As the seasons, both physical and sports-related, blend together in April, we wanted to point out some good work being pushed out by Major League Soccer as they begin their campaign and by the NHL as they ramp up for the playoffs. First on the soccer side, where MLS is working to increase activation and both the outreach to the casual and ardent soccer fan following last summer's jump in interest amongst the David Beckham arrival in LA. Just this week, the league announced a new fan communications platform geared around their ESPN broadcasts, Sports Illustrated's preview focused on the Chicago Fire's Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Media Post's feature on Blanco's partnership with Best Buy , all great examples of the sport's continued expansion into extended activation with personable athletes and partners looking to capture the market. Also take a look at the DC United and the great push they are making in the digital space by creating a social networking site for area youth coaches, the establishment of the widget DC Vortex to get the latest news and info., and a great blog which gets the teams messages out to the fans in a concise and orderly fashion. All speak to the fan and the participant in the right medium, and take the message to the fan wherever he or she is in the digital space. Also loved si.com's piece on MLS alumni now in the front office, another great set of ambassadors for the business side of the sport that didn’t until recently. With the teams and the league continuing to make steady strategic branding and media inroads (and doing as good a job as any and better than most in the blog space), all indications are for a bright summer in ’08 for soccer in the U.S., and we look forward to pointing out the unique programs many of the teams will be using to promote and grow brand during the season.
On the the NHL, where the playoffs bring hockey more media attention and casual fan interest as the action picks up. More than the other major leagues, the NHL has pushed very hard to capture and innovate in the digital space, and Richard Sandomir takes a look at nhl.com's progress and innovation in today's New York Times. With the long regular season coming to an end. those in the playoffs will now get a chance to reach the casual fan through some great branding opportunities, which can hopefully lead to more expanded and unique business opportunities leading into the offseason and into next. One good example of using the playoffs to launch brand is in New Jersey, where the Devils will launch Rock Your Red this week, and will incorporate the slogan not just in arena, but throughout the area, a very smart move as the team still looks to establish its place in Newark, where it is finishing season one in the new Prudential Center.
On to some other quick reads…on a personal note, Mike Lupica had a great piece today in the New York Daily News on Runyon's, one of the great New York sports watering holes in the 1970's, 80's and early 90's. Runyon's was social networking of a different kind, a living and breathing facebook in the pre internet era…on the Olympic side, the Oregonian had a good q and a this week with John Furlong, the CEO of Vancouver 2010 (where some jobs will be created in the very near future), while the Times also had a very unique branding story for Olympic partner McDonald's, and their launch of the online game “The Ring”…also another creative integration story way away from the traditional and worth a read….lastly, Neil Best's Media Watchdog and Awful Announcing both pointed out the Hooters ad being pulled from the NCAA Program, which featured the contest Dick Vitale was involved with all season…the controversy probably got the program more publicity than the contest itself (although we dont see what the controversy really is) and is a good recent example of the old adage, any publicity is good publicity.
