February 2010

Super Bowl XLIV Recap

by Sam Taggart|February 9th, 2010

shelgerard Congrats to the real winners of Super Bowl XLIV: CBS. This year’s Super Bowl was reportedly the most-watched TV event ever. CBS estimates that the game was watched by 106.5 million viewers, which is 600,000 more than watched the previous record-holder, the “M*A*S*H” series finale in 1983. I’m not surprised. While the Colts and Saints are two relatively small market teams, both are very likable from a football fan’s point of view. Further, most would agree that the Colts and Saints were really the best two teams in the league. The Colts started 14-0 and the Saints 13-0. Ultimately, both teams finished 14-3, and both teams earned the number one seeds in their divisions.

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About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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The Sports Executives Association

by Lewis Howes|February 8th, 2010

The Sports Executives Association is coming soon. Many of you have asked for more information, and emailing me about the release date. It’s coming soon, and I wanted to thank you for your patience.

I don’t want to spoil all of the goods by sharing with you every last detail, but I wanted to share with you this brief video to prepare you for the launch.

If you have not already signed up on the list to hear about the official launch date, make sure you sign up here and I will be sending out information over the next few weeks.

About Lewis Howes

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Interview with Paul Tonelli

by Matt Crevin|February 8th, 2010

This week on Voice of the Box, Matt interviews one of the most recognized radio personalities in California. Paul Tonelli from the famous Lamont and Tonelli Show is also the stadium PA announcer at Candlestick Park. Paul shares how he got his start in radio and what key factors led to his success.

About Matt Crevin

If you are passionate about pursuing a career in the sports industry and want to discover how top level insiders got their start, connect with Matt today. Matt provides a unique look into the careers of many sports industry executives, revealing their success stories, advice and techniques you can put to use as part of your search strategy. Collaborate with Matt and start listening, learning, creating and executing your own action plan! Equipped with business background and sports insider’s knowledge, Matt is ready to share his passion and knowledge with you! He delivers to his individual clients a unique process and format which gives sports industry hopefuls a unique look into the numerous career opportunities available in the sports industry and more importantly how to position yourself to break in.

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Sports Business Weekly Buzz

by Ben Sturner|February 7th, 2010

EA Teams Up With Doritos For Bowl Promo

By Aaron Baar

Super Bowl Sunday means two things for most Americans: Snacks and Football. EA Sports is hoping to capitalize on the conversation by partnering with Doritos to give fans the chance to choose the cover athlete for the upcoming version of its popular gaming franchise, “Madden NFL 11.”
“To associate our brand with Doritos is an honor, and it’s a great opportunity to talk about our brand on the product,” Chris Erb, senior director of marketing partnerships for EA Sports, tells Marketing Daily. “They’re going to sell a lot of chips, and we’re going to be a part of that. The timing is perfect.”

(www.mediapost.com)

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About Ben Sturner

Ben Sturner is the Founder and CEO of Leverage Agency, one of the most respected, innovative, resourceful and ambitious sports and entertainment branding sponsorship agencies on Madison Avenue. Sturner has taken his multi-million dollar business from a small start-up in his New York City apartment to a premiere agency that has secured deals for clients including: Jimmy Kimmel Live, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball, KFC, Gillette, Progressive Insurance, Southwest Airlines, Reebok, Comcast, Anheuser Busch, Fremantle Media, Mark Burnett Productions and NBC’s Prime Time Celebrity Apprentice, Reveille, Radical Media, as well as other top-tier brands. Ben has been named NYC Entrepreneur of the month in TrueNYC.com and has been interviewed and featured on ESPN, NBC, CNBC, USA TODAY and WALL STREET JOURNAL as an expert in sports and entertainment sponsorship.

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Super Bowl Commercials Play Role in Branding

by Gail Sideman|February 5th, 2010

ramseymohsen A few days ago a reporter called and asked how I would advise a professional athlete if he wanted to endorse a hot-button topic in a forum as big as a Super Bowl audience.

My answer was not textbook public relations.

(I will reveal the outlet and topic upon its publication).

The reasons that athletes and coaches endorse products and services are as varied as the people themselves. Some do it because they patronize and truly believe in said organizations. Others pitch products because it fattens their bank accounts; some make themselves available for endorsements to keep their face in front of possible post-sports employers.

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About Gail Sideman

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.

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It’s a Numbers Game – Sports Vanity Toll Free Numbers

by Tim Evans|February 4th, 2010

Travis Nicholson! We all know there are numerous ways to brand your sports business. From a professionally designed and well optimized website, to having consistent social networking usernames across a variety of social media platforms, you are well on your way to promoting your brand.

With a passion for domain names over the years, I have been able to appreciate what it means to have a unique vanity toll-free number. With domain names, you can have a maximum of 64-characters (numbers and letter combinations) to create a domain name, but with a toll free number, you only have seven digits to work with. Because of this length limitation, at least at the level of a true 800#, there are no numbers left in the 800# database left that have been unused.

So how do you find an 800# to market your business? I’ve been using TollFreeNumbers.com over the years because it allows you to search for that perfect number and it lets you know if it is available.

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About Tim Evans

Tim Evans is the CEO of Athlete Web Design, a web design and internet marketing firm for athletes and sports professionals based in Chicago. Tim has been online since 1997 and is an expert in the domain name sales, acquisitions, and monetizing realm. This expertise in domain names has evolved into helping athletes and sports professionals with a virtual presence online through official websites for athletes / sports entities. Twitter: @athlete E-mail: [email protected]

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Social Media as Sponsorship Street Cred

by Kris Mathis|February 3rd, 2010

Fact: blue chip brands receive thousands of sponsorship proposals every year. Estimate: there are some 300,000 properties seeking sponsorship (depending on the way you define it).

How do you break through the relentless clutter to get the ear and sincere consideration of a sponsorship decision maker? A well researched and tailored proposal may increase your chances, but these days there are a lot of other properties spending a lot of time doing the exact same thing on the sponsor you’re targeting.

Fact is, when you’re submitting a proposal to a blue chip brand that gets flooded by proposals (especially when you’re submitting through a proposal management system), it’s a stretch to think that every proposal will get an in depth review on the merit of its own ideas. Actually some systems rate your proposal against a scorecard for the sponsor so that they don’t even have to read the proposal or see your “vision,” only the nuts and bolts. This may be deflating considering many properties spend 1-2+ hours on each tailored proposal. Keep reading to find out how you may be able to make it out of the pile.

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About Kris Mathis

Kris Mathis is the Founder/CEO of SponsorPitch.com, a New York City-based sponsorship networking start-up. Kris started his career in sponsorship representing Fortune 500 clients at Edelman PR's sponsorship consulting division prior to jumping to a brand management position at Paris-based mobile gaming startup, Gameloft. In between, Kris attended graduate school in Nashville (Music City!), Tennessee. In his spare time, Kris enjoys eating, running, the beach, UFC and Bryant Park. Follow Kris on Twitter @Sponsorpitch!

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Freestyle Soccer: Leveraging a New Platform

by Lewis Howes|February 3rd, 2010

(This is a guest article by Ryan Knapp)

On Tuesday January 26th, Dan Magness set the world record for juggling a soccer ball for just about 36 miles, visiting five different English Premier League club stadia in the process.

Yes, 36 miles, that is not a typo.

This is not Magness’s first time in the spotlight for an act of soccer jugging mastery. In May 2009 he beat the world record for juggling a soccer ball for 24 hours without letting it touch the ground.

If you are able to watch video of Magness’ travel around London’s soccer stadiums, you can see that he is not simply juggling the ball from point A to B. At every turn, he is interacting with fans and strangers along the route, performing tricks that go beyond a simple keep-up. I hope a film crew or at least someone with a flip-cam was following him getting fans reaction on tape.

While sponsors are busy looking at numbers and ROI to justify sponsorship dollars, they are simultaneously searching out the next viral marketing idea or creative sponsorship activation. A freestyle soccer event such as this could generate quite the buzz surrounding your club and your sponsors.

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About Lewis Howes

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Networking at the Ballpark

by Lewis Howes|February 1st, 2010

Werner Kunz (This is a guest article by Chris Rufle)

Putting on a networking event at your venue can be beneficial for you in a few different ways. It can give you the opportunity to sell a weak night, draw in new quality leads, and help other business executives further their businesses all at the same time. As long as you follow a few steps to make sure you plan your event properly it can be a success.

First, pick a night. Since people are primarily coming for the networking event instead of the game, you have the opportunity to pick the date you prefer. This gives you the ability to take one of your weaker nights and sell it while hosting a successful group outing with great potential for future leads.

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