On November 1, 2010 the San Francisco Giants defeated the Texas Rangers and were subsequently crowned “World Champs” by the media and the online world. On June 17, 2010 the Los Angeles Lakers celebrated a game seven victory over the Boston Celtics, adding another “World Champions” banner to the Staples Center rafters. On February 6, 2011, along with being the most watched TV program in his
history, the NFL celebrated new Superbowl Champions: The Green Bay Packers. I immediately drove to Green Bay to find the headline of the Green Bay Gazette display: “World Champs”. However, following their win over the Philadelphia Flyers on June 9, 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks raised a banner that read: “2010 Stanley Cup Champions”.
I’ve lived in three different countries, visited 13 in total and have attended many professional sports games – Which got me wondering – when should your favorite team call themselves World Champs and when should they simply enjoy being named the Champs of their perspective league?
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Reuven is a fourth year student at Marquette University, earning degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He hopes to create sports marketing initiatives that drive value while focusing on charitable causes. Reuven lived in three countries and visited 13 total. He prides himself on being fluent in Hebrew, Russian, and English. People and idea lover. Connect with Reuven on Twitter @ReuvenFridmar
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Even for the modest fan, few sports teams that resonate in your mind stronger than the Chicago Cubs. You don’t have to be a baseball fan to know that the Cubs are an iconic brand (Trust me, I’m from Milwaukee).
I recently had the opportunity to listen to Wally Hayward, the Cubs’ Chief Sales and Marketing Executive who was brought on by new owner Tom Ricketts to solve this burning question: how can a historic team make changes that will respect the character of the ballpark while providing new growth opportunities?
The answer to that question is outlined in these three main goals of the Cubs:
1) Build a Championship Team
I found it interesting when Hayward said that the Cubs want all of their employees to be the best at their prospective jobs. Yes, that means they strive to have the best security desk personnel, office assistant, and janitor in all of sports. Why? Because being the best is part of the unique culture the new ownership has. “This job was lucrative to me because the family culture has the brand’s best interest in mind for the long run” said Hayward. [click to continue…]
Reuven is a fourth year student at Marquette University, earning degrees in Marketing and Entrepreneurship. He hopes to create sports marketing initiatives that drive value while focusing on charitable causes. Reuven lived in three countries and visited 13 total. He prides himself on being fluent in Hebrew, Russian, and English. People and idea lover. Connect with Reuven on Twitter @ReuvenFridmar
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The San Francisco Giants enjoyed a banner year in 2010: they won the World Series and embraced social media as a means of engaging diehard fans at AT&T Park and across the country. We sat down with Bryan Srabian, the Giants’ Director of Social Media, and asked him about the successes in 2010 and the future of social media in sports. [click to continue…]
Brendan Wilhide runs Sportsin140.com, a site that covers sports and social media. He is currently co-authoring a textbook on social media for the sports industry. Follow him on Twitter: @BrendanWilhide and @Sportsin140.
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It’s been a tough couple weeks in the sports world. Legendary NHL Coach Pat Burns and esteemed sportswriter Jim Kelley both passed away this November due to Cancer. Although it’s easy to get lost within a game either as a player, sports professional, or simply a fan, incidents such as this really remind us that there’s more to life than sports.
So this week, instead of running through the week’s posts, I wanted to do things a little differently. Fellow writer Bear Heiser requested if we could repost his piece on the late Ron Santo, a Chicago Cubs legend who also passed away this week due to a fight with cancer. Santo never quite got the respect he deserved from the Baseball Hall of Fame so the least I could do is to post Bear’s piece. Ron Santo was Bear’s favorite player. This one’s for you, Ron: [click to continue…]
Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.
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Welcome to the second week of the Overtime Post, where we take a light and sarcastic look at the week’s posts and other sports and business news around the world.
Other than my Vancouver Canucks who have won six in a row (and I suppose I have to give the San Fransciso Giants a little bit of props for winning the World Series), it’s been a week filled with losers and I can’t decide who was the biggest loser this week: Kevin Garnett, Charlie Villanueva, Randy Moss, Brad Childress, the Texas Rangers team, or the San Francisco rioters. Your guess is as good as mine.
Onto this week’s posts:
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Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.
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1. Network, Network, Network
Have you heard the adage “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” Well, in sports, it’s more like “who knows you” or “who is familiar with your work“. The key to getting your first sports job (or any job) is networking. You need to get out there in front of the decision makers who have the power to hire you, whether that’s the head of the sales department, box office or the general manager.
Attending networking functions is a great idea. Most teams and leagues either run their own career fair or attend sports related fairs every year. For example, job seekers interested in a career in Minor League Baseball should attend the annual PBEO Conference (the same “Winter Meetings” where players are traded and the Rule V draft are held ever year) and network with as many people as possible.
2. Get Ready to Sell
Sales is the most important aspect of a front office. One of the first things you must know about working in sports is that you’re always selling, even if you don’t work in the sales department. Although you might work in marketing, public relations or events, you will be called to sell tickets-or perhaps even sponsorships-from time to time. You’re always selling the value of attending a game at your stadium/arena so the concept of selling tangible goods like tickets really isn’t that different from selling the experience itself.
3. Be Comfortable Wearing Many Hats
Get ready to wear many different hats throughout the day-it’s true of the sports industry and especially in minor league sports. One day you might be driving to the airport to pick up the newest addition to your roster and the next day you might be dressing up as the mascot. Understand that all sports organizations do this to some degree. It’s more prevalent in minor league sports where staffs are small and “to do” lists are long but it occurs in major league sports at times as well. [click to continue…]
Brendan Wilhide runs Sportsin140.com, a site that covers sports and social media. He is currently co-authoring a textbook on social media for the sports industry. Follow him on Twitter: @BrendanWilhide and @Sportsin140.
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I was recently invited to speak at Tribe Social Forum hosted by Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians on September 16th, 2010. It is an event focused on the increasing trend of social media usage in our society and networking with some of the finest folks in sports today.
Back when we did the Sports Business Survey, participants voiced that they wanted more networking opportunities and I believe this is a great chance to network with experts in the business. Attendees will learn how social media is changing the way we communicate, especially in the sports world.
I am humbled and excited to be part of a panel that includes some of the biggest movers and shakers in sports and social media, including:
- Mark Shapiro, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Cleveland Indians
- Anthony Castrovince, MLB.com Beat Writer
- Dominic Litten, Social Media Club Founder, Cleveland and Leader of Interactive Marketing at Point to Point, Inc.
- Lisa Zone, President of the American Advertising Federation, Cleveland and SVP at Dix & Eaton.
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Did we just witness the entirety of Stephen Strasburg’s professional baseball career in the span of mere months? I doubt it, given that the success rate of Tommy John’s surgery is over 90%, but it is a possibility.
Strasburg is one of the most hyped players in professional sports in recent memory and he was living up to the buzz in his first season. Not only was he delivering on the mound, with 98-100 MPH fastballs and dirty curveballs, but he was generating more television viewers, ballpark visitors, and straight cash for the game of baseball, a sport which is still struggling somewhat from the Steroids Era.
Many have called Strasburg’s injury a “sad day for baseball.” And it is. But let’s forget about the game for a moment and think about the individual. What a potentially awful day for Stephen Strasburg.
Considering that significant injuries happen all the time in sports (St. Louis Rams’ wide receiver Donny Avery tore his ACL last week, for example, and is out for the season), and that we live in a time where personal branding has become so important, is it foolish for any professional athlete, Stephen Strasburg or not, to not be focusing on building their brand off the field? [click to continue…]
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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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 zero-to-hero story has something that we can all take away in our own journey to success in the sports world.
In the following video, he explains the steps he took and what got him to where he is today: [click to continue…]
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. 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.
In speaking with Kurt he recalled: “from my experiences in the big leagues, about half of the bats you’d order would not be what we call gamers,” ‘Gamers’ being a bat that is Major League ready and that the hitter is accustomed to. Kurt went on: “ the quality of service and in the bats just did not seem to be there.” As other bat companies operated their volume based business, Marucci bats intended on being a new alternative. [click to continue…]
Tyler Johnson is an innovative thinker inspired by the likes of Bill Veeck, Jon Spoelstra, Pat Williams & Brooks Boyer. Currently working for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment as a Group Sales Account Executive for the Denver Nuggets. Prior he worked as the New Business Development Executive with the Chicago White Sox. Tyler has also worked directly with the inventor and creator of Arena football and also for Mike Ditka’s former Chicago AFL franchise. As a former collegiate athlete and business sensed individual Tyler ventured to combine his passions to get into the business side of sports.
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