The Sports Info Business

This shot I took is not from Trabuco but from another course in southern california

I recently played a round of golf with my friend and sports columnist Randy Youngman.  Over the years, he has become a golf aficionado and invited me to play at the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club.

I do not know if you play or where you play, but traditionally golf play over the years in Southern California has been extremely slow.  The folks at Arroyo Trabuco have come up with an innovative way to battle slow play.  It’s called Fast Play Thursday.  Here is how the course management positions it:

Fast Play Thursday (FPT) is designed to increase the enjoyment of the golfing experience by offering a shorter time commitment for an 18-hole round of golf.  FPT focuses on the starting six holes of its golf course to help improve the pace of play.  As an incentive for agreeing to play those holes in 90 minutes, they offer $5 in Trabuco Bucks that are good towards purchases at Arroyo Trabuco Golf club.

The club printed out a sheet that was placed on each golf cart.  It had our starting time (10:06 a.m.) and then suggested times that we should be finishing each hole. For example:  Hole #1 (10:20) hole #2 (10:37) hole #3 (10:55) and so on.  We were able to meet the targeted deadline by the club and a designated employee met us on the course

Here is why it works:

1) The players are incentivized to play at a brisk speed.

2) By keeping the game moving, golfers enjoy the experience more and limit wait times.

3) The course is happy they have satisfied guests.  I am sure it also enables the management team to maximize revenues by adding additional tee times.

In the end, we finished the round in approximately four hours and two minutes.  While I enjoyed the pace, I liked my 94 even more.  Even had a birdie.  I will be coming back more more.

Today I am pleased to offer a guest blog post to Dedan Brozino, the Director of Marketing & Corporate Partnerships for Long Beach State Athletics.

Seeing the Big Picture:

The recession and plight of the economy has hit the sport industry just as hard as Evan Longoria’s maple bat in a slow-pitch home run derby.  Okay, okay… I’m partial to Evan since he’s one of the many proud MLB stars that have proudly worn the Dirtbags uniform.

Now, more than ever, relationships – both professional and personal – have become the do or die component for revenue retention and generation at the mid-major level of college athletics. It’s time to sink or swim and treading water just won’t cut it when you’re competing against the big boys.  Like an athlete that is facing elimination in a playoff series, learned procedures and techniques are typically thrown out the window, while survival instinct and intangibles take control during crunch time.  In our haste to gain visibility and earn revenue through marketing and advertising, we sometimes lose sight of what is arguably our most important marketing resource – the personal relationships we hold with our consumers.

Relationship marketing and management is a technique I’ve firmly believed in since I began in the college sports landscape over six years ago.  This attribute, much like that of networking, is an acquired taste yet has been a lost art, not only in sports, but in life.  This marketing technique recognizes the value of consumer relationships, making it vastly different from traditional forms of marketing and advertising.  Social mediums, like this blog, and other forms of technology have pushed the envelope and forced business professionals to take a more personal approach – talking to friends on Facebook or establishing a professional account on LinkedIn.  This, for some, results in a factor of uncomfortability that many avoid.  Embrace it.  Pick up the phone.  Schedule the face-to-face.  Go outside of your box.

Building stronger relationships with consumers during these tough times – and they’re tough for everyone – may seem like a short-term fix, but will result in long-term gain.  Development of consumer relationships emphasizes the retention and satisfaction, rather than solely focusing on sales and the bottom line.  At the same time, it offers you as a  professional to better tweak your social skills while learning to communicate and speak a more fluent language about your own brand to your consumers.  Your professional morale speaks volumes to your consumers and translates directly to the confidence you have in the strength of your own brand.

Celebrity endorsements have been around for as long as sports have been a part of popular culture.  The idea has been to match a well-known athlete with a company to help improve its image and more importantly, move sales of a particular product.

Some athlete endorsers have become closely associated with a particular product.  Here are a few examples:

If I said Joe Dimaggio, you might associate him with Mr. Coffee.

Joe Namath?  You’d probably throw out pantyhose, Noxema or even Susy Kobler (okay, the last one was not exactly an endorsement).

If I mention Peyton Manning, there would be too many commercials and associations to count.  My guess is you may remember the funny Sony spots with actor Justin Timberlake.  Each time a business decides to hire an athlete, they put their brand and reputation on the line.  Let’s not forget how fast brands fled Tiger Woods after he was caught cheating on his wife.

In most cases, the famous athlete is helping to drive the brand.

But if I mentioned the name Isiah Mustafa, would you be able to answer which professional teams he played for much less the brand he is associated with today?

Mustafa’s commercials have been a hot on TV and just as big on the internet.

According to a Wikipedia bio, Mustafa signed as a rookie with the Seattle Seahawks in 2000 and eventually played for the Tennessee Titans practice squad before playing in Barcelona of the NFL Europe.  While he has appeared in a few television shows (Ugly Betty, Days of Our Lives and NCIS), the Old Spice commercials have gone viral on the internet.  After completing the planned commercials for TV, Old Spice connected with online users by having him answer actual questions people mentioned via Twitter including helping with a wedding proposal.

This ingenious campaign has generated millions and millions of page views for a brand that not long ago was looked by consumers as old and crusty — your dad’s product.  Now, it is hip, young and online buzz worthy.  I am interested to see what it means for the product’s bottom line.

All of this by an athlete many of us did not even know.

If you want to see additional personal responses, here’s the link to the Old Spice YouTube channel

Coming to a baseball stadium near you —- dot races on large scoreboards are being replaced by four guys with really big heads.
The Arizona Dimaondbacks are the latest Major League Baseball team to join the mascot races with its own “Legends Race.”

Modeled after the original Sausage Races appearing at each Milwaukee Brewers home game, the Arizona version features Four Diamondbacks employees running around resembling past star players Luis Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Matt Williams and Mark Grace.  The races made their debut over the weekend.

The Arziona Diamondbacks have created this opportunity for a few different reasons.  Here are my reasons why they did this:

1) Marketing, Marketing, Marketing.  This “Legends Race” is being sponsored by a local company, Henkel.  Bottom line, more dollars for the Diamondbacks.

2) The team now has several; “mascots” which can be used for future promotional appearances by the team.  It is not the San Diego Chicken, but then, who is?

3) The organization is trying to add entertainment to a team that is struggling pretty bad in 2010.  As of July 5th, only the Pittsburgh Pirates an the Baltimore Orioles have fewer wins that the Diamondbacks.

This may be entertaining for some of the fans, but this is just a a copy-cat of the Sausage races and now the Washington Nationals Presidents race.  This is a trend I would rather not see.

In the last 20 years, Major League Baseball teams have launched new stadiums with a unique fan experience.  No two new stadiums are really alike.  Yet, when it comes to “entertaining” the fans, it seems like copying the other guy still rules.

There is only one Phillie Phanatic, right?  Since Harry Carry died, the Cubs morphed the 7th inning stretch by inviting famous folks to sing take me out to the ball game and the Angels have their own local tradition with the Rally Monkey.

Come on Diamondbacks.  I know you are trying, but let’s see some originality.

Give me no-hitters, double steals and suicide squeezes, there is no shame.

But please put away those mascots or they’ll be someone to blame.

Come up with something original and it might lead to fame.

At the end of the day, all I want is just a good ball game.

The 2010 All-Star game is a few weeks away, but leave it to the Disney team to launch a unique way to promote the mid-summer classic while tying the baseball event to consumer products and the Orange County-based theme park.

The promotion came about as a partnership between Disney Consumer Products and Major League Baseball Properties.  Here is the concept:  Disney desgined thirty-six varieties of life-sized MLB-themed Mickey Mouse statues across heavily populated destinations throughout Southern California in honor of the 2010 MLB All-Star Week festivities.  As you can see to the right, I took a picture of this Arizona Diamondback Mickey which was showcased at the of the local Orange County outdoor malls.

The week-long all-star festivities take place July 9th – 13th in Anaheim, Calif. As part of the previously announced new collaboration between the organizations.  In addition to the Diamondbacks Mickey, the statues are being placed in high-profile areas throughout Anaheim, Los Angeles, and surrounding areas in Southern California.  This includes includes Angel Stadium, Anaheim City Hall, Downtown Disney, the Kodak and El Capitan Theatres in Los Angeles as well as L.A. Live and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The 36 life-size statues, commissioned in conjunction with MLB licensee Forever Collectibles, are uniquely decorated with bold graphics featuring each of the 30 MLB Clubs as well as four All-Star designs, an American League and a National League design. Each life-sized statue is 7.5 feet high and weighs 989 pounds.

I have included a complete list of statues and locations at the end of this entry.

“Major League Baseball is excited to bring the 2010 All-Star Game to Anaheim and we want fans all throughout Southern California to feel like they are a part of the entire experience,” said Howard Smith, Senior Vice President, Licensing, Major League Baseball in a press release. “As an iconic figure, Mickey Mouse is the ideal ambassador to connect fans with the premiere sporting event of the summer.”

As part of the overall promotion, miniature versions of each of the statues are available in a 7.5-inch size through MLB.com and DisneyStore.com, as well as additional retailers including MLB stadium shops, Walgreens and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Photos of all variations are available at MLBPressBox.com and DisneyConsumerProducts.com.

All-Star Game Disneyland Esplanade (near Disney’s California Adventure)

All-Star Game (Angel Stadium) — The Grove Anaheim – Front Gate All-Star Game

(Stars & Stripes) — Anaheim Convention Center – Outside Main Lobby Entrance

All-Star Game (Vintage) — Anaheim City Hall

American League — Hilton Anaheim – Lobby

National League Mickey — Anaheim Marriott – Outside Main Entrance

Angels — Angel Stadium of Anaheim – Home Plate Gate area

Astros Long Beach Towne Center – Promenade

Athletics The Muzeo, Anaheim – S. Anaheim Blvd

Blue Jays — Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa – Main Entrance

Braves — Disneyland Esplanade (near Disney’s California Adventure)

Brewers — The Strand at Huntington Beach-5th St. & Pacific Coast Hwy

Cardinals — Downtown Disney – Outside Build-A-Bear Workshop

Cubs — Orange County Zoo, Orange – Main Entrance

Diamondbacks — The District at Tustin – The Promenade

Dodgers — Music Center – Performing Arts Center of L.A. County Plaza

Giants — Fashion Island, Newport Beach – Nordstrom Court

Indians — Industry Rag, N. La Brea – Inside store

Mariners — Kodak Theatre, Hollywood – Visitor Information Center

Marlins — Downtown Disney – outside ESPN Zone Restaurant

Mets — The Irvine Spectrum Center – Carousel Court

Nationals — Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga – Guest Services

Orioles — Newport Sports Museum – Main Entrance

Padres — South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa – Carousel Court

Phillies — Hollywood & Highland Center, Hollywood – Central Courtyard

Pirates — L.A. Union Station – Main Hall

Rangers — The Village at Orange – near Game Stop

Rays– Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach – Lobby

Reds — Holiday Inn Express Walk of Fame, Hollywood – Outside Main Lobby

Red Sox — Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana – Outside Main Entry

Royals — El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood – Soda Fountain & Studio Store

Rockies — The Market Place Irvine – Near Sports Authority

Tigers — Crowne Plaza Anaheim Resort – Lobby

Twins —  Anaheim GardenWalk – Rock Garden Court

White Sox  – Holiday Inn Santa Monica – Outside Main Lobby

Yankees — L.A. LIVE – ESPN Zone Restaurant Lobby

Background on the 2010 All-Star Game

The 81st Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be played on Tuesday, July 13th in Anaheim and will feature the best of the American League taking on the top players of the National League. Building up to the excitement of the All-Star Game, Major League Baseball will conduct a wide variety of special events and charitable activities for fans both inside and outside of Angel Stadium of Anaheim. At the ballpark, the events will include Taco Bell All-Star Sunday on Sunday, July 11th featuring the XM All-Star Futures Game and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, and Gatorade All-Star Workout Day on Monday, July 12th featuring the State Farm Home Run Derby on ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Radio. Outside of the ballpark, fans will have an opportunity to experience All-Star Summer through a variety of special events including Major League Baseball All-Star FanFest, the five-day interactive fan festival; the All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run, a charity run/walk on a baseball-themed route to benefit four cancer organizations; and the MLB All-Star Game Red Carpet Show presented by Chevy on MLB Network, a free parade of All-Stars through the streets of Anaheim. The Midsummer Classic will be televised nationally on FOX, broadcast on ESPN Radio and will be shown around the world by Major League Baseball International. For more information about 2010 All-Star Summer, visitwww.AllStarGame.com.

The 2010 World Cup is here and many sponsors and media are taking advantage of the World’s largest soccer tournament,  today, South Africa kicked off the festivities with the 2010 FIFA World Cup Kick Off Celebration which was carried live on ESPN2.

How are sponsors using activation of the event to drive their brand?  Here is one example from Coca Cola. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, player goal celebrations will be uploaded to a special web site    www.fifa.com/celebrations and fans will be invited to vote for the most outstanding player celebrations online.  All FIFA World Cup players celebrating goals will have a chance of winning. The award will respect the laws of the game.

A press release from Coca Cola goes on to explain, “Coca-Cola will contribute $1,500 to fund the “Water for Schools” initiative in Africa each time a player celebrates a goal. The eventual winner will be rewarded with the first-ever Coca-Cola Celebration Award. Coca-Cola will also donate on the winning player’s behalf an extra $50,000 to the “Water for Schools” program to mark the historic occasion for an anticipated total contribution of $300,000. The “Water for Schools” program is just one part of a $30 million legacy by Coca-Cola to provide at least 2 million people in Africa with clean water and improved sanitation by 2015.”

Not to be outdone, Nike (NYSE: NKE), which also has a very popular viral soccer video associated with soccer.  Called, Nike Football, write the future, the video has been seen by more than 14 million people.  It has great graphics and tells a great story.  See for yourself.

Nike also announced today that it is partnering with Arsene Wenger, Manager of Arsenal FC, the launching of “The Chance,” a global search for talented footballers to join the Nike Academy, a high performance training program, supported by the Premier League in England.

Players can register for “The Chance” at nikefootball.com, where they can use digital assets to create custom campaign materials that build on the inspiration behind “Write the Future.” To support their bid, prospects can insert their image into a video that shows what their future might look like if they won “The Chance” complete with celebrity style pop culture moments. Entrants will also create a Facebook fan page to generate awareness and campaign support to get noticed.

After watching the video and reading the announcement, I am sure you probably are thinking that Nike is an official sponsor of the World Cup, right?  Wrong.  According the FIFA website which lists FIFA partners as well as World Cup Partners, Coca Cola is there but I could not find Nike.

Best Buy didn’t miss its chance for exposure around the tournament, even though they are not listed as an official partner either.  Yesterday, it had itsown release on the wires.   It told telling the world that it will be sending 16 teens from across the United States to Johannesburg, South Africa, June 15-20, 2010, to train at the Coca-Cola International Soccer Camp and attend a World Cup match. The teens, who won the trip through Best Buy’s teen-focused @15 program, will also have the chance to connect with 200 other teens from around the world at the camp and share their experiences in South Africa on www.at15.com.

It was harder to locate information about McDonalds, I did find this as part of their local efforts for activation.

McDonald’s has the exclusive right to select 1408 children for the FIFA World Cup and each country is encouraged to take part in this programme and select/send Player Escorts to the FIFA World Cup.  The McDonald’s Player Escort Programme for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ provides a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for children from across the world, aged 6 – 10, to walk hand in hand onto the official pitch with their football heroes in front of millions of people. McDonald’s owns sole and exclusive rights to this initiative.  The activation of Player Escort Programme, in particular, the recruitment process, serve to re-in force McDonald’s commitment to balanced active lifestyle, which is the key objective of McDonald’s sponsorship.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the lucky South African children that have been selected will travel to the soccer match with a parent or guardian and experience a unique side of the tournament. Kids coming to South Africa from other countries will enjoy flights, accommodation, sightseeing and meals all courtesy of McDonald’s. (Domestic kids, flights and accommodation are not included.)

Announcements surrounding the world Cup have not been limited only to sponsors.  I also found this on the wire servies.  Intelsat S.A., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced that it is providing global transmission services of the World Cup in South Africa. Intelsat will use its terrestrial platform, IntelsatONE^SM, to complement the distribution capabilities of its fleet.

According to the FIFA site, here are their official sponsors:  Coca Cola, Adidas, Emirates, Hyundai-motor, Sony and Visa.  The site also lists as World Cup Sponsors:  Budweiser, Castrol, McDonalds, Continental, MTN.com, Yinglisolar, Seara, Mahindra and Satyam

The sponsorship money has been spent and now the companies are trying to capture additional marketshare and revenue with the activation programs, some of which have been mentioned above.

The matches get underway on Friday with South Africa playing against Mexico and Uruguay taking on France.  The World Cup means millions of eyeballs for media and for sponsors.  Some pay the rights fees and use it to improve their image and to drive others.  Others, use different marketing methods to try and associate themselves with the games.

For a complete bracket list, I wrote about it before and you can link to it here.

I have been sitting on this post for a while but thought it was time to post it.  I have debated for a while if I should even post it but now mad at myself for holding it back for so long.

This is an open letter to the folks at Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal and the Sport Business Daily as well as to the folks at Sponsorship.com

Dear friends:

Everyone in the sports management business knows you host the IMG World Congress of Sports, which took place in Los Angeles earlier this year.  This event is one of a select few that is a must attend affair for people in our business.  About three weeks prior to this year’s conference, I emailed a request to attend the event and to write about it for this blog.

After the first attempt, no one even bothered to return my request.

So, I tried again.  After the second effort, I received a brief note that stated  the conference was for working media only.

In today’s age of change and Digital 2.0 media, I ask you, what exactly does that mean?  I am not the Los Angeles Times, nor the Associated Press.  I am not KABC TV nor KNBC TV.  This blog, is all about the business of sport.   I write about the the trends, information and people  in the sports business.

There are thousands of people that visit this site every month and some of the leaders in our business have been interviewed here.  Yet, the person in charge of credentialing did not even give me the time of day.

So I ask you, what qualifies as working media today?  How do you define it?  I guarantee it is not the same definition it was two year ago.

What qualifies for working media these days?  There was poor customer service by the staff in that I had to write a second time just to be told I was being denied access to write about the two day conference.  To busy to answer, you are thinking?  Remember, the sports business is, in a large part, customer service.  When  we forget that, we lose the fans that support a particular sport.

The bottom line is, the folks at IMG and the Sports Business Journal missed the boat.  I am guessing that I am not the only “blogger” who has been denied.

Second point.

As many of you know, I am an adjunct professor and teach at the Long Beach State Sport Management graduate program.  Yet, when I brought up the subject of the conference during a class, not one student was even aware that the conference was happening.  Why didn’t the conference offer special rates, seek out interns for the conference or use the students to help make the conference better.  These same students are the future of the industry. Where is the outreach?  Where is the vision?

On to IEG and sponsorship.com.  These good folks had the best of intentions ahead of their annual conference.  In Match they held their 27th Annual event in Chicago and I spoke several times to folks on their team about doing a feature for this blog.

In the end though, I never received the information ahead of the event and was not able to preview it before it happened.  Good intentions and bad execution.

Remember, today, in this fragmented media market, it is about eyeballs and targeted marketing.   They had a great chance to reach people in a non traditional setting but let it slip through their fingers.  Reaching bloggers is more important that ever.  Was I the only one they missed or were there other opportunities? Dunno…..

This is a call to all executives.  Adopt this developing technology, now.  Use the people and the resources that can help your business.  There is so much more these organizations could be doing to help their own cause.

I was recently contacted by the folks who are connected with Doritos and asked if I would write about the finalists in their fourth annual “Crash The Super Bowl” Challenge.

Let me say from the outset, that I have always loved Doritos, but no one has offered to pay me to write this.  They didn’t even offer to stack my house for the Super Bowl with a care package in exchange for writing a word or two (not that there is anything wrong with that) but I will say, the company has moved to a level of activation that others have not.  Today, just running a 30 second commercial and spending millions of dollars for brief mentions during the super bowl is not enough.

The Doritos brand has revealed six finalists selected from more than 4,000 entries in the fourth annual Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” challenge.  The contest encouraged people to make their own commercial, submit it and then people would vote on the best of the best.

Here are the six videos (in no particular order) that have made the finals.

According to the promotion, you can now vote for a finalist once a day at www.crashthesuperbowl.com between January 5 and 31, 2010.  If you are not keeping track at home, that gives you until tomorrow to do so…

Contestants are not only competing to have their self-made Doritos commercials aired during the Super Bowl XLIV broadcast, they are shooting to make history by beating the ad pros and garnering the top three spots in USA TODAY’s annual Ad Meter.  If they can do it, Doritos will award the winners a shared $5 million cash prize.

Online consumer voting will determine which three of the six finalists will air as Doritos’ Super Bowl commercials during the big game on February 7, 2010

Two more to go…..

Which one is your favorite?

Here is the bottom line.  The company was able to activate thousands of people to make commercials, even more to vote and place these commericals online, where they will live for a long time to come for people to see.

The investment will pay off by allowing others to talk about the brand in a new and unique way.  It is something I helped lead in my last corporate position.  Bravo.

December is here and the holiday rush to buy presents is on.  In a related move, I recently posted a one question poll and asked, would you consider purchasing a comprehensive 2010 event schedule with a focus on sports?  The overwhelming majority, 66% said, yes, there is an interest in this solution.

Since then, I have been hard at work creating something that would fit everyone’s need.  You can visit it here at SportsCalendarPro.com

First, I created a master sports calendar.  It has every major sports event in the United States.  What did I include?  In no particular order, here is a listing of just SOME of the events.  The Super Bowl, The 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2010 World Cup, College Bowl Games, The Kentucky Derby, the Indy 500, the men’s and women’s college basketball NCAA tournament and Final Four, sports conferences for sports related events like the IEG Sponsorship Summit and the 2010 World Sports Congress.  There are about 100 sports events in all.

As a sports executive and dedicated sports fan, I want and need to know what is happening and when it is happening.  It would be nice to find everything in one place for the enter year.  I am tired of searching for the Next event.  It is also great for planning events.  Not a sports fan, but you may be involved in major life events like getting married or you are just planning major events like fundraising dinners?  Then this is ideal for you as well.  I cannot remember how many times a major golf event or fundraising dinner collided with a major sports event and either a TV was wheeled in an event or continuous updates were given to keep people informed.

Belowis a snap shot of the calendar for two weeks in April.  If you click on the image you can see it in a full screen view.

If you want additional details of the event itself, you can click on say The NCAA Frozen Four dates and you will see this

At SportsCalendarPro.com, I created the site where you can view it online via a gmail account and from there, you can easily download this or sync it with Outlook and iphone.  I did it and it now runs as event dates on my master calendar.

The second option is to purchase the 2010 Master Calendar.  This includes not only al of the sporting events, but also includes the 2010 Entertainment Calendar, the 2010 Technology Calendar and major U.S. holidays.  For example, want to know when the 2010 Academy Awards take place or the ESPYs?  Maybe you want to visit the Sundance Film Festival, CES in Las Vegas or Macworld?  Then, this option is for you.

Last, which you won’t find on the home page but you will find on the ordering page, is the 2010 Custom Calendar.  It includes all of the above and allows you to add four (total) sports team schedules to the mix. For example, say you live in New York or the Boston area.  You can add the 2010 schedule for the Yankees, Mets, Nicks and Islanders in one place.  Hate NY teams but love Boston sports?  Then you can choose the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics schedules.

You write a sports related blog?  This allows you to preview the event since you know what is coming up.

Okay, it is the first time I have blatently plugged a product in the year I have been writing this sports business blog, but it is my product and I really believe in it.

Please, visit the site, Re-Tweet and Post this onto facebook or Digg for others to see.

Consider purchasing this unique holiday gift for the sports fan or event planner in your life.

It may be November, but 2010 is just around the corner.  Where does the time go this year?

My guess is, part of your energy has gone into finalizing schedules, planning budgets, checking on event availability and things like this.  Even if you do not work in the sports industry and are planning an event for next year, you need to know what may conflict with your own agenda.  Ever plan a fundraiser and it lands on….. a March Madness game? the World Series?  Your home team’s biggest event of the year?

For that reason, I have developed a 2010 master calendar.  The main focus is on sporting events things like College football bowl games, the Super Bowl, Wimbledon but also includes events like published sports conferences from a variety of groups.  Additionally, there are a handful of non-sports events like  The Sundance Festival, CES (technology trade show) the Academy Awards as well as general U.S. holidays.  In all, there are more than 50 events so far and I am adding more as they are listed.

Here is the question of the day.  It is simple and is one question only.  I would sincerely welcome your feedback.  Please take a moment to participate!