Stuff Worth reading and Sharing...'08

Finding The Right Mix of Heisman Hype…
Every year as the college season winds down, the debate begins…who are the Heisman Trophy hopefuls…should schools use monies to create multimedia campaigns…do such campaigns resonate with voters…is it all about winning…is winning not just about the award but about relevance to the school and to the athlete? It is a tough question to address as a one off, and a recent article in the Pittsburgh Tribune weighed both the pluses and the minuses of Heisman hype and what it netted the schools. There is no doubt in looking at the last eight winners, all of whom played in the

MLS Cup Sets Template For Future Soccer Success…
One of the most significant games in the history of professional soccer took place in the Pacific Northwest in the late summer of 1977, when the New York Cosmos, led by the legendary Pele, won their first North America Soccer league title by defeating the original Seattle Sounders 2-1 in Portland Oregon. This past weekend, perhaps the most important game since then in the evolution of professional soccer in the United States again took place in the Pacific Northwest, where a crowd of over 40,000 saw Real Salt Lake defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 on penalty kicks to take the 2009 Major League Soccer title? Is this championship more significant than say, last y

Globies Race To Keep Growing The Brand…
It is not easy trying to remain relevant with national brands for the travelling road show. There are less performances of the circus, less ice shows, less boxing matches, less LPGA events, less AVP events, less, less less. When you do not have consistent brand relevance in a market and are out of sight for all but one week a year, the ability to keep an event fresh and top of mind when discretionary income, and with that partner value, can be hard to explain is making the “tour” even more difficult to sustain. So what does a touring brand do? You try and find national platforms that give the product year-round life, so that when the event does make its an

If Ya Gonna Be Bad, Be The Worst…
Sports is always a game of extremes…those who excel get the spoils, those who don’t get…well…nothing. However even worse than losing is mediocrity. In sports fans gravitate to the winner but can also tolerate the loser, and those who lose the most always have a sort of macabre curiosity. We never remember the 8-8 New York Jets…we remember the 0-14 Tampa Bay Bucs or the New Orleans ‘Aints. The 9-72 Philadelphia 76ers have reunions, the 41-41 Milwaukee Bucks don’t. The 1962 Mets are as celebrated as the ‘86 World Champions, but last years Mets are well, forgettable. So along those lines again come the New Jersey Nets, no

The Sports Branding World Continues To Shrink…
With every passing week the global transparency of sports events continues to grow. Whether it is high school hoops stars looking to build their brand and their game going to Israel, Emirates Airways using the Breeder’s Cup in Los Angeles as a prime global marketing tool or more Chinese brands signing endorsements to promote brands never seen before in the United States, the sports and entertainment world continues to contract in distance and expand in potential opportunities. So it should come as no surprise as leagues, brands and athletes look to adopt a platform of the excitement of professional sport, with some western nuances, into their local coverage.