Matt Futterman in Friday's Wall Street Journal had an interesting look at what happens when the ownership groups of franchises have their primary business suffer large losses, and how it can effect their secondary business…which in many cases can be a franchise. The crazy situation with the San Diego Padres sell off due to a divorce settlement, is one of the more extreme problems that can arise when owners financia.issues off the field effect performance and brand of the franchise. The bottom line is that franchises and those who run and sell them, should always look to how the brand can best fit the assets of the owner, whether that is creating more ROI for the local car business that owns the minor league baseball or hockey team, or finding ways that Quicken Loans can best benefit from the Cleveland Cavaliers and Arena ownership. Ironically, one of the brands that has best integrated its franchises into its daily business work is Cablevision. For all the heat that the Dolan Family takes for the Knicks, Rangers and MSG, their brands…from community events to discounts for tickets and merch for cable subscribers…are working hand in glove with most Cablevision properties. As a result, the teams have temendous added value to the overall business of the company, even away from the obvious arena and television benefits. The teams have also looked to find aggressive revenue areas using the Cablevision assets and draw casual fans even the the slowest of times, which make.the brands very important to the business success of Cablevision when times can get tough and cuts have to come.how does a sports brand find ways to not be “the play thing” of ownership that is concetrating on more mainstream businesse.? By understanding the needs of the core business of ownership…in the community, among its employees…and then developing ways to show strong value through the assets of the team…community relations programs, digital partnerships, in-arena announcements, employee programs…can help make the sports brand even more valuable and more relevant to those in the main business who are not enamored with the high cost and public issues which come with the sports brand.? Sometimes the internal ROI and cross brand communication to the decision makers at the core business is even more important than the external.
Some other interesting reads…two New York area papers today ran pieces on the value and depth that recruiting for young student athletes is going to, and how parents may be looking even more at investing in an athletic future as a way to help defray education costs…the New York Times has an extensive piece on the grooming and pedigree prep of high quality athletes, while the Bergen Record had a parallel piece by columnist Art Stapleton with the slant on women's sports…both continue the trend that show added value and added pressure being put on athletes at a younger age, with the stakes getting exponentially highe. as the economy slows…John Feinstein in the Washington Post has a really good column on Longwood University's struggles as an independent Division I program…and for those who wonder where a career in sports communications can lead you, check out the LA Times blog on where two former Dodgers PR people are today.?
