Frank McCourt, Mucho Macho Man, the NBA and Yu
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
