“Bon Jovi puts his Soul into career as sports owner” [Vol (8)20 pg 38] by Heather Hileman

Bon Jovi has been co-owner of AFL (Arena Football League) team Philadelphia Soul for the last 3 years. This article discusses how he does this kind of work compared to his movie and music making business. Bon Jovi says that he knew how to make this league work, for he could recall moments he had spent with his father and grandfather, while watching baseball and football. He knew that making this business was going to be work, but he had items on his list that were of top priority. Those items included: fan-friendliness, prices of tickets, and community relations. He says he gets involved in all aspects of the business. For example, he states he was on the phone for an hour and a half discussing AFL business and he enjoys what he does, “immensely.”
Bon Jovi says that both AFL and his movie/music career are one in the same. He says they both entail marketing, have an entertainment factor and the big one is that he’s running a multi-million dollar business.

“Nascar team sponsors again slow to put promotional muscle into Chase.” [Vo. 8, issue 20] by Kelly Brinker-Schaeffer

This article talks about the last 10 races termed the “post season” Chase. The article mentions how the chase was created to increase awareness for the Nascar sport at a time period where football usually dominates. It was also designed to create higher tv ratings and provide more revenue for sponsors. The tv ratings have improved greatly with a 12% increase in ratings from 2003 to 2004. However, the sponsors have been sidelined because of a lack of lead time. The sponsors claim that they are afraid to market a particular driver ahead of time for fear that the driver does not make the top ten.
Eric Pinkham, director of Motorsports for Newell Rubbermaid said, “Powerful activation and promotional programming often requires significant lead time and pre planning. The difficulty in executing Chase specific activation is that for most teams, marketing the Chase could be very last minute.” VanDerSnick, vice-president of marketing for Nascar, suggested that some sponsors may have to take a risk in allocating funds early on in hope that they will qualify for the Chase. But, Doye, president of motorsports marketing, thinks that over time the chase for the Cup will become one of the core marketing plans for Nascar sponsors.

"Saskin’s salary figures disputed" [Vol. 8 Issue 20, page 1 and 33] by Brent Baird

During the contract negotiations of the new chief executive for the NHL Players Association, Ted Saskin, some major concerns have come to light that player representatives want addressed.

During these negotiations Ted Saskin provided information on comparable salaries of his counter parts in other sports player associations. However these salary figures were inflated, it is believed to help his bargaining position and increase his salary. After the word got out that the numbers were inflated some additional questions were asked about the voting process, and the missed steps according to the player’s association constitution. Saskin had inflated each of the salaries by hundreds of thousands of dollars in an email that was sent to the player’s representatives during the negotiations.

There was also major concern why Saskin was announced as the new chief executive with out a vote of the player’s representative. This concern prompted players to gain the assistance from Robert Lanza a lawyer from New York to assist them in voicing their concerns. This prompted the NHLPA to hold a conference call and a vote on the appointment of Saskin. Then the vote was call into question because it was not done in secret ballot form (which is called for in the organizations constitution). Now some of the representatives are still asking why the appointment and the contract were not voted on separately.

It seems to me that these negotiations should have gone much easier and cleaner if the constitution rules would have been followed and if the process had not been pushed through. A big question is why did the player’s representatives not have any counsel in on the meetings? Separate counsel could have provided the needed information accurately and with out suspicion. Now that this problem has occurred will the players trust that Mr. Saskin is truly looking out for their best interest, or is it a problem just because they were on the other side of a negotiation in which certain questionable tactics were employed. Only the player representatives and Saskin can answer that question.

"Club was set to buy insurance" [Vol. 8, Issue 20, pg 5] by Sarah Galiotto

The New Orleans Hornets were to purchase business-interruption insurance. Before they could do so Hurricane Katrina came to Louisiana and tore up the Gulf Coast. This insurance was to be bought just days later, but the team was too late. This type of insurance would have covered what the team would have earned had this disruption not occurred. It would have also covered the costs of temporary location. Days shy of buying this insurance the New Orleans Hornets will deal without it, no expenses being covered and payment for relocation will not be aided.

So what does this tell teams to do, especially in an occurrence of a hurricane, tornado, or some other form of natural disaster or bizarre occurrence? The teams should have purchased this insurance in the first place. It is said that only “about half of pro teams have some type of business-interruption insurance.” It is the Hornets’ loss that they did not purchase this previously because their business would not have to pay for relocation and other expenses themselves. C.Y.A. is what I say.

"Gentlemen, Start your Holiday Greetings"[Vol.8 Iss.20 Pg.9] by Sarah Zdesar

After reading most of this issue to try to find an interesting article, I found this small one that jumped out at me. It is for custom designed holiday cards featuring the late Dale Earnhardt and his sonn, NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. I thought this was a great representation of the sport management technigues that we have been talking about. The Dale Earnhardt Inc., company not only grosses sales on a daily basis from a variety of T-shirts, hats and bumper stickers, but now they are gaining from the legendary NASCAR driver, who has passed away, during the Christmas holiday season as well. The terms of this two year bussiness deal were not discolosed, but I can only imagine the intense following of Earnhardt fans that will sweep these cards up since they will most likely only be around for a short period of time. These cards will be sold in boxes of 12 for $15 each. It now comes down to the marketing and advertising skills of the people behing this business to really make these keep saked fly off of the shelves.

"Back on the Ice" By Darrin Schwarz

Following the cancellation of the 2004-2005 NHL seasons, the Boston Bruins are launching a new marketing strategy to win back its fans and promote the NHL’s first U.S. franchise. Charlie Jacobs, the team’s executive V.P., claims they are just “illustrating what was already there”. Management teams and several alums feel that the lunch-pail ethic and the basic values of heart, hustle, desire, and dedication relate to the Boston hockey fans. It seems fitting that the new slogan, “It’s called Bruins”, may change the perception of some that the team, while being successful during the regular season, will not succeed in the playoffs.
Many executive decisions are still on the way, including $8 million in asset media on the New England Sports Network and regional print and radio will carry the campaign over the next two years. Even the inevitable reality show in which a fan will join the team’s front-office staff will be introduced. Still, the Bruins have a tough battle given the success of the Patriots and Red Sox but it remains a hockey town, and the current marketing strategy based on the team’s legacy is attempting to wake-up the fans that have been hibernating from hockey.

“Rosenhaus targeted by lawsuit” by Dave Andrews

Drew Rosenhaus has been accused of stealing Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin from Star Sports Inc. A grievance has been filed against Rosenhaus in the NFL Players Association arbitration system because under the NFLPA, agents may not sue other agents over client-stealing. Drew Rosenhaus’ Miami-based Rosenhaus Sports are being accused of soliciting Boldin and his family members to terminate a marketing contract with Star Sports. Star Sports says that Rosenhaus interfered with a business relationship and asks for unspecified damages. They claim that credible evidence from current and past Rosenhaus Sports players will suppose the allegations.

Boldin is one of more than thirty NFL players last year who signed with Rosenhaus and his company. Many other players have previously fired their agent and signed with Rosenhaus Sport making him and his company the most reputable and powerful agent in the NFL. Even though Rosenhaus is extremely powerful and media friendly, agents found to have violated the regulations face punishment ranging from letters of reprimand to decertification. On his side is the fact that the NFLPA said that union has had difficulty proving client stealing in the past because a player who switches agents is reluctant to give testimony against his new agent.

"Bon Jovi Puts his Soul into career as sports owner"[ Vol 8 issue 20 pg 38] By Abbie Hoover

Bon Jovi, a world famous musician is a man of many trades. On top of his music career he is a co-owner of an Arena Football League franchise, the Philadelphia Soul. Not only is he the co-owner of the franchise, he and his partner made it the Number 1 revenue-maker in every revenue stream in the league.
In this interview Bon Jovi tells how his own personal life and music career helped him make his franchise number 1. He believes marketing was the key to becoming number 1. His main concerns were fan-friendliness. He wanted the fans to have access to players and to games, therefore ticket prices were a priority for him. He made sure players were available for photo-ops and signing. He wanted his players not just to be good athletes, but role models for kids. He believes that by trying to be a part of the community, the community would want to be apart of the team.
Having the support of fans is a big part of making a franchise successful. Bon Jovi believed this to be true and focused on it in his marketing; now his franchise is number 1 in the league. I think this proves that marketing plays a huge role in the success of a franchise.

Dish Network beaming in more sports (Vol8, issue 20, page 4) by Alicia Detweiler

Dish Network recently acquired distribution rights with NFL Network and CSTV (College Sports Television). NFL Network will be broadcast on Dish's mid-tier "America's Top 120" package and CSTV (along with NFL Network) will be broadcast on Dish's top-tier "America's Top 180".

While Dish Network does have NHL, MLB, and NBA deals, they have historically been behind in signing sport-related networks such as the YES Network.

It's good to see Dish finally going after sports channels. I've been a subscriber for 6 months now and was hoping that Dish would be able to make this deal happen. I agree with the article, sports are a very lucrative asset to service providers. It's important to make sure you have a broad variety of sport networks to satisfy a larger sector of your subscriber base, otherwise they may decide to drop your service in favor of a competing provider.

"Partnership,formed in 8 days,dissolved in sea of squabbles" by Daniel Benjamin

The article was about five businessmen (Steve Belkin, Bruce Levenson, Ed Peskowitz, Michael Gearon Jr, and Rutherford Seydol) who formed a partnership, known as the Atlanta Spirit LLC, to purchase the NBA's Atlanta Hawks and the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers. Now, less then two years after the business relationship was forged the group is without its major stockholder (Belkin) after numerous squabbles between the different fractions in the ownership group. However, the managerial style of the partnership was designed to be consensus in nature (rather than the traditional structure of a single leader at the top) where Belkin had a single vote,while Levenson and Peskowitz shared a vote as did Gearon and Seydel. Some of the friction between the groups was because Belkin (who invested twice as much as any of the other partners)felt his voice in the decision-making process should be proportionate to the amount of his investment as compared to the other partners. The relationship came to a head when Belkin citing fiscal responsibility (he was the Hawks Govenor at the time) blocked a trade with the Phoenix Suns that the other owners' wanted to make. Belkin's decision to go against the consensus resulted in the other four partners to remove Belkin as their team representative (the team representative must give his approval for NBA bussiness dealings to become official)which Belkin tried to prevent by suing. After losing the lawsuit, Belkin sold his interest in the Spirit to the other partners.

In my opinion, a partnership is an extremely difficult way of managing an orgnaization if no partner has a controlling interest (owning more than 50% of the shares). However, if there is a majority stakeholder, I believe that a partnership group is a more formable way to manage a sportsorganization than having a single owner. My reasoning is that a partnership will give a franchise more flexibility because of the fact that having more investors should invariably mean that there is more cash to spend on players and other franchise related issues. Additionally, with a partnership there is more than one voice in the decision-making process (like a checks and balance system)which I think is vital to the success of an organization. Conversely, this checks and balance system could end in chaos like the Atlanta Spirit situation especially if the partners aren't united. The key to a successful partnership is being unified no matter of personal philoshophy).

I find it particurly interesting that Belkin insisted that a "buyout" option of his shares be put into the partnership agreement. I believe financially speaking the buyout option was smart on Belkin's part however it was a dumb idea on his part in the business sense because it became a trust issue amongst the other owners because they didn't know if Belkin was going to be in it for the long haul. I do agree with Belkin's decision to block the proposed sign and trade deal with the Phoenix Suns that would've brought Joe Johnson to the Hawks inexchange for two first round draft picks and Boris Diaw. There are a couple of reason's I don't like the trade (the deal was finalized after Belkin left the organization) first although I like Johnson's game (he's an excellent complimentary player with his calling card being a hard-nosed defender and three point shooting specialist with the capability of averaging 15 to 17 points a game) I don't believe his value is anywhere near the contract that he got which was #70 million for five years. The second reason is that the Hawks are loaded with young players that play the same position as Johnson and who are extremely similar to his ability and style (The Hawks are planning to play Johnson at the point which I believe is a major mistake). I believe it was the correct decision for Belkin to negotiate a buyout because if he didn't there could've been major ramifications for the Hawks and Thrashers concerning their ability to sign free agents. The reason being is that players are hesitnat to go to a team where ownership is in disarray.

“Bon Jovi puts his Soul into career as sports owner” [Vol. 8 Issue 20, Page 38] by Katie Bell

In this article, Jon Bon Jovi talks about not only his success as a rock star, but also his success as a businessman. As much as Bon Jovi loves music, he shares the same passion for football, especially the team he co-owns, Philadelphia Soul.

Bon Jovi discusses the similarities of his two jobs. He talks about how with both there is marketing involved, the entertainment factor, and also running a multimillion-dollar business.

What I enjoyed most during Bon Jovi’s interview was his concern for the community. He wants to prove to everyone that he truly cares. He could care less whether you are a Bon Jovi fan or just a football fan. His goal is to make fans happy and allow them to enjoy football to the fullest when they come to cheer on Philadelphia Soul.

“Octagon’s Carlisle sees a lot of Phelps in swimmer Hoff” by Heather Hileman

Peter Carlisle an Octagon agent has just signed Katie Hoff, who is already being compared to Carlisle’s most famous client, Michael Phelps. At the age of sixteen, Hoff won three gold medals at swimming World Championships this year. She has many other wins as well. She will be nineteen when she has her next opportunity in the Olympics in 2008.
Carlisle wants to start a swimwear deal with Hoff this fall. He says that other marketing deals will come much later. Companies are excited that she has turned pro, basically so they can make money off of her talent. Carlisle states, “It could be interesting to see what she and Phelps will be able to do in changing the sport or the way the sport is perceived by the general public.”
It is great that a young athlete has done so well with her talent. It shows that she has worked hard to achieve those goals by being awarded many gold metals. I don’t feel though that her performance should alter whether she should get a marketing deal. However, business marketers are going to pick those athletes who are doing well. They wouldn’t want to market someone who hasn’t won. They want to market the winners.

“Patriarch would like Sportservice to play a bigger part in baseball” by Katie Bell

After celebrating the 90th anniversary and 75 years in Major League Baseball, Don Muret of Sports Business Journal sat down for an interview with the chairman of Delaware North Cos. in Buffalo. Jeremy Jacobs, the firm’s chairman and owner of the Bruins and TD Banknorth Garden, was left to fill Louis Jacobs’ (his fathers’) shoes after he died when Jeremy was only 28 years old.

In the interview, Jeremy talks about the passion for baseball he and his father shared. He mentioned that his father understood how important advertising and concessions were when it comes to baseball. Both Jeremy and his father are more about giving and making baseball more popular rather than receiving and only being in it for themselves. For example, Muret questioned Jacobs about the rumors of the Celtics wanting to build their own arena. Jacobs replied that he wants them to stay there, but they have to make the best business decision for themselves. He believes they have the best numbers and that is how the Celtics will make their decision, but he isn’t going to make this an emotional ordeal either way.

I was not aware of who Jeremy Jacobs was before seeing this article, but after reading his interview with Don Muret, I respect him as a person and a businessman. Some people are only in business to make money, but Jacobs feels rewarded just to see baseball be regenerated and becoming more popular. He also understands that everyone wants to run their business the best that they can. All he can do is offer the best alternatives he has and then let people make their decisions from that. It may not turn out the way he wants it, but he just brushes it off and moves on.

“The Changing Face of Winter Sports” by Darrin J. Schwartz

During the mid 1990’s figure skating was possibly the most popular winter sport among fans, marketers, and advertisers. At the same time, US skiing was unbalanced and lacked a strategic focus. But with 10 medals in 2002 and with the upcoming winter games at Turin, it seems the sponsors and long-term deals are more attractive for the US Ski Team who have nine athletes representing different skiing disciplines and snowboarding. Ramsey Baker from the US Figure Skating Association says ‘I think it is important for figure skating to recognize who we are – that there are not that many sports out there who offer that [strong female] demographic’. Maybe this representative is still pondering about the WWF-like popularity figure skating received a decade ago.
Currently, there are many sports and sport stories that appeal greatly to the female gender such as Michelle Wie in golf, Maria Sharapova in tennis, and Danika Patrick in Formula One. Young athletes of this stature were undiscovered at best ten years ago and with the success of many females in snowboarding and many other sports, figure skating is taking a back seat. Sponsors are gravitating toward these ‘action’ athletes and relating to their progressive spirit and marketability. Snowboarding and skiing are true winter sports that occur where the sky meets the ground and the athletes display tremendous athletic ability on a landscape more appealing and creditable to a new generation of diverse viewers.

‘Nike Golf ready to spend on driver’[vol8, issue 19,p10], by David Shemilt

This article illustrates and identifies Nike’s new
‘technological breakthrough’ in the world of golf…..the SasQuatch 460 driver, [the brand new golf club that Nike are about to launch to replace its predecessor, the also once technological advanced breakthrough club, the ‘Ignite’ driver].
In truth, the reality of the article really explains Nike’s dominance and power in the branding and marketing world. With direct and precise planning and marketing strategies, Nike aim to saturate the golfing world and the golfers minds with commercials on the golf channel, advertisements in golfing magazines such as Golf-week and Golf-world, downloadable advertisements on the Internet, a five city promotional tour to New York, LA, Orlando, Dallas and Chicago and a TV campaign starting in January on NBC and CBS which, as if by coincidence, just happens to collide with the start of the PGA tour season, all promoting the new SasQuatch 460 driver. Although the SasQuatch will hit the shelves in November nationwide, before and after this date, Nike will pour its unlimited, ‘multiple millions’ of dollars into the products launch. With the array of stars, obviously including ‘Tiger’, who will surely turn out to endorse this product there is a sense of inevitability that due to Nike’s dominance of the marketing world people will buy it whatever the cost. Why? Well, because it’s Nike. Enough said. A simple promotional, well planned marketing crusade that explains some scientific golfing reason why this club is better than the others, alongside a few superstars shouting from the rooftops that it is a technological breakthrough and there you have it, one marketable and profitable product, whether it is revolutionary or not. Even if I turned up on a Nike commercial swinging this new supposedly innovative golf club and endorsed this product, people would still probably buy it because of its name. On the other end of the scale, even if Tiger Woods appeared on a Nike commercial holding a wooden plank and hit a golf ball 50 yards, people would still probably buy that wooden plank because of the name and whom it is associated with. Even though these are extreme exaggerations, they highlight the hold and control that certain brand names have in the world of marketing. Nike especially, has a supremacy that will continue to withhold any meaningful competition. Since Nike was incorporated in 1968, the Nike brand name has grown and is known throughout the world. People can identify the name and logo even if they have never bought any of their products! However, not only is the company name a brand, but the logo (the ‘tick’ symbol) is also a strong piece of branding in its own right. The majority of people that are aware of the company can also identify it (or its products) from this symbol alone. Hence roll on the ‘SasQuatch 460 driver’, a certain success even before it has been released? What do you think?

"Is the Superdome done?" by Kelly Brinker-Schaeffer

SMG, the Lousianna Stadium, and Exposition District, are forming a damage assessment team to examine the Superdome and find out whether the stadium can be salvaged. Thornton, SMG regional vice-president, is also homeless due to Katrina. He talks about the devastation and increasingly poor conditions he witnessed at the superdome between, death, rapes, and theft. Because of medical waste and human waste the architects and engineers won’t be able to get in the dome for about three weeks after the water was been drained. It is estimated that at least 80 percent of the stadium will need to be replaced. The roof itself could cost almost 6 million dollars. The SMG regional vice president stated, “I think the stadium can be rehabilitated sometime by the first quarter of 2006, if not sooner.” One good aspect is that the New Orleans arena home of the Hornets did not suffer nearly as much damage as the superdome.

"NFL Scores as investor in Reebok-Adidas Deal" by Kevin Conlon

The NFL once again has flexed its collective muscle, and has landed a deal with the newly merging Adidas-Reebok team that will pay the NFL more than 25 million dollars. This is just the latest in a recent string of licensing agreements that the NFL has reached in the last year. They also signed new television deals that will pay them very heavily from NBC, ESPN, and CBS. The NFL also recently was able to acquire stock in the Sirius satelite radion company, which now holds all broadcast rights to the NFL.

The deal stems back to the 2002 season, in which Reebok initially made plans to become the official on field apparel sponsor for the NFL. But now, with Adidas in the process of aquiring Reebok, the result will be an even more lucrative deal for the NFL. The money made in this deal will be dispersed throughout all NFL teams.

The only setback to this deal is that it will not finalize until early next year, because that is when the the Adidas-Reebok takever will become official, and close. At this time, the NFL will negotiate terms for the new agreement with Adidas, and decide which brands and symbols, etc will be seen on the field, on the uniforms, etc.

In my opinion this is a great deal for the NFL, they get the support of two great sports apparel companies, and again will strike great profits from the deal. The NFL has clearly become the sport of choice in the U.S., and it can be seen by the domination and large spending that sponsors are willing to pay just to license the NFL products.

"MLB wants D.C. to lift club values" by Brent Biard

Major League Baseball is looking to the pending sale of the D.C. club, the Washington Nationals, to give a boost to a sagging team market. There are currently two teams on the market and MLB believes the Nationals will be the sale that will boost team values and the price to own a team.

There are eight groups that are bidding on the team. At least one of which has attempted to purchase baseball clubs in the past. To get the value of the sale up MLB has to hope that the team for sale shows a lot of opportunity to the possible owners.

MLB may just be right on the money for their hopes for the sale. The D.C area is a high end city area and has been waiting for a long time to have a team in the city. The fans and investors are “Hungary” to have a team in the city. There a high tide of interest and support right now for the team due to the “newness” factor. The pervious sales, of professional teams, in the area have gone high.

There is a great opportunity to build a program in the heart of a huge multi-metropolitan region of the country. The Nationals will be with in easy traveling distance to cities like New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago and Boston. Each of the cites have high baseball interest and natural rivalries will keep attendance up, and sponsors knocking at the owners door.

The Nationals will soon have a new stadium in which to play and that only increases the value for the proposed new owners.

For MLB to make get the price to go up they needed to have the right team in the right place with the right bidders and it seems as if the Nationals have provided it. The sale should go high, sparking additional interest across the country in other teams. This will be the “get in on the action effect” and that will help the selling price around the country. Which will lead to more additional dollars being sent to the other organizations and keep the interest in baseball bouncing back.

"NCAA gets a $56.5 million bargain" vol8, issue 19, p28 (by Daniel Benjamin)

The NCAA pays out $16 million to the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association (consisting of Fordham, Manhattan, St. Johns, Wagner and New York University) to settle an antitrust lawsuit. There's headline news!! It seems like every other day the NCAA is faced with litigation, as a result of bad managerial decisions, whether it is for trying to bully member schools;in regards to dumb eligibility rules;or restricting the earnings of Division I assistant basketball coaches. By settling the lawsuit it appears that the NCAA dodged a bullet beause according to the article, damage awards in antitrust cases are tripled and now the NCAA doesn't have to face questions regarding the legal reasoning behind losing a court case. With that being the case it is unfortunate that the MIBA settled because I would've liked to have seen the NCAA take a huge financial and legal hit. Maybe then the NCAA would realize their organization is fundamentally flawed and needs to be completely overhauled (since the NCAA is a "me" organization caring only about the bottom line, I doubt this realization will ever happen).
The need for the overhauling of the orgainization is verified in the article by stating that the NCAA changes its position of the type of organization it is depending on the lawsuit brought against them.
The first step in restructuring the NCAA would be to replace Myles Brand as president (along with other former/current university presidents' in the organization) with "sports people".

In addition to settling the lawsuit the NCAA purchased the National Invitional Tournament (NIT) from the MIBA for $40.5 million and now owns a monopoly on college basketball tournaments. Personnally, I don't care that the NCAA owns the NIT except for the fact that they might eliminate both the pre-season and post-season tournaments. Eliminating the pre-season NIT would be a major mistake because it is the staple of the pre-season basketball tournaments as it generally "tips-off" the basketball season. In addition the pre-season NIT generally showcases the best non-conference match-ups although the competition has weakened recently (in the tournament) due to regulations of team participation in pre-season tournaments. Although I don't want to see the post-season tournament eliminated either, I don't believe many people would notice (the post-season NIT is comparable to the football bowl games except for the so-called football national championship game). The post-season NIT does have its benefits for teams (as does the bowl season), for example, letting deserving teams that are left out of "March Madness" a chance to continue their season. If the post-season NIT does continue it needs to revamp the selection process of its teams by eliminating ESPN's input from the equation.

"SI's 'Monday Morning Quarterback' Grows into an Unlikely Must-Read" by Sarah Zdesar

It's the All-American dream, it's the All- American story. The story goes like this. On a whim, a middle-aged man named Peter King would start getting into a fairly new project that we now know as the Internet and begin a relatively small new article that ran on Monday mornings. The Monday morning article which he called, not surprisingly, 'Monday Morning Quarterback' was a guick hit. The article basically gives a run down of one of America's favorite past times...FOOTBALL!
I guess it's everyone's dream to do something that they absolutely love for their profession, but on the level that King does is astonishing. He has has professional athletes and coaches reading his article and then emailig and calling him to let him know what exactly they thought about what he wrote. Of course it's not always going to be positive, but that seems to be beside the fact. Now with the supposed new six figure sponsorship from General Motors, King seems to really be living the life of just that...a King.
So when it comes down to it, King has found the ultimate job where he basically works one day (Sunday night), relys on other peoples analysis, has high profile friends to contact and in the end just takes guesses of what he perdicts will happen the following weekend. King has become the envy of many if not all professionals.

“Vikings turn their sales pitch into a stand-alone web site” By Kelly Brinker-Schaeffer

The Minnesota Vikings have become the first sports organization to create a dedicated secondary web site for the sole purpose of promoting sales and marketing opportunities. The Vikings marketing department wanted the club’s sales executives to be able to showcase their stuff in a “clutter free” environment. The site is only accessible by an invitation from a team sales executive and is personalized to that specific team representative. The goal of the personalized pages was to create a one on one interaction and give the team’s staff an opportunity to customize their own sales kits. LaCroix, vice-president of sales and marketing for the Viking’s said “these sales web sites could one day phase out traditional sales materials. But the true test will be measured in the yearly sales revenue.”

"D.C. deadline comes with price tag" (vol 8 issue 18, p6) by Brent Baird

When big projects have big budgets and big exposure; deadlines are paramount. Construction companies, teams, and cities stand to lose a great deal if projects lingers unfinished and are delayed with no apparent cause or due to miss management. No city, or team wants to be known as the one that could not finish there project and move into their venue on time. No team executive wants to even think about the loss of confidence by sponsors or loss revenues if pre-sold tickets have to be refunded and signage is not being seen by the fans because of delays in opening a facility on time.

This is what the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission is trying to prevent with some rather steep penalties if the construction of the stadium gets behind schedule. The commission is trying to write into the contract that Clark Construction Group will face $100,000 a day fines if the project is not done by the March 1, 2008 deadline. The fine would be capped at $10 million if the project is delayed for a longer period of time. This fine would be a major blow to total profit to the construction company from the overall project expected to be around $535 million. The contract would exclude circumstances that the construction company is unable to prevent.

The commission still has to finalize the purchase of the property and there is the chance of legal issues may arise in the process. Many of these factors are going to make the time table very tight for the construction company.

While I understand the need to make arrangements to prevent the needless delays there are a few considerations that need to be thought through. The commission must be fair to the construction company due to the date in which they are allowed to start work. It would be wrong of the commission to back the company into an unrealistic time table that could cause unwanted problems. Unrealistic deadlines and the pressure to meet them often led to accidents, lapses in safety judgment, the less than prefect workmanship.

The team must now take some considerations into effect. With the recent hurricane destruction and the rebuilding effort that will be placed on that region, there stand a very good chance that there will be shortages of certain building materials or the back up of filling orders. Many companies will focus on the rebuilding of the gulf coast. These may all be unavoidable delays that should not fall on any of the parties involved.

On any normal project, when all things have fallen into place and all things being normal, and on a project in which so much attention is focused in the D.C. area, I would say that this request should not be a big issue, even considering the large amount of money. However for this particular project this is not the case.

It now may come to a point when all parties will have to take a long hard look at the expected time table and see if it is realistic, and how that will effect each their plans.

"Suns Monkey Around With New Play Arena" (Vol8, issue 18, p. 18) by Kevin Conlon

The Phoenix Suns franchise has added a 6,000 square-foot kids play area in the upper deck of their America West Arena home. The franchise shared the multi-million dollar price tag with the city of Phoenix.

In order to complete the project, the franchise had to eliminate many of the upper level parking spaces, but decided that it was a better idea and investment to create the children's play area.

The area itself will be used to test climbing skills of youth at the games, and allow the kids to take a break from games to enjoy themselves with others of the same age. It will also be a spot where the kids can hangout with and play with the Phoenix Gorilla, the mascot for the Suns.

I think this is a creative and unique idea that will be successful and should be in other arenas across the U.S. Kids can easily be distracted and lose focus while attending a game, and this gives them a chance to have fun and not have to be tied down in a seat all night. They can get a chance to run around and have some fun while also enjoying the game atmosphere. It is also good that each kid can spend time with the mascot, because most kids love to meet the mascots at sporting events.

The article says that this play area was made for the working class families with children who arent sitting in the "prime" expensive seats. And its a truly great idea. Kids who are courtside get to be close to all kinds of different entertainment options, but those families who are in the less expensive seats dont have much of a chance to participate in all activities. Now with this new play area in the upper deck, it will give these families and kids something to do and have fun with. I commend the Suns on taking this step, and deciding that the youth is more important than a few parking spaces, and also for helping the middle class families have a little fun.

"Living Responsibly is a way of Life at Miller" (vol.8, isssue18) by Sarah Zdesar

When people think Miller, or any other alcohol product, they have a tendency to also think about drunk drivers, underage drinking and possibly alcohol poisining. But when people think of all the money that goes into to promoting their product, I don't think people think of all of the money that goes into almost antipromoting their product. In this case, Miller seems to be doing just that.
Miller has been the first brewing company to launch and carry out many of these "anti" campaigns over the past twenty years or so. These campaings include "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk", "Let's Talk", "Let's Keep Talking", "Here's Looking at Yours, Kid" and "We ID". All of which stress the importance of making sure that people are not drinking and driving, not using fake ID's, talking to their kids about drinking and limiting underage drinking. They have also been known to provide free public transportation on holidays such as New Year's Eve and St. Patrick's Day, which are traditionally heavy drinking days.
When it comes down to it, I think Miller should be applauded for their progress and determination to limit the many dangerous accidents that can occur when under the influence(of their product), but will their their awareness campaigns ever come close to what lengths they go to and what they spend on their promotions campaigns?

‘Sports leaders discuss shifts in tennis world’ [p12], by David Shemilt

This article looks into the world of tennis and it’s marketing status and appeal to the worldwide sporting audience of today. In a modern discussion forum style,
an elite panel was assembled in New York ahead of this years US Open. The event was organized and set up by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal and the tennis channel to analyze the state of the game, it’s marketing potential and issues that need to be addressed. The panel was chaired by Daniel Kaplan [the
Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal tennis reporter] and included representatives such as Mark Shapiro, executive vice president of programming and
production at ESPN, Jim Courier, former player, as well as ATP and WTA representatives.

Superstars:

The sport of tennis today has moved far away from the upper class, ‘gentry’ sport it once portrayed. Gone are the days of mandatory whites, polite ripples of
applause and the impression that the game is only for members of private social clubs. Today, tennis has ‘street-cred’, whether it is the Williams sisters and
their fashion driven marketing exploits, or whether it’s Andre Agassi and his tennis loving family. The game has moved with the times, but one question the article asks is that has it moved enough? Tennis, like any other sport, certainly has it’s ‘stars’, the idles who young fans can look up too and copy, but are these
superstars being marketed enough? In comparison to other sports such as football, basketball and baseball, the tennis stars of today, like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kim Clijsters are
not instantly recognizable to the adhering public? Do you see these stars on commercials, or promoting
certain products? Not really. Why? Well, as Jim Courier, the ex-American tennis player suggests,
players have to concentrate solely on their own game. I think players have to do this otherwise without
results they are not going to be a marketable commodity. For example, Anna Kournikova, a female Russian tennis player who burst onto the tennis scene 5 years ago, soon found out that if you are not performing and winning tournaments, then your marketable appeal will soon fade into the distant past. However, even though her draw and allure has faded, it just shows that tennis players can become ‘superstars’ in their own right and marketed as one.
However, there are no 6 year multi-billion contracts for players to fall back on, hence they have to live inside their own little bubble to have success which really cuts them off from the media and marketing exposure that would not only help them become household names, but also make the game more appealing and popular.

Marketing problems?

Certainly the marketing opportunity and basis to catapult tennis players into the public domain is there. Tennis and it’s stars are an underutilized marketing opportunity that needs to be exploited for the good of the game. However, the scheduling of the ATP and WTA tours and the need for the top players to constantly perform puts a lot of pressure on them. As the article identifies, to the American public, no one can understand the scheduling of certain events and
competitions such as the ‘Masters’ and Davis Cup tournaments. The average fan is not used to the length or disparity of the tennis season. Other sports have more of a clear scheduling format, e.g. football runs for 17 weeks before the play-offs and then the grand
finale, the super-bowl. Soccer is the same during the summer; and baseball play virtually everyday. However, who wants to see something that starts in January, starts again in March and does not finish until December. Usually by the finals, the tennis audience have lost it’s enthusiasm and interest for the tournament and
players involved. Hence, promoting the sport of tennis during certain times of the year is difficult.
Certainly in England, when ‘Wimbledon’ comes around everyone is on the tennis courts and talking about if Tim Henman is ever going too win! However, after those two weeks, that’s it! No
more talk, no more media or public interest until the following year. There is no appeal to the game
outside of that e.g. two week period, that interests the general public. Therefore, not only does it have to compete against other more mainstream sports, but also the sport now needs to find a long-term appeal that can sustain the average tennis fans verve and passion. It seems that the only
real interest appears when major tournaments are happening.

As for the players themselves, Mark Shapiro, the ESPN
representative, identifies in the article that there are no longer any ‘bad boys’ in tennis. For example, there are no John McEnroes anymore. Someone who can generate excitement wherever they go. Everyone loves a villen in sport, whether you like them or not, and they are a marketing
tool which the media especially can make the most out off.

What needs to be done? / How can this change?

Concerning the issue of players and their apparent ‘hidden’ personalities, Shapiro suggests that tennis needs to market
it’s stars more effectively and make the personalities of these
players more accessible, more identifiable and ‘in your face’. However at the moment, again, this seems as if it only happens at certain times. For example,
in the build up to the US Open this year, Maria Sharapova, a recent phenomenon in the mould of
Kournikova, held a launch party for her new perfume brand she is releasing in association with Parlux for Christmas 2005. Roger Federer also came out from the
tennis bubble by opening the Nasdaq market alongside co-founder and chairman of the Nasdaq-100 Open
tournament Butch Buchholz.However, if it wasn’t part of the build up to a major tournament, would we even hear about this?

Such ideas that the article suggests for making tennis and it’s stars more appealing, accessible and marketable are introducing names of the
players on the back of their shirts to help fans identify with the players. This obviously happens in other sports and would enable the fans to start to associate themselves with their favorite players[s]. Clothing,
and more specifically fashion, has seen major developments within the sport. Indeed, players themselves have often been at the forefront and this maybe one marketable avenue to take in terms of making
the players and the game more attractive and alluring to the fans. The 300lb couch potato tennis fan probably won’t go out and buy a tennis racket, but they may well go out and buy a shirt with the name of their favorite player on the back. Certainly food for thought on the tennis scene! What do you think?

“Visa expands NFL playbook with new marketing efforts” (vol.8 issue18, p60) by Dave Andrews

Entering in its 11th year as the NFL’s corporate sponsor, Visa is planning one of its more ambitious marketing programs ever. Included in these efforts are a mobile marketing unit which tours the country asking fans to emulate their favor NFL heroes by creating their own choreographed end-zone dance, a youth-targeted financial literacy program, the usual push rewarding card with NFL prizes and a creative television ad.

Visa recently renewed their contract in the early 2004 season with a six year extension worth a total contractual commitment of $300 million. Unlike previous years which Visa used their sponsorship for branding purposes, this year they want to focus more on benefits and specific products they have to offer. For example, the Tom Brady commercial seen on last weeks opening Thursday night’s Oakland Raiders-New England Patriots game emphasized the security that Visa has to offer. This was portrayed by having Tom Brady out to dinner with his five offensive linemen (the players who have the duties of protecting their quarterback).

Other promotional efforts include more than 1,000 prizes that will be given away throughout the entire season which range from Super Bowl trips, plasma TVs and other NFL merchandise. Gift cards will be yet another big push this year; they will include all 32 individual team logos (rights permitting) that will be sold by Visa banks. Last by not least, a financial literacy program that will use an NFL “financial football” version of Visa’s “Practical Money Skills for Life,” in which players will also endorse.

According to Visa, they are “…seeing our biggest activation numbers ever…” said Michael Lynch, senior vice president of event and sponsorship marketing. They also commented on how the NFL is approaching the value of the Olympics to US domestically. Comparing the NFL’s sponsorship to the Olympics is a huge comparison, given that MasterCard (Visa’s top competitor) already has twenty NFL teams locked with exclusive sponsorship. This forces Visa to bring down their marketing efforts to a local reach. That is why they will travel across the nation with this new end zone dance competition.

"Kellogg expands Olympic Ties" (vol 8, issue 18, p.10) by Sarah Galiotto

Kellogg Company has been affiliated with the U.S. Olympic Committee’s teams for the past 30 years. Since it became a sponsor again in 2000, it is now building upon its sponsorship in being the official cereals, cookies, and crackers for the next two Olympics and the Pan-American Games in 2007. With this deal, Kellogg will be featuring U.S. athletes in the activities for promotions.
When this is all well and good and giving the USOC money (there is a “minimum multiyear commitment of $10 million, mostly cash”) and showing who the U.S. athletes are to the public through advertisements, it is also taking away from other brands. It is as if Kellogg is monopolizing advertisement of cereals, cookies, and crackers in the Olympic Promotions.
Many people watch the Olympics when it rolls around every two years. This new deal is going to be focused just on cereals, cookies, and crackers made by Kellogg, along with the other sponsors including Hilton Hotels, Jet Set Sports, 24 Hour Fitness, and Nike. Many people will think because these athletes eat this type of cereal that it is the best cereal. Athletes have an impact on what the audiences choose to eat, wear, stay, etc. Also, because being in sports and it being related to being healthy and fit, the audience may infer that because these certain types of advertisements are shown that they are the “right” products to buy when there may be a better product out there.
I do feel that the exposure of the athletes being used in the promotions is good because a child or an adult may see them promoting a product that they eat and then may get them to watch that sport. They’d wonder who this athlete is and may get interested in the sport that they participate in.
The bottom line for me I guess is that a certain company should not just be the only brand able to advertise cookies, cereals, and crackers or other products for that matter. I don’t go out buying Nike because U.S. athletes wear it. I actually don’t even like the brand and prefer other brands. The company may have more money than many other companies but there may be just as good if not better products or places out there that just don’t have the money to be able to promote during these times. It is a money grubbing world out there and it is showing that if you have

“Katrina leaves teams without homes for now” (vol.8,issue 18, p1) by Heather Hileman

From the devastation hurricane Katrina left behind, many people are left without places to live, work, or function. The SMG’s Superdome is one of the many places that sheltered refugees from the storm. However, the superdome was actually damaged as well. From the aftermath, the sports facilities, administrators and managers are trying to find other arenas and stadiums to house 25,000 evacuees and find places for sports games to begin their regular season.
Seeing and hearing about all of the destruction that occurred in the south, it is a wonder why we are worried about sports games continuing and having a place to play? There may be a sense of hope by getting on with our lives. However, I’ve heard that some professional players homes have been destroyed as well as their families. It upsets me to think that these administrators are more interested in continuing to market and make money from the sporting events, than helping the thousands that are homeless, hungry, and at a loss of faith. However, after watching the professional and collegiate football games on television this weekend, I have seen the ray of hope in those that live in the gulf coast. They are seriously using the sports an outlet and as some sort of “normal” life just like it was before this devastation took place.

‘Mandatory malpractice insurance may thin NFL agent ranks,’ by David Shemilt.

The article reviewed here focuses on sports agents, specifically those within the National Football League [NFL] and Major League Baseball [MLB]. One such example is Kurt Varricchio, a certified attorney representing NFL players. Even though Kurt has just signed an NFL player to the ‘big time’ it appears that it maybe his last. Why? Well, staying within the realms of the NFL, agents now have to take out malpractice insurance coverage with the NFL players association which most stereotypical blood sucking agents would not take too kindly too. Alongside the standard fee agents pay to the NFL Players Association [NFLPA], there is also the possibility of agents fees being cut from 3% to 2%. Hence, why would anyone want to get into this business?
Well the truth is, where there is money to be made, there will always be sporting agencies. With elite NFL athletes such a commercial and viable commodity in today’s world, the need for sports agents will always be there. The introduction of mandatory malpractice insurance will surely just ensure agents are doing their jobs properly and will only help to improve the quality by whittling away the rest from the best.

In comparison MLB agents appear to have a free, independent reign from it’s governing Players Association. As opposed to the NFL, there are no such restrictions imposed by the MLBPA on the agencies. Why is this? Are MLB players aware of their agents dealings? Why do such mainstream sports have such different boundaries and restrictions upon agents? And do these inconsistencies exist throughout different sports?
Adversely, are sporting agents a luxury or a necessity? An alternative view might suggest that players should be educated themselves to deal with their own branding, commercial rights and other such affairs?

Within the realms of sporting agencies, the world is a competitive, yet diverse and conflicting one? Do you think it’s fair that certain sports agents are more constrained in what they are doing than others? What about the agents themselves, are they a must for any elite athlete, or are they an extravagance that athletes can do without? What do you think?

"AFL collectible helmets to soon hit the market" by Katie Bell

This article is about the Arena Football League and one of the new marketing plans for the near future. The AFL will now have collectible helmets as part of a four-year agreement with Schutt Sports. Not only will Schutt be providing the AFL with equipment, they will also have helmet collectibles available for fans to purchase.
I think this is a great marketing plan to try to increase sales and also the possibility of obtaining and retaining more fans. The goal of the AFL is to open up more opportunities by catering more toward the younger football market while also increasing the league’s retail business. I believe targeting the younger football market is a very strategic move on the league’s part. From elementary and high school kids to college students, football is a very popular sporting event. Fans not only love to watch games, but also enjoy sporting any gear that supports their team and shows off their team spirit. By offering merchandise to fans, I believe this will bring more success to the league’s retail business and also increase the awareness and popularity of the AFL.

"Octagon Basketball bulks up with agent Lewis, 3 of his players" by Wes Layton

I found this article to be very interesting. It is related to labor relations and the issues that involve management and their employees. As in many industries competition is fierce. So when a great employee is gained or lost there are significant consequences.

For instance, in this article Octagon Basketball, a sports agency, was able to acquire and recruit Jerome Lewis, a sports agent, to their organization. Jerome Lewis was orginally with Aaron Goodwin of Goodwin Sports. Aaron Goodwin is well known for representing Labron James before Labron got rid of him and hired is long time friend Maverick Carter.

Losing Jerome Lewis to Octagon was a big hit for Goodwin Sports. Jerome Lewis is currently representing 3 top NBA rookies who have potential to make a ton of money in the future. Octagon will benefit from the transaction and benefit from Jerome's clients, not to mention the opportunities that Jerome might create for Octagon by acquiring more top prospects. The article is very informative, but it does not touch on why exactly the move took place. Was Jerome unhappy at Goodwin Sports? Did Jerome and Aaron not get along?

These are questions that would be interesting to find out. Regardless of the causes, we can learn that as a manager it is important to take care of your employees and develop good relationships. Otherwise, good employees will eventually leave and as in this case they might end up with one of your major competitors.

"Sponsors seek permission slips from schools" by Brent Baird

Everybody knows that when you enter a college or professional sports venue you will see sponsor signage ever where you look, and in some cases every flat or printable surface in the venue. It has become expected and in some cases enjoyed because ofthe entertainment it can provide, or the flashy look the it can create. Some fan just might endure the endless ad campaigns or the comerical breaks that can make events last longer than intended. This is all expected and accepted in college and professional sports.

Now it is growing into the world of high school sports. When I went to school the few signs that were around the football field were from the local ice cream stand or the local market, some other companies might come and go from year to year in the program depending on if they had a child playing on that particular team. But now it seem s that the big national marketing firms , or a few up starts are noticing the huge, mostly untaped market of high school sports.

I can see positives and negatives in it for school districts and the sponsors. First for the sponsors; they are going to be able to get into every town, from small to big, and get to an audience that can not be riveled in sport. For companies that can not compete in the big leagues of sports sponsorships this new market will provide great opportunity. Wendy's could not compete McDonadl's in the sponsorship of the olympics. However, Wendy's might just be making out if you compare the audience that is sitting at an olympic game venue and the audiences that are in every high school stadium every friday night through the fall. School districts will get funding that can and will go far beyond what the were ever able to do on restricted budgets. Many programs can not surive on funds raised by the boosters bake sales and concession stands. The funds from these marking programs will go far to add sporting opportunties, and increase the quality of the program for the athletes.

However I believe school district will have make sure they do not end up makeing their high school athletes walking bill boards, playing on giant ads. For all the good that this type of program could offer to the high school programs it could very well become an advertising arms race and over shadow what it was mean to support.


Let's not see goverening bodies from high school sports have to implement rules and policies that cover how big manfacture and sponsor labels can be on uniforms.

I hope that going to a high school sporting event can be about the sport and the athletes playing and not the multi media, flashy ads posted all around.

"Minors Score With Big Sales" by Kevin Conlon

This article goes in depth and discusses the recent popularity increase in minor league baseball. There has been a major increase in not only ticket sales, but in merchandise sales as well.

According to the article, the total income of merchandise as of June of this season was 28.9 million, if this pace keeps up, this will be the sixth consecutive season in which an increase in merchandise revenue has shown.

So, the question is why are the sales of minor league merchandise increasing so consistently?

The article suggests a few reasons. First, major league players are more regularly appearing in minor league games to complete rehab assignments. These games allow for major leaguers to get back in shape after an injury, without actually playing a major league game. With the influx of big league stars to minor league teams, a lot more exposure is given, and fans see these unique minor league clubs.

Second, the minor league teams have much more unique mascots, colors, teams names, etc. mascots like the muckdogs, the lug nuts, the diamond jaxx, and many others give teams more originality, and allow for many different and exciting merchandise ideas.

My hometown of Altoona, PA is home to a AA minor league team, the Altoona Curve. The name is unique, the colors (green, maroon, black, white) and unique, and the merchandise sold is unique. I can definetely say that Curve gear is just as nice, and in some cases nicer, than much of the major league merchandise I see at stores.

Minor league games are also a fun atmosphere, the games are more family oriented, and they definitely provide a place to go and relax with your friends, and you don't have to pay an arm and a leg to get a ticket. I've seen some Pittsburgh Pirate players rehab with the Curve, and its fun to see the minor league team get that exposure.

Perhaps the major leagues could take a lesson from the minors in terms of game atmosphere, and fun merchandise. The article says that "why buy a hat with NY on it, when you can buy a hat with a character on it." Perhaps more characters and more fun could help popularity in the majors as well.

“Yankees’ food up for bid” by Dave Andrews

The New York Yankees, one of baseballs premier teams is about to build and open a new baseball facility in 2009. One of the major concerns for the team is the proper funding that would be necessary to help the completion of this project. One way to properly fund the project is the bidding of concessions throughout the entire stadium. For the first time in forty years the Yankees are taking bids from major companies who want to sell food and merchandise from inside Yankee Stadium. The one major factor is price; the price of admission into the new $800 million Yankee home is $50 million upfront from the winning bidder! This would be for a ten year contract starting in 2009, carrying through the 2018 season. This is a very unusually high number to ask for, but than again, we are talking about the New York Yankees who generated $62.7 million in just food and retail revenue with a $17.27 per cap last season. The next team who compares to the Yankee’s food and retail income generated a mere $20 million less with a $14.77 per cap.

The Yankees can demand such high amounts from bidders because of “who they are and the prices they can charge.” They get the best players known to baseball; have winning seasons each and every year and sellout the stadium more times than any other team. This is not to mention the television attention they receive from owning their own broadcast station as well as ESPN rights. They are “America’s Team” in the baseball aspect; therefore, they can demand pretty much anything they want and will receive it!

"Wie, William Morris Near Deal" by Dr. Hsiao

Michelle Wie began playing golf at the age of four. According to an Associated Press profile, Wie was winning nearly every junior event she entered by the age of 11. She told the AP that she plays golf for about four hours a day on weekdays and seven hours a day on weekends. In tournaments, her father served as her caddie through most of 2003. Major marketing companies such as IMG and Octagon, they all try to represent Wie. Wie's potential marketing opportunity is definately more than $15M. The potential market includes different regions around the world, such as U.S. and Asia. What's your opinion about Wie's guarantee of $15 M a year contract? Impossible??

"Wie, William Morris Near Deal" by Sarah Zdesar

When a fifteen year old is deciding on agents, tours and whether or not to turn professional, you realize that you are not dealing with your average fifteen year old. So is the case for Michelle Wie. She is the new prodogy child in the world of golf and is dealing with all of these "perdicaments" as we speek. William Morris, which is a Hollywood talent firm saw the same potential in Wie that the rest of America did. But they did not want to just watch her effortlessly play golf, they wanted her to become their client. William Morris came after her with one of the best in the golf scene. They hired Ross Berlin who has headed the PGA Tour's sponsor relations to help manage Wie's rapidly growing career and popularity.
To us "regular" people, this would sound like a great opportunity and a very easy decision, but that's not the case at all. Not only is William Morris after her, but two other prominent agencies, IMG and Octagon would love to have a piece of Wie as well. Now the numbers that need to be crunched on the decision making process. Such as how much marketing guarantee she will get and what type and how much sponsorship she will recieve. All of these factors have to be considered and analyzed before she can make any definite decisions.

Not only is Michelle in the process of making these decisions, but she also has not made the biggest decision of all. Whether or not she's going to turn pro. She is only 15 and the minimum membership for the LPGA is 18 and as of now, she has not challenged that rule. So, I guess when people thought the life of a teenager was effortless and easy, they definitley were not taking into consideration the possiblity of being Michelle Wie.

"Sponsor could unite four major events" Ambush markeing-is it a shortcut to achieve the same marketing effect?

Original adopted from biz/ed

Wanna Argument?
Sponsorship in Sport: A Waste of Space?
What can go wrong in the land of sponsorship?

Ambush Marketing occurs where one brand sponsors an event, but suffers when a competitor brand manages to connect itself with the event, despite not having paid a sponsorship fee.

It occurs frequently when there's most to gain, at the largest events, with the biggest TV audiences and the highest corresponding sponsorship cost. Here are some examples of ambush marketing:

1992 Barcelona Olympics. Reebok was one of the Games' official sponsors, but Nike sponsored the press conferences of the USA basketball team. Michael Jordan, the symbol of Nike's Air brand advertising campaigns obscured the Reebok logo on his kit when receiving his gold medal.
2000 Sydney Olympics. Ansett Air, one of the Games' official sponsors fail to prevent Quantas Airlines using the slogan 'The spirit of Australia', even though it sounds relatively similar to Ansett's 'Share the spirit'.
2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City. Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch paid $50 million to be one of the Games' official sponsors, gaining the rights to use the word 'Olympics' and the 5 rings symbol. But local small-scale brewery Schif used the slogan 'The Unofficial Beer. 2002 Winter Games' on its delivery vehicles.
In the case of Quantas and Ansett Air, ambush marketing can be seen to have been highly effective. Two pieces of research can be looked at in evidence. In 1997 a consumer poll found that 42% of respondents identified Quantas as an official sponsor of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but only 15% of the same respondents thought that Ansett were an official Games sponsor. This despite the fact that Ansett had paid for the privilege, but Quantas had not.

Any thoughts about "NBA and AZN to target Asian-Americans with series, specials"? Want to share with your peers, write your comments here! :-)

"The NBA is right in our sweet spot, really, because it rates so highly with our audience." Why do we need to target Asian-American audience? Is it really necessary for implementation of sport management and marketing strategies? Several factors we need to consider here: first, The Asian-American population is increasing three times faster than the U.S. population as a whole. Second, the average household income of Asians living in the U.S. is $10,000 higher than Caucasians. Third, The average audience age is either 45 years old or younger. Fourth, Purchasing power of Asian or Asian American is super hudge. (We can easily to figure out any amanzing number from economic growth in China). Globalization is the future trend for professional sports and also the future trend for sport marketing firms and sport management groups. The winner needs to catch up with the movement of China and understand more about different issues in culture.