Devils Brand Still Having A Championship Run…

June 3, 2012 by

It was a bit of a quiet night for hockey fans riding from Penn Station to Newark about an hour before game one of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night. There was no raucous celebration or pep rally in Times Square or Penn Station, which probably would have occurred if the Rangers were facing the L.A. Kings. However, the Devils prevailed in the Eastern Conference Finals, leaving those at MSG to tend to the latest piece of their renovation, probably of the building and of the two teams, the Knicks and the Rangers, who play in “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

However as you got within a few blocks of the Pru, the jerseys, Springsteen songs, NHL Network’s studio, even a pirated “D” from the Hollywood sign all emerged, as well as thousands upon thousands of younger red and black clad Devils fans. It is a big change from the last time the club vied for the Cup, when rumors of unsold tickets at the last minute had officials scrambling to fill what is now the IZOD Center. No, it’s not Gotham per se, but the Devils brand is healthier in New Jersey than it has ever been.

In some ways it has been a rocky financial year for the team from many fronts. The issues with minority ownership and the recent issues with Mayor Cory Booker have given the team its share of fits. Yesterday NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the team’s financial issues will be settled in a few weeks, giving more hope that the franchise will shed one of its clouds.

However, those two issues do not detract from where the team has come from. The Devils’ commitment to its growing fan base through social media engagement, its alumni work and the positive outreach by its players has made the season for the brand of the Devils better than any since the franchise relocated from Colorado and eventually moved to The Pru.

The Stanley Cup Final remains a bit of an anomaly as far as “big” sporting events go. The Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals and All-Star Game have really become national corporate sponsor activation platforms. While the NHL has moved to be bigger and better with the Final, and the Cup remains so iconic, the games themselves are still full—at least in New Jersey—with long-suffering and passionate fans and much less of a corporate environment.

A look around the arena saw a sea of red, and you could not go more than two or three seats in any direction in any section without seeing a face painted or a jersey of the hometown team. The team’s Twitter and Facebook accounts lit up all night with fans watching on NBC, and the advantage of being on WFAN Radio (although last night was bumped to Bloomberg 1130 for the Mets) as their prime carrier also is a huge improvement from the last time the team was in the final.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Great Brand Run Of NBC Sports…

May 26, 2012 by

There was a time not too long ago where some in the sports and entertainment industry thought the sun had set on NBC Sports as a property. No NFL, Olympics in question, not a lot of forward movement, Comcast rumors of a takeover and on and on. Looking at NBC Sports as a property today that seems hard to imagine, and probably for brands and for casual fans the fact that those rumors were greatly exaggerated is a very good thing.

As Mike Emerick called the overtime on NBC Sports Network on Friday night for the Devils-Rangers, the promos and cross-promos that came across the screen showed how far brand NBC Sports has come. There was a robust MLS offering, the Stanley Cup Final, the potential of a Triple Crown, the Olympics, the Olympic trials, and lots of NBC Sports Talk. Factor in some poker, golf, Indy Car, the French Open, and the fact that Football Night in America transplanted American Idol in the TV ratings, nit to mention all the Comcast Sports-related assets down the line, and one sees a healthy, vibrant brand which runs from cable to broadcast and is growing its web presence as well. Maybe somewhere down the line a print presence and even more robust web-only elements complete the picture, but even without those tied in, it seems like a great time to be in and around 30 Rock if you like games these days.

Now of course none of this was done overnight, the executive team over the years looked at how to cultivate emerging sports like the Dew Tour and Poker After Dark and even developed a dog show stand-alone property. They forged a landmark relationship with the NHL that made the two true partners with incentives to grow together (along with a new tentpole event in The Winter Classic), and of course the rebranding of and reprogramming of VERSUS made the causal fan aware even more of what an NBC Sports offering looked and felt like.

Are there more mountains to climb for the brand? Sure. Ironing out whatever comes next with Comcast Sports and their regionals, looking at the ever-growing market of college football, integrating with a robust entertainment side and evolving even more with a web and mobile presence are all in the mix. However to watch where the brand is today and how it has evolved beyond “just” a programming channel is impressive, and is a credit to those with the vision and the ability to fight off the naysayers and create a proactive media brand.

Filed Under: College Basketball, College Football, Darren Rovell, Horse Racing, Indy Car, MLS, NCAA, NFL, NHL, Olympics, PBR, Tennis Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In Minor League Hockey, Timing Is Everything…

June 12, 2011 by

Minor League baseball is known as a quaint and affordable right of passage in America. In most communities it is a fun way to pass a few hours and get a good feel for the game, especially with little kids. Minor league hockey has often sought to be the winter alternative, and in some markets it has succeeded, but the lack of sunshine, and in many cases state of the art facilities, has really made the minors in hockey still more about player development and hard hits than a rite of passage for families. At the lowest rung of minor league hockey in the Northeast is the Federal League. Now going into its second year, the league (named after the minor league in the legendary movie “Slapshot,” but without the Charlestown Chiefs of the late Paul Newman) plays to small crowds in a handful of outposts in and around Connecticut and upstate New York, as well as in Brooklyn, where the Aviators try and fill the beautiful but small and isolated Aviator Arena near the Brooklyn/Queens border with just over 1,000 fans. It is an only stop for some and a last stop for others trying to hold on to a dream of professional hockey.

One franchise that has tried to take the minor league baseball approach and has succeeded to some extent, is the Danbury (Ct.) Whalers. The Whalers, tucked away in a corner of the state hard by the New York border, have filled their arena on many nights with quality entertainment and OK hockey, and work as hard as any team to engage the community and the local businesses. They pulled their name from the Whalers of NHL/WHA fame a year before former NHL owner Howard Baldwin bought the Hartford minor league team, renamed the Wolfpack the Connecticut Whale, and began his quest again to bring NHL hockey back to The Nutmeg State. That confusion in the marketplace hasn’t slowed the Whalers in their Federal league quest for success. This past week the Whalers took advantage of timing and the Bruins run to the NHL Finals with a unique announcement and publicity play. The team was looking for a new coach, and in their organization resided Phil Esposito. Not the Hall of Famer and former Bruin and Ranger, but a younger man with all the right acumen to coach and help grow the team. So on the night of Game Five of the NHL Finals, the Whalers named Phil Esposito their head coach. The karma didn’t pay off for the B’s, who lost game five to Vancouver 1-0, but it did generate some buzz with the timing for the Whalers, and obviously opens the door for some unique recognition and promotion for the team next year. Had they waited or done the announcement earlier, the media would have missed the story. However by landing on a Finals night, the Whalers scored some fun promo time and helped draw casual interest, which is what the minors is all about.

Can Phil coach? Who knows? Was the announcement noteworthy now and into the offseason for a small Federal League team in Connecticut? For sure. Well done and best of luck Espo.

Filed Under: Ambush Marketing, Minor League Hockey, NHL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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