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How to Become General Manager of a Major League Baseball Team

I connected with Mark Shapiro two years ago at the Princeton Sports Symposium, and had a great time getting to know more about his professional career in Major League Baseball. He came from humble upbringings, but through his hard work and perseverance, he worked his way up to become the Vice President and General Manager of the Cleveland Indians and was recently promoted to become team president for the club next season. Mark’s journey has been an inspiring one and his rags-to-riches story has something that we can all take away in our own journey to success in the sports world.

Interception

Written by Michelle Hill in Sports Jobs

According to Wikipedia, “an interception is a very specialized move that occurs when a quarterback’s pass is caught by a player on the opposing team. This leads to an immediate change of possession during the play: the defender who caught the ball immediately assumes the role of the offense and attempts to move the ball as far towards the opposing goal as possible. Following the stoppage of play, if the interceptor retained possession of the ball, their team takes over possession at the spot where he was downed.”

Recap: Social Media Basketball

Written by Sam Taggart in Social Media in Sports

A couple of months ago, NYC-based social media agency Carrot Creative challenged the agency I work for, VaynerMedia to a game of basketball. “Hey @vaynermedia,” they tweeted, “Since our comps are the 2 best Sports Social Media Shops It is time to battle it out on the Basketball court! #challenge.” Of course, we accepted the challenge and played the game. VaynerMedia won, 61-41.

LeBron James Further Destroys PR

Written by Gail Sideman in Sports Marketing

Really LeBron?

I just shook my head and mentally shook LeBron James by the collar when I read his tweet directed at critics, yesterday: “Don’t think for one min(ute) that I haven’t been taking mental notes of everyone taking shots at me this summer. And I mean everyone!”

(For the record, I wouldn’t lay a hand on a man three-times my size, especially if I was coaching him.)

Ok, so I guess I won’t be invited to his South Beach Christmas Bash. Oh, well….

Missed drinks donning umbrellas with The Decided aside, James is still a young player in the NBA. He has no championship rings and he still has lots of endorsements to sign before he comes close to Michael Jordan, the star basketball player he has been most compared. James’ endorsements may even trail Tiger Woods’.

Sports Industry Statistics And Survey Results

Written by Lewis Howes in Sports Business

You spoke and we listened! A while back, we created the Sports Business Survey in hopes of creating a better understanding of the top sports industry executives. More than 1,000 people completed the survey and we were amazed with the feedback.

Resources for Athletes – Part 2

Written by Michelle Hill in Sports Business

In a previous article I wrote about two valuable resources that professional athletes can use to manage and improve their lives. In this Part 2 article, I’ll focus on Fan Inc., a new resource that helps former NCAA injured athletes receive the medical attention they deserve and I’ll also dive further into Sportsdrive to see how their high tech development tool helps athletes reach their highest potential possible.

FAN, Inc. Foundation for Athletes in Need – We see the glory of athletes when they’re “in the zone” and hitting their game like a Trojan. We see the sweet victories and think to ourselves, “what an exciting life.” What we often don’t see is the chronic physical pain many athletes endure for years after they’re finished playing.

Steve Strinko, former NCAA middle linebacker for Michigan State founded FAN, Inc. in response to experiencing his own post-career medical issues and also seeing a serious gap in services for former student athletes who have been injured while participating in a NCAA sanctioned sport.

FAN’s mission statement succinctly states, “To provide financial assistance to qualified former student athletes who are experiencing hardships related to an injury incurred while participating in an NCAA sanctioned activity.” FAN, Inc.’s goal is to assist under- and uninsured individuals in obtaining relevant, professional medical services.

As a grassroots effort, FAN is currently determining the extent of the problem. If you have knowledge of a former NCAA athlete with sports-related injuries who needs medical attention but is unable to secure care due to financial constraints, please visit the website and send Steve an email.

A Twitter Guide to the 2010-11 NFL Season

Written by Sam Taggart in Social Media in Sports

The 2010 NFL season is quickly approaching. The preseason is already under way, and the regular season begins on Thursday, September 9th, with the Minnesota Vikings visiting the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game. I love baseball and I’m a huge basketball fan as well. In fact, I really enjoy watching most sports. But there’s nothing like sitting on your couch on a Sunday afternoon with a couple of buddies, and a table full of junk food and beer, and watching nine straight hours of hard-hitting football.

So, why am I writing this article? Why a Twitter Guide? Twitter has become the best platform for up-to-the minute news and analysis in most arenas. If you want to stay on top of… anything you care about, Twitter is the place to do it (especially with “fast follow”). I’ll list a number of my favorite NFL-related accounts with a brief reason as to why they’re worth following. Enjoy!

Top Brands Dive into Sports Sponsorships

Written by Ben Sturner in Sports Sponsorship

We have teamed up with Ben Sturner and his extraordinary crew at Leverage Agency to bring you the top five movers and shakers each week in the world of sports sponsorships and marketing.

American Eagle’s Sponsorship Program Takes Flight
Joining the growing number of apparel brands sponsoring to build visibility, gain differentiation and drive retail traffic, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. is expanding its use of the medium. Looking to make a stronger connection with its 15-to-25-year-old target, AEO recently announced a three-year partnership with collegiate athletics’ Big East Conference, around which it will present the men’s and women’s basketball championships.

Munich 2018 bid announces Allianz as new partner
Global financial services provider Allianz was yesterday unveiled as the latest partner to support Munich’s bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018.

Beckham, Thanks For The Memories

Written by Ash Read in Sports Business

I’ll warn you now this isn’t one of my typical articles, if you’d like to read about how sports can utilise social media, I’m sorry to disappoint you (this time), but I feel sometimes we need to take a step back from social media and remember exactly why it is we love sport so much. This is simply an article to say thank you to a sporting icon and a true England legend.

Growing up in England, football was my first love and David Beckham was my first sporting idol. Last night it seems Fabio Capello called time on Beckham’s extraordinary England career when he said “I thank [David] very much for helping me at the World Cup but probably he is a little bit old.”

Even though Beckham has always come back stronger whenever he’s faced adversity or been dropped in the past, even as his biggest fan, I would admit that it’s hard to see him coming back this time.

Beckham though, will never quit on England and give up a chance to play for his country.During an interview with BBC Sport in July he said; “I’m not ready to step aside. If I don’t get picked for England again then I’m very proud of my record, 100 starts and 115 games. I’m very proud of that but I still believe I have a part to play. I take each day, week, month and year as it comes. Like I say, I never want to step down from playing for my country.”

Interview with Emily Edison On How To Get A Job In Sports

Written by Matt Crevin in Sports Jobs

Voice of the Box recently interviewed University of Washington athletic department nutritionist Emily Edison about her role and how she got her start in the industry. Emily also shared her insight on what it takes to break into a career within the sports industry.

The Rise of Marucci Sports

Written by Tyler Johnson in Sports Business

In 2002, two former LSU athletes were rehabbing their recent injuries with Jack Marucci back in Baton Rouge the topic of conversation turned towards Marucci’s recent hobby. This hobby eventually led Eduardo Perez of the St. Louis Cardinals to do something no one else had done yet in Major League Baseball history. By taking a different approach to the business and providing a higher quality product to the market, Marucci helped create a whole new ballgame.

Jack Marucci, the Head Athletic Trainer at Louisiana State University first started perfecting the craft of hand-made wooden baseball bats as a hobby, originally making them for his son. As the two former LSU athletes, Kurt Ainsworth and Joe Lawrence, rehabbed, they spoke of what to do after their professional MLB careers. Marucci’s hand crafted bats became that future. By 2003, the focus on detail and quality craftsmanship to ensure every hand crafted bat was a ‘gamer’ brought them into ‘on deck’ circles and into the batter’s box.

Kurt Ainsworth was a former LSU All-American and 1st Round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants. He also played on the Gold Medal winning Olympic team in 2000. Joe Lawrence was a former USA Today high school All-American and played professionally for the Toronto Blue Jays. After 8 years in professional baseball Joe returned to LSU to play football.

4th and Long

Written by Michelle Hill in Sports Jobs

A football team in a 4th and long position is poised to make something out of nothing. To attempt a play in a 4th and long position is a long shot…a slim chance. Sometimes a team will go for it when there’s no other choice – time is running out and this is their last chance to score.

Sometimes coaches will go for it on a 4th and long early in the game because they either see a big opportunity right now or they think they’ll have sufficient time to recover if it doesn’t go well. No matter what, it’s usually a very risky proposition to go for it on a fourth down.

Relationships Key to Fund Raising

Written by Lewis Howes in Sports Sponsorship

(This is a guest article by Dan Westervelt)

There are many reasons why golf fund raising events fail, but without this one element being present, the chances of survival are almost nil. It is the reason why sponsors decide to support, golfers decide to play and volunteers decide they want to serve your cause. In a word, it is relationships.

The three main components of the human side of a tournament are golfers, sponsors and volunteers. All three are readily available to you if you have a relationship and it is strong enough to justify their participation. Obviously a close friendship is the best but a consistent trade association between a client and vendor are of about the same weight.

As with any relationship, it must be respected, so approach this solicitation as though you were asking permission to do something beneficial for a family member. While you need to be sure to have all the reasons ‘why’ addressed, spend even more time getting ready for the ‘why not’s?’.

Listen carefully to all the objections you hear. These are really just road maps to where you’d like the conversation to end, that is a “yes, I’ll do it”. These are the hesitations, stalls and questions you must address successfully to get them there. In my view, they are the most important part of the sales conversation as they determine both the tone and content of your reply as well as the overall result.

Alex Rodriguez and the Asterisk

Written by Sam Taggart in Sports Business

Yesterday, Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit 600 home runs, only the 7th ever to hit that milestone… Finally (A-Rod had gone 46 at-bats after his 599th home run before breaking the 600 mark). At 35 years and 8 days old, Rodriguez beat Babe Ruth to number 600 by just over a year and a half. And to reach a milestone that only seven players have ever reached over the course of more than a century is absolutely amazing. However, the big home run wasn’t nearly the event it could or should have been, because of A-Rod’s 2009 admission that he took performance enhancing drugs.

Interview with Tyler Johnson

Written by Lewis Howes in Sports Networking

Tyler has written a number of articles for SportsNetworker over the last year including the Top 100 Ways to use Social Media in Sports and the influence of LinkedIn Groups. We wanted to take a deeper look at how he personally uses social media and how it pertains to the sports industry on a daily basis.

Sports Clubs, Do You Know Your Audience?

Written by Lewis Howes in Social Media in Sports

(This is a guest post by Daniel McLaren)

When talking to people about their social media plans, most will talk about Facebook and Twitter. Yes, these are the most popular platforms and we are all aware that Facebook has recently topped the 500 million mark.

But is this the right audience for your team?

Taking a step back from the technology and looking at who your target audience is and where they hanging out is the first step that any organization should take. You may be surprised with the results and it will certainly impact on your plans.

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