What Value Global Events? Ask Spain…

July 16, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

As the world moves on and experts look back on what value the World Cup brought to the African continent, perhaps they should look no further than the now reigning champion, Spain. Steadily over the last few years, the Spanish athletic programs across the board have transformed the Iberian Peninsula into a world power, whether that be in sports like golf and tennis or soccer and basketball.   Why?  Probably a number of factors but two of the most important are facilities and exposure, both of which are the fruits of Spain’s ability to host and then effectively leverage the World Cup and the Olympics.  Those two events ten years apart, World Cup in ‘82 and Olympics in ‘92, provided a platform to the world and to young athletes  on the benefits not just of top level competition, but also of they ways sport can be a social unifier.

Will Soccer In New York Ever Hit The Goal?

August 30, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With the first hint of fall you start to hear the bounce in thousands of parks and recreational centers across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It is the thwack of kids from four to their mid-teens dribbling and passing soccer balls. Like baseball and softball in the spring, fall soccer is a rite of passage more now than ever before amongst young kids. Still even with the grassroots success, the connection to the pro game still lags behind, perhaps in the New York area more than anywhere else in the United States, and it is that disconnect which has continued to slow the growth of MLS in the biggest media market in the world. While MLS has had great success in Washington, great buzz in LA, solid plans built out in Dallas and Columbus and Chicago and New England, the New York market remains a frustrating afterthought.

The Interesting Approach of Brand Ty Lawson…

June 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As the NBA Draft approaches Thursday, it will be interesting to see the branding winners and missteps taken, and how quickly in this digital age teams will look to immediately activate with their picks…will guys be twittering new fans from the podium, who will be the first to stream and text messages back home and will any team look to Twitter their pick before it is announced, as happened in the NFL Draft? Speed and immediacy, whether they can be monetized or not at this point, will be interesting, as well as how well athletes today understand perceived brand value vs. real brand value. Tuesday’s Washington Post gave a great glimpse inside the workings of North Carolina’s Ty Lawson as he prepped both on and off the court for this Thursday’s coming out. The piece had great access into Lawson and the team around him that is prepped to strike once his name is called, and how they can roll out the new branded Lawson to the Carolina faithful, and to the faithful of his new team. It is a very smart message to try and show potential fans, the media, teams and brands that Lawson is ready for the marketing and playing tasks ahead. however one thing that misses from the article, and is critical to be factored in…are the plans of the team he is selected by. Are they ready to work with Team Lawson on his brand roll out…does it conflict with anything they are planning for their elite customers or partners? Are both sides ready to work together to maximize the opportunity each has created? It sounds simple, but often times it is not. The best partnerships are when teams and athletes start from day one to pull for a common goal…brandwise, community wise, activation wise, access wise and most importantly playing wise. For every LeBron James brand, there are countless others that tried to build upon failed on court or on field focus, and although some athletes can succeed as marketing brands based on just performance, the opposite, brand success with limited on field success, is the rarest of the rare. The Lawson prep story shows smarts by his team…hopefully he lands with the right team that can take advantage of his smarts both on and off the court.

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.