Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the University of Michigan spring football game.  It was a great experience to be a part of the fifty-some thousand people that were there to sing "The Victors" and see the new look Wolverines prepare for the upcoming season.  Being that this was only an exhibition, and the crowd totals were only about half of what they will typically be in September, but this did not keep marketers away.  As we were walking in, people were passing out and promoting the movie "Wolverine" which comes out in May.  I thought it was very interesting the way they incorportated the word Wolverine with the U of M Wolverines.  Throughout the game they had a variety of promotional events going on in conjunction with the game.  Each of these promotions had local endorsements and sponsorships.  Some of the promotions they had were kicking a field goal for free books, sponsored by the M Club and having fans text in what plays they want to see next on the field, sponsored by one of the local cell phone companies.

From this experience, I learned two things: a) the Michigan defense has more holes in it then Bernie Madoff's testimony, and b) marketers don't have an off-season.  Even at seemingly meaningless events like Spring Football games rely heavily on sponsorships and promotions in order to provide a desirable product.  

Predictions for the 2009-2010 season: 9-3, 2nd place in the Big Ten, Rose Bowl Victory over UCLA.  Call me ambitious, I call it true fanhood.

God Bless the Maize and Blue

Giving Back

I recently read an article on ESPN.com by Rick Reilley about the Arizona Diamondbacks. This season, the Arizona Diamond Backs are giving back to their fans. Last season, Jeff Moorad, Diamondback's CEO met a fan who told him about her life. She told him how she had lost everything, including her car, but another fan gave her season tickets and offered to drive her to and from the ballpark. Moorad was so moved by this story that he decided that the organization would give out season tickets to worthy individuals. The team received applications and heard many sad stories from very deserving individuals and families. This season, they gave away 41 season tickets totaling nearly $100,000 to mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and children, all with their own stories.
In an economy such as ours, complete with multi-million dollar cheaters (i.e. Alex Rodriguez and Bernie Madoff) it is refreshing to see an organization do something to give back. Sometimes, the smallest gestures, that often go unnoticed, yet even more often make the biggest difference in someone's life. People are pinching pennies to make ends meet, and the thought of taking a family to a MLB baseball game is often unrealistic, but if more organizations would take the initiative of the Diamondbacks to give back to those who have so little, the world may become a better place for everyone.
From a purely marketing stand point, this move is genius. The organization is getting national publicity by being a featured article on ESPN.com by a well-known author, Rick Reilley. It also shows a softer side of the CEO and the organization as a whole. Good PR can translate into larger profit margins in the near future for this organization. If it is a success, we may begin to see even more organizations partake in similar gimmicks and give away promotions.

God Bless.

Opening Day 2009

Ah yes...the MLB 2009 season is upon us. From now until October, the focus of many American sports fans will be on the 30 MLB teams competing for the ultimate prize, a World Series Championship. With the beginning of any new season comes change. The MLB is no exception. 14 teams have cut their opening day payrolls by at least $10 Million. Yes, that even includes those Damn Yankees. The state of the national economy has trickled down into some of the wealthiest organizations in the country. Teams are going to struggle to put people in the seats even more so than usual in many of the smaller market cities especially. Sacrifices need to be made in the forms of more promotions, ticket discounts, etc. if some of these teams hope to have a somewhat fiscally productive year. Because baseball has been around for years, marketers must be able to swtich their approach from convincing people to come to games to convincing people that the experience is worth the price of admission. Value is becoming a hot topic, even more so than in the past. Value drives profits in an entertainment industry like this one.

A Rising Star

Tomorrow night, the new Women's Professional Soccer League will play it's innaugural game at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles pitting the LA Soul vs. the Washington Freedom.  This will kick off a new league that will hopefully experience greater success than the WUSA which folded shortly after its beginning.  

The WPS is gaining more publicity this time around, mostly centered around arguably the greatest female soccer player on the planet, Marta.  Marta hails from Brazil, but has come to the US to hopefully help re-brand women's soccer and generate a fan base that will continue to grow in the future. 

If the WPS hopes to be successful, they must be extremely careful about how they market themselves.  They need to latch onto this international superstar and focus their marketing strategies around her.  They also need to be on the lookout for the next up and coming star in the future.  The players in the league should look for opportunities to volunteer within the communities of the cities in which they play.  They should focus on creating and maintaining an interest among young girls through camps and other activities that focus around soccer.

Good Luck.

NFL Expands...Again

It is the hope of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that by the 2010-2011 season, all 32 teams will be playing 17 or even 18 regular season games.  By doing this, the league will reduce it's preseason down to two games.  While this may seem like a fan's dream, there may be some hidden problems underneath.  First of all, less preseason games means less time to prepare for the real season which can impact the health and conditioning of the players as well as the overall product on the field.  With less time to prepare, the end result (i.e. the regular season) may not be up to fan's standards until the fourth or fifth week.  

Having a longer season also increases the risk of more injuries occurring to big name superstars throughout the league.  A 16-game season is grueling as it is, but an 18-game season could potentially be dangerous.  

From a marketing point of view, the length of the season has some pros and cons as well.  By lengthening the season, the NFL is able to generate more revenue from its sponsors.  It may also open up doors for new marketers to enter  as well.  Some downsides to this season-lengthening are the before-mentioned inherent risks associated with the loss of star players.  The NFL relies heavily on the health and success of its superstars.  If stars are becoming injured more often than not, marketers may began pulling their sponsorships and begin searching for alternative venues for reaching a specified market.

As a fan of football and the NFL, I would be in favor of the season being lengthened.  However, as an aspiring marketing professional myself, I understand the risk-reward scenario that exists.

May God be with you Goodell..

Be Well

Feeding a New Market

Earlier this week, the West Michigan White Caps and 5/3 Park released the 5/3 Burger.  This four pound burger.  This thing is disgusting....in the most delicious and magical way.  Five 1/3 pound patties, five slices of American cheese, salsa, Fritos, lettuce, tomatoes, queso dip, all served with a side of Pepto.  

Every year, organizations across the country in every sport experiment with different food options to feed their fans.  Everyone is searching for the next big attraction.  The WhiteCaps have decided to appeal to the stomachs and GI Tracts of theirs.  As a student in the area, I am looking forward to attending some games in the near future to try and make a dent in one.

As far as marketing this new product, the WhiteCaps are gaining national exposure with spots on Sportscenter and the Today Show.  They have also released press releases to the Grand Rapids Press and MLive.com.  It will be interesting to see how this product will coincide with some of the other promotional events that the organization already participates in such as Thrifty Thursdays which targets college students primarily by offering $2 beers, hot dogs, and soft pretzels.  The burger is being sold for $20 which may seem counter-intuitive in comparison to the thriftiness of the other items, but it is so big that it will feed four people so the costs can easily be divided.

Oh yeah... its 4800 Calories and 300 g of fat...

Eat your heart out West Michigan...literally

Be Well.

Just Shut Up

This past Saturday, during a post-game press conference, UConn's Head Men's Basketball Coach, Jim Calhoun found himself in a bit of a pickle. He was less than enthused to answer questions regarding his salary of $1.6 Million to coach teenagers at a public university in leiu of the current national deficit of $944 Million. He 'advised' one reporter to "Shut Up." Why so sensitive Jim? Is it because you realize, that even though your program alone generates about $12 Million in revenue for the university, you are just one man. Or is it because you realize, that despite this astounding figure, you have little to do with the actual generation of any fiscal benefits, and coaches half as qualified being paid half as much as you, would be able to generate just about the same amount? I'm going to go with 'C', all of the above on this one. While Jim Calhoun is a fantastic coach (551-202 as head man at UConn), it is the prestige and the tradition that makes UConn's men's and, for that matter, women's basketball programs so successful year in and year out. This continual success leads to larger revenues. Alumni are willing to pay top dollar year after year to check out the current squads in action.

Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily have an issue with Calhoun making money doing what he does best, molding young men into some of the game's elite, grooming college studs into NBA Superstars (Ray Allen, Rip Hamilton, Omeka Okafur, Ben Gordon ring a bell?). However, let's put the whole thing into perspective. Calhoun, like many other high profile coaches, (i.e. Pete Carroll topping the charts for college coaches at $4.4 million per year) are paid exuberant amounts of money to be the voice of reason and driving force of motivation behind 12 or so college athletes. This isn't brain surgery. He isn't leading a team of experts in the field of neurophysics (I reall don't know if this field exists, but if it does, kudos to those who partake) he is trying to break the Georgetown full court press, and implement defensive tactics to stop Luke Harangody of Notre Dame. He's coaching a children's game. The whole idea of coaches and athletes alike being paid ridiculous amounts of money to display their talents for our entertainment is part of a much bigger problem. People place so much of an emphasis on dollars and cents, on endorsement deals, incentives, and buyout options. I really wish that people, myself included, would start worrying more about the integrity of the sports that we enjoy rather than the number of zeros included in our favorite athlete or coach's paycheck. I never thought that I would say this, considering my overly-competitive nature, but people are taking sports too seriously. I blame technology and more specifically, ESPN for making information too accessible. Why do I care what Brook Lopez of the New Jersey Nets has to say about Devin Harris's amazing half court shot from last night? Why can't I just enjoy the shot for what it is, amazing.

In summation, Jim Calhoun is a tremendous head coach, and has his team, once again, in position to make a run to the Final Four. In regards to your salary though, maybe it would be best if you, "Just Shut Up."

Be Well.

God Save the NBA

New reports released today are saying that the NBA will be taking a loan to the sum of $175 Million. This newly acquired money is to help 15 teams struggling as the result of the tumultuous economic conditions nationwide. One team, the Orlando Magic, will be taking $10 Million of the alotted $11.7 Million available to help cover operating losses that have been incurred throughout the past half decade. I think that this newly acquired debt is a sign of the times unfortunately. Even the wealthiest of the wealthy are affected by economic instability and duh duh duh...recession. One report compared the NBA to Wall Street in saying that the top executives are needing to take a paycut to help the national economy recover in a timely fashion. Similarily, the executives and players alike, will most likely be taking significant pay decreases in order to keep their teams afloat during this economic squall...sorry I couldn't resist the pun. Hopefully this will show the current administration the severity of the present status of the economy and that it needs help and will prompt swift assistance. May God be with and continue to bless David Stern, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and yes, even you Jason Scalabrene.

God Save the NBA

Be Well.

It's Just Manny Being Manny

What does 25 million dollars get you?  Apparently, if you're the Los Angeles Dodgers, it does NOT get you an aging, eccentric, yet still productive outfielder in Manny Ramierez.  Last week, Manny turned down a 1 year- $25 Million dollar contract proposed by the Los Angeles Dodgers.  This off-season has shown that no amount of money is too much. Hell, the Yanks threw nearly half a billion bucks to three players, and all anyone can talk about is who's been juicing and who hasn't been.  It is obscene to think that in the current state that our economy is in, anyone should be making $25 million, let alone be earning it by playing a game.  However, it just isn't enough for Manny.  He has had a reputation of being a controversial premadonna, but his statistics will depict that if you don't mind a gigantic ego and some on and off the field distractions, Manny will put fans in the seats and help your team win some games.  I'm sick of it though...I'm sick of the athletes making millions of dollars to play a game and provide us with entertainment when people who make differences in people's lives (i.e. teachers, social workers, and all of the "little people" that make this country great) get the proverbial shaft financially.  It does not make any sense to me.  I realize the dedication and large amounts of hard work that go into becoming a professional athlete, but they are not the only people who make sacrafices to achieve a goal.  It utterly disturbs me that we create this barrier between athletes and non-athletes.  Athletics and entertainment are two of the only industries where such a distinct barrier exists.  Because Manny Ramirez was blessed with the ability to grow dreadlocks, hit a flying piece of rawhide a great distance and wear baggy pants in the outfields of Dodger Stadium does not make him any better of a human being than I, a 21 year old college student, who played third base for a very mediocre high school program.  The only difference is the number of zeros included in his salary.  I am not a socialist, and I do not believe in universal pay standards. I believe that some professions deserve larger salaries because of the need for special training, skills, and/or degrees in order to perform their job effectively.  However, I would not lump professional baseball players, or any other professional athletes into a group worthy of the pay that they receive.  Some may make the argument that athletes give away a large amount of their earnings in the form of charitable contributions.  While this is commendable, I almost expect it to be a no-brainer.  If i had seemingly endless income, starting a charity would be at the top of my list of things to spend money on.  In closing, I do not think that Manny Ramirez is a bad guy.  I simply think that he should re-evaluate himself, those around him, and realize just how blessed he is to be playing the sport he loves in a country of fans who adore him.  Hopefully he will realize this fact sooner rather than later so as to avoid destroying his reputation even further.

Be Well.

A-Rod = A-Shame

It may seem cliche to be talking about Alex Rodriguez considering his name is amongst nearly every headline at the bottom of the screen on ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNEWS, and the like. The man has his own damn title for the ticker.... NBA, NHL, NCAAM, A-Rod, Top Stories: A-Rod..You get the idea. Anyways, I am sick and tired of it. The man screwed up. He cheated. Move on. I would rather watch rerun highlights of Warren Sapp on Dancing with the Stars than hear about A-Rod's confession to taking steroids. By no means do I condone A-Rod's behavior or personal choices, but who am I to judge. Sure, his image, or brand if you will, may be tarnished, and this new evidence against him will undoubtedly affect his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame someday, but honestly, give it a rest. As sports fans we are all victims of redundancy. We are held at the mercy of media outlet giants like ESPN who will provide us with way too much information about way too few subjects and story lines. This morning was refreshing because the Heat-Bulls game took over as a top story line for Sportscenter, but much to my dismay, as I read the sidebar of upcoming stories, sure enough sandwiched between the Coors Light Cold Hard Facts with John Clayton and the highlights of a thrilling Gonzaga-St. Mary's matchup was Alex Rodriguez Saga. I realize that A-Rod is A-Big Deal due largely in fact to the obscene gobs of money that is thrown his way by New York Yankees. However, every off-season it seems to me, that no one, including the Dallas Cowboys, can begin to measure up to the level of scandal that surrounds the New York Yankees. The pin-stripes seem to be ruling the MLB off-season this year, even more so than usual. Whether it is the nearly half a billion dollars they have thrown to free agents, the Joe Torre book release, and now the latest A-Rod steroid scandal, the Yankees seem to overcome it. I may come acrossed as being somewhat biased in my opinions, especially since I am a Tigers fan and hate everything associated with the Yankees, but I must give credit where credit is due. It seems to me that no one can circle the wagons, regroup, re-align, or whatever other cliche metaphor you would like to use to describe the method of moving from an area of scandal and uncertainty to a level of prestige and dominance like the Bronx Bombers. Next week, the remainder of the Yankee's team will report for Spring Training. I look forward to seeing how A-Rod is received by his teammates, but am not looking forward to the hours of coverage and discussion/debate that will undoubtedly exist between Peter Gammons and the rest of his Baseball Tonight cronies.

God Bless.

Michael Phelps: High Times Stoner of the Year?

2008 Beijing Olympic 8-Time Gold Medalist. American Hero. The Golden Boy. The Man of Gold. The Man with King Midas's touch. Flipper. A Symbol of Hope. Olympic Legend. Closet Stoner? The recent photograph of Michael Phelps which portrays him in a compromising position...with a piece of marijuana paraphernalia..aka a bong appeared in a British tabloid a few days ago has caused quite a stir. The image of this great Olympian and symbol of everything that is good and decent about America is on the verge of being tarnished. While marijuana is not only an illegal substance in America (with the exception of medicinal uses) it is also a banned substance by the IOC, and had Phelps taken a drug test in which the marijuana showed up during competition, he could have been stripped of his medals and his name would be going down in history for a much different reason. While Phelps appeared apologetic and embarrassed by the photograph which allegedly was taken at a party Phelps attended after a University of South Carolina football game, the fact remains that his image, and the image of American Olympians as a collective group is on the verge of being altered in the minds of many. In my personal opinion (which is all that matters since this is my blog) I feel that Phelps made a mistake. As hard as it may seem to believe, especially after his total and complete domination in the Olympics, Phelps is a human being. A 23 year old human being. He is not legally able to rent a car yet and people expect him to say and do the right thing in each and every situation. As a college student, I understand the temptations that exist in a college party setting. I believe that Phelps became a victim to his own success. Had this been any other 23 year old college student, lighting up and smoking down, no one would think twice about shrugging it off as one of those "college things." I understan that he has endorsements and an image to uphold, but give the guy a break. After all, he did win 8 gold medals and restore America to the powerhouse in the pool that it once was.

Be Well.

God Help Detroit

On Friday, January 16th, the Detroit Lions introduced Jim Schwartz as their new head coach for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.  After interviewing several other candidates including Jason Garrett, the Offensive Coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, the Lions landed with the Tennesse Titan's former Defensive Coordinator Schwartz.  The bar has been set "high" for Scwartz, as he only needs to win one game next season to have a better record than his predecessor, Rod Marinelli, in the 2008 season.  During a press conference, Schwartz stated that, "I don't shy away from a challenge."  I hope not, because challenge would be an understatement for describing any type of success to be had by the Detroit Lie-downs. Detroit has recently found itself as the punch line for a numerous amount of off-color jokes by local and national personalities alike.  Who could blame them?  Detroit has a plethora of reasons that the public can find humorous ranging from the constantly declining economic status of the city, the Kwame Kilpatrick debacle, and the newest addition, an 0-16 season by the Lions.  However, 2009 is a new year.  Even though I do not personally care for Mitch Albom, he made some interesting points in his article in Sports Illustrated.  I feel that the hiring of this coach, the inauguration of a new President, and removal of former Mayor Kilpatrick will all prove to help Detroit in the long run.  As far as the Lions are concerned, the front office will definitely have its work cut out for them as the draft approaches, and they seek to restore an image of success to the organization.  As it stands now, they are predicting that all Lions home games will be blacked out prior to Thanksgiving Day.  The combination of poor economic conditions for the surrounding areas mixed with a less than mediocre performance on the field has given marketers nightmares.  Attendance is falling, sponsors are pulling out, and feelings of apathy are beginning to set in.  People are becoming more and more expectant of failure on the field and are now doing something about it.  After years of horrible losing streaks, fans are getting fed up and doing something about it.  The recent decline in fan attendance is creating problems for the front office.  They must now resort to secondary methods for generating revenues.  

In closing, my advice to the Lions' front office would be to have more fan friendly promotions throughout the year.  I realize this may be difficult due to the shorter season length, but something needs to be done to restore excitement within not only the Lions organization, but within the city of Detroit itself.

Dollar Debauchery

As a recent addition to the 21 and up crowd (My birthday was December 9) I experienced my first ever dollar beer event at Van Andel Arena last evening as the Grand Rapids Griffins took on the Phantoms from Philadelphia.   The game was as exciting as any other AHL game with highly offensive minded teams rifling shot after shot at the opposing net minder, the occasional skirmish which was quickly disbanded by the officiating crew, much to the dismay of the heavily intoxicated crowd and of course, large amounts of beer.  It was intriguing to me just how many Griffins' "fans" are of the twenty-something target market and even more intriguing that these so called fans only attend games that take place on Friday nights.  Then I checked the schedule that I was so grateful to receive from an earlier game and saw that last night's date, similar to every other Friday night game was shaded in to signify that it was in fact the ever popular dollar beer and dollar hot dog night.  More often than not, I found myself spending more time observing the crowd than I did watching the semi-professional ice hockey players performing an elaborate symphony of skating, slashing, stick-handling, and swearing in more than a half dozen different languages that I was unable to decipher without my pocket translator... aka iPhone.   I would be lying to myself and to anyone unfortunate enough to be reading this if I did not take the time to mention that I had some secondary intentions behind my attendance last evening, namely looking for ideas to discuss in this entry.  Granted, I love semi-professional ice hockey as much as the next guy, but last night's experience was a magical mix of athleticism and advertisement.  If McFadden's Bar was a publicly traded entity, I would have bought 1000 shares prior to last night's contest.  It was not uncommon to hear the word McFadden's amongst a slur of expletives used in a grammatically incorrect fashion as they spewed from the lips of less-than-coherent frat guys in line for the bathroom.  During the second intermission, inebriated fans literally crawled over each other to catch the flyers that were falling from the sky as a promotional tactic by none other than...you guessed it...McFaddens.  On more than one occasion, the public address announcer threw in some plugs for the "Official After-Party" at McFadden's.  Little did the owners of McFadden's know, I was planning my own "Unofficial After-Party" at my apartment in Copper Beech completely withOUT $2 You-Call-It's until midnight, and ladies and gentlemen were both free before, at, and even after 11:00 P.M.  How's that for sticking it to the man?  In summation, if you're in the market for an inexpensive activity that incorporates semi professional athletics, advertising, and beer, Dollar Beer and Hotdog Night at Van Andel Arena is definitely the place for you.

Be Well...