The Sports Info Business

What would you be willing to do to get a job these days?  Last week, I heard one of the best stories about what someone would do to get their first job in the sports field.  It could have been a scene right out of a Hollywood movie.  This was not one of those blog posts on the Internet that may or may not have been true.  The student told me this story while attending the Long Beach State Sports management roundtable.  If you do not know, I lead this event as the internship coordinator for the Long Beach State Sports Management program.

Quick background:  The roundtable is an effort offered to new students.  They are welcomed one evening very early in the 18-month program and introduced to 10 sports related companies.  Last week, we welcomed organizations like The X Games, The Rose Bowl Stadium, the LA Galaxy, USA Volleyball, Special Olympics of Southern California and on and on.  Each student is required to gain work experience via an internship.  This requirement includes 100 hours minimum during the first semester and two hundred hours each of the other two semesters.

Well, I was floored when this new student told me what she did to gain an internship.  If I remember the story correctly, she was standing in the hallway and heard that there was an opportunity with an organization, but was not dressed appropriately to speak with this hiring manager about working there.  Now, she did something that I would never have thought nor ever could have pulled off.  This woman, found someone who was about the same size, asked her to switch clothes for an impromptu interview and the stranger agreed to do it.

It was only an hour she told her.  Well, long story short, the creative woman got the offer and is currently working there.

Once in a while, she told me, she sees this woman around.  They smile, but it is an awkward smile, and then each moved on without really saying a word.

Amazing.

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I just closed the book on Walter Jacobson’s biography of Steve Jobs.  The cover jacket, shown on the right, easily illustrates the intensity of the man who co-founded Apple, was fired by his board and ultimately came back to see it become the world’s most valuable technology company.

This book is not a puff piece about how great of a man Steve Jobs was as an entrepreneur.  In fact, Jobs is quoted in the biography saying he was happy that Jacobson told the truth, even if he did not always look so good, so it would not be perceived an an in house publication.

At times, this book is not an easy read.  That said, Jobs is a fascinating man and to anyone who needs a little passion in their lives, then this book shows what one man’s will can bring to others.  There are important life lessons, a man’s will and ultimately the stories of the Macintosh, iPhone iPad and much much more.

While I wish he was a bit more humble and the distance with his children is not something to brag about, I would highly recommend this book to read.

Jobs knew what he wanted and ultimately, he achieved what he set out to do.  Apple is a better company for it and consumers are enjoying the results, every day.

What can I say about Gary Carter, that has not been covered since the Hall Fame baseball Player passed away.  First, let’s look at the obvious things that most people will mention when it came to his baseball career.

Born in 1954, Carter was drafted by the Montreal Expos and played 17 of his 19 big league season with the them as well as the New York Mets, including the 1986 World Championship season.  He was  inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

I always admired Gary as a baseball player, but I got to know him as a person during the one season he played under Tommy Lasorda with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

At the age of 37, Carter joined the Dodgers in 1991.  It was his first year with the club and it was mine as well.  Carter did not have his greatest year as a pro that year.  I often say it was the best team in baseball never to go to the World Series.  That year, Gary hit .246 with six home runs and 26 RBI in 101 games and honestly, I do not remember many of the highlights from that year.

What I do remember, very well, was the time I spent with Gary.  It was mostly during road trips, away frm Dodger Stadium.  During my road trips with the team Gary and I often shared a row of seats and what came between us was a very competitive game of cribbage.  This was one area I could compete with the future Hall of Famer, but truth be told, he beat me more than I beat him.

He loved it when he could steal points from me and I certainly reminded him when I won a cribbage game.

There is a story that will always stick with me when I think of Gary Carter.  We were in New York one road trip to play the Mets and we were staying at the Grand Hyatt on 42nd and Lexington.  Gary talked me into skipping the team bus and taking the train from grand central station out to Flushing for the game.  The trainw as either the 4 or the 7 but I am sure someone in New York can remind me the correct number.

Gary and I boarded the train and I naturally waited for someone to recognize him.  It didn’t take very long before he was being chatted up by the fans and he loved it.  Gary loved to talk baseball, and did it all the way to the Stadium. He did send one fan my way.  The fan, a long time Dodger fan, was still upset the Dodgers left Brooklyn and showed me a ticket stub from the team’s last game at Ebbets Field.  Gary sat and listened and just winked at me as the man pleaded his case.

Another time, Gary found me in the Dodgers locker room before a game.  He had passed someone on the all-time catcher’s list and wanted me to know for research and media purposes.  I didn’t miss many records when I when I was with the team, but this one got by me and Gary reminded me.  He was certainly competitive.

We missed the playoffs by one game that year and though Gary retired after the 1992 season, we still spoke or wrote now and then.  The last time I saw him was at the Major League Baseball All Star game in 2010 in Anaheim.  He looked over, saw me and came over to give me a hug.  He was that kind of guy.

After Gary was diagnosed with cancer, I immediately fired off an email of support to him.  Now, as we mourn his loss, I just finished sending an email of support to his family.  Gary’s passion was his family, his religion and baseball.  I know in the brief time he was in my life, I am a better person for it.  I’ll miss you Gary.

The folks at Bluekai, a Bellvue, Washington based company that takes a data-centric approach to audience targeting, posted a Super Bowl related Infographic that I thought was worth sharing.  Now, the 2012 Super Bowl still a few weeks away, and there are the NFC and AFC Championship games to be decided this weekend before we jump to the Super Bowl.

I have always been a fan of stats and there are a few that are certainly worth to note from this Infographic.  How about:

**  In the last decade, Anheuser-Bush spent more on Super Bowl Advertisements than any other company ($235 Million dollars)

** In 2010, 33% of Super Bowl advertisers spent (13 companies) spent 10% or more of their yearly ad budget on Super Bowl spots.

** 30 second television sports are going for $3.5 million dollars for this year’s big game.

Before we get to the big game however, the New England Patriots will battle the Baltimore Ravens (3:00 p.m. East Coast time on CBS) and the San Francisco 49ers will square off vs the New York Giants (6:30 p.m. East Coast start on Fox Sports).  Only then will be know the final two teams for the February 5th game.

One last thought, if you’d like to see a nice graphic of the road to the Super Bowl, click here to see what NFL.com created.  It shows each of the 2011-12 NFL playoff teams and significant post-season events.

When you combine technology and sports related business, you have my ear.  Or in this case my eyes.  In this case, uh, maybe my legs too.

Yesterday, as I was writing and researching my first blog post for 2012, I came across a start up company called, Gympact.

The concept is simple.  Gym-Pact uses its site as a motivational tool to help get people who pay gym memberships to actually use it.  The concept of GymPact came from a Harvard behavioral economics class, and their pilot in Boston had a 90% success at getting people to the gym when they committed.

Via a free downloadable app, Gym-Pact lets you set the financial stakes of not getting to the gym, plus earn cash rewards and real prizes for fulfilling your Pact.  All you need is an iPhone.   In order to make money from this venture, you have to sign up and meet or exceed your commitment to going to the the gym.

As for getting paid to stay healthy, each Sunday night, the company calculates how much was paid by those who didn’t get to the gym that week. The money is then divided among those who made their Pact, based on the number of days committed (i.e. 3 days Pact = 3 portions).

Do I think this is type of tool can make a difference in motivating people to work out.  Yes, I do.

It reminds me of a story I heard last week, of a family member who joked that they might be thebest customer for a Los Angeles based gym.

This unnamed family member has been paying her gym membership for years and never goes.  I do think this grand mother would get there more often if she knew she might be losing more money but not going. 

As for company co-founders and  Harvard classmates Yifan Zhang and  Geoff Oberhofer,  If they practice what they preach, this dynamic duo is either very healthy or proceeds from their company will help pay for their lack of exercise.

The calendar officially says January 1st and that means we all have a clean slate for 2012.  Clear the cobwebs from your brain today and get ready to follow these easy steps of starting the new year off on the right foot.

When we begin anew, there are many things we wish to accomplish.  Things like exercise, organization and goal setting are the first items that come to mind.

Some of us make lists of things to do.  I am one of those people.

So with no further ado, I present to you my mini list of the First Five Things to do in 2012.

1. Update Your Business Networks

We all know how important business networking is, yet often times, the lines blur of where are contacts are.  Let me provide you an example.  How many of your business contacts overlap between your main contact database, which rests on your smart phone or computer, and other networks like LinkedIn and Facebook?  Mine too.  One of the first things I did this weekend was to sync my Facebook Contacts with my computer (lots of emails have changed and it was a good exercise) and then I moved to LinkedIn where I added people from my main contact data base.  I am willing to bet that some of us still have business card contacts that have not been entered into any contact list….

2) Refresh Your Resume

2011 is behind us, yet you certainly have accomplished items in your life that needs to be addressed in this space.  It could be a new job, work related accomplishment or just new items you have learned which should be addressed.  While the reports have been conflicted about the direction of unemployment and job growth, we should all be prepared for the next great opportunity.

3) Back Up Your Files

We are all guilty of not doing this item often enough, but a new year brings a new opportunity and a reminder that we will all kick ourselves if we don’t do it and then something crashes.  It is easier to stay ‘whew’ then ‘oh no!’  Hit the back up button and then grab lunch or watch an NFL football game today.  it is that easy.

4) Update Your Computer Software

This is also relatively easy to do.  Many of our machines need just a little attention and yet we neglect them and live in denial.  From computer systems, to operating systems to smart phone apps, it usually takes a few minutes of items running in the background.  Take time when its slow, like a long weekend like this and punch in those updates.

5) Renew old friendships

This kind of goes together with point number one.  However, my first point was about sync’ing and updating.  This is more about outreach.   I enjoy hearing from friends and colleagues with their annual holiday letter, but if friendships really mean something, take a few minutes to reach out and reconnect more than once a year.  Make a call from the road (I have a lot of experience with this), send an email or even a quick text message to let them know you are thinking of them.

Those are my five easy items to begin your year.  I could have goen the much more traditional route and said things like:  clean up your home office/business office desk, clean out the garage or even start a new exercise program.

Yesterday morning, I was playing catch up with several of my email  in boxes when I came across an interesting social media info graphic, compliments of fellow sports marketer Joe Favorito.
Joe sends out an interesting Sunday newsletter and yesterday’s version contained a link to this Infographic who’s sub header read: How Social are the World’s Most valuable brands.
Now, Google, followed by Disney were listed at the top of the chart, followed by Apple, Starbucks, Blackberry and Coke (Google has nearly five million people that like their facebook page while Starbucks has more than 26 million folks).
Once again, I immediately looked, NOT at the individual companies at first, but at the categories represented in the graph. Some of the expected listings included technology, media, restaurants and beverages.  The graph stated that this company looked at the value of 50 of the world’s leading brands.
Now, I think anyone that reads this blog regularly knows and believes like I do that some sports organizations are some of the most valuable brand names, at the very least in the United States. However, there was not one sports team included in this chart. Was the sports category overlooked by the good folks at Socialgility or did they feel that sports organizations simply did not qualify to be included in this chart?
To defend the chart, it said World’s brands not just the United States, but there probably not many places you can go in the world and not hear about the New York Yankees, as just one example to think about for now.

The scores are based on five categories, including popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach and trust.

Nonetheless, there are important lessons to be learned in what others are producing in this space, one being that there is a high correlation between social media performance and brand value.

Today, I’d like to address a bit of college football that went on yesterday.  It would be too easy to speak about the UCLA vs USC game last night, a 50-0 debacle that was solopsided, I was glad I taped it on the DVR instead of watching it live.  I normally watch sporting events live but gave into the post thanksgiving/ get out of the house for a few hourstheory on a Saturday night.  I knew something was amiss when a friend of mine, who was at the game, texted me early on and said “Are you watching this?”

Most of the other news sites, sports blogs and USC fans have already pointed out the the obvious.

** The Trojans beat the Bruins for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings.

** UCLA head coach, specifically Rick Neuheisel’s head, appears to be on the chopping block after going 0-4 to USC since taking over the program.

** Will Matt Barkeley, the USC quarterback who tossed six, yes six touchdowns and threw for 423 yards last night go pro?

What I’d rather talk about is football on television.  With the remote in hand, and well before the Trojans slaughtered the Bruins, I was looking for a game to watch around noon, west coast time.

Here is what was on TV, at the same time.

Preview of the #2 Alabama vs #24 Auburn, Iron Bowl game (KCBS, Channel 2)

Grambling State vs Southern (KNBC, Channel 4)

#15 Michigan vs Ohio State (KABC, Channel 7)

Tennessee vs Kentucky (KDOC, Channel 12)

Maryland vs North Carolina State (Channel 13)

#23 Georgia Tech vs Georgia (ESPN, Channel 15)

UConn vs Rutgers (ESPN 2, (Channel 16)

Iowa State vs, #9 Oklahoma (FX, Channel 17)

and I did manage to bump into the Rice vs SMU contest on Fox Sports West, which was not even close to the other stations on the dial.

Nine, count ‘em nine different football games at the same time.  ….And that is just what I found on the dial.

The question is, at what point is so much too much?  I am not one to curtail football games on television.  I am a sport guy and love the options.

That said, can the industry survive this level of saturation?  Deals are done for exposure and the markets are so fragmented that at some point, there will have to be some sort of fall out.  Until then, get ready for the 2011 college football Bowl Season.

This morning, I received an email from an old friend of mine. I am not saying he is old, just that I’ve known him for a long time.  This gentleman is a sports writer and his email asked me to comment on his latest story which was posted on the Internet.

It is not the first time he has asked me, nor is it the first time I have complied with his request.  My comments were also connected to my Facebook feed.

However, today, his email made me think twice about the request.

During the pre-Internet years, this journalist regularly wrote news stories, features and columns for his newspaper.  During this time, I often read up to five newspapers a day, and often chuckled when I came across his stories.

During all of those years of reading his stuff, he never once asked me to comment on what he wrote.  Maybe I brought it up when were were together or chatting on the phone, but that was it.  it was not part of his job description.

Today however, is a different world.  Everything is being measured.  Savvy “old school” sports writers have been coached on what the impact means to their content and the comments and what type of impact it can mean to making a story more viral.

Today, we are all salesman.  A sports writer in today’s world is selling his or her content as much as I am.

Speaking of which, if you like today’s take, pass it on.  Make a comment.  I’m in sales too.