Earlier this week, we had a vote for the top sports social media professional of 2010, and it garnered over 2000 votes. As voting wraps up today, we’ve decided to another one for the top sports business online resources of 2010. We’ve narrowed it down to these links, but if there’s one we’ve missed, let us know in the comments below, and if it attracts enough traction, we’ll gladly add it to the list. Read more about each nominee below the fold.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Sports Biz with Darren Rovell

Darren Rovell brings you his unique take on the business of sports: a multi-billion dollar global industry and obsession full of personalities and products. On Sports Biz, Darren will give you his up-to-date take on everything from salaries to endorsement deals to marketing and promotions, trades and tirades – in short, everything that makes sports so exciting.

Sports Business Journal

Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal is a national weekly trade magazine, and the flagship publication for the Street & Smith’s Sports Group. Since its launch in 1998 it has become the undisputed authority on the business of sports and a must read for top executives in every segment of sports business—properties, sponsors, media, facilities, finance and professional services.

Blog Maverick

Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur, visionary, and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Blog Maverick is his personal blog where he shares his thoughts on business, sports, and sports business.

CNN Sports Biz

CNN Sports Biz is run by CNN Money Senior Writer Chris Isidore who takes a weekly look into the business of sports.

Sports Business Digest

An all in one online sports digest covering the latest sports and business stories around the world. Run by Emmett Jones

Sports Biz News Blog

Howard Bloom’s career took a dramatic change in the spring of 1997, when Howard began publishing SportsBusinessNews.com. In its nine years, SBN has evolved into the largest and one of the most influential sports industry publications. Although Sports Business News is a paid subscription, Howard provides lots of free goodies in his online blog here.

Sports Marketing 2.0

This site is a digital think-tank for sports marketers in the Web 2.0 world.

The Business of Sports

“The Business of Sports” is an industry blog dedicated to discussing new ideas and current events in sports business. The posts cover a wide range of topics, including ticket sales, marketing, social media, corporate sponsorships, fan loyalty, brand management, sports media, finance and more.

Sports Agent Blog

Sports Agent Blog is run by Darren Heitner, a member of the SEA, and a founder of a full service sports and talent agency.

Sports Jobs Blog

Sports jobs, sports career advice and tips on how to break into the sports industry. Run by WorkInSports.com

Sports Law

The Go-To resource for Sports Law. Honored by Fast Company as one of Three Best Sports Business Blogs and by the American Bar Association Journal as a Top 100 Law Blog

Partnership Activation

Brian Gainor founded Partnership Activation Inc., as a means to provide sports business professionals with consultation of industry best practices and innovative sponsorship/marketing concepts. Since its inception, Brian has used PartnershipActivation.com and the Partnership Activation 2.0 newsletter as portals to educate and network with those working in sports business around the globe.

###
Image by pfibiger

About Lewis Howes

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (187)

At Sports Networker, we pride ourselves on being one of the leading resources for covering the latest cutting edge topics in sports business, sponsorship, PR, and social media.

However, this post is not about us, but rather other resources that we have personally found to be useful and informational, in hopes of creating a great list of the ultimate sports business resources. We’re bound to have missed a few, so please let us know your favorites if they aren’t on the list!

Sport Business

Sports Business Journal

SportsPro Media

Sports City

SIM The voice of leadership

The Sport Briefing

Sporting Intelligence

Managing Sport

Fund Sport

IEG

The Sponsorship Report

The Sports Business Exchange

Sports Business Daily

Sponsorship News Australia

Sport Strategie

Platform (formerly Sponsorship News)

Sport Industry Biz

UK Sports Network

BBC Business of Sport

Joe Favorito

Sports Agent Blog

Power Sponsorship

The Business of Sports

The Sports Info Business

The Sports Marketing Professor

Sport Management Educator

Ben’s Biz Blog

Sports Biz with Darren Rovell

Sports Marketing 2.0

The Sports Economist

SportsBiz

Sports Business Digest

Sports Executive Association

LinkedIn Sports Industry Group

Work in Sports

Partner Activation

Sports Business Radio

About Lewis Howes

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (187)

If you are like me and you enjoy going to many different sporting events, you pay attention to many of the team’s revenue drivers: ticket sales, corporate sponsors, suits, naming rights, merchandise sales, and more. Concessions always seem to slip my mind. Maybe it’s because I used to view them as an overpriced and unappealing service. However, a recent talk with a former Aramark VP of Marketing is beginning to reshape my perception of the business.

Aramark is a leader in the stadium and arena food service industry. They also specialize in facilities management, premium event catering, and more. They can make money three different ways.  In a “P+L” deal, the concessions collect money from the fans and pay the team 40% – 50% of the earnings. In a “Fee” deal, the client (the sports team) pays a flat management fee for Aramark’s services. In a “Split” deal, a combination of the two occurs. Does 40%-50% seem like a big chunk of money to pay the team? You bet! The fast food business operates on an average 30% markup. When you have to pay 40%-50% to the team and still make a profit, you find yourself charging $8 for a beer. For Aramark, Beer is great. It’s where they make their biggest margin. Here are some of their other initiatives:

Shift to being more fan friendly

Due to their big presence in baseball stadiums, Aramark studied fan characteristics and developed two consumer profiles. The “baseball purist” is the stereotypical fan who follows the sport, is dedicated to his/her team, and is relatively easy to please. An equally important segment is the “Social fan”, the person who enjoys the game for the entertainment it offers, or the great family value that is derived from it.  As if New York teams weren’t competitive enough, the simultaneous rise of Citi Field and New Yankee Stadium (not served by Aramark) presented new challenges. While New Yankee stadium offered restaurants like the delicious, yet fairly common Hard Rock Café, Aramark decided to take a different approach with Citi Field. It included restaurants and stands filled with unique NY foods, from small local pizza shops to fancy long island seafood choices. In Coors Field, Aramark included a gluten free stand – a move that earned them national praise and higher sales.

Shift to being more tech savvy

Huge opportunities lie in the concept of “Loaded Tickets”. Those are ballpark admissions with loaded credit which can be used for food, drinks, and merchandise.  Families seem to be heavy users of the concept, as the parents prefer sending the children to the concessions with a ticket rather than cash. Business people also showed favoritism towards them as the loaded options make the tickets a more lucrative gift. In general, people tend to spend more when they have credit left on the tickets. The teams get to enjoy the unused credit at the end of the night. The Philadelphia Phillies became the first MLB team to use loaded tickets with Aramark’s help. According to the Sports Business Journal, The Arizona Diamondbacks and Levy Restaurants have invested $700,000 for the new technology.

Aramark is a good example of how the concessions service industry is re-thinking fan expectations, thus creating higher revenues for themselves as well as the sports teams they serve. Now I know how my $8 beer is being used.

###

Image by Kevin H.

Image by permanently scatterbrained

About Reuven Fridmar

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

More Posts (4)

You are a Sports Management student. You picked out the best school and you have been studying hard to work toward your graduation day.  But when the day comes when you are thrust in the real world, will you have the tools you need to make it in the sports industry?  How well do you know the industry?  Who do you know in the industry?  Who knows you?  What type of experience do you have?  The following is a list of the top 10 resources that every sports management student should utilize to help answer these important questions and launch a career in sports.

1. Sports Business Journal
Largely considered “the Bible of sports business,” Sports Business Journal is a must read for anyone in the sports industry, and anyone looking to break into the sports industry.  The Sports Business Journal covers all areas of sports, from Marketing and Sponsorship to Media, from Labor and Agents to Facilities.  Regardless of your area of interest, you’ll have all the latest industry information at your fingertips.  While this is not a free resource, Sports Business Journal does offer generous student discounts.

2. North American Society for Sports Management
The North American Society for Sports Management is a membership organization designed to support professionals in the sports industry. According to its website, “The purpose of the North American Society for Sport Management is to promote, stimulate, and encourage study, research, scholarly writing, and professional development in the area of sport management – both theoretical and applied aspects.”  Membership in NASSM is open to current sports professionals and sports management students.  As a member you will receive benefits such as discounted NASSM Conference fees, subscription to the Journal of Sports Management, and a yearly issue of Sports Management Education Journal.

3. Journal of Sports Management
As part of your membership in NASSM, you will receive bi-monthly issues of the Journal of Sports Management.  The Journal features scholarly writings and research in many areas sport, including marketing, sponsorship, sport tourism, consumer behavior and organizational theory.  This is a very valuable resource for any student to keep abreast of developments in the field of sports management.

4. Work In Sports
Workinsports.com is “The #1 job board in the sports industry.”  With over 5800 employers, 2600 sports jobs, and 550 internships currently listed, Workinsports.com can help you find the perfect internship to gain experience and build your resume.  It should also be your number one resource for finding your dream job after graduation.

5. Sports Executive Association
Created by Lewis Howes, the Sports Executives Association is new place online for sports executives from around to world to gather and share ideas and build their networks and businesses.  It is also a great place to students to get in on the action by interacting with top executives, learning about the industry, building a network that will help lead to amazing opportunities after graduation.

6. Sports Industry Networking and Career Conference
As one the leading sports conferences, the Sports Industry Networking Conference is an annual event that features some the top executives in the sports industry.  The conference regularly invites students and recent graduates to the event to meet the biggest names in sports and help build strong networks.  Students have the opportunity to hear keynote speeches and participate in panel and roundtable discussions.

7. NCAA
For any students interested in working in collegiate athletics, NCAA.org is a must-visit site.  The Job board features job listings from all NCAA member schools, along with a search function that allows you to refine your search to find exactly the job you want.  Students also have the ability to post their resume to allow schools search and find the perfect candidate…You!

8. SportsCareers.com
SportsCareers.com is much more than just another job board.  While they feature thousands of sports jobs, SportsCareers.com also brings you valuable content aimed at helping you develop your sports career.

9. Teamwork Online
Teamwork Online is another sports job board, but with an added, unique twist.  Teamwork Online has what they call “Call an Audible,” which provides job seekers with an audio job description directly from the person doing the hiring.  They also have multiple search features that allow a job seeker to sort jobs by location, job type, and sport.

10. The Business of Sports
The Business of Sports is an industry specific blog that features tons of content to help any student up to date with the sports industry.  Whether your interest is sports marketing, advertising, ticket sales, or social media, The Business of Sports will keep you in the loop.

###

About Paul Thompson

Paul Thompson is currently a student at The Ohio State University majoring in Sport and Leisure Studies with a minor in Business. Paul is an intern for Sports Networker and also works full-time for JP Morgan Chase. He enjoys meeting and learning about new people. He is an avid reader and loves learning as much as he can, whenever he can. Connect with Paul on Twitter Pthompson913

More Posts (1)

Terry Lefton is a killer writer for the SportsBusiness Journal, and I was fortunate enough to meet up him during the Marquis Jet Super Bowl party in Tampa.  He shares some great insights about how difficult it is becoming a writer in the sports industry, but by specializing early you have a much greater chance at success.

Feel free to leave your comments below and ReTweet this video on Twitter

About Lewis Howes

Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (187)