The Sports Info Business

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.

What do Charlie Sheen, Frank McCourt, Wrigley Field, Citibank, Dodger Stadium and the Bakersfield Condors have in common?  Why this blog of course.  Here is a bit of everything in this edition’s Sports Business News and Reviews.

News: A beating by two men outside Dodger Stadium on opening day left a San Francisco Giants fan in a medically induced coma.

Reviews: Rivalries  are great. However, when fans take this concept into their own hands then we know something needs to be done. If I were were part of the Los Angeles Dodgers senior management team, I would be advising Frank McCourt to step up and be a bit more proactive in his actions to show that this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at Dodger games. The site was once known one of the most fan friendly stadiums in baseball. After last years stabbing and last week’s attack, baseball fans refer to certain sections of the stadium as off limits.

News: Its UConn vs Butler in the NCAA Title Game on Monday Night

Reviews: UnConn has had an amazing run through the NCAA tournament in what some are calling the most unusual year for the world’s largest office pool party.  Fact, the Huskies (31-9) have not lost a game since February 5th to Notre Dame.  Since they, the team went 5-for-5 in the conference tournament and have been obviously perfect during their NCAA tournament run.  While they will probably win the title, I will, as usual, be rooting for the Butler Bulldogs to finish off what they could do a year ago.

News: Citibank is an official sponsor at Wrigley Field in Chicago

Reviews: By the look of the photograph below, someone might want to tell the Cubs management to reinforce a sponsor’s static sign with a little more super glue.  While scanning the news stories after opening day, I came across the following photo posted on ChicagoTribune.com. Never mind for a moment the picture of Sterlin Castro trying to stay warm.  Look at the Citi sign.  This is opening day and someone had to chalk in the T on Citbank’s sign.  Official scorer gives an error to the logo hanging folks.

News: According to Team Marketing Report (and the Los Angeles Times where I read the story yesterday), The Red Sox have the most expensive tickets in baseball for 2011 and the Pittsburgh Pirates have the cheapest seats.

Reviews: Fact, the Red Sox average $53.38 for admission while the ‘Bucs clock in at $15.30 per person.  That may be the cost for doing business and the difference between winning teams and those that have had 19 consecutive losing seasons.  However, if you plat out the cost to take in one game for a family of four, the difference between the top and the bottom stretches to $213.52 vs $61.20, a difference of one hundred and fifty-two bucks.  That doesn’t include parking food or logo’d memorabilia.  Baseball could be losing younger fans as some families may not easily afford an outing to a ball game anytime soon.

News: Actor Charlie Sheen has amassed 3.4 million Twitter followers.

Reviews: The former Two and a Half Men star is sporting a baseball that says #fastball on his Twitter page and he was recently featured in a minor league hockey promotion to drive attention and fans to a game.  Recently, the Bakersfield Condors held a Charlie Sheen Night, where fans got in for $2,50.  Get it?  Two and a half bucks?  The event was covered by Los Angeles-based TV station KTLA. Here’s the news report.

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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General Interest

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Most businesses really believe they provide good customer service.  In reality, only a few stand out from the crowd.  I’d like to share with you a brief story about a company that stands out from the rest and what they did to earn my respect.

Not long ago, we purchased a ping pong table from Costco.  It is a nice, all-purpose blue outdoor table that is supposed to last about two lifetimes plus three years.  It current sits in the backyard and we have been using it for a month.  Nothing has gone wrong with it and we have made no complaints.

Then, one day last last week, a package arrives at the house out of the blue.  Among the contents was a letter. I have retyped it exactly as it was written:

Dear Costco Member and Kettler customer,

Thank you for your recent purchase of a Kettler Made in Germany outdoor table tennis table.  For almost 40 years, Kettler has been the pioneer and worldwide leader in outdoor table tennis table technology.  Kettler is proud of this heritage and is dedicated to offering the best quality products possible through our retail parter Costco.

However, we discovered that the table tennis accessory set (paddles and balls) included in this table did not meet the performance standards consistent with Kettler and Costco merchandising expectations.  Included in this package is a no charge FREE replacement set of accessories including four high quality racquets, eight balls and a carry storage bag.

Please accept our apologies.  Kettler is committed to meeting our customers’ needs, and values the opportunity to reach Costco members with our product line.  Our goal is to insure that ALL of our products provide you and your family many hours of fun and entertainment in addition to many years of positive lasting memories.

Thank you for your confidence and support.

For additional information please feel free to visit our website at www.kettlerusa.com

Sincerely,

Team KETTLER USA

I finished the letter and began thinking, why did the company do this?  The original box included a set of four ping pong paddles and balls.  They worked just fine and while I did notice while playing that the paddles seemed a bit old, old school, I was not ready to complain to the company about why we had not received the bubble type paddle surface.  Here ae my best two guesses of what took place:

1) Other people complained about the quality of the paddles and balls to Costco leading to the move.  I searched google under the news section for Costco ping pong paddles and problems with Costco ping pong paddles and not nothing back in the results.

2) Since this news search came up empty, I quickly settled on this idea.  Costco is trying to protect its brand and relationship with customers and asked its distribution partner (Kettler) to supply the improved goods for its customers.  I know for a fact from business associates that sell into Costco that the company is a stickler for quality.  It appears they absolutely had a hand in the package that arrived at my home.

Regardless of how it came to be, someone was really concerned with the customer.  All I could think to myself was “Now, this is real customer service.”  I lesson for anyone in business.

It has been a while since a sports executive has been featured in the blog so it was about time to feature a 10 questions segment with an industry leader.

In the past, folks like Fred Claire, Tim Mead, Chris Hibbs and Jeff Idelson have been featured.  You can click on links to see past features.  However, today, I’d like to introduce you to John Arrix.

1. Tell us about your company, your job and your responsibilities:

In February 2010, I acquired Lax.com – a leading lacrosse ecommerce site and content provider. As CEO my role is focused on growing the national footprint of the brand.  Our growth strategy is primarily focused on leveraging our content to drive traffic and stimulate shopping consideration.

2. Tell Us what your average week is Like:

Like any small company, I wear a lot of different hats. My focus is sales and marketing. I am also involved in our content planning and try to stay on the warehouse operations of the business – inventory, customer service, etc.

3. Tell us about your career path including jobs in the sports industry:

I have been in the sports marketing industry since 1985.  During those 25 years, I have always been on the agency side of the business, focusing on consulting and event management.  My agency experience has proved to be very valuable with my new venture at Lax.com.

4. What was the best advice you ever received and let us know if you follow it today?

One of the most important pieces  of advice I received was to always be on the revenue generation side of the business.  Those who generate revenue can control their own destiny.

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

A couple great memories – 1) the creation and management of Major League Baseball’s Old Timers Series  (some amazing stories and experiences with the greatest names in the game), 2) the creation of the snowboarding property The Collection, securing the athletes as well as blue chip sponsors like Snickers and Kraft and 3) the acquisition of Lax.com, proving that perseverance pays off.

6. Finish this thought, If I were not working in sports I would be…..

I would probably be in the advertising sales world.

7.  The front page of your web site talks about your groundbreaking work.  Tell us about it.

As for groundbreaking  work, The Collection was a significant accomplishment. It involved a group athlete representation, it had an athletic component (trainers, travel, etc.) and sponsor solicitation. I am not sure my other accomplishments are groundbreaking but they certainly had an impact. Sony Ericsson’s sponsorship of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami is an assignment that I was proud to have managed. Sony Ericsson’s sponsorship and IMG’s passion combined to make the event one of the best in the world.

8. Name a few mentors you have had and why they’ have had an impact

Certainly one key mentor was my father. He started Capital Sports in 1973 and was one of the pioneers of the sports marketing industry. I worked with him and Capital Sports from 1985 – 1999.

9. Where do you see opportunities for growth in sports and why?

Obviously the merger of sports and media. The opportunities lie in where you can merge sponsorship and media (on line is critical). I also believe there is an opportunity in creating properties and building measurable value with on line media.

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

Passion about building things, creating and growing businesses.

Some of the past sports executive features can be accessed by clicking on the names below

Nicole Alison – National Hockey

League Executive Josh Rawitch – Vice President of the Los Angeles Dodgers

Bill Robertson — Vice President, Minnesota Wild

John Drum — Vice President, Arizona Cardinals

Fred Claire — Former General Manager and Executive Vice President, Los Angeles Dodgers

Bill Shumard — CEO Special Olympics Southern California

Brad Mayne — President and CEO American Airlines Center

Sam Piccione — AEG China

Jim Small — Vice President, Major League Baseball for Asia

Bill Chapin, Director, Seattle Seahawks

The links on the right hand side of each my blog pages will take you to important trade related sports groups.  When you click on an organization like Sponsorship.com, you will find great resources and now that we have started a new year, I thought I should pass along some information on 2011 sports conferences and trade shows.

Since every business needs to build in sponsorship, this conference is a must.

Return on Engagement:  Sponsorship’s Impact on Business will take places, as always, in my hometown of Chicago from March 13-16,2011.

Their Keynote Speakers for the Conference Include:

Keynote Speakers

• AT&T Senior Vice President, Sponsorships, Gail Torreano
• Kantar CEO, Eric Salama
• Gatorade Chief Marketing Officer, Sarah Robb O’Hagan
• GE President, Olympic Sponsorship and Corporate Sales, Peter Foss
• IBM Vice President, Corporate Marketing, John Kennedy
• Macy’s Executive Vice President, Marketing, Martine Reardon
• NFL Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Waller

Not to be outdone, the IMG World Congress of Sports, held in partnership with the Sports Business Daily and the Sports Business Journal, will take place in Miami March 30 and March 31st.  I was surprised that IMD has not yet published their list of speakers for this conference.  I have attended the West Coast version in the past and it has been well attended.  As the World Congress of Sports finishes, another event begins on March 31st called the Forty Under 40 Awards, held at the same location on March 31st.  This is also a well attended networking event.

Florida appears to be a popular destination to hold a conference in 2011 as Co-SIDA or the College Sports Information Directors of America will move their annual conference to Marco Island, Florida from June 26-29, 2011.  According to their website, the annual Convention includes workshop sessions and networking opportunities are designed to help you thing and grow as a professional. Our CoSIDA Convention is designed to help athletic communicators “think together”.

Make no mistake.  These events help professionals at all levels make new connections, help provide opportunities to learn as well as create a setting to set up and execute new business deals.

Please remember that this is just a sampling of the 2011 Sports Conferences and Trade Shows scheduled to take place.  I certainly did not mean to leave out any organization or key event.  You can explore many more opportunities by clicking on the links under the Blog Roll to the right on the www.sportsinfo101.com home page.

Happy Networking.

Let today’s blog post serve as an open letter to owners of Sports teams, conference commissioners and certainly CMO’s in any sport’s organization:

Dear Owners/Commissioners and Executives:

In the last year, the landscape has changed.  We all know the American economy has suffered.  Job losses, less disposable income and fewer people are buying and consuming sports.  You’ve probably had to cut budgets, laid off employees and tried to find ways of working more efficiently.  I get it.

While interest in sports remains high, the demand to listen to and engage sports fans is more important than ever. …and most of you are still missing the boat.  You are failing to engage in today’s 2.0 world.

Let me give you a real world example.  Last week, I visited each National Basketball Association team’s web site.  Actually, I clicked on each team’s front page and then put my fan hat on.  I gave each home page a 30-second skim and wanted to see if the social media tools available today are being used and if they would jump out at me from each team’s splash page.

Here is a custom chart I compiled of what I saw on each team site.

I know I may have missed a listing or two.  This was not a deep dive, competitive analysis.  That wasn’t the point.  I just acted like a fan browsing various team sites to see if NBA teams have figured out how to market, listen and engage fans around the globe in their product.

Just about every team has created a Facebook and or “official” Twitter account.  Most are promoting it on their home pages. For some reason though, I could not locate the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets and Memphis Grizzlies Twitter and Facebook links.

There’s the thing.  When most teams do use these accounts, it is most often used to:

1) Tell us the next great opportunity to buy tickets

2) Recap the score

3) Tell us the next time to buy tickets

Like I said, you are failing to make a real impact.  Figure it out, folks. ESPN, Fox Sports and Sports Illustrated do not exist without you.  Start using and promoting your own content and really invest in building your own community.  Hire people like me or invest, educate and trust your digital marketing teams to use this new technology to create and promote the content needed to succeed.  Old school thinking in the digital world does not work anymore.  Look at businesses like Best Buy and Jet Blue that have used these business tools the right way to listen and speak with their current and future customers.

Take one more look back at the chart above.  Why do so many of the boxes lack check marks?  Even more than that, why is there a lack of an integrated approach to the overall marketing plan?

I am not trying to call anyone out, either.  If I were to sample the MLB, NFL or NHL websites, it would be more of the same.

If you want to be a technology leader in the sports space, experiment, build, test and tweak.

There is a lot to learn and more fans are waiting for you to engage them in real discussions, not just buy the latest family pack.  If you engage using the technology, sales of the family packs and more will certainly come with it.

Once upon a time, tickets were sold by teams and scalping tickets was seen as illegal.  With the rise of companies like StubHub and RazorGator and eBay, a legal secondary ticket market emerged which teams and leagues embraced.

The market had changed.

FanSnap is a relatively new online ticket comparison search engine. Fans use FanSnap to shop 50+ of the most trusted secondary market ticket sites for the best deals on sports, theater and concert tickets. Partners include TicketsNow, TicketNetwork, StubHub, RazorGator, Las Vegas Tickets, Gold Coast Tickets, eBay, Barry’s Tickets, AllShows.com, Tickets-for-Charity and Ace Ticket. FanSnap claims its detailed ticket-level search results are made possible by the combination of strategic industry partnerships and systems integration, as well as FanSnap TicketData^sm systems and patent-pending dynamic FanSnap Maps^sm.

FanSnap also provides ticket comparison shopping for media partners including: TimeWarner’s RoadRunner.com, PollStar, Philly.com and STATS Inc. partner sites.

I wanted to test the site based on the current college football bowl season and see what was available.

This morning, I read on the web that UConn was struggling to sell its share of tickets ahead of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.  In fact, the University still needed to sell more than 10,000 tickets or have to buy them at a cost to the school.  This is a great example.   Why might they be struggling?

* We can use a bad economy as one example

* Second, ticketing prices range from

* Probably most important is where the game is being played.  Arizona. Will Huskie fans travel cross country for the game?  Doesn’t look like it?  Is there a large interest in UConn football in Arizona?  Survey says, probably not.

So for fans that are in the are and want to attend here is what the website produced.

In general, FanSnap is promoting more than 14 million tickets to 65,000+ events.

More than 7,000 tickets are available starting at $15 per seat for the UConn Bowl game.  The site is great for fans.  However, without a strong demand for specific games from teams and businesses, fans will be less willing to pay top dollar.

The company is based in Palo Alto, CA-based and was founded in 2007.  FanSnap is funded by General Catalyst Partners and Highland Capital Partners.

Photo taken from the FanSnap website that shows the stadium and ticket availability for the Tostitos Bowl game