London Sports Networking Event Recap

by Lewis Howes | May 20th, 2010 | View Comments

What do you get when over 125 of London’s brightest sports professionals come together?

A successful Sports Networker event!

It was fun teaming up with Daniel over at The UK Sports Network to have the opportunity to connect so many talented individuals working in the sports industry. We were blessed to have Football Fans Census as our premier sponsor as well, and look forward to working with their team more in the future.

After talking with many of the attendees, I realized there is a big need for these events as they are limited on sports business networking opportunities as well as understanding how sports teams and organizations can utilize and measure social media ROI better to increase fan and customer engagement.

Sports Networker and the UK Sports Network plan to do more event in the future, so stay tuned for those announcements. In the meantime, take a look at the slide show below from the attendees at the event.

If you missed this event, or would like to learn about future events, social media in sports tips, or other resources for the sports industry then make sure to sign up for the Sports Networker Newsletter to get weekly updates.

Join The Sports Executives Association

by Lewis Howes | May 4th, 2010 | View Comments

The highly anticipated Sports Executives Association is live. Join in on the excitement today at www.SportsExec.net.

I started to receive an a lot of emails from people who wanted introductions to other executives in my network. They also were asking for tips, advanced training on various sports industry topics, and wanted to find partners to help during their career and in their sports business.

These weekly email requests were becoming overwhelming, and that’s when the idea of the SEA came to me. I realized there was a huge void in the online world for helping sports professionals receive ongoing education, connect with other top executives, and find a way to generate more opportunities.

S portsNetworker has assembled a platform, with the key sports executives involved that we are very excited about.

Make sure you read through all of the content, networking, and bonuses you will get access to right when you sign up.

Why Sports Professionals Must Attend Conferences

by Lewis Howes | March 16th, 2010 | View Comments

Have you ever attended a sports conference?

Most sports professionals who have know how valuable they are.

Things change when you meet people face to face. I don’t know how the chemicals in our bodies transform when we actually see how someone looks, listen to the sound of their voice, touch their hand when we greet, and observe how they interact with others… but somehow you just know when you meet with someone if it will be a mutually beneficial business relationship.

These new connections can help you get to where you want to be in life, and throughout your sports career.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Attending sports conferences is the best way to connect with many of the top sports executives in the industry. However, it can be time consuming, and cost a lot of money along the way.

This is just one of the reasons to join the Sports Executives Association. This will allow you to still meet and stay connected to those top sports professionals, but from the comfort of your home or office and at the time which is most convenient for you.

Watch below to learn more about the pros and cons of attending conferences and write in the comment section below some of the benefits your have seen from attending conferences and meeting sports professionals face to face.

The Sports Executives Association

by Lewis Howes | February 8th, 2010 | View Comments

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.

Sign up to receive more info for the Sports Executives Association here.

Interview with Jeff Chapman, NFL Statistician

by Matt Crevin | January 14th, 2010 | Comments Off

This week Matt Crevin from Voice from the Box interviews Jeff Chapman. Jeff is a top flight statistician for radio and TV broadcasts. With most sports being so numbers driven, Jeff provides detail about his role and what it takes to crunch the numbers and provide the information to the broadcasters.

Interview with Jim Mercurio of the San Francisco 49ers

by Matt Crevin | December 16th, 2009 | View Comments

This week Matt Crevin from, Voice of the Box, interviews Jim Mercurio, VP of Stadium Operations and Security for the San Francisco 49ers. Jim is like a mayor of a small city on GameDays and is directly responsible for anywhere between 1,200 and 1,400 employees. Jim discusses the numerous jobs that fall under his management as well as tips for breaking in to a job in sports.

For Iverson and the Sixers, the Answer is Social Media

by Sam Taggart | December 10th, 2009 | View Comments

For the record, I am a Sixers fan, and I love Allen Iverson.

The Background

Three years ago, yesterday, Allen Iverson asked for a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers. “As hard as it is to admit,” he said, “a change may be the best thing for everyone.” Eleven days later, Iverson was traded to the Denver Nuggets, seemingly having played his last game as a Sixer.

This September, Iverson signed with the Memphis Grizzlies. He played three games (starting none) and averaged 22 minutes, 12.3 points, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 rebounds. However, the veteran could not accept his role as a bench player, and his relationship with the Grizzlies quickly deteriorated. In early November, he left the team for personal reasons, and on November 25th, he announced his intentions to retire from the National Basketball Association.

Interview with Dave Kranz of the San Francisco 49ers

by Matt Crevin | December 9th, 2009 | View Comments

This weeks feature by Matt Crevin, Voice of the Box, is with Dave Kranz, head statistician for the San Francisco 49ners. Dave is the top man of an eight person crew responsible for recording the details of every play in an NFL game. Learn more about this unique role as Dave shares how he got his start and what it takes to do this job well.

Sports Public Relations Critical to Athlete Playbook

by Gail Sideman | September 7th, 2009 | View Comments

We’ve heard the words “public relations” tossed around quite a bit this summer, particularly when an athlete or coach scrambles to save face after behaving badly. My concern as someone who’s worked in sports PR in some shape or form for most of my professional life, is that I increasingly hear consumers talk about press conferences during which the accused attempts to set the record straight, as public relations spin zones.

You know the ones I’m talking about: University of Louisville basketball coach, Rick Pitino who is being extorted for millions of dollars after an affair earlier this decade; Plaxico Burress, a New York Giants wide receiver who recently plead guilty to weapons charges after he accidentally shot himself earlier this year and of course, Michael Vick, a previously heralded quarterback who spent 18 months in prison after bankrolling a dogfighting ring.

13 Underrated Sports Professionals on Twitter

by Ryan Stephens | May 5th, 2009 | View Comments

Lewis asked me to highlight some of the most influential sports business people on Twitter, and I’m all about making Lewis, and more importantly the Sports Networker audience happy. But when I sat down to make that list, all I could think about was BORING!

Those people aren’t hard to locate, in fact if they’ve done a good job providing great content then chances are you already know about them. If not, then you can start here or perhaps here with this list I made awhile back (it certainly needs to be updated.)

So instead of giving you the same old list of names, I thought I would share some under the radar sports business people that you should be following. For the sake of having a criteria, these are all people with under 1,000 Twitter followers, but that I consider to have interesting/valuable tweets about the business of sports.

Without further ado…

@JasonSprenger – Jason is PR/Marketing professional in the tech industry (I think), but his passion is sports, and it shows. He tweets about sports and unselfishly tweets good content about sports, PR, and marketing. He’s a former award winning journalist and blogs at The Sports Ace.

@JoshFeinberg – Josh is a networking champion (like Lewis) and is currently working for the Lakewood Blue Claws. He’s made an immediate impact in the organization (though I get the impression he would do that anywhere), especially with his recent Nine Innings of Networking promotion. (Heads up, it is a PDF.)

@Spiewak – The national football editor for CBS Max Preps.com, Stephen is constantly chatting with half the names mentioned on this list. He also has his finger firmly on the pulse of the prep scene, which is fortunate for us, because most people don’t follow it that closely.

@KatieBailey – Katie Bailey is a free lance sports writer, and ACC hoops fan. She blogs about sports at Sports Kate, and aside from sports you can catch her chatting about food (Krispy Kreme donuts in particular.) She has a master’s degree and is currently seeking an advertising/PR gig in DC. Hook a girl up.

@DMFreedom – David is the CEO of Pilote Media. He specializes in sports marketing, partnership and activation, as well as the use of emerging technologies and how they fit into the picture. He’s great about highlighting other users and leaving insightful comments on blogs.

@TimNATC – Tim is the coordinator for the Sport Management department at York college. What a great way to learn from a professor without having to pay to enroll in his classes. Like David, Tim always provides well thought-out insight that adds value to the conversations at hand.

@JackieAdkins3 – Jackie is an extremely diligent intern at Sports Media Challenge. He’s about to finish his senior year at UNC and is well versed in all things marketing, not just sports. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him. He shares his thoughts on marketing on his blog here: That’s All I Have to Say About That

@BgcDuke7 -Danny may have eclipsed the 1,000 Twitter followers mark by the time this goes live, but don’t hold that against me. He’s worked for all kinds of sports entities and is one of the most conversational sports peeps on Twitter.

@SportMktgProf – Like I mentioned, with Tim, I’m a sucker for soaking up knowledge from professors. Julie is a professor/entrepreneur who blogs about very engaging topics in the sports stratosphere. Not to mention her blogroll is a GREAT resource for those interested in sports/marketing blogs.

@BrianGainor – Brian is one of those guys that just “gets it.” Like me, Brian lives the double life. He’s an account executive at GMR by day, and runs his own diddy, Sponsorship Activation in his spare time. Make sure you check out his resources page for some real gems like, 25 Ways Sports Organizations can use Twitter.

@MMahoney13 – Mark is a sports marketing, sales executive for the Carolina Panthers. When he’s not cutting a rug with Sir Purr he’s helping serve the Carolina’s by connecting with sports companies and agencies to explore partnerships and sponsorships. His sweets are very high in sports concentrate.

@SportsInfo101 – Charles is a sports executive with an emphasis on new media, branding and technology. His tweets cover sports of all kind, sports management, and he blogs at The Sports Info Business, which features all kinds of relevant info including some great interviews with prime time players in the sports realm.

And finally, I’m throwing in a bonus just for good measure. This last person isn’t really a sports business/marketing professional, but she’s awesome so I’m adding her to the list.

@LoisHeilig – Lois has been dubbed the “Sports Granny.” She’s a 75 year old Syracuse fan who loves Women’s basketball. For some more insight into Lois check out her fan spotlight here.

What is best about all of the people I’ve listed here as that not only are they extremely knowledgeable, but they’re also all very friendly so take a few minutes to add them to your Twitter network and start engaging them about the sports topics that interest you.

Finally, there’s no reason why this list has to stop at 13 names. Besides, isn’t that considered unlucky. Please use the comments section to include other sports business people we should follow, take the time to recognize, give a shout out to, etc. Ah what the hell, go ahead an include your own Twitter name so that we can make this post a destination for all this passionate community of sports professionals. What are you waiting for?

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Ryan is an Associate Media Analyst at Sports Media Challenge where he helps champion social media strategies for sports, lifestyle and entertainment brands. In his spare time he serves as a social media consultant who is passionate about the power of web 2.0 and its ability to cultivate conversations, build relationships and spread of ideas. Feel free to leave your thoughts on his article in the comments section below, connect with him on his blog at Ryan Stephens Marketing or on Twitter @ryanstephens, and read the rest of his bio here.