Value In Frozen Lolo? There Sure Is.

November 8, 2012 by

Whether you were with her or against her this summer, Lolo Jones success and then failure made her one of the memorable faces of the London Games. Sponsors certainly adored her style, while her wide-ranging coverage and her polarizing comments, not to mention the backlash from teammates who though she was getting too much coverage for actions in front of the camera vs. on the track, kept her in the headlines.

Like her or not, there was never a doubt that Jones had star appeal, was an outstanding athletes and had a backstory that made her stand out in a crowd.

Now she goes to try her hand at a much colder Olympic sport, the bobsled. She spent three weeks at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center enduring all the testing and was selected along with  another Olympian, 4×100-meter relay gold medalist Tianna Madison, to the U.S. World Cup team as pushers. Where it goes from here and would she make it to the U.S. team for Sochi remains to be seen.

Other male track stars..Willie Gault, Hershel Walker, Renaldo Nehemiah, Edwin Moses…all took to the bobsled to various levels of success (three also spent quality time in the NFL) but only Walker actually advanced to an Olympics.

If Jones continues on it will do wonders for Women’s Bobsled, which is not an A list winter sport for NBC or the American audience.

Why does it make sense for Lolo? First, it puts her in a position to yet again how the world she is a dynamic athlete, not just an intriguing pretty face. Second it keeps her very relevant in the brand marketplace for a cycle heading towards another Olympics in two years, this one in the winter. Third, it is an amazing add-on to brands who have been on the Lolo team over the years, an unexpected boost at a time when they may be re-evaluating their time and work with her. Fourth, It gives her a leg up on sustaining her brand vs. many of the most elite track competitors who will not be front and center in the minds of Americans for the most part of the next three years.

Most importantly it puts her in a position to help a sport gain exposure…a sport which probably should and would welcome the help. Women’s Bobsled with Lolo Jones on board makes the sport a factor in popular culture and that exposure can spill over a bit to athletes on the team who had little shot at breaking through without the Lolo halo. It also helps the USOC in many ways, bringing more casual interest to the Winter Games, which usually lag behind the Summer Games in overall awareness. While there may be some negativity, extra buzz, especially for an Olympics that may lack NHL star power if the league decides to not let its players participate, is a good thing for the USOC, for the bobsled federation, for the sport and for NBC.

If Jones makes the team and gets to Sochi, critics would be hard-pressed to challenge her credibility as an athlete. Few ever make the cross over from summer to winter, especially in a sport which was learned on the fly and is quite dangerous.

Will the Lolo experiment work? We shall see the next step this weekend, but if it does, the marketing machine for a slightly far off Winter Olympics will be starting to dial up just as the first snows of 2012 start to fall.

Filed Under: Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Age Limit Olympic Hoops Grows Brand Basketball…

August 13, 2012 by

It was nice seeing the second version of “The Redeem Team” take the Olympic gold on Sunday over Spain, but what did it do for the future of the great game of basketball? By contrast, the men’s Olympic soccer tourney, won by Mexico over Brazil, gave the sport a big lift and highlight a host of the young stars fans will see in elite league’s around the world later this summer, and more importantly, in World Cup 2014. It was an exciting glimpse at the furte of the world’s most popular sport, while the second-most popular sport gave the Olympics, well…more of what fans have seen for the past year…NBA stars who we can see and enjoy for eight months every year, next to be seen in November. Is the soccer model, championed by FIFA, the way to go for basketball in the future?

The idea has been floated by NBA officials as high as David Stern in the past few months, and the Olympic tournament did nothing to show that a move to a separate World Championship, with elite young players partaking in the Olympics, could be the best to grow the game. Why? Some thoughts.

1- While bringing the original Dream Team to the Olympics was best for global growth, the sport has matured. In Barcelona ’92, the original “Dream Team” lifted both the sport of basketball and the Olympics to a new level of casual awareness. Since then, basketball has grown significantly on the global scale to the point where the Olympics, although important for men’s basketball, is not the be-all for those who follow the sport. It is mature beyond the experience and in many ways suffers because the focus is on those who rarely get the spotlight. Olympic basketball was prime time viewing, but even with its mega-stars, it is not must watch Olympic TV.

2- An off-year “World Cup” puts hoops on its own stage. We have obviously seen the lure of soccer’s World Cup in a non-summer Olympic year and what it does to grow the sport globally. Baseball, kicked out of the Olympics for 2012, has created its World Baseball Classic that s growing as a non-Olympic year global event, Rugby has its World Cup despite its coming inclusion in Rio 2016. The best of the best in team sports…established team sports…need their own window where they are the central focus. (In addition to basketball, hockey is also at this crossroads, although for different reasons).

3- The Basketball World Championship Frees Branding and Sales: Olympic basketball falls under the IOC and restricts sales, TV and marketing.  That would not happeb in a World Cup format, which can be sold and licensed by the NBA with FIBA, creating a huge dollar and branding flow directly to the governing bodies.

4- Under 23 Olympic Basketball Showcases The Future: Keeping men’s basketball as a Global Under 23 event in the Olympic Games ensures a competitive event that exposes new faces to the world…faces which casual and ardent fans will follow going forward. Given the elite nature of young basketball players, it certainly will still have some “star” power, the stars will be rising vs. established. That model, as in soccer, will help grow the game which after all is what the Olympics are all about…the advancement of sport.

5- It increases youth involvement and competitive nature: One of the reasons that USA Basketball fought to bring NBA players to The Games was because the rest of the world was improving at a young age in the sport, while American youth elite play was slipping. Under 23 can further grow the global game, and hopefully give young Americans a chance at Olympic glory as well…an opportunity they may not get in the current format of elite older players.

Yes there are major hoops and political battles to be fought should basketball go the route of soccer. Hockey right now is wrestling with an issue that is different…is there value enough in Olympic hockey to effectively shut down a thriving NHL season for a few weeks, while baseball could actually make a strong case for re-inclusion if basketball goes the soccer route for the future (baseball is primarily out because of the lack of MLB elite players participating since the Games are in the MLB season). Building time and equity in a global championship also has its challenges as well, and won’t happen over night.

However if the powers that be on the basketball side want to continue to grow the game globally and increase “brand basketball,” the soccer model of World Cup and young Olympians, is the smartest and most lucrative.

Great to see Kobe and company win the gold with Coach K on Sunday, but that World hampionship model could be even better for the game.

 

Filed Under: College Basketball, FIFA, MLS, NBA Teams, NLL, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Men’s Pro Hoops The Latest In Olympic Migration?

June 21, 2012 by

FIFA has not allowed top players to play for years. Baseball, despite putting on a great front with a number of concessions, was never that upset about being pushed out the door following Beijing. Now according to a report in Yahoo Sports Wednesday, the NBA may join the team migration away from the Olympic programme  Why? For a number of reasons it makes great sense.

The Dream Team certainly had its place in Olympic lore. It helped lift the sport of basketball to new heights globally, and also helped lift the presence of the Olympics to a new level. However with professional basketball, led by the NBA, expanding on such a global scale these days, the constraints and time placed on delivering the best of the best to the Olympic games every four years, with no revenue coming back to the NBA, may have come and gone. The NBA has seen what FIFA has done with The World Cup, while still delivering young players to compete in the Olympics. They have also surely noticed the brand power and revenue the World Baseball Classic is doing for baseball, especially MLB, without all the schedule changes and restrictions that Olympic inclusion would have entailed in 2012 and 2016. Is there a place for all these sports on an Olympic programme? For sure.  Is there a way for the best athletes to compete for their country and create huge revenue streams and brand building for their individual sport outside of an Olympic window? Absolutely.

Baseball faced the biggest test for Olympic inclusion. Like the NHL (which is in its own conundrum for the Sochi Olympics, with players wanting to go and the league leaning the opposite way), MLB had to make some major concessions on scheduling, sponsorship and other issues to keep baseball in the Games. It agreed to some…most actually…but in the end the IOC voted in golf and rugby 7′s, and baseball left the Olympic fold. At the same time, MLB and the IBAF were building their own competition with the WBC, which will expand this fall and then play its third iteration next spring with many of the top MLB players representing their countries. MLB picked the sponsors, the schedule, the format, the venue and as a result has its own global sports-specific property to grow. The same goes for FIFA and soccer. Control of all of tis rights has made the World Cup into arguably the largest and most lucrative single-sport event in the world. Hoops can consider a chance to do the same now if it goes that way.

Why? In addition to total control and revenue, the schedule can be altered to best give the top players time to rest in the offseason and find ample time and places to stage a Basketball World Cup. Not every year, but surely in non-Olympic years. The Olympic opportunity would still be there for younger players from around the globe for sure, as it is with soccer, but the opportunity to have a stand-alone global basketball event could make amazing sense going forward. Could some see it as greed fueled? Maybe. However prior to the Barcelona Olympics, the NBA was not a part of the programme. It can easily be said that without the NBA, the Olympics would not be as big as it is. There is also the feeling that the Olympics still remain the best showcase for those sports that do not draw the limelight year-round, especially now with the stage for professional sports being global and 24/7.

Sport is cyclical and maybe the NBA/Olympic tie has outlived its usefulness. It is a partnership that has created great theater and benefited both sides in its run, and has left both sides healthier than before. The games go on.

Filed Under: FIFA, MLS, NBA Teams, NHL, Olympics Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How Met “Pays” For The Name Game…

September 2, 2011 by

The cynical will look at the announcement of the new stadium naming rights deal for the Meadowlands with Met Life and wonder when their premiums will go up. Competitors in the insurance field will look at it and wonder what it will cost them in exposure. Sports marketers will look at the name looming over the Meadowlands and smile. In the end, why does Met Life make sense for the brand and the tenants of the stadium? There are a few reasons.

Location. Unlike many stadiums in urban areas, or those in the distance off of major thoroughfares, the new Meadowlands complex sits in one of the busiest corners anywhere in the world. Not only on the ground, where the New Jersey Turnpike and various other roads bring commuters and travelers by, many of whom are sitting in traffic staring at the new stadium, but even from the air, where planes leaving and arriving at nearby Newark-Liberty Airport will see the name and a Snoopy of two splashed outside the Stadium. For a brand that spends millions in traditional advertising, that type of subliminal and constant exposure is a huge added perk.

Reinforcement. Met Life had already tried and enjoyed their first year experience as a cornerstone sponsor of the Stadium, which gave them access to some levels of fan engagement and hospitality for clients and consumers. Their initial experience showed that the two chief tenants, the Jets and the Giants, could deliver on promises as brand partners, and gave a look inside to Met Life as to what the possibilities would be for a longer term sponsorship. Testing the waters in a challenged environment is key. Now if the original proposed stadium name buyer, the German company Allianz would have come in, it would have been a different play as Allianz tries to grow in the American marketplace. First time in, lots of new experiences. With Met Life, the company knows what works, knows the teams and those responsible for brand decisions, and can grow a partnership much faster.

Investment for the long term. Unlike some of the early naming rights deals that have shifted with sales of company’s over time, especially banks and brands, met Life is a buyer of brands not a seller. The 25 year investment in the property sends a strong message to the consumer and the business world that Met Life is again invested in their business, long term financial growth, nit a hit and miss buy. Investments and growth for the consumer are what Met Life is all about, and this partnership reinforces that.

Unencumbered category. If a consumer brand, even one like wireless carrier Verizon, comes in and take the naming rights for the Stadium, a critical category in the marketplace for the teams and the stadium leaves the fold. Consumer goods, such as the Pepsi Center in Denver, become tricky with the media and can become conflicted when large scale events like the Super Bowl come to town. What if the league pours Coke, or the Jets have a deal with a snack food or a beer that is conflicted? Met Life, as insurance and some financial services, is a much more managable name category than a company which may be bought and sold and suffer a name change into the future.

First in. One of the great debates among media for years has been where and when to properly use the brand name of a stadium. The ever-changing world of sponsorships has made it quite an issue in places like Philly and Boston, where arenas have changed names constantly when banks that have had naming rights deals leave the marketplace. However by being first, and hopefully last, in the naming rights game for the Stadium, Met Life has a stickiness with the media that will make the transition very easy. That brand exposure in the media, like on the outside of the stadium, is invaluable in a deal such as this one.

So what does this all mean for the consumer? Not much on the negative side. if you are shopping for a new carrier, hopefully there is more brand recognition. if you already work with Met Life, maybe it means extra perks. If you are a casual fan, the amount of promotion Met Life already does with their sports sponsorships is staggering, so this will add to the potential pot. More importantly for New Jersey, it is a positive sign of investment by a major brand in the economy, which hopefully lead to better things in the future, regardless of how Big Blue or The Green and White do on the field. A nice win for all involved.

Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

No Lax Of Interest…But It Still Takes Time To Grow

May 27, 2011 by

Here we go again, lacrosse supporters. Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore will bring record crowds as the NCAA Lacrosse Final Four takes over the city. This year there is even more reason to celebrate, as new blood, the upstart fledgling program from the University of Denver, found and fought its way to the championship weekend after just a few years on the sports’ highest level. The revamped, cost controlled and better managed National Lacrosse League enjoyed a solid indoor season, and is looking for a larger media presence and better sponsor support in the coming years. Major League Lacrosse just launched it’s outdoor season, and will be looking to expand yet again as well. Hundreds of thousands of boys and girls are playing more and more on the grassroots level. Is it time, or will it ever be time, for lacrosse to find its consistent face?

Maybe its still too soon. Like soccer eight to ten years ago, it took unified senior leadership with very deep pockets and a great deal of patience and vision to grow the sport from the grassroots on up. That growth in soccer is similar to what has gone on with lacrosse. It has an active and still maturing fan base, fans who love the experiential nature of the game but may not want to support professional lacrosse consistently as a brand. And although it is growing as an experiential sport in new geographic areas, the footprint is still not truly national. Regional? Yes.

Maybe in eight to ten years those who play and follow will be the consumer who will spend and follow the sport at an elite level, and maybe they will bring brands with them who will invest at higher levels and see ROI, or maybe lacrosse is just what and where it needs to be…with a great following on the collegiate level in select regions, and with a growing high school system, but one that does not need a viable professional alternative to be deemed successful. Social media has helped unify fans, but reaching a tipping point to a casual fan takes time and dollars to break through the clutter.

No doubt that lacrosse is growing, and is providing great healthy alternatives for young people from the grassroots through college. The doubt is at the pro level. Whether or not it is needed remains to be seen, but whether or not a pro version is successful, this month will continue to provide some great exposure points for the sport.

Filed Under: ESPN, ESPN/ABC, Lacrosse, NLL Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Cricket Getting Louder…

April 12, 2011 by

On April 2 it generated 45 percent of all page views on ESPN’s mobile platform, and over a million views in the United States alone. Its final was watched not by millions, but by billions around the world, and its professional league, which started just days after it's international final, saw sellout crowds, waves of blonde haired cheerleaders and loud music. It is also the subject of one of the most talked-about documentaries of the upcoming Tribeca Film festival. No its not football or baseball, or NASCAR or even soccer or the X games. And it's not Charlie Sheen. It is cricket, and while it is still not registering in mainstream America or with the media, it is becoming a bigger player on the global sports landscape than ever before. Should we care in North America? The numbers say yes we should.

There is probably no game that has more firmly tried to integrate western culture into its classic style than Indian cricket has. The matches are shorter, the uniforms brighter. the music louder, the dollars larger in the Indian Premier League than ever before. Cheerleaders don the sidelines. sponsors right big checks for signage, fans buy jerseys by the thousands. The result also had a positive effect on the global game, as India took down Sri Lanka to the delight of billions to win this month's World Cup on home soil. So the changes actually enhanced the game rather than slowed its growth. the changes are also being felt in the other Commonwealth countries where the game is played from youth. England, Australia, even the Carribbean, are looking to streamline the game to match the Indian success and dollars. However in North America baseball is still king, with cricket a way distant cousin. However change is in the air. The growing influence from the Caribbean, India and Pakistan is making cricket fields all the more common in cities on both coasts. The New York City public schools has made cricket an accepted sport, and matches televised late at night in sports bars are drawing larger and larger crowds. This is not lost on brands looking to influence the immigrant community, who now may spend more to activate against local cricket leagues and on TV than against Little League or the big dollars of traditional sports in TV. The digital world has given cricketers a chance to expand their highlight offerings, giving the sport even more exposure in short bursts.

Will cricket ever explode into the mainstream of the U.S. or Canada. Probably not, at least not consistently. The education process for those still used to baseball and football and even challenged by soccer may be too great. However for a growing population used to the nuances of the game. The choice between a traditional cricket match with some new style or watching an elongated and confusing baseball game may not be such a stretch. For that reason alone, American brands should be hip to following the cricket story, and see how they may be able to latch on to a growing and fervent wave of interest by a growing population.

Filed Under: ESPN, Olympics Tagged With: , , ,
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