With the Leverage Agency out there trying to sell the naming rights for China's two most prominent venues after the Olympics are done, we look to the minor leagues for yet another innovative way to sell…or rent…stadium naming rights for a short period. Credit the Goldklang Group…with innovator Mike Veeck leading the way…for selling the rights to the St. Paul Saints’ Midway Stadium to Skinny Nutritional Corp, but only for a week.Now the real exposure comes from being first out of the box with the idea, which led to the Times Stuart Elliott doing a piece today. Can there be a value to specific local sponsors outside of the first pla.? All depends on the angle the partner takes and the willingness to be creative. Can u use it for product endorsement and sampling by doing a “world's largest” somethin.Sharp Electronics. Their MLB sponsorship, especially during the All-Star game and with their monthly awards, gets the brand a big ROI in a competitive marketplace.However the brand did the smart thing by using not just big market athletes…David Ortiz for example…in the promotion. They tied in athletes like the Brewers’ Prince Fielder and the Marlins Hanley Ramirez to get local dealers a connection with the hometown fans, create PR buzz in marke.and also give the smaller market teams a connection with a national promotion. The move is fairly unusual for a national retailer, mixing in big and small markets, but was a very smart one for both Sharp and MLB.
Some other good reads…with so much of the focus on Beijing and the NFL, Peter King has a good piece on si.com about the potential a UFL team could have in signing Michael Vick in 2009…Dan Wetzel's Yahoo column on the U.S. Olympic basketball team and the continued long range possibilities of hoops in China is a good read…as is Pete Thamel's piece on th.international branding oppts for hoops post-Olympics…and the LA Times Bill Dwyre has a good piece on why tennis suffers even with big stars during the Olympics.
