ESPYs Allow Fan Voters to Draw Emotional Appeal

by Matt Clark | July 20th, 2010 | View Comments

I first started watching the ESPYS thinking I was going to write an article on the good and bad that happened during the event. I had my first entries all ready to go, I had segments written bashing Janelle Monae for those trifling singing performances between segments, and pieces written showing my utmost appreciation toward Erin Andrews and Brooklyn Decker for attending the award show; obviously because I have the utmost appreciation for their successful careers. Than as the night progressed I began to acquire a different tune about the ESPYS, one of which was not solely concentrated on the awards and entertainment of the night, but rather on the underlying meaning behind this huge event.

LeBron’s Exulted Brand Takes Detour

by Gail Sideman | July 8th, 2010 | View Comments

I swore to myself before the start of the NBA free-agency period that I wouldn’t write about LeBron James. Sports media are putting in enough hours of coverage about his team status, for all of us.

I realized, however, that I work in and write about sports publicity and PR, and since James announced he would share his intentions of what team he’ll join for the next few years in an hour-long broadcast on ESPN, his story became a good PR/bad PR story.

The fact is that his brand took flight the day he was proclaimed “King James.” With no NBA championship rings on his finger, that name has taken a hit in recent days. If my Twitter followers are any indication, his brand is a punch line right now. (I have to thank the tweeps for keeping me laughing with one-liners that highlights this and their own fake announcements.)

Interview with Coach Steve Lavin

by Gregg Miller | April 5th, 2010 | View Comments

My exclusive interview with Steve Lavin, former UCLA Men’s head basketball coach and ESPN college basketball analyst. He is now the new head coach at St John’s University in NYC. Steve and I have known each other for 14 years. I sat down with Steve at his home in Marina del Ray, California to discuss his experience in coaching, learning from the great John Wooden, and of his work with legendary broadcasters at ABC and ESPN.

Does the future of sports media belong to ESPN?

by Sam Taggart | March 31st, 2010 | View Comments

For the last few decades, ESPN has been the unquestioned “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” What started as a Connecticut based, Connecticut focused, 24-hour sports network has now become more than ten popular channels across the world (including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic, and ESPN Deportes) and a highly-trafficked website (ESPN.com) devoted to delivering the latest sports news all day, every day. ESPN also boasts a very popular, bi-weekly magazine.

In the short term (10-15 years), ESPN will continue to dominate for three simple reasons.

1. Distribution. ESPN’s reach is massive, on and offline. As mentioned, they have more than ten sports networks across the world, as well as ESPN.com (nearly 5 million unique visitors in the month of January), and a big-time magazine. ESPN has also delved into the world of social media, with more than a half million combined Facebook fans and Twitter followers. It’s hard to beat that kind of power.

Sports Business Weekly Buzz

by Ben Sturner | February 19th, 2010 | View Comments

Time buy would move AVP to ESPN and ABC

By Terry Lefton & John Ourand

The AVP is close to finalizing a deal with ESPN, ending an association with NBC that dates to 1990.
As part of the time-buy agreement, ABC would carry four events, while ESPN2 will carry the rest of the AVP’s schedule, which has yet to be released.

(www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Sports Business Weekly Buzz

by Ben Sturner | January 29th, 2010 | View Comments

Jobs Unveils ‘iPad,’ Fate of Universe Still In Doubt

By Gavin O’Malley

As scheduled, Apple debuted its highly anticipated tablet device on Wednesday — for many, representing the dawn of a new age in media consumption.
Christened the “iPad,” the device is expected to be available in March for a (surprisingly low) minimum price of $499 (Wi-Fi enabled, with a 3G version to follow a month later). With it, users can browse the Web, read and send email, view photos, watch videos, listen to music, play games, and read e-books.
“iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices,” said Apple head Steve Jobs, who unveiled the product at a private event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
The iPad will come in two versions: one with Wi-Fi and the other with both Wi-Fi and 3G.

(www.mediapost.com)

Sports Business Weekly Buzz

by Ben Sturner | January 22nd, 2010 | View Comments

Leverage, Top Rank partner for boxing upfront presentation

By Jon Show

The Leverage Agency and Top Rank will partner this Saturday on what they are calling the first advertising and sponsorship upfront in the history of boxing.
Other boxing promoters and networks like ESPN aggregate the rights to multiple fights as part of advertising and sponsorship sales, but industry insiders believe this is the first time a promoter has partnered with an agency and television networks to package rights for a formal upfront-style boxing presentation.
Under a multiyear relationship, Top Rank and the Leverage Agency are pooling sponsorship and advertising rights to 48 fights in 2010, including 12 pay-per-view events and 36 events on FSN or Fox Sports en Español. The 12 PPV events will feature three “super fights,” including Manny Pacquiao’s bout at Cowboys Stadium against Joshua Clottey on March 13.

(www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Sports Business Weekly Buzz

by Ben Sturner | January 8th, 2010 | View Comments

ESPN 3D to show soccer, football, more

Sports broadcasting will enter a new dimension in 2010…the third dimension, as ESPN will unveil the industry’s first 3-D network.
ESPN 3D will showcase a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year beginning June 11 with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match, featuring South Africa vs. Mexico, ESPN and ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer announced.

(www.espn.com)

Sports Images Take a Beating, Making Effective PR All the More Important

by Gail Sideman | August 13th, 2009 | View Comments

The sports industry has been fraught with public relations challenges the past 10 days. When I began to form this post in my head, the “only” examples were Michael Vick, Brett Favre, Plaxico Burress and Major League Baseball. Today I add to that the National Football League and ESPN.

What could be more appropriate for sports PR case studies than Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback who spent 18 months in prison for running a dogfighting ring, was recently conditionally reinstated by the National Football League and hopes to earn a roster spot and respect; Favre, the three-time NFL MVP quarterback who’s trying to delete the last line of his bio written by critics that identify him as an all-pro waffler after he retired in 2008 from the Green Bay Packers, unretired to play for the New York Jets, retired and after months of speculation, courting, consideration and biceps rehabilitation, told his former NFC nemesis, Minnesota Vikings, he wasn’t coming out of retirement again, after all; Burress, who was indicted by a grand jury on three weapons counts in New York after shooting himself in a nightclub last fall; or Major League Baseball, that endured another leak of premier players (Manny Ramirez and

Sports Networker Event Recap: NYC

by Lewis Howes | August 11th, 2009 | View Comments

lewis howes and bill rassmussen The first Sports Networker event took place last week in NYC and seeing that it was nearly 100 people over capacity at the venue, I would say it was a fairly big success.

I am still receiving thoughtful emails from attendees who said it was packed full of quality sports professionals and they all received a ton of value from connecting in person.

We had Bill Rasmussen, the founder of ESPN who is featured on the picture to the right, in attendance promoting his latest project CollegeFanz, along with the really fun team from LockerBlogger.com, Sports Lawyers, sports social networking platforms, professionals athletes, NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL league and team employees, AFL, agencies, marketing firms, CBS, Madison Square Garden, minor league teams, and a number of other quality professionals (I am leaving out a large group as over 350 in total attended throughout the night).