The Sportsbiz Weekly Buzz is a collection of articles curated by Sports Networker’s Online Marketing Coordinator – Steve Richards
Sports Business
Ten Sports Money Losers in 2011
“For the business of sports, 2011 has been quite the wild ride. Lockouts dominated coverage of the NFL and NBA (the football guys ultimately settling things more easily than the basketball guys), major college conferences were shaken up across the country, and the vaunted LosAngeles Dodgers went bankrupt. The Indianapolis Colts handed Peyton Manning a huge contract and then watched him miss the season as they lost their first 12 games. To top things off, troubling sexual assault scandals have rocked Penn State football and, potentially, Syracuse basketball.”
Predictions 2012 – Darren Rovell
The well known CNBC sports business advisor makes five predictions on how the sports business world will change in 2012.
Sports Networking
Women Talk Sports Evolution
“The event featured notable women in the sports realm, including Brandi Chastain, a former member of the U.S. women’s soccer team and Ellen Estes Lee ‘ 02, former captain of the Stanford water polo team and a former Olympian. Dena Evans ‘ 96, a highly recognized track and field athlete and coach.”
Personal Branding is Not Optional
“Shortly after I began, an older man in the back of the room raised his hand with a question. He asked, ‘Is this personal branding stuff nothing more than me just setting up a Facebook page and doing some of the Twitter stuff?’ I could not help but laugh to myself at the timing of his question.” – This article is not about sports directly but it can easily be translated into the sports field.
Sports Marketing
Arnold Palmer Takes a Swing at Positioning His Brand for Future
“Arnold Palmer did not invent sports marketing. But he nearly perfected it, amassing a global empire of licensing deals and endorsements that seems just as relevant today as it was when he first began building it back in the 1950s. Now the 82-year-old golfing legend is out to make sure his dynasty outlasts him.”
OKC Thunder’s Kevin Durant Turning Into a Marketing Monster
“His enthusiasm is endearing, his humbleness is honorable, his image is immaculate and his skills are sensational. Together, these are the things experts say have turned Kevin Durant into a marketing monster.”
Sports Sponsorship
Europcar Awarded “Sponsor of the Year”
“Europcar, the leading car rental company in Europe, was awarded the “Sponsor of the Year” Trophy on November 28th during the 8th SPORSORA Sports Marketing Trophies ceremony. This prize is in recognition of the communication and marketing strategy developed by Europcar as the official Team Europcar sponsor since October 2010.”
Raising Brand Exposure by Means of Sports Sponsorship
“The usage of sports activities with regard to advertising and marketing has been used for over a decade plus it has gained recognition due to the growth in availability of the different kinds of sports and also games. Entrepreneurs have taken the benefit of the individuality of sporting activities. Here is the sole enjoyment in which regardless of range of periods that you return you can’t ever foresee the result.”
Sports Ticket Sales
Downtown Indy to Score with Big Ten Despite Ticket Sales
“Despite the surplus of tickets and low demand, downtown merchants have high expectations for the Big Ten weekend. All 7,100 downtown hotel rooms are booked and the Big Ten is sponsoring a fan fest with more than 200,000 square feet of interactive games and entertainment. Several downtown restaurants and bars have already linked up to host fans from both universities.”
Big Time Scoring: University of Louisville Among Nation’s Top Sports Programs Financially
“The numbers, which got a minor boost from one-time donations related to the new KFC YUM! Center and Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium expansion, are testimony to the earning potential of new facilities and luxury suites, and clearly put the program into a new financial neighborhood.”
Sports Social Media
Game On: The New FanFeedr Sports Network Launches Today for Facebook and Twitter Users Who Are Passionate About Sports and Their Teams
“‘FanFeedr’s key differentiator is that it has created 400+ FanFeedr Branded Team Sites directly on Facebook and Twitter in addition to its website. What is key is that busy people can see everything their team is doing without ever leaving Facebook or Twitter to get their curated sports news from thousands of sources. Big sites like ESPN and Yahoo Sports do not offer individual team news with the breadth that FanFeedr offers up. FanFeedr has more team accounts that any other service on the Web,’ said Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Founder and CEO of FanFeedr.”
Marseille Receive 60,000 Submissions for “Fan Designed Kit” Competition
“Marseille used the landmark of hitting 1 million Facebook fans to reward their international fanbase and are the first football club world wide to essentially crowd-source their jersey. This week the club announced that they received a staggering 60,000 submissions for the competition and that after months of development and judging – they let their Facebook fans have the final decision.”
Sports Media
Frank Vaught Dies at 81: Pioneered Sports Broadcasting in Orlando
“Vaught was gruff, brash and opinionated. [Ben] Aycrigg avoided confrontation; Vaught liked to stir things up. If Vaught wanted more air-time for a story, he usually got it, said Todd Persons, who worked with Vaught in the 1970s.’I think he was probably the first TV sports personality in the community,’ said Persons, 75.
Sports Media Industry Legend Neal Pilson Joins Live Clips
“‘In today’s ‘copy cat’ world of television and TV sports, Neal Pilson is one-of-a-kind,’ said Douglas Vunic, founder, president and CTO of LiveClips, who first brought Pilson to his company in 2008. ‘Neal has a special understanding of the way sports media is consumed and marketed in this very complex industry. He is an invaluable resource for a small company like ours as we continue to develop new technologies to allow fans to follow their favorite players, teams and can’t-miss games in new ways.'”
Sports Technology
Turner Sports and NCAA Launch New Sports iPhone App; NCAA also Launches New Mobile Website for Touchscreen Mobile Devices
“‘With the launch of the NCAA Sports iPhone (News – Alert) app and the new NCAA.com mobile website, we’re giving college sports fans greater access to NCAA championship and regular season content than ever before,’ Mark Johnson, vice-president of Turner Sports’ NCAA Digital group said in a press release.”
Top 10 List of Sports Web Sites
“We will now show you the Top 10 List of the most popular Sports Websites. The Alexa Rank, Compete Rank, Quantcast Rank, eBizMBA Rank and Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors of the websites are given. All the data are based on November, 2011. We ranked the 10 websites on their average position in the Rankings. ”
Sports Jobs
Basketball Player Andrew Bogut Joins Sports Marketing Firm
“Sports management agency One Management Group & Consulting (OMGC) has announced basketballer Andrew Bogut as a company director as it launches a strategy division with a focus on sponsorship and sports marketing. Bogut, an NBA player and Australian representative player heads the company with Bruce Kaider, managing director.”
Sports Jobs Available to Anyone
An excellent light read for anyone looking to add some self-motivation in the sports industry.
Sports Events
Behind the Scenes of Olympic Cities’ High-Tech Transit Systems
“When the Olympics come to town, it’s not just a worldwide spectacle of athleticism — it’s also a feat of infrastructure development.Cities large and small, from Los Angeles to Torino to Nagano, have braced for the millions of athletes, spectators and press that descend upon the city for a few short weeks. For future host cities London, Sochi and Rio de Janeiro, the rush to develop is on.”
What the NHL will Lose in Four-Conference Realignment
“As we discussed over the weekend, the NHL is presenting two proposals: a straight one-for-one shot with the Winnipeg Jets moving to the Central Division for either the Detroit Red Wings or Columbus Blue Jackets; or the radical realignment that would group teams into four conferences. Under that second proposal, the NHL will move to a balanced schedule in the regular season featuring home-and-home series for every team and five or six games against conference foes. It will also return the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the “divisional” format that was scrapped in 1993 when the League moved to six divisions and conference seeding…In other words, we could have a Bruins/Flyers Stanley Cup Final.”
