How Mark Cuban Became Owner of the Dallas Mavericks

by Lewis Howes | October 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

If you are a basketball lover then you have to know the name Mark Cuban. It is a name that resonates with the NBA as he is one of the most recognized franchise owners, someone who cares about the well being of his players and organization, an extremely dynamic individual, and all around great business man.

Although he has led the Dallas Mavericks to become a dominating team from one that was lacking before he was the owner, the deal almost did not come to fruition. He almost bought another professional sports team in a completely different sport. Watch this brief video from good friend Brian Cuban (brother of Mark) below to learn the behind the scenes scoop on what really went down.

What are your thoughts about this deal? Do you think Mark should have bought the other franchise, or do you think Dallas is lucky to have such a great owner? Be sure to follw both Mark and Brian on Twitter as they always have interesting things to say.

Kelly Perdew on Fantasy Sports

by Lewis Howes | October 27th, 2009 | No Comments »

kelly perdew Fantasy sports is a huge business right now, wouldn’t you agree? Although I am not a fantasy sports player, I know how important it is, and how it has changed not only the way fans interact with their favorite team, but how they now interact with all of the teams in various leagues.

Kelly Perdew is the CEO of Rotohog.com and is part of the fantasy sports revolution that is taking over the way fans view sports. Don’t take it from me, watch what Kelly has to say about where fantasy sports is headed in the future, and how RotoHog is leading the way.

Top 100 Pieces of Advice for Sports Ticket Sales Reps

by Bill Guertin | October 21st, 2009 | 2 Comments »

1. Ask yourself, “Why do I want to be in sports ticket sales?” If it’s because you’ve always wanted to work for a sports team, consider that you may have wanted the job for the wrong reasons.

2. Be in love with success as much as you are in love with the job. Don’t take the job simply because you wanted to see your name next to the team logo on a business card.

3. Understand that you’ll have all kinds of people you’ll need to interact with effectively, including some that you wouldn’t want to necessarily hang out with. Look past your own personal bias, and treat everyone the same: Like Gold.

100 Reasons You’re Still Searching For Sponsors in Sports

by Kris Mathis | October 19th, 2009 | 3 Comments »

sponsor Things have to get better than this year right? The best part about 2009 is that it has re-focused both buyers and sellers on what really matters in sponsorship. Marketers are creating leaner, more effective sponsorship portfolios and properties (”sellers”) have been forced by the competitive environment to take an honest look at their sales practices and offerings. In the end, I’m convinced we’ll all come out better for it. Properties will sell better, sponsors will have more positive outcomes, and sponsorship as a practice will have more successful case studies. Until then…

100. You sold exposure, your prospect wanted relevance

99. Your property wasn’t “green” enough

98. Your team fixed a race

97. You didn’t prospect for multi-nationals

96. Your title left and so went their business partners

95. It competed with yours and took your sponsors

94. The sponsor decided to create their own property

93. You bought a certified measurement

92. The sponsor did their own certified measurement

91. New legislation ate it

90. You focused on your assets

How Athletes are Emotionally Abusing Children

by Lewis Howes | October 12th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

(This is another funny guest post by The Virtual Biographer™, Brad Williamson.)

Let’s look back – ooooooooooh – 20 years ago when I was a fresh-faced nine year old cutie patootie…

I liked:

And most of all…

Nolan Ryan

That dude was my personal Jesus. On the mound at the old Arlington Stadium, he’d wind-up and knee himself in the nose one hundred times a night (damn, he had a high leg-kick!) in an effort to make my nine year old mind ooze with amazement. And at the end of each game – which inevitably produced some sort of record-breaking moment – I’d be left with a heart that was hungry for more of his heat; but, unfortunately, I had nowhere to turn for additional insight into the life of my favorite living legend. So instead of firing up a pubecent Prodigy Online, I’d reach for my “Nolan Ryan – Throwing Heat” book or my “Nolan Ryan – Feel The Heat” VHS. After all, that’s all I had to enjoy when I needed a ‘lil more of The Ryan Express in my life. Blogs weren’t born yet and Twitter was still a lame application awaiting its debut into the mindless mainstream.

Between starts, I needed me some more Nolan, but where was I to go to find my fix?

Today, there are digital ways for giddy kids, or giddy grown-ups, to gain additional insight into the lives of those they have man-love towards. Sure, there’s a googillion sports sites out there that deliver an incredible amount of insight about player’s performances, but none of them provide content about what fans really want: details into their days as a person who’s living the dream of being idolized as a sports star.

How can this be? How can we have an Internet that’s full of both brilliance and idiocy not have much Soulful content from public figures about the lives they lead? Sure, they’re busy being bad asses, but would it really be that much of a burden for them to reach out to their fans and fancy them with a little Web-love every once in a while?

I know that back in ‘89, if Nolan was on the Net, I’d gladly wait the ten minutes it would take to load a single page of his blog, because I was fanatical about the guy. Now, in ‘09, I can instantly load 73 tabs of individual athlete blogs and be in hero-heaven for hours on end, gaining insight into the lives I love to live vicariously through.

…Actually, scratch that. Because, now that I really think about it, I can’t do that AT ALL.

I’m not aware of any personal blogs by athletes that are worth following on a daily basis. And, in my personal opinion, that’s just pathetic and lazy. There are millions of nine year olds out there who so desperately want a role model in the world of sports to look up to, but, for some crazy reason I can’t begin to comprehend, they can’t be found on the Net, because taking fifteen minutes to satisfy an impressionable youngster’s hunger for insight into an idol’s life is just too much to ask from someone who plays a child’s game for only a few hours a night.

I’m sorry to sound so irritated by the lack of communication between athletes and their fans, but it just irks me that there are thousands of highly paid professional athletes out there who are only taking care of half the responsibilities they have as a potentially influential public figure.

Click here to stalk Brad Williamson on the Cyberscapes!

Like this article? Read Brad’s last article: Athlete Twitterers are Inconsiderate Social Media Amateurs

2 Ways to Enhance Marketing for Unpopular Sports

by Ryan Stephens | October 7th, 2009 | 9 Comments »

There’s two co-workers in my office who love soccer. “That’s cute,” I like to tell them and accuse them of being unpatriotic for not liking football or America’s pastime more. But that poses the question. What if you’re trying to market soccer in America? Hockey in Texas? The WBNA anywhere?

1. Educate People About the Game

Fans often don’t appreciate what they don’t understand, and while most of us play soccer when we’re younger (Our Dad’s just sign us up so they can stare at the soccer mom’s when our mom’s aren’t looking?) we often quit before high school and play the sports all our friends are playing.