The Sports Info Business

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.

The first step in making things better is admitting you have a problem.

So, here goes.

Hello, my name is Charles Harris and I have a problem.

“Hello Charles”

I, am a news junkie.  That’s right, I need to know what is going on in the world.  From Gilbert Arenas getting suspended for the rest of the NBA season to President Obama’s State of the Union Address last night, I digest this and much more.  Every day.

I started thinking how much media I consume in any given day.   I started to make a list.  The list includes printed newspapers I still receive to my home this day (let’s see if I but the new Apple iPad here eventually), news online, TV related news, magazines and more.

In no particular order….

Los Angeles Times

Wall St. Journal

Orange County Register

Sports Illustrated

NBC Nightly News

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

New York Times

Yahoo News

No, I do not feel like I am going to get asked important questions by clients at any moment nor am I preparing to appear on the game show Jeopardy. There are several reasons I guess. The top reason is just plain knowledge.  Learning and knowing what is going on in our world.  Another is sharing.  With the advent of all of this new media, I like sharing and finding people that find value in information they do not know about.  I post it to one of my two Twitter Accounts, Twitter.com/sportsinfo or Twitter.com/Coast2CoastExp and if it is event related I am probably adding it to a master calendar called SportsCalendarPro.com I absolutely include items in my free, monthly business newsletter to interested folks.

I tried going the way of most people, by dumping my subscriptions for the printed version of newspapers for the online version and in some cases it has worked.  My wife was happy for a while since she hates the newsprint in the home and secretly dumps it herself whenever I am not looking.  But it is back in a few different forms.  The process starts when I am eating breakfast.  I must read something when I eat breakfast.  Again, a habit I blame on my father but not a bad habit.

But there are so many more types of media I am not even mentioning.  I read links to what people post on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I look for news that I feel my clients can benefit from and pass this on to them.  At the end of the day, I am not a site aggregator myself but a knowledge base.  For me, for my family and for the people I interact with on a daily basis.  If that is a problem, I guess it is one of those good problems to have in life.

Have I made things better?  You tell me.

Happy holidays to all.

Please find enclosed a few sports jobs that have been recently advertised.  The companies below include Nike, the Fox Sports network and the Chicago Cubs

Field Marketing Manager for Nike

Description

As our Field Marketing Manager for Nike 6.0, you’ll assist in the creation and execution of category and seasonal initiatives for 6.0 that drive brand strength, fuel consumer demand and strengthen our connection with consumers. You’ll be the voice of the 6.0 consumer and protector of the brand. You’ll maintain a close relationship with key consumer groups and work closely with Sports Marketing, Event Marketing, Geography Marketing teams and Field Representatives to identify influencers and stay current on market trends. You’ll support the development of strategic marketing plans and briefs, as well as complete the field-work/research needed for the plans. You’ll assist in the gathering of information, communication and progress on 6.0 initiatives and in leading categorical and seasonal event execution that ensures excellence with functional and regional groups. You’ll contribute to the team’s development of strategy, implementation and evaluation of plans for category and seasonal marketing initiatives and to the definition of 6.0 marketing strategies that support the broader brand plan. You’ll also support the Integrated Marketing process for 6.0 and assist in leading processes that enable timely and effective execution by cross-functional business teams. You’ll participate in the creation of seasonal product outlines that detail all key products for 6.0 and communicate product support to cross-functional teammates responsible for other key seeding packages. In addition, you’ll meet monthly with accounting to track expenses against each assigned budget. You’ll also work closely with the Inventory Management and Promo Planning team to place product buys and ensure the timely product delivery and program execution.

Link to Apply

Production Coordinator, Fox Sports Network

Description

Fox Sports Network Digital Production is recruiting a Production Coordinator. Under close supervision, this position is responsible for assisting in all digital production group projects and events as well as perform general administrative support to the Vice-President, Coordinating Producer, and Manager of Digital Production. This Coordinator will produce and maintain necessary documents related to all Digital Production group projects. The position will report into the Vice-President, Coordinating Producer, and Manager of FSN Digital Production, and will be located on the Fox Studio Lot in Century City, CA.

Responsibilities:

• Assist the group with hands on production duties related to Digital Production group projects

• Assist with the flow of content from capture to distribution

• Support the group administratively; produce and maintain necessary documents related to all Digital Production group projects

• Maintain a variety of correspondence and general administrative files and records

• Coordinate all group and inter-division meetings, aligning meeting personnel schedules and providing necessary documentation for each meeting

• Schedule and arrange all group travel and assist with expense report submissions

• Performs various special projects, as required

• Attend training classes

• Actively contribute ideas during group meetings

• Become well versed in the regional sports networks and the personnel in each region

Requirements:

• College degree preferred/experience within TV production is preferred

• Excellent writing and communication skills required

Link to Apply

2010 CHICAGO CUBS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

The Chicago Cubs have advertised several internship opportunities for 2010.  These include the following departments: Entertainment, Mezzanine Suites, Sponsorship Sales, Special Projects, IT, Publications & Creative Services, Event Operations, and Media Relations.

Qualified candidates should possess or be near completion of an undergraduate/graduate degree (any major).

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter containing their area of interest, date of availability, and resume to:

Chicago Cubs
Attn: Human Resources Dept.
1060 W. Addison Street
Chicago, IL 60613

Email: cubsjobs@cubs.com
Fax: (773) 404-4747

Here is a link to the page to see the entire description

A happy but soggy Monday to all, at least on the West Coast.  I have a few things I would like to share with you today so I am going to submit them into different posts.  I hope you will come back more than once.

Today’s posts will include a look at future of sports content in this post and later today, a different look at the latest in Tiger Woods news and hopefully by the end of the day, more job information for those of you looking for new positions.  Just make sure to watch the video at the end of the Post.  Pretty cool stuff.

We start with this.

If you are keeping tabs on technology developments, the newspaper and magazine business people have been looking for ways to keep people interested in their brand.  At the end of the day, it still all about the content that is created.  The newspaper industry specifically has been searching for new delivery tools while increasing revenue opportunities.  Apple, has been rumored to be coming out with a Tablet. From what I have read, it will be a larger sized than the current iPhone with better functionality for reading.

That said, I was surfing the Internet when I came across this video, posted by the folks at Sports Illustrated. If this will happen in 2010, the SI and its sister publications will be ahead of the game in attracting viewers.  Enjoy the video and see the future of sports content, now.  It is called the Sports Tablet Demo 1.5 and the video producers of it are the folks at the Wonder Factory.

———————

Great Holiday Gift Idea!

All Sports Schedules in one place — www.SportsCalendarPro.com

A product form Sportsinfo101.com

According to a report this morning in the San Francisco Business Times, The National Football League (NFL) has restricted use of the social media tool Twitter and other similar services by its players, coaches and other employees of teams on game days.  The enforcement policy includes stopping all postings representing the player or coach (aka agent or public relations person) starting 90 minutes before a game and continuing until its end.

NFL referees and other officials are banned from using Twitter at all.

In a related story, Florida-based TV station WPTV.com and reporter Adam Kuperstein filed a story last month claiming that the Miami Dolphins had restricted Twitter.

“If I had Tweeted during the non-open tweeting period, I would have been shot and I would not have been able to do this interview with you,” Ethan Skolnick of the Sun-Sentintel was quoted as saying in the story.

News to me.  The Dolphins have a tweeting period?  A little too much control, no?

Someone needs to educate the administrators that social media is designed to open the lines of communication between fans and the product (teams, the league etc)  It is the way of the world and where things are moving.  I understand wanting to try and control events during the games, but if you want to restrict insight, get the sidelined reporters interviewing athletes and coaches at halftime out of there.  Also, let the baseball managers do their job and not have to provide interviews from the dugout during games.  TV pays the bug bucks for access.  I get it and this is part of the reason why I am guessing the NFL came out with this policy.

If you’d like to read more about the NFL’s policy and their take,

Here is a link to the full social media press release by the NFL

This has also become a hot topic in college football as well.  The SEC recently set is own social media policy which caused an uproar in online blogs and the social media space.  Obviously, everyone is learning as this new technology moves forward.  Restricting the use of Twitter however, will only fuel the fire of those demanding openness and transparency for companies, including those in the sports world.

Do you have a favorite Chris Berman nickname?  The long-time ESPN reporter, play-by-play announcer and host made a name for himself a long time ago in a land far far away.

He unveiled her personal nicknames of athletes and integrated them into his broadcast to entertain fans and athletes.  At one point it got him in hot water with the folks running the emerging cable sports and entertainment.  They made him stop, then it was brought back.  In any case, you probably  know a few of his tag lines like back-back-back-back-back-back-back during home run calls

He-could-go-all-the-way….and he does! during great football TD runs, how many of the nicknames he has given athletes over the years can you repeat?

How about a few of these:

Ron Bon in the US Cey

David Sili Cone

Jay Fielder on the Roof

Tom Henke Panky

Stan Javier Self a Merry Little Christmas

John I am not a Kruk

Sandis Ozolinsh that stole Christmas

Eric Karros Matic.

It goes one and on…..

Personally, I have held quite a few nicknames over the years.  As a kid living in Chicago, it was Chuckie.  As I grew older, it turned into Chuck, Chas, Up-Chuck (people still think this is funny 150,000 times later, Chuck Buck, Dodger Chuck, Huck, Chuck E Baby.  This list also goes goes on and on.

So it came as a surprise when I was working for the Dodgers in the 1990’s that Chris Berman was visiting during an ESPN broadcast.  He looked and me and as if he knight me, proclaimed “Charles E Cheese”   Whenever he saw me, it was always Charles E Cheese.  Years later when we saw each other while I was with the Ducks in the NHL, it was still Charles E Cheese.  No has ever called me it before or since

I don’t think I will show up in any “Best Of” lists, but I am always honored the “Boomer” gave me my own moniker.

If you’d like to see an entire list, I found this special Chris Berman Nickname List. Check it out.

Eight days.  I was only gone for eight days but it seemed like a month.  In an age where I never feel disconnected from my computer, my sports blog, friends, family via emails, I pretty much turned off technology for eight days while I was in Paris and Normandy, France.

Here is just a sample of some of the things that happened while I was gone…..

Michael Vick from 60 Minutes Interview

• Michael Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and is back in the National Football League after serving a prison term for running a dog fighting ring.  Speaking of whch, I watched the 60 Minutes story on Vick last night.  He was polished and prepared by his advisors.  James Brown appeared to be asking tough questions, but did not come across like the hard nosed reporting from regular reporters on the show.  I wonder, was that a condition for Vick granting the interview?
• Eli Manning became the highest paid professional football player after signing a six year extension
• Major League Baseball players were being hit in the noggin by pitchers at an alarming rate
• Speaking of being hit, Andre Beltre made headlines after taking a ball to an area a little lower in the belly button and journalists are now asking who is wearing a cup in baseball.  The details of him be nailed in the pelotas on a one hopper off the bat of Alexi Ramirez is a bit more graphic than former Dodger Jeff Hamilton, who once went on the disabled list for “general soreness.”
• Reports circulated that ESPN has stopped allowing reporters to Tweet sports news and that it has developed a new company wide social media policy.  I am still catching up on this topic.
• Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino had an affair

And a few non sports related items as well:

• A touring helicopter crashes into a small plane in New York while the guy in the control tower was busy chatting with someone in a non work related event.
• Former president Bill Clinton made headlines after a trip to North Korea to free imprisoned journalists Laura King and Euna Lee
• Government town hall meetings over health care crisis stirs emotions of average Americans.  Journalists focus on the shouting day after day in news reports.  I only know about this since I taped John Stewart and National TV News programs while I was gone.  Staged or real anger?  This debate will go on
• Director John Hughes passed away
• A Continental Express jet stranded 50 or so passengers 50 feet from a Minnesota exit and would not allow them to leave overnight as security went home after the plane had landed.

Being disconnected for eight days from technology is a bit tougher than I thought.  I am an information junkie.  Always have been and always will be.  I like to know what is going on in the world, but to what extent?  While I speak French, I was not sitting in front of a TV in Paris watching the news.  It was mentally healthy not to be in front of a computer for a few days.  I had enough to do while I was there, but by allowing myself to disconnect, I also allowed my body to recharge.

That and of course, some genius in France rearranged all of the letters on all French computer keyboards so as I contemplated trying to Blog or Tweet from France, this little obstacle stopped any thought of that.  It is good to be home.  Being disconnected for eight days or for one or two does a body good.  Take time out once in a while.  I am glad I did.

One of the things I thought about while I was away was a good friend of mine, an executive with a sports team whom I had the pleasure of playing golf with on a sunny California afternoon.  He must have checked that Blackberry 50 times during the round.  For a change, my hands were free to concentrate on playing 18 holes, which I do not get to do as much as I would like to.  Disconnecting for a bit is not a bad thing.  We all need to recharge our batteries once in a while, even if it is for a couple of hours.

Now, let’s get back at this.  There is a lot going on in the world.

As I try and dig out from the hundreds of emails that mounted in my in box while I was gone, I was contacted by my friend Eva who asked that I post a Sales & Marketing Internship with AEG for the fall.  She also asked interested candidates apply on the website at AEG Here is some additional information about the open position.

The AEG Sales Internship provides qualified college students the opportunity to gain access and insight into the highly competitive world of professional sports and entertainment, while assisting the sales and marketing departments in a variety of ways. Each AEG Sales Intern will build valuable career experience as they assist the department in its efforts to market and sell tickets to a variety of events, from the LA Kings and other professional sports teams, to concerts, special events, family shows and more. Qualified individuals MUST be current college students and must be able to receive college credit for this internship. This is a non-paid position. Hours will vary depending upon school schedule and availability.
Essential Job Functions: The individual must possess the following knowledge, skills and abilities and be able to explain and demonstrate that he or she can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Support Sales staff in a variety of ways
Assist with Game day events§ & operations
Perform general research
Create and assist with execution of group theme nights for various sporting events
Assist with marketing initiatives§
Run Reports (sales,§ call volume, etc.)
Proficiency in the following Microsoft Office programs:§ Word, Excel, Power Point & Outlook
Complete semester or term projects§ to be determined by various department managers

Non-essential Job Functions: In addition to performing the essential functions, this position may be required to perform a combination of the following supportive functions, with the percentage of time performing each function to be solely determined by Supervisor.

Candidates must possess excellent oral and written communication skills
Ability to work 20 hours a week, including some evenings and weekends
Receive college credit for this internship

Thank you,

Eva Orozco | Recruiter, Human Resources

AEG Administration | 714 W. Olympic Blvd. | Suite 301 |

Los Angeles, CA 90015( 213.763.7785 | 6 213.742.7296 |* eorozco@aegworldwide.com

Unusual for three posts in a day but this is also worth your attention.  If you do not know who Erin Andrews is, then you must not watch ESPN very often.  The blond haired reporter for the cable sports TV network knows her sports and also knows how to turn a head or two.  For women reporters on television, it is par for the course.

Often hired for their good looks, they are also fodder for comedians and critics if they do not know the statistics and records, but at times receive more unwanted attention than they care for because of the same good looks that got them hired.

So, I was browing Yahoo Sports news, when a story came across my computer this evening that deserved a thorough read.  The Headline from Monday’s

New York Post was also on top the story, and the headline was sure to draw attention: Erin Andrews Nude Video For Sales To Highest Bidder:  Report

MSNBC countered with its own headline:  Erin Andrews nude video may have linked to virus.

I was saddened by the news sites taking advantage of the reporter’s issue with a peeping Tom with a video camera.  It seems someone video taped a Nude Andrews IN HER HOTEL ROOM through a peep hole and put it up on the internet.

While many of the sites focused on the news story, Erin’s name was a top 10 searchable item on Google Trends.  I hope in the coming day or two that a female reporter will step up and address the issue of sex and sports from a personal perspective.

For as long as women reporter’s have been around a men’s locker room, there have been issues of access and fair reporting.  While not an easy subject, the topic will never truly go away when you mix men and women together.

This however was not an issue of access.  Any Erin Andrews video on the Internet from a hotel room is an issue of invasion.

Everybody loves rankings.  We rank Top 10, top 25 and always fight about “Who’s Number 1″  Today, ESPN The magazine has come out with a ranking of the top 122 professional sports franchises and their respective rankings.

The best to worst sports polls and team rankings has been released.  Here are some of the following criteria used for this year’s poll from online fan voting of 50,000 online participants:  Affordability, Coaching, Ownership, Fan Relations, Title Track, Players and Stadium Experience.

Best Coaches:  Spurs and Patriots tied for the number 1 overall

Players:  Best effort belonged to the Spurs, Cavaliers ranked first on the likeability scale.

The Detroit Red Wings were ranked at the top for getting the most out of the money they spend.  Here are the bottom five-ranked franchises, according to this survey.

BOTTOM FIVE

122. Clippers

121. New York Knicks

120. Toronto Maple Leafs

119. Detroit Lions

118 Cincinnati Bengals

and the top ranked organizations…….

THE TOP FIVE

1. Los Angels Angels

2. Carolina Hurricanes

3. Pittsburgh Steelers

4. Detroit Red Wings

5. Cleveland Cavilers

Some other notable teams and where they ranked

Anaheim Ducks (11), New Jersey Devils (38(, NY Giants (45), LA Dodgers (50), LA Lakers (51), New York Mets (82), NY Rangers (93), LA Kings (95), NY Jets (103), NY Yankees (107) and NY Islanders (115).

If you want to read the entire press release from ESPN with the rankings, here is the link.

In an unnrelated survey, Compete, a TNS Media company, yesterday released the rankings of the top ten sports fan sites for May 2009, based on data from Compete’s panel of two million US-based internet users. Even with the NBA and NHL playoffs underway in May, Major League Baseball (MLB) fans outnumbered NBA fans online more than two to one and NHL fans more than four to one. According to Compete, number-one ranked MLB.com reached more than 12,227,000 sports enthusiasts in May 2009 (up 35% since May 2008), followed by NBA.com with 5,624,776 unique visitors (UVs), Nascar.com with 3,716,636 UVs and NHL.com with 2,899,406 UVs.  Here is a graph to help understand all of the numbers.