertainment…SI’s “Outside The Swimsuit,” LeBron Vogue, The WWE and more…

March 31, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As the sports industry continues to grow, the pressure for ROI from sponsors becomes stronger, the lines that once blurred sports as entertainment are now totally gone (we think for better but many may say for worse).  Take a look back at some examples from the last few days…there was a new attendance record set in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando…by Wrestlemania.  the mix of WWE performer/wrestlers, combined with Floyd Mayweather Jr. produced a record of over 74,000 fans in person, broke gate and PPV numbers and got a nice boost on si.com from man about town Arash Markhazi…lets stay with SI, where Media Post’s Amy Carr did a nice job detailing SI’s virtual photo shoot promotion with Taco Bell for…swimsuit model Daniela Sarahyba…then on to Fox Sports where Jason Whitlock has a great column about LeBron James…and the alleged controversy of being on the cover of Vogue with Gisele Bundchen insinuating it is insulting because LeBron can be viewed as King Kong by some… and move to nbcsports.com and a Men’s Vogue feature on Jeff Gordon embracing his metrosexual image…and finish in St. Louis, where the St. Louis Business Journal has a great PBR piece…on how event marketing has become more important the event than the event itself.   Not one of the pieces was about winning or losing, but they were about reaching a larger audience, finding creative ways to build the sports brand and elevate the personalities that effective PR and marketing staffs need to make top priority, and in some cases only priority, as entertainment and sports run on the same path in business these days.