The Sports Info Business

The Los Angeles Times is reporting in today’s newspaper that Los Angeles Clippers rookie of the year Blake Griffin and Kia Motors have agreed to a multi-year business deal.  Griffin, if you remember, was seen dunking over a Kia car during the NBA All Star game in Los Angeles last year and the video has been replayed countless times on TV and the internet.  The automaker even made a commercial of from the dunk. I previously blogged about Griffin’s dunking abilities and showed one of him showing off his talent in this AT&T commercial.
The multi-year deal, according to the newspaper, makes Griffin “a global spokeman for the automaker.”  He will make appearances on behalf of Kia and appear in advertising material.

Interesting though that when I ventured over to the Kia Motors website, it did not have an official announcement in its press release section.

Kia, an official auto partner of the NBA, has a co-branded micro website dedicated to the professional basketball League and had this Griffin picture among others on the site.  Kia also sponsors 13 NBA teams.

On Top: If I asked you which U.S. City has captured the most titles in major sports since the 2001 season, who would come out on top? Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Boston, Chicago or San Antonio? According to SportsCenter, it’s Boston with seven on top, then Los Angeles with six. Detroit, Pittsburgh and San Antonio each have three.

Wrigley Field = Summer Sale?: There is a sale going on and if you are American Airlines, that means associating it with something to do with Wrigley Field.  The airlines is promoting special fares via an email marketing program and among its messages this week is a shot from the historic national League park proclaiming “U.S. Summer Sale”  With the Chicago Cubs some 14 games under .500 as we head into the final week of June, I am sure there are more sellers than buyers these days.

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Last week, horse editor Michael Compton was featured in a 10 Question & Answers segment. Today, we return to horse racing, albeight briefly, to talk about sponsorship.  With 10′s of thousands flocking to churchill downs for the Kentucky Derby next weekend (the first Saturday in May), sponsorship opportunities are endless and 3M has found one in a specific horse.

The company announced this week it will sponsor Kentucky Derby contender Mucho Macho Man (known by racing fans as “MMM”) in all three races of the Triple Crown, starting with the Kentucky Derby.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This is a great opportunity to promote the 3M brand and 3M products on one of the world’s biggest and most historic stages,” 3M’s vice president of marketing, sales and corporate communications said Jeff Lavers in a company press release. “The Triple Crown represents quality of the highest level so it’s an ideal fit for our company.”

Where’s the connection between 3M and Mucho Macho Man you may be mentioning to yourself?  The company develops, manufactures and markets products across a broad spectrum of animal care ranging from bandaging tapes to wound management solutions.

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NBA TV advertising sales have grown more than 100% compared to this time a year ago, according to a report in the Sports Business Daily. Additionally the online publication said ad sales for NBA.com and related digital platforms are similarly up by strong double-digit percentages.

In related news, Fox Sports reported just two weeks ago that the NBA posted record-breaking television viewership and Web traffic this season.  According to the NBA, viewership for professional basketball jumped 13 percent to 103 million and video views online jumped to 1.94 billion, an increase of 140 percent from the year before (hint to sports properties, take note of the growth of video for your own products).

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Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, took to the airwaves and issued an apology to fans, telling KCAl/KCBS  local sports reporter Jim Hall that, “I’m sorry that my mess has become their mess and has affected the fan experience.  I’m sorry that some of my lifestyle decisions has some fans thinking I did not want to put the best product on the field.”

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Yu Knows Strategy: …and now he knows the 49ers.  The San Francisco 49ers late last week announced they have named Gideon Yu Chief Strategy Officer.  As for a practical sports background, Yu did not come to the NFL the traditional way.  Apparently, All Things Digital, a technology must read, originally broke the story and then the website said the San Francisco 49ers followed up and issued a formal press release. I went to the team’s site and it was not posted there. Hmmmm

Sports stories around the world this week that you may or may not have heard.

Fumblerooski: The story gives new meaning to being thrown under the bus.  In this care, literally.

Apparently, soccer’s Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, celebrating the team’s Copa del Ray victory  after an 18 year drought, fumbled the trophy from atop a bus. It fell out of Ramos’ hands and was run over by the team’s bus which was carrying members of the team.  The bus had to stop on its route passing adoring Spanish fans as security personnel tried to retrieve the damaged trophy, as Sky News captured it all.

There is a reason why soccer players use their feet and not their hands.
Higher Than a Fever: As a kid growing up, I heard that baseball pitchers throwing in the 90′s, threw heat, gas, smoke.  Now this may top the burnt cake.  Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman was clocked at throwing 106 miles per hour this week, after being recorded at 105 mph a year ago.

Pick Your Story Line: In Southern California, there’s no lack of sports related news stories for media to pick from.  The obvious:  The two-time defending Los Angeles Lakers have rebounded to take a 2-1 series lead over the New Orleans Hornets. The Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks are battling in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs — It does not look good good for the Ducks who blew a lead with 35 seconds left Friday night and now trail 3-2 to the Nashville Predators (who have never won an NHL Playoff Series).  Across town, the LA Kings are faring no better and have fallen behind the San Jose Sharks 3-1 in their first round playoff match-up.

Speaking of the Kings, the on again off again romance with Anaheim and Honda Center has taken another soap opera turn for the Sacramento Kings currently of Sacramento.  The Kings, which appeared to be he headed to Orange County for the 2011-2012 season, might stay in Sacramento after, all, according to a Saturday report in the Los Angeles Times. Its easy to guess there will be more twists and turns before a decision is announced next month.

Then there’s the Los Angeles Dodgers, my former employer and a team that cannot stay out of the headlines.  After an opening day tragedy that saw San Francisco Giants fan Brian Stow left in a medically induced coma, nowMajor League Baseball has stepped in an announced it would take over day to day operations of the team.  With potential lawsuits and other distractions, its amazing the team is hovering around .500 for the first month.  If that wasn’t enough, former Dodger first baseball Steve Garvey announced on Friday that he has formed a business partnership with billionaire Ron Burkle as part of an investment group that would like to purchase the team.

(Taking a deep breathe).

The not so obvious: The Angels, flying under the radar so far in 2011, have won 12 of their first 20 games and were a half game out of first place as of yesterday. Maicer Izturis was ranked fifth in the American League in batting average (.355) while Howie Kendrick was tied for the league lead in home runs (6).  The team’s top two pitchers, Jared Weaver (5-0, 1.23) and Dan Haren (4-1, 1.46) are a combined 9-1 with a mind blowing 1.34 ERA in 73.2 innings pitched so far.

Nationally Ranked, Left Out: Two Southern California College baseball programs are nationally ranked, yet I have heard nothing about their success so far.  I am guessing the electronic media is running out of time in their segments to mention Cal State Fullerton (ranked eighth and 27-9) and UCLA (20 and 19-12) while it is obvious there is not much room left in the print edition of newspapers.

Bad Timing: All of these stories leave little hope for Southern California media to attend the 2011 Sportsman of the Year banquet on Tuesday this week, where UCLA Football Coach Rick Neuheisel will be honored. The event is put on by the OCYSF and proceeds benefit youth in Orange County, CA.

Last week, I had the honor of having lunch with with Jim Flanigan. You may know Jim if you have read Forbes Magazine, the Los Angeles Times business section or his current work for the New York Times.

Over lunch, we spoke of many topics including sports. Jim has a wealth of knowledge on many subjects. The conversation made me think of change and I reflected about what has changed in the business of sport since I grew up. Here are my thoughts on the nine of the biggest changes in sports ~ some that have taken place in my lifetime and a few more we can expect in the next few years.

Biggest changes in sports over the past few years

1) Interviewing coaches during games: Ratings and TV networks have demanded more for their rights fees and have been given even greater access to coaches and players. The first sport I remember bringing this into play was the NHL. Coaches and players are always interviwed between periods and while football did it at halftime, you felt like you had more access in hockey on TV broadcasts. Now, you regularly see it in baseball and basketball. Football is still reserved for halftimes.

2) Yellow Lines on your TV screen. If you are older than 20 years old, you can remember watching football games where there was not a yellow first down line embeded in your TV screen. Today, it is used to show fans where teams need to get for a first down. Often, a blue line is used for the line of scrimmage. In the old days, just just to know simple math (+ 10 yards from line of scrimmage).

3) Monster Stadiums: I am reminded of the NCAA Final Four this year where there was a ridiculous number of people watching college basketball. In fact the 2011 tourney established several all-time attendance ecords. I believe the numbers totaled something like 76,000 fans in attendance. That wasn’t the case a few years ago, but league and venues are pushing the limit to see how many people can be squeezed into a stadium/arena.

4) Advertising: If there is a place where eyeball can see a brand, it has been placed here. Once upon a time, the boards of a hockey rink were snow white. Baseball stadiums only had distance markers dotting the walls and pre-game sports shows had commercials during, well, commercial time. As we all know the times have changed and now advertising has a more integrated look and feel.

5) Work Stoppages: I resigned my position with the Dodgers just prior to the 1994 Major League Baseball Strike. For some reason, in the last 20 years there has either been more work stoppages across all major sports or threats to stop playing games we all love. I certainly do not remember these things when I was growing up.

6) Technology: From tennis players challenging lines calls to baseball stadiums showing pitch counts and pitcher’s speeds, technology advances abound. It has given the fan more insight into each event while trying to provide the most accurate results. I do not know about you but human error is still what makes sports interesting, even if it sometimes makes me mad when it happens.

There are a number of items I think we will see in the near future as leagues, teams and sponsors look to maximize all opportunities. In no particular order….

1) Advertising advances: Two of the last places that remain untapped: Advertising on uniforms and on the field itself. Some sports like the WNBA and professional soccer leagues in Europe have already moved into placing corporate branded logos on uniforms and it is only a matter of time until a Yankees, Red Sox or Cowboys uniform has a corporate logo backing it. The field itself will be labeled, eventually. Another place I would expect further development is virtual ads on TV screens/computer screens. This can easily be changed and if its by technology on TV or computers, it would not impact the actual game.

2) Use of Social Media: We are in the infancy of this development and sports teams will certainly experiment and engage with fans in ways we have yet to see. Stay tuned….

3) New activation levels for brands associated with sports teams and organizations. As ROI, return on investment, continues to dominate marketing spend, we will see deepening programs not yet developed or implemented.

You have to love it when you receive an email and it comes from colleagues in the business you have never met.
This week, I noticed among the hundreds of emails I review daily, one particular email from Wendy at the NBA. We have not met (although I have a trip planned for NY in May so you never know….)

Here is how Wendy started her note.
“Was recommended to your site by a colleague at the NBA as a good place for sports info as well as posting of jobs. Wondering if you wouldn’t mind posting the following opp to your followers? Thanks in advance and please LMK if anything we can ever do to assist you as well.”

With a kind note like that, how could I not post the following? I usually group open jobs I find into multiple listings. However, Wendy’s kind note gets all the details this morning. Enjoy.

Position: Director of Corporate Partnership Sales, Tulsa Shock
Reports to: President/Chief Revenue Officer

Position Summary:
The director of corporate partnership sales is responsible for generating corporate sales revenue through appointments and strong networking skills. This position will be a problem-solver for prospects and effectively integrate traditional sports assets (e.g., media, tickets, signage, etc.) into ground breaking ideas and impactful activations for corporate partnerships.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
* Ability to set qualified appointments on a weekly basis
* Identifying corporate partnership leads
* Lead generation for prospecting
* Ability to generate new and creative sponsorship ideas
* Creation and development of comprehensive proposals
* Help develop long-term renewal strategy
* Responsible for weekly sales reports in a timely and accurate reporting structure
* Works closely with all staff members in relationship to corporate sales
* Achieve assigned sales goals
* Ability to close deals

Successful candidate must possess:
* Bachelors degree
* Strong computer skills in excel and PowerPoint
* Strong communication and presentation skills
* Able to work independently
* Ability to delegate

Requirements:
* Minimum 3-5 years sales experience, preferably in a sports/entertainment/media environment
* Evening and weekend hours required

Job Questions to include with your candidacy
1.I have previous corporate sales experience?
2.In 100 words or less, tell us why we should consider you for this position?
3.Salary Requirements (please note this position is designed to be heavy commission and bonus based with a moderate salary).

To apply, please send your resume and cover letter along with answers to job questions to: Steve Swetoha
sswetoha@tulsashock.net

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What do you do, as a city of  current or future NBA city when you are trying to keep or secure a basketball franchise?  Why, take it to the fans on social media of course.

Trying to generate support for the future home of the Anaheim Royals, the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau this week Launched “OC for NBA” Facebook Page as a grass roots effort to build support for the pending announcement.

The new Facebook can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/OCforNBA.

“Having three professional sports teams in Anaheim would be a fantastic sports entertainment trifecta for Orange County, its residents and visitors,”   Charles Ahlers, president, Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau said in a press release. “We believe that if the Royals make Anaheim their home court it will truly be a win-win situation and add a great deal of economic benefit to our region as a result of this new entertainment offering.”

The OC CVB felt it had to illustrate a few related facts on the county:

• Orange County has a population of more that 3 million
• Anaheim/OC attracts over 42 million visitors annually
• OC’s visitors spend in excess of $7 Billion dollars annually
• The Honda Center hosts 150+ events annually (without basketball)
• The Honda Center is consistently ranked by Venues Today as one of the top ten venues in the world.

The Kings on the other hand have several groups that have created pages to try influence the team to stay in Sacramento.  There are no less than six Kings related facebook pages.  They range from an undisclosed amount of users to a group that has more than 1,000 likes.  These groups include:

Save Sacramento-Kings

Save the SACRAMENTO KINGS!

Save our sacramento Kings

SAVE OUR KINGS – HERE WE STAY

The Kings Belong In Sacramento!!!

Bring the Kings back to Kansas City

Some things to remember for all involved.

• Listen to the fans and what is being said.
• Respond in a timely matter.
• Look at the page as an ongoing opportunity to interact.  Stop trying to promote 100 percent of the time.
• Keep the exchanges real and we will engage with the brand.

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In a matter related to a possible move, the Orange County Register is reporting that the Anaheim Royals already have a wait list of 500 season seats.

If you have pulled yourself away from a television set and the NCAA tournament over the last few days, you may have seen stories about the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. For years, the team has tried to stay in Northern California with the Maloof family exploring options of building a new arena in Northern California.  It appears the owners have a new game plan.

Now, rumors are flying fast and furious that the team could pack up and relocate to Orange County.

I received an email from a source that said, “My contacts at the Sacramento Kings tell me that they are moving to Anaheim and that only the VP’s and Directors were asked to move with the team. I know a few may not leave due to family…”  I do not know how reliable this news is — It can only be labeled as rumor until the team officially makes an announcement.

However, if true, the basketball landscape will be forever changed in Southern California.  Yesterday, my softball/golfing buddy Randy Youngman, a one-time major league baseball beat writer and long-time columnist for the Orange County Register, ran his Sunday story with the Maloof Move as the lead.

He wrote in part, “Anaheim Public Finance Authority intends to issue up to $75 million in lease-revenue bonds to provide funds to Anaheim Arena Management, the Henry Samueli-owned company that runs Honda Center for the city.”

Circle tomorrow on your calendar.  Youngman wrote that the possible move will be debated and voted on during a special City Council meeting on Tuesday night.

Samueli, who also owns the Anaheim Ducks, is reportedly a bigger basketball fan than a hockey fan and has been working to secure an NBA team in Orange County since taking a high profile role in sports management in Southern California.

Youngman’s story truly illustrates what Samueli is doing behind the scenes to make this deal happen.  If it comes to fruition, Southern California will have three professional basketball teams.  Now some say that a market cannot support three teams within an hour of each other.  Consider this:  There are three million residents living in Orange County where the future Anaheim Royals can draw from for fan support.  That’s a considerably larger area from already established locations for some other NBA teams.

The main drawback if the Anaheim Royals become a reality is that there is no Orange County-based television market.  Everything, until now, is based in Los Angeles.  Orange County does not even have its own DMA listing. It gets grouped with LA.

My bottom line for sports executives and would-be sports management folks:

1) When ownership changes, executives with leadership roles within a sports organization are always vulnerable to changes by new ownership.

In this case, it appears the ownership will stay the same for now so this leads me to point number two.

2) When teams pick up roots and move to a new city, it is can and has been the reverse.  Senior level leadership are the folks that are often retained for consistency.

For young, aggressive sports management folks, that may mean opportunity.

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If you are like me, your March Madness NCAA College Basketball bracket is a mess.  With Duke and Wisconsin losing, I am down to one team left in my final four and like many others, I have Ohio State winning it all.  I thought, for a Friday morning, how best to post something that represents a little march Madness in a different context.  Basketball Trick shots have become the rage.

I recently saw a feature on trick shots on ESPN and thought it should be considered for a posting in this space.  Now, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jon Brockman has posted a YouTube video this week that has taken off — all based on his trick shots.  The video was posted on March 23, 2011 and has already amassed more than 60,000 views.

We can’t see how many times he tried each shot, but this video shows some of the fun he has in am empty area.  Enjoy.

The Milwaukee Bucks naturally are having a little fun with Jon’s antics. On their website, they posted this promotion to challenge fans. Great integration between player and fan.  Thumbs up from sportsinfo101.com

Jon Brockman, a.k.a. the Brockness Monster, put together a little mixtape of some his trick shots. Now he wants you to show him what you’ve got. Submit YOUR best trick shot to YouTube using the button below and Jon will pick his favorite to take him on in a game of H-O-R-S-E at the Bucks Training Facility in St. Francis, WI. Winners will also receive two tickets to a Bucks game. Break out your basketball and get creative! The Brockness Shot Monster is waiting.

From the Milwaukee Bucks website

Quick.  Name the last time you saw a member of the Los Angeles Clippersin a national TV spot.

I couldn’t tell you of one Clipper featured.  Ever.

Until now.

AT&T debuted a thirty-second commercial recently, featuring LA Clippers budding superstar Blake Griffin.

I saw it for the first time during the NCAA March Madness game between West Virginia and University of Kentucky.

Called ‘The Kiss’, the spot opens up with Griffin in a gym, slamming home a reverse dunk to his friends’ dissatisfaction. The second dunk shows Griffin grabbing a basketball and his mobile phone.  The NBA all-star then tosses the ball off the backboard and dunks it in one single motion.  The commercial ends with Griffin’s friends staring in disbelief and a picture of a woman giving him a kiss via the smart phone.

Interesting that we see that Griffin uses a Spalding basketball for the spot, but there is no reference to his NBA team, the Los Angeles Clippers.

His face and his play however, can take his Los Angeles team to a completely new level of recognition and results.  Stay tuned.

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It is about time we featured another sports executive and this time we turn to a veteran of the NBA and formerly Major League Baseball. For our 10 questions series, please meet Vice President of Communications for the Los Angeles Clippers, Joe Safety.

1. Tell us about your company, your position and your responsibilities

My company is the Los Angeles Clippers , one of the 30 National Basketball Association franchises.. I’ve been the Vice President of Communications since 1992, and I oversee all of the external and internal messaging and media relations company-wide.

2. Tell us what your average week is like, both in season and the off-season

In season, it pretty much requires constant attention, with practices or games virtually every day. It’s necessary to actually be prepared for the unexpected as well. Out of season, there’s not nearly the drop-off that one might expect, since the off-season is the critical time to prepare the team and its marketing for the next season.

3. Can you talk about your career path, starting from your first job in sports until you arrived to your current position with the Clippers today

I started as an intern in the Pittsburgh Pirates PR Department in 1976, became the Assistant PR Director at the end of that baseball season, and two years later, moved up to Director. After seven great seasons there, I joined a Pittsburgh-based athlete management firm and did PR and Marketing for 100+ major league baseball clients for two years, then joined the New York Yankees as Media Relations Director in 1983. I left New York in 1986 and worked in agency PR in Los Angeles for a couple of years. In 1988, I assumed the position of Executive Producer of Sports Programming at the Financial News Network, and when that company was sold to NBC in 1991, I did a little free lance producing of network TV specials, before joining the Clippers organization in 1992.

4. What is the Best Advice you have ever received?

Many years ago, I asked a long-time baseball writer and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Charlie Feeney, “what do writers actually want?”. He told me, “They want three things: they want you to not lie, they want you to not help them be wrong, and they want you to keep a secret when the situation calls for it.” Good advice, which I’ve never forgotten.

5. What Are the your top sports memories you are most fond of telling others

My single top sports memory concerns, not surprisingly, the 1979 World Series. In game four, the second of three games played in Pittsburgh, things were a little bleak and the Pirates trailed. As the game entered the late innings, I began to think that, if the Pirates lost this game, we’d be down three games to one, a depth from which no team had ever climbed back. The thought crossed my mind that, I may never ever be closer to being part of a world championship than I was at that very moment. So I left the press box and went down to the tunnel which led to the Pirates’ dugout, just to be as close as possible and collect some lasting impressions of the moment.  The game ended, and the Pirates did indeed lose. The Baltimore Orioles celebrated their victory and their enviable position. For a few minutes, I remained standing against the wall of the tunnel as the Pittsburgh players began to file out of the dugout toward their locker-room. The Pirate’s captain and leader, Willie Stargell, was the last to leave the dugout. When he got to where I was in the tunnel, he veered over, gave me a confident little forearm shiver to get my attention, locked eyes with me and said, “Don’t worry, kiddo – we got ‘em right where we want ‘em.”

He took me from “feeling sorry for myself” to “hold on a minute, this isn’t over yet” with one sentence. It’s obvious that he had the same effect on his teammates (as he had all year in what would be a Most Valuable Player season), but the facts are this: he knew. He knew it wasn’t over. And now, everybody who follows baseball knows that the Pirates’ comeback to win in seven games is deeply embedded in baseball lore for all time. For me though, it was a simple lesson that says, never, ever give up. In Willie’s case, MVP always stood for Most Valuable Person as far as I was concerned.

6. Talk about the difference of working as an executive in the NBA vs. the time you spent working in Major League Baseball

Generally, technological advancements have simply been too many to list. The sheer numbers of virtually everything has changed as time as gone by: audience sizes, the global appetite, salaries – everything is just exponentially bigger. A key difference I had anticipated between baseball and basketball was always centered on the number of games and the inherent travel. I originally thought that baseball – with twice as many games – would be twice as grueling from a travel standpoint. The fact is, baseball is much easier because you stay in a city for three days. I didn’t think twice about attending (including spring training) 200 baseball games home and road every year and I did that for many years. I don’t travel very much during the regular NBA season – that’s somebody else’s responsibility – but it’s tough, believe me. In the NBA, you are always arriving somewhere at 2:30 in the morning.

7. What do you tell people you meet who want a career working in the sports management business?  Practical tips?

I’m a successful product of the internship system, so I always push people in that direction. Educators may not like it so much, but this is a business that is best mastered by direct access and execution, and not necessarily through abstract academic exercise. College is great for personal development in all cases. The best way to work in sports is to work in sports – anywhere, any time and any way one can.

8.  Name three mentors (at least) and why they’ve had an impact.

My parents were my best mentors. But professionally, my time with the Pirates as a general experience would have to qualify as all three. That environment in and of itself could not have been a more fertile and productive place for me to launch a career. It was indeed a family atmosphere with no cliques where every single person was super- dedicated to achieving the same objective.  I’ve already mentioned Willie Stargell. The guy who gave me my internship with the Pirates and soon made me his assistant was a wonderful man named Bill Guilfoile. And the manager, Chuck Tanner (who just recently passed away) was like a father to me. So many friends, so much success – I’ll never forget that. That time shaped everything about what has happened for me professionally.

9. If you were not working in sports today, what would you be doing?

I would probably be working in some form of entertainment media, I guess. I’m glad it’s such a hypothetical, because I wouldn’t change anything, really.

10. Executives talk about being passionate in your job.  What are you passionate about and why?

I’m passionate about doing good work and having it count for something. I’m passionate about being part of a real team, pulling together with real team mates to do something notable and accomplish a group objective. I’m passionate about protecting the relationships teams form with a fan base – and making those fans feel as though they’re part of the team. And I’m passionate about being a good influence on the new generation of kids streaming out of college hoping to be part of this great industry.