Best Practices in Sports Marketing and Promotions

I saw some interesting things this week as I was researching some sports marketing and promotion ideas. There were a lot of interesting things out there.

One thing I found that was pretty cool and seemed to get a lot of followers was Bud Light's Gameday Rivals Ultimate Tailgater. There was a lot of involvement in the promotion and fans seemed to go all out to make sure they were apart of the contest. Bud Light's viewership was increased by 520% and was one of the most talked about brands on social media sites. The video below explains a little of the promotion and shows how involved fans were in the event.



Really, as a sports marketer, it is important to know your target market and understand what they like and want and using that to your advantage. When you know what is going on with your customers and what they want, you get results that are beneficial to your business. The article below briefly touches on these points above. The sports marketing blog post gives some good examples of how to make the most out of your marketing stragtegies.

http://www.sportsmarketing20.com/profiles/blogs/marketing-best-practices-for

Another example of some good marketing strategies are below. I saw yet another blog post that showed many videos and explained some information on how to promote a brand. Some of the more interesting ones were the way Converse was "re-energizing" their brand. A lot of businesses try to create a memorable experience for their customers. This one below shows how Converse gave away a pair of shoes, but allowed the experience to be just a little more than putting on the shoes.



McDonalds used this promotional idea to get additional customers. The following could also be used for sports fans to use in the stadium for fans to have a chance to get free concessions. There could also be balls used to get customers a chance to win autographed merchandise. There were also many other activities that were stated in the blog that could be used from the example below. Check out the video.



Let me know what you think and give me some more ideas as to what you think are the best practices in sports marketing and promotions.

Women Sports in Media

I am not a women who would normally raise a big fuss about women and Title IX and I am not much of a feminist, but it is interesting to me how people portray women and see women in sports. I found a lot of information about how women are seen and why they are seen that way. It also fascinates me as to how women would agree to show themselves in a sexual light for an audience. I would love to see more women who love sports and want to portray themselves as sports objects. This would let everyone know that women can be seen as sports objects just like men.

For this blog, I chose to write about women and sports media. Women in sports is becoming a large controversy, if you will. It has changed a lot from before until now and even now is changing as well. Earlier in the media world, women were not portrayed in sports as much as men. When they were covered in media, they were portrayed as sports objects. Nowadays, you will find more images of women in sports as more sexual.

Women are trying to make women's sports about women's sports, not about the sex object that some portray in the images in magazines, ads, and other forms of media. But, there still are some women who will take the pictures or do the ads that portray women as sexual objects. There were many articles I read where women changed or altered their appearance, or others altered their appearance, to make them appeal more to the male audience. Some examples are below.

Lindsey Vonn posed for a picture for the cover of Sports Illustrated. Many thought it was a more sexual pose than what a male skier would be portrayed. Some stated that this was a skier position, just enhanced slightly. Really, it is probably a matter of opinion.

Another example would be when Greta Van Susteren moved to Fox broadcasting in 2002. She decided to get a makeover that changed her looks as well as her face. Robin Gerber notes that, "Before her surgery, Van Susteren had been an increasingly visible beacon projecting the hope that women had made progress. You believed that she had made it in television because she was so darn smart, clearly the best legal analyst on the air." However, her surgery symbolizes what many analysts have argued for decades: that the way a woman looks is far more important than what she has to say. (Media Awareness Network)

Although there are negatives to women in sports media, there are also positives as well. There are a lot of pictures and ads out there now that portray women as athletes and show that it doesn't always take a skinny women that is the portrayal of the "image" to portray women in sports. You see more pictures of women as athletes. The form of the body and the look in the face. There are also many places out there that are trying to make sure that women are not shown as sexual objects.

Some articles are below that show the good, the bad, and the ugly of women in sports media. There are sites that are trying to portray women as sports objects, then there are others that are not. Check out these articles and let me know what you think.

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Media-and-Publicity/D/DisEmpowering-Images--Media-Representations-of-Women-in-Sport.aspx

http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/Content/Articles/Issues/Media-and-Publicity/M/Media--Images-and-Words-In-Womens-Sports-The-Foundation-Position.aspx

http://sportsmediasociety.blogspot.com/2009/11/reebok-to-women-get-body-that-men-want.html

http://bitchmagazine.org/post/where-the-women-are

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women_and_girls/women_coverage.cfm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/05/lindsey-vonn-sports-illus_n_450438.html

Below, you will also see some images that were referenced in my blog and some examples of how well women are portrayed in sports media as well as women who have been portrayed as sexual objects to gain media coverage.

Sports Conflicts

Many coaches deal with a lot of different players along with the many administrators that hire and work with them. They also have to deal with the family and persons involved with the players. With all the people involved in a coach's life, there can be a lot of opinions about what to do about the coach.

I believe this is what happened in the situation with Mike Leach and the Texas Tech University Administration. Mike Leach was fired in December of 2009 and was asked to leave the University immediately. He was preparing to compete with his team in the Alamo Bowl that was going to happen that week. Leach was accused of placing Adam James in a situation that hindered his health following a recent concussion. Adam James is the son of a former NFL Player and current ESPN analyst.

Because of the allegations, Leach was asked to leave, the assistant coach stepped up and replaced Leach, his contract was terminated and he did not receive his money because the University stated that the circumstances did not allow it. Leach came back with a legal case trying to get his money claiming that no investigation was conducted and his side of the story was not heard.

The team was torn, I believe, asking to take sides based on the player or the coach. Many players felt that Coach Leach was harsh toward the team and mistreated the players continuously. Others believed that he was a good coach and did a lot to help the team become successful. Just like a job, there will always be someone that does not agree with what you agree with. Sadly, certain people listen to the people who are telling the truth and other people listen to the people who are not. I believe this had a lot to do with this case.

Below you will find some articles related to the story of Mike Leach and Adam James. Feel free to read the articles and form your own opinion about what happened. Feel free to comment as well.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/news/story?id=4781981

Here is also a video comparing some Adam James video to the stipulations put on the athlete by Coach Leach. You never know if YouTube videos are real, but I found it quite interesting.

Sports and Intellectual Property

Currently working on my new class, Legal Issues in Sports. There are many issues related to intellectual property and the names people relate to specific products and services. Recently, there have been some issues with many athletes and their actions, contributing to whether or not different companies continue to keep them associated with their products.

Some names that come to mind are Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps. Both athletes did things that made the companies that sponsored them drop them from their advertisements. One recent name that provided controversy for Wrangler is Brett Favre. There were some allegations that Favre was "sexting" another employee of the Jets. Because of this, there have been many questions come up as to whether or not Wrangler should drop Brett Favre as a sponsor.

I personally believe if a company does not want to create a bad name for themselves, the company should think very hard as to why they should keep someone like this associated with their name. There have been many videos and ridicule associated with this controversy. Wrangler is a strong name, but how did this hurt the name of the company? I do not think the company should have continued to link themselves to Brett Favre. I believe people should have consequences for doing something that should not be done. If that is a consequence that Brett Favre needs to face, then so be it. I know it must deal with the company and whether or not the person is charged and whether or not it really happened, but I believe a company needs to hold a good name for themselves. It makes a good name for the company and will pay off in the long run.

NFL did create a sort of punishment when they did not allow Wrangler/Favre commercials to be aired during games. Wrangler placed an ad Dale Earnhardt, Jr. starred in to replace Favre commercials. However, Favre commercials were still aired on other networks.

Here is a link to an article related to the information above. Do you think this will effect the Wrangler name?
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2010/10/25/2010-10-25_brett_favre_skewered_by_saturday_night_live_in_skit_that_alludes_to_jenn_sterger.html

The Biggest Plays in Sports Business

Check out this video about the Biggest Plays in the last Decade of Sports.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1368367744
(here is the link because the embed code was not working for some reason.)

There are many things that happened in the last 10 years of sports. From Tiger Woods generating lots of funds for PGA to Under Armour creating loads of revenue from the explosion of their products. Some companies did not do so well, such as Adidas and Reebok. They combined and sales decreased. I thought this was interesting because I learned that combining companies was not necessarily a good idea because sales would go down. My thinking was that it was not true, but here is a good example of that. Then there was the Spalding basketball that was detrimental to players.

Another company that was discussed is the Fantasy Football League. Who knew that the world of Fantasy Football was so big. It is a business in itself. Men and women alike are ready each August to get the ball rollin’…so to speak. Statistics are tallied, injuries are reported, rookies are studied. What makes the sport so big?

I work with some coaches who play the “game”. I think maybe they do it to educate themselves so that they can get the best out of the athletes. They could also do it to get away from the high school realm of the game. Get a chance to feel like they are apart of the big time. Then, of course, there is the money thing. If I worked that hard to create a good team, I would make sure I was winning the cash as well. As one of the articles below states, the Fantasy Sports Industry brings in approximately $800 million dollars annually. WOW!!

Fantasy Football is not an easy feet though. GMs (General Managers) have to make sure their teams are set. They have to make sure the studying gets done so the team can perform at its best. If you don’t play your numbers right, you would not be successful.

Fantasy Football has also increased the numbers of sales for other venues. This includes mainly the TV attraction. Many stations have created TV shows specifically for the Fantasy Football League. One specifically would be ESPN’s Sports center Fantasy Draft Special held annually. Households and viewers numbers increased in the high teens this year compared to 2008 numbers.

Here are two articles that I gathered information from and that include more information about the Fantasy Football growth. Check them out.

http://lax-magazine.com/2010/01/30/fantasy-football/

http://blackathlete.net/artman2/publish/Football_7/BASN_s_2009_Fantasy_Football_Guide.shtml

Helpful Business Tips in a down economy.

**There is a change in the information below.**

Here is a link to an article about facilities and getting customers to make it to the facilities to bring in revenue. In other words, keep them coming.

https://www.iaam.org/Facility_manager/Pages/2009_Jun_July/Feature_3.htm

This link provides information on how facilities are providing opportunities for customers to take advantage of discounts and offers, as well as events and happenings, to help keep the stadiums full or the facilities used.

Some things the article discusses is using social media to announce discounts for customers as well as announce events that are coming up. There are also websites created to advertise certain events and provide games or quick, fun activities to promote the event. Some venues are not discounting prices, they are discounting extras at events. Concessions can be sold as deals or discounted to allow more customers to purchase them. Some are even combining events and selling tickets at a discounted price if tickets are bought for multiple events. Entertainment is also being used during events to bring in a wider range of customers as well as bring in more numbers of customers.

Below you will find an article representing my ideas of what a company might incorporate to keep the revenue up in a down economy. I thought it was a great article and it gave me many ideas as to what I might do if I were running a business.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/trends/index.html

I searched for information and tips for running a business and keeping clientele during the recession. There was some valuable information that I thought would be beneficial for my business. I thought of ways that I could change it and incorporate it into a business such as a recreational facility.

There were some thoughts that came through my head that I thought were beneficial. I thought of a "Senior Citizen Day" and a "Pet Day". Many people in the area enjoy pets and there is a demand for making facilities dog friendly. I enjoy pets as well. Senior citizens spending has not decreased because of the recession. Much of the market is now finding ways to aim for the retired communities. If I could get them involved in my business as well, that would be great.

There was also information out there that indicated that consumers enjoy discounts. More and more discount stores sales are increasing. People are more interested in making a bargain that getting the best product available.

Some examples of things I might do would be to host a "Senior Citizen Day". A day of the week specifically targeted for senior citizens. There could be sporting activities created specifically for them. Staff could also put together entertainment for the senior citizens. Have music, skits, etc. targeted for the audience that run throughout the day.

People are very close to their pets near the Austin area as well. My company could plan outdoor activities to do that allow pets to get involved as well. Outdoor group walking activities, outdoor entertainment available while they are enjoying other animals, other different activities available for pets which could also include training activities.

Then there is the more obvious. Creating discounts. Many use social media to promote their business. Displaying discount options on Facebook or Twitter to get more people to look into the business. This also opens the opportunity for others to see what their friends and a strong number of the population are looking into so they can do the popular thing or be involved in something that a lot of other people are involved in.

Social Media Presence

I am getting my Masters because I want to be more involved in sports and I want to create the opportunity for me to establish a recreation center. I need to establish a Social Media presence to branch out. Getting my name out there and creating connections with other sports people and areas is a great way to get information that is beneficial to my business and getting my business started. I am excited about getting this started and any connection I can create will be greatly beneficial to me.

I am interested in the areas of sports management. I would like to understand more about how the "behind the scenes" aspect of sports is run. Can I work in the Dallas Cowboys stadium? Ha ha. Something like this could help me with a business because I will then know how things would be set up and what would be involved in that. I could also understand more of what people would like see and do and incorporate that in my business as well.