On The Record…Sort Of…

August 5, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

This past week has seen two prominent sports names…LeBron James and Brett Favre…dragged into the middle of controversy by being invlved in stories that were sort of on the record sort of not, but both show the continued issues media have with ethics, the battle to get out unique content and the growing rift between those who want coverage and those who have all coverage thrust upon them.  The first involved ESPN reporter Arash Markazi and his trailing of James and crew in Las Vegas. The murkiness over whether James’ team knew who Markazi was and what he was doing in a public place trailing the soon to be Miami Heat star is one issue, the fact that the reporter really didn’t find much and reported as such is another.  It is clear that Markazi never clearly stated or showed that he was a member of the media when he started asking questions to the group, but whether some people knew or didn’t know is the issue.  He did go to Las Vegas to see what he could find, and the resulting story, which ESPN did remove when it caused some controversy, was the product of his trip.  Should he have clearly said why he was there and asked for access, should James’ crew have known why he was there, should ESPN have removed a pretty benign story or should they have posted it in the first place is all the source of the debate.

Brand NFL Gets Stronger, Despite The Clouds On The Horizon…

August 1, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Granted there is a labor dispute in the distance and the Jets still have issues in the New York marketplace with PSL’s, but it is hard to argue that even in a challenged economy the brand of the NFL remains strong and gets stronger. It can be argued that the opening of training camp has come close to eclipsing the reporting of “Pitchers and Catchers” as the day that fans look forward to the most…the NFL Draft has easily become a media and brand spectacle like no other…fantasy football play is the dominant game of choice, almost four to one over baseball, because of its simplicity and appeal to the casual fan…and the one  game a week schedule gives the NFL a chance to build week on week like no other sport.  Even those who argued that parity diluted the game have fallen short of their argument, as witnessed by the record numbers who tuned in for last year’s Super Bowl, featuring two of the smallest markets (Indianapolis and New Orleans) in professional sports.

So We Now Move On…

July 10, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

Stephen King was once asked who his audience is for his novels, and his answer was that he writes for everyone who slows down to look at accidents. It is the sense of spectacle that makes events, no matter how bizarre or contrived they sometimes seem, that draws everyone to them.  Case in point was the past week, or month, or year, and all the information, misinformation, rumors and talk about LeBron James and free agency, all of which came to a head with a huge audience on ESPN Thursday night.  So now that the world knows and is debating winners and losers, what is it that we really know today that we didn’t know yesterday about James’ move to South Beach?  Some thoughts…

Jets Take Some Unjustified Hard Knocks On Branding Decision…

March 26, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It has rarely seen this much debate or buzz, the announcement of which NFL team is selected for HBO’s annual all access show “Hard Knocks.”  Last year, the selection of the wobegone Cincinnnati Bengals was met with more interest than concern.  So Thursday’s announcement that the New York Jets were selected  as this year’s all access candidate by the cable network was a little surprising, but nowhere near as surprising  as the fervor in media coverage regarding the announcement. Now the Jets, despite the  onfield successs by Rex Ryan and Company last year, have always been the NFL stepchild (a lucrative one yes) in the New York media market.  Save for the legendary 1968 season and 1969 Super Bowl, the Giants have always been the more secure, more streamlined and more upscale brand in the area, even in their darkest days.  The Jets have always been the renter in someone’s house, be it Shea (where their full set of seats were never in place until after the Mets finished) or Giants Stadium (where they always played second fiddle despite their best branding efforts).  Their hope for a site of their own on the West Side of Manhattan was lost in a vicious battle with Madison Square Garden and others in Manhattan, and the compromise of a shared new home which will be all Jets on their days, all Giants on theirs (eventhough the Giants practice facility is within a long punt of the stadium and the Jets is in distant Florham Park) will still be just that, a compromise.  The Jets battle to obtain seat licenses in a challenged economy has also been a struggle, while the Giants, although with a waiting list now exhausted, will fill the new home to the brim once again.  The Jets, much more than the Giants, remain the team that has to do more to grow image and gain casual support, both locally and even nationally.

Hebrew National Strikes While The Sanchez Dog Is Hot…

October 29, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

Timing is everything, whether you are an official team partner or not. Take Conagra Foods Hebrew National Hot Dogs for example. The Kosher Dog, with a few professional sports ties but not many, made a very smart play this week to tie to the Jets, the NFL and poster boy quarterback Mark Sanchez by capitalizing on the shots of Sanchez munching on a hot dog on the sideline during Sunday’s romp over the Oakland Raiders. In honor of the on-camera hot dog sneak, Hebrew national announced today a plan of free hot dogs for anyone holding a ticket to any professional football game this season (hello UFL) where a quarterback is caught on camera eating a hot dog. The announcement strikes home for many reasons. One it is a great ambush marketing play for a brand which is more regional than national and usually doesn’t get national exposure, especially even remotely tied to a professional sports brand. Second it is set up so that the chances of a mega-giveaway are slim, but if the viral nature of the offer gets out and there is a quarterback and a cameraman smart enough to catch the sneak during a broadcast, the exposure will fare outweigh the cost. Third, it is perfectly worded to avoid any mention of NFL team, so as not to infringe upon any rights, and fourth, it is a great example of a brand making light of an incident which probably was taken way to seriously anyway. Now will a team take advantage? Could a college or minor league brand up the challenge? Will Hebrew National be prepared for a deluge should the challenge play out? All to be seen. Regardless of the outcome, the brand beat the competition to the bunch and added in a nice PR spin, as captured in the New York Post and other places Wednesday. Good old fashioned spinning in a time when brands are always looking for the unique, cost efficient brand.

Majoring In The Minors: Sometimes It’s Just The Quest That’s The Fun Part…

August 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the keys to minor league promotion is buzz…buzz leads to ticket sales and family fun, which is key when you are limited on marketing stars, who on the minor league level, are very transient. With that in mind one of the keys in buzz is always “new” or “fresh” or “first” or “record breaking.” The last one, record breaking, is always the most interesting, since it will give fans a sense of history, not to mention giving the team the ability to move more collectables or mementos from the event. World’s largest pizza, world’s largest pillow fight etc etc…have all come down the pike this year. However, as our friend Ben Hill pointed out recently in his column on the Business of Minor League Baseball, getting the “record” is not always that easy, nor is it always important. Hill studied the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ quest for the world’s largest game of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” a fun effort to get fans interested in a between innings promotion, with maybe a little sponsor tie thrown in. Did it matter at the end of the day that there was a challenge issued by the real recordholders in Taiwan? No. Were people excited to be involved? Yes. Did it sell tickets, combined with other promotions? Maybe. Did it generate a little buzz, especially when there was a bit of “controversy” thrown in? Yes. Does it give the Blue Rocks a chance to re-promote and try the assault on the record again? Yes, especially since everyone loves a comeback. The key points here are that the Blue Rocks found a promotion that was affordable, simple, involved all their fans, generated buzz and was at least semi-attainable. Whether it is a real or contrived “record” is not really the point. The point is they created a quest for a record, and sometimes the involvement in that quest is what gets people juiced and contributes to the fun of the experience.

Browns, Jets Both Move Quickly But With Different Tacts…

December 30, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With three teams moving very quickly with front office changes on Monday, the Lions, Browns and Jets all sent messages to their fans and business partners that changes need to be made to improve the image of the team, and by doing so the day after the season, immediately avoided the twisting in the wind and distractions that often come with “evaluations” after poor seasons.  Especially in New York, fans have seen coaches dangle while decisions are made, so the Jets move yesterday was probably the smartest one for the franchise at this point.  However now that the smoke clears, it appears the Browns may have the most on one page as they look for direction going forward.  The story on Cleveland.com today details Randy Lerner’s issues and opportunities and how he may make choices, and why he made the choices he did, and gives some good insight.  The Browns remain a solid brand in Ohio, with a strong following, sold tickets and…in a market that even with LeBron James and a strong Indians franchise in a down economy…they will hold their place and build by keeping things tight.  Now the Jets?  Different story.  Even though they stood together on the announcement yesterday, the difficult questions posed by the New York media, as well as some conflicts of story, remained unanswered, and with a quarterback controversy and PSLs going into a new stadium to be sold, their stance going forward should be organized, smart, forthright and aggressive.  The decision to change coaches was made and that news cycle is now closed.  Now having all on one page and providing information in an appropriate manner that communicates to the fans and the business partners what the plan is should be next.  Will be interesting to see how and when those messages are conveyed by the organization. 

Chinese Takeout…what’s on tap after the media focus shifts…

September 4, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The question about every post-Olympics push is what opportunities are left to capitalize on when the world leaves the host country.  While the Leverage Agency continues to sell the naming rights for The Birds Nest and the Water Cube, marketers and local hosts look for the potential boon in tourism and historic significgtance in Beijing to keep interest alive.  The Wall Street Journal took a look at the branding and tourism opportunities the Chinese government is pushing, while Mark Hyman in Business Week took a look at another group of athletes who this week are beginning to capitalize on their athletic prowess in Beijing…the paralympians (whose competition now begins on the heels of the regular Olympics). The quest for both groups to lure eyeballs and sponsor dollars is very similar, as both the tourism group and the Paralympians are following closely in the footsteps of megahit without the draw of the world’s media and attention.  Whether either group can seize opportunity on the coattails of the Olympics remains to be seen, and if they are successful could be a great model for post-Olympic success in 2010 and beyond.  The stories remain grand, but will the public and the media still want to hear them in comparison to the glory of Michael Phelps or Usian Bolt?

The Cost of Doing Football Business…Two Coasts, Two Issues

August 26, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Two pieces popped up on opposite coasts Tuesday that demonstrated the divergent issues football is going through from a financial standpoint.  On the east coast you have New York, where Rich Sandomir did an extensive piece today on the cost of building all the new venues in the area along with the costs being passed on to the consumer in terms of inflated prices and in some cases ticket licenses.  It is a very strong read  on the economics of major market professional sports these days, the growing concern over fan apathy and where sports may have to go to maintain fiscal responsibilty in the future.  Then you go west, and today’s San Francisco Chronicle, which has a piece on the effort Stanford University’s athletic marketing department is taking to reduce costs and guarantee a solid experience for Stanford football, with a money back guarantee if not satisfied.  It is a novel approach and a big chance the University is taking on revenue, given the Cardinal’s two win season a year ago.  However the no risk chance for a good afternoon of football in a competitive market is an enticing one and certainly a trend setter should it go well.  The two pieces effectively highlight the difference in the have’s and have nots in a major market, and the efforts that have to be gone into, regardless of on field success, to stay competitive from a financial standpoint and relevant from a fan perspective.

Match.com Scores Coverage with Phelps, Walsh Polls

August 24, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As brands scramble to vie for the attention, and dollar endorsements for the top athletes coming out of the Olympics, the folks at match.com came up with a great way to glean coverage the old fashioned way…by going to the court of public opinion.  Match.com not only ran polls amongst their very legitimate subscriber base as to who the most eligible Olympians would be…they offered up free subscriptions to the online dating service to signle athletes like Michael Phelps, thus enlisting their product with the name without paying any endorsement fee.  It was a great play for the dating service that scored them tons of free publicity, and if the option is picked up by any of the athletes, will get them even more bang for a buck not spent.  We are sure the “Michael Phelps Nights” by minor league teams will be upcoming and there will be a scramble to protevt the Phelps brand, but the first move by match.com was a very smart one in brand association for no cash. 

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