5th Annual Internship Fair - Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen, MD

Ripken Baseball, Inc. will be holding its 5th Annual Internship Fair on Saturday, January 7 from 10 am – 1 pm at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen, Maryland.  They will be interviewing on the spot and making offers to students that are a good match for their internships.  They will also be holding a drawing for special signed baseball memorabilia items for all students that attend the fair!

They are currently looking to fill over 50 internships for the 2011 baseball season (late Spring - late Summer) throughout all of our Maryland-based entities (and, for students that maybe wish to travel, they have operations in Myrtle Beach, SC, Augusta, GA, and Port Charlotte, FL!).  Some of our internship opportunities include:

• Sales
• Retail and Merchandising
• Marketing
• Graphic Design
• Baseball Operations
• Sports Turf Management
• Camp Counselors
• Video Production
• Research and planning
• Event Coordination

Please contact Rachel Fink, Human Resources and Recruiting Manager at Ripken Baseball, Inc., at (410) 823-8466 or rfink@ripkenbaseball.com with any questions.

Please click here for the flyer with all of the Internship Fair information, including where to find our current listings!

JMU's Sport and Recreation Management Fall 2011 Newsletter

Please click the image below for the James Madison University Sport and Recreation Management Fall 2011 Newsletter.

A big thanks to Dr. David Shonk and Michelle Isabelle for putting it all together.

"Sporting KC announces charitable naming rights deal with Livestrong"

From The Association of Luxury Suite Directors


Review by Jeff Giannasi in KIN 435

The newly rebranded Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer just named its new $200 million stadium LiveStrong Sporting Park. This is a marquee deal because LiveStrong aren’t paying a dime for the naming rights but rather the MLS franchise is giving the foundation a $7.5 million donation over the next six years. LiveStrong will also receive a percentage of the revenue that the stadium makes through out each season. Sporting Kansas City was searching for a corporate sponsor to buy the naming rights of the first soccer-specific stadium in the MLS but there were a lack of potential investors due to Kansas City’s small amount of large corporations and Fortune 500 companies. The sponsor ship with LiveStrong has become the centerpiece of the rebranded franchise and within 24 hours of the deal being announced, 400 season tickets were sold. Some other franchises believe that this type of “cause-marketing” will become a trend in sports while others don’t seem that these trends will catch on in different sports.

The marketing and sales of this sponsorship are groundbreaking to the sport marketing business. These two corporations made a partnership that pioneered the way that stadiums may market their naming rights. While most stadiums look toward large companies to pay for the naming rights, other franchises may try to partner with nonprofit foundations in order to establish a connection with the community at large. Sporting K.C. may have partnered with the best foundation because of LiveStrong’s previous involvement in sports that makes them a perfect fit into stadium naming rights especially in a rebranded franchise with a new state-of-art facility. While this new experimental partnership could work out for Livestrong and Sporting Kansas City, who knows how well it will work for other franchises who partner with nonprofit organizations and corporations.

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Review by Rob Cushen in KIN 435

The article that we chose to review for this assignment is about the MLS soccer team Sporting KC and the naming rights to their stadium. This team is groundbreaking for several different reasons, the first of which is their name change from the Kansas City Wizards to Sporting KC. They felt this would play an instrumental role in raising popularity of MLS soccer in the US by taking on a name that closely resembled team names of European leagues. Along with this name change comes a revolutionary new stadium for MLS soccer and the sport’s fans. This stadium is the first of its kind because it is exclusive to soccer and is not shared with any other major sports team. Sporting KC is home to one of JMU’s alumni CJ Sapong who was selected tenth overall in the 2011 draft which is the highest JMU soccer pick ever. Last but certainly not least, is the name and the naming rights of this modern landmark. The naming rights for the stadium were donated to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and therefore it is named Livestrong Park.

Usually for professional sports the naming rights for a stadium draws some astronomical price tag but due to the lack of interest in MLS soccer an alternate route was taken. The idea behind donating the naming rights was to support finding a cure for testicular cancer while simultaneously increasing the attendance of Sporting KC. Since Kansas City is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and soccer’s popularity is not quite on par with maybe football, basketball, baseball, or hockey there wasn’t much of an advantage for a company to purchase the naming rights.

One of the major questions we asked in our presentation is whether giving away naming rights will catch on in soccer as well as other professional sports. The general consensus is that it would not be considered the norm among all sports but there was a good chance it would become more common in soccer. Livestrong Park is a cutting edge facility by soccer standards and sort of sets the bar for what other teams need to aspire to become. Sporting KC at Livestrong Park makes the future of professional soccer in the United States look promising which gives a new hope to the MLS and soccer fans alike.

"MLB postseason near ad sellout "

From the SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Phil Offman in KIN 435


TBS and Fox had no problems this year with selling out their ad space for the MLB postseason series. Fox and Turner Sports (TBS) has sold out their postseason inventory at a rate of more than 10 percent higher than in 2010 for the ALDS, NLDS and the NLCS. The only space left is if any of the series continue to the “if necessary” games where the networks anticipate no problem with selling the remaining space. As in the Postseason and most other major sporting events, the networks say the auto business represents their strongest sponsorship category. Chevrolet is sponsoring the pre and post game shows on Fox. Turner sold a sponsorship package to Audi where they will launch their “Achieving Greatness” theme. Dodge/ Chrysler is sponsoring the “On Deck” pregame show. Other sponsorships that Turner and Fox have given out are Captain Morgan, Allstate, Bank of America, Capital One, Liberty Mutual, State Farm and Travelers.

The NFL Lockout played a major role in Turner Sports and Fox gaining these sponsorships for the Postseason. With the NFL season left uncertain these companies had to make a choice to target the next biggest sporting event. Turner and Fox are making a smart decision with overloading their air space for the MLB Postseason. With teams like the Yankees and Phillies being in the playoffs, the ratings for the games will be up, giving the sponsorship companies a lot more exposure in bigger markets. The networks are planning their strategy around these big market teams going far through the playoffs. This isn’t the greatest way to market because of the chances that those teams do inevitably lose and ratings will surely drop. Both the TV networks hosting the game and the sponsorship companies will stand to mutually benefit from these deals.

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Review by Ria Chionchio in KIN 435

The article we chose was “MLB postseason near ad sellout.” It discusses the use of auto company’s by TV networks to increase sports programming ad sales. According to Neil Mulcahy, executive VP of Fox’s sports sales, the marketplace for postseason baseball is strong. More interests have been sparked in several important categories with the auto business being strongest in demand.

The majority of Fox and Turner’s postseason inventory has sold out at rates more than 10% higher than last year and all the ad time for the first four games of the ALCS and World Series on Fox are sold out. Chevrolet will be the sponsor of Fox’s pregame and postgame show and Fox will also be telecasting the Red Sox-Yankees series if both teams advance to the championship. I think that hosting such a highly anticipated game is a smart move by Fox because both teams have a large, highly supportive fan base and if marketed correctly could generate a lot of revenue for the network as well as their sponsors. The ALDS, NLDS, and NLCS games on TBS have also achieved near sellout levels and are also improving at a quicker pace than last years numbers.

With the abundance of auto sponsors you can be assured to see a lot of car commercials with both Fox and TBS. Fox signed a new sponsorship package with Audi around the “Achieving Greatness” theme. Turner will have Captain Morgan sponsor TBS’s postgame show “Inside the MLB,” and Dodge/Chrysler will be sponsoring the pregame show “On Deck.” Other sponsors include companies in the fast food, financial, electronics, and home improvement categories. Network executives say that almost every MLB postseason achieves sell out ad time on television during the World Series. More time will be added if there is a need for more games and there is usually no problems selling those spaces.

Team Services LLC Internship Position

Thanks to John Ralston ('08) from Team Services, LLC in Maryland, for sharing this internship opportunity:  Team Services Internship Description

Team Services is a highly experienced sales and marketing team specializing in developing and selling naming rights/premier sponsorships, and providing strategic consulting services for our clients.

"The nexus of sports and entertainment"

From the SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Nick Daly in KIN 332 (Section 2)

This article focused on sports and entertainment marketing assets at a time when both of these worlds are affecting each other more than ever. It started off by discussing Pepsi sponsoring and endorsing the new hit television singing show “The X-Factor” on FOX. With this sixty-million dollar deal, Pepsi would receive product placements and specialized signage and ads throughout the show. In addition, Pepsi tried to bring in the “sports aspect” of this deal by offering the winning contestant a Super Bowl ad appearance to go along with the six million dollar record deal from Sony. This, in turn, created a mixture of Pepsi’s biggest sports and entertainment marketing assets. As Ryan Chinman, CEO of Platinum Rye put it, “Every sports property is looking for an entertainment overlay, and for their sponsors, if sports are the cake, they want entertainment to be the icing.”

The article then shifts towards the differences between sports and entertainment marketing. Entertainment content is generally cheaper and easier to acquire than top-flight sports content. In addition, sports provide an incredible television platform that music and entertainment just doesn’t have. However, music and entertainment do offer tremendous flexibility as well as powerful social media connections. The biggest actors and musicians of the entertainment industry are much more willing to do endorsements than sports stars (with the exception of a Derek Jeter or Peyton Manning), but most of these entertainment deals don’t come close to the biggest sports marketing deals and endorsements. All in all, marketers have the flexibility of the entertainment world countered by the comfort level and relative ease of the sports deals which are more structured.

In general, many marketers today feel that the sports and entertainment worlds are beginning to merge as one, as companies and brands feel they can make an impact and benefit their product most by catering to sports events and endorsements simultaneously with entertainment/music events and endorsements. This, they hope, will allow for deeper ties to pop culture.

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Review by Colleen McGurgan in KIN 332 (Section 2)

This article explains how companies want to get their brands involved with the sports industry along with the entertainment industry. The article goes on to talk about how Pepsi signed a deal with X-Factor to get ads, logos, and product placements throughout the show. This deal was not enough for Pepsi who then added an association with the NFL by offering the winner of the X-Factor a Super Bowl ad appearance. This is a prime example that shows how companies are trying to tap into both industries to make people more aware of their brand. In addition, the article mentions that actors and musicians are more willing to do endorsements than sports athletes but the largest entertainment endorsements do not even come close to endorsements within the sports industry. Finally, in the sports industry the schedule of events is known way ahead of time but in the entertainment world it is not as easy to know the schedule in advance therefore making it more difficult for companies to market their products.

The combining of the sports and entertainment industries when it comes to marketing can be very beneficial to interested companies. CEO of Pepsi Frank Cooper states, “When it’s a question of using a sports or entertainment platform, we ask ourselves which will have the greatest impact on popular culture. In this case the answer was sports and entertainment.” It will be interesting to see in the near future if the sports and entertainment worlds continue to grow closer of it they will go in separate directions.

"Colleges weigh risks, rewards of stadium beer sales"

From the SportsBusiness Journal


Review by Michael Fedorowski in KIN 332 (Section 2)

The article “Colleges Weigh Risks, Rewards of Stadium Beer Sales” (sportsbusinessdaily.com, Don Muret, September 19, 2011) weighs the benefits and negatives of allowing the sale of alcohol inside collegiate stadiums during athletic events. Beer sales during football games have been an ever-increasing trend for universities as athletic departments continue to look for new streams of revenue. The article itself concentrates on Western Virginia University for they are the newest school to follow suit. Currently it is up to the school to decide whether they will sell beer during their games, as the NCAA has no rules against it. WVU made $75,000 in beer sales during their first game and expect to gross between $500,000 and $1.2million annually this year. Selling beer not only has its increase in revenue advantage but also opens new doors to sponsorships and endorsement deals.

Companies such as Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors can pour beer during games, but they are not permitted to advertise within the bowl arena or outside the stadium. Both the schools and beer companies still benefit greatly from sponsorships with some deals ranging in the six figures annually. Brewers also receive commercial time on radio broadcasts and program ads such as pamphlets. WVU believes that selling alcohol during games will curb binge drinking at tailgates while also bringing in extra revenue for their athletic department. It is a win-win situation. The fans, school, and brewing companies are all happy campers.

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Review by Katie Minter in KIN 332 (Section 2)

This article was very interesting and I think a topic that has been widely discussed at different colleges and universities around the United States. In this article, Don Muret introduces us to the idea that West Virginia University has decided to start selling beer at public sporting events, especially at their football games. He explains that this idea is not widely accepted in the world of college sports except for a few colleges like Colorado State, which is right next door to Coor’s Brewery, University of Nevada, and University of Louisiana-Lafayette. With the decision of West Virginia University to start selling beer at their stadium, they are slowly intergrading the new policy and acceptance of selling beer into their football traditions. WVU estimated that they would gain $500,000 to 1.2 million dollars in new revenue from selling beer alone at their stadium this season. Along with raising revenue, they will also be increasing the opportunity to gain sponsorships. This process is taking sometime to figure out because WVU is not advertising their sponsorships inside of the stadium, except for small signs on the concourses that direct fans to the appropriate concession stand to purchase the type of beer that they want. To fill the void of advertising inside of the stadium, they are allowing the breweries to advertise on commercial broadcast and with ads in the game programs. Along with raising revenue and increasing the opportunity of sponsorships, WVU is also using this to curb the habit of binge drinking before and during games. WVU hopes this will control the level of consumption of alcohol before games, since fans will now be allowed to drink during the game and in this situation both parties win with fans being able to drink during the games, and the university can generate revenue.

I thought this article was very interesting because I think it is the beginning of what is to come in the world off college sports. I think there are still a lot of people against advertising and consumption of alcohol at on-campus events, but with the economy not being as stable as it has been and the drop in ticket sales, some schools are going to have to start offering new perks to get ticket sales up. I think it is a genius idea to be able to regulate student drinking, to an extent, and also to generate revenue for the school. It may be against a long running tradition to not drink at college games, but college student will always drink before games, and usually a lot before games to last the whole game, so why not curb that tradition and start a new tradition of selling beer during games and helping the school generate profit. I think it is still a work in progress, but I will not be surprise if in a couple years, more and more universities are starting to sell beer at on-campus events.

"Selling Alcohol to Fight Alcohol Abuse"

From Athletic Business

Review by Sam Dowell in KIN 435

The West Virginia University’s season ticket holders have voiced their concern over the drunken culture of the Mountaineer football games. West Virginia will start losing season ticket holders fast if they don’t change something to keep the games fun for families as well as the students. The heavy binge drinking that occurs in the parking lots before the game and at halftime correlate to an environment where the language and behavior has gotten to the point where alumni and fans don’t want to bring their kids and grandkids to the games.

WVU athletic director Oliver Luck is faced with figuring out a way to solve this problem so that he can keep the rich tradition and culture of football that the University has been known for. Luck’s solution is to fight fire with fire and place beer vendors inside the stadium. It sounds ironic, but Luck’s theory is that if beer is available to people during the game, they won’t pre-game as hard before hand. The same thinking applies to halftime, where instead of everyone going to the parking lot and chugging beers, they’ll get them at the stadium because when they are finished they can go get another one. This allows WVU to control the drinking a little more and therefore should prevent some cases of inebriated behavior as well as make the University some extra money. Other schools such as North Dakota sell beer and wine at their games and haven’t had any real problems.

I feel that Oliver Luck needs to do something so that he doesn’t lose season ticketholders and this solution is worth a shot. If successful, it will keep season ticket sales up for the university as well as earn extra revenue for the athletic department with the beer sales. Luck estimates that the beer sales will earn between $500,000 and $1,200,000 that will go to the athletic department. That’s a lot of money and even though Rose insists it is not about the money, it is a nice incentive to go with this option. Rose also mentioned that he was considering banning the long standing policy of allowing everyone re-entry to the stadium during the game and at half-time. Personally, I feel that for this solution to really make a change in the drunken behavior at the games, Rose must ban this policy. It won’t be a popular decision but it will severely decrease the binge drinking, and give WVU a lot more control since there will be beer available in the stadium. If he kept re-entry in place, tons of students would still go binge drink at halftime because it is a lot cheaper than buying stadium beer. To truly make a difference, re-entry has to go.

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Review by Austin Brooks in KIN 435

Whether or not to sell alcohol at college sporting events can be a controversial topic. There are many factors that need to be looked at before the university can make a decision. West Virginia University’s athletic director Oliver Luck is faced with that decision.

West Virginia University’s athletics director Oliver Luck has a very difficult decision to make. There is a major concern about the behavior of fans at WVU’s home football games. The major issue is heavy drinking before games. Many season tickets holders have expressed their concern to Luck stating that they are not going to renew because of the offensive language and the behavior, all fueled by alcohol. His solution, allow beer sales inside stadium.

Lucks decision to allow beer sales inside the stadium was mainly based on getting WVU’s football atmosphere back to a family oriented event, not increased revenue. This could be a good or bad decision. If Luck uses this policy at West Virginia, current season ticket holders may not renew their tickets. If the policy works like Luck plans, the policy will control the heavy drinking before games and could possibly keep the current season ticket holder around for years to come. Another advantage of applying this policy at WVU is the possibility of a sponsorship from major beer companies. Luck stated that this decision in not for raising revenue, but the opportunity for a sponsorship is there. A possible sponsorship could do big things for West Virginia’s athletic department, not just the football team. With a major sponsorship, this could allow WVU to allocate more money to different sport programs, and even the possibility of improved facilities. Luck estimates that the beer sales inside the stadium could increase the athletic department’s $50 million budget with an additional $500,000 to $1.2 million per season, depending on a few variables (team success, weather and kickoff times).

Whatever decision Luck makes, he must keep in mind season ticket holder’s opinions and the overall atmosphere of the game. Season ticket holders are important for any sports organization, and without Luck may be out of a job.

"Gatorade gets a dose of Hope in new deal"

From the SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Joseph Schwartz in KIN 435

Gatorade has added yet another nationally popular athlete to its already broad and powerful promotional arsenal. In the article “Gatorade gets a dose of Hope in new deal,” Fred Dreier of SportsBusiness Journal reported that Gatorade has signed 30-year-old, Hope Sole, who became a national icon when she led the U.S. women’s national team to the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup Final this past summer. Solo signed a multiyear marketing deal, joining teammate Abby Wambach who has been with Gatorade since 2004. Solo’s agent, Richard Motzkin, explained how significantly the U.S. women’s team’s success in the World Cup contributed to her “staggering” increase in awareness with the general public. Solo’s national popularity following the 2011 World Cup has drawn comparisons to that of Mia Hamm’s prominence in 1999 when she led the U.S. women’s national team to win the World Cup over China. Followers of Solo on Twitter skyrocketed from 8,000 to over 250,000 in just over a week following the 2011 World Cup. The article estimates the deal to be in the low six-figure range per year and Motzkin claims for there to be more marketing deals on the horizon for Solo, as she has already signed a deal with Bank of America. Gatorade has sponsored the U.S. women’s national team since 1999 and one of their marketing representatives stated, “Solo is part of Gatorade’s push to diversify its athlete base.” Solo’s popularity among consumers has placed her on par with Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat on the Davie Brown Index (DBI), as her overall awareness jumped to over 6 percent just in the week leading up to the Women’s World Cup Championship against Japan. According to president of Burns Entertainment, Dough Shabelman, “Solo’s combination of leadership, success on the field, physical attractiveness and a recognizable name give her an opportunity to maintain marketability.” With her large increase in positive publicity, Hope Solo should be a huge marketing success for Gatorade. Gatorade will now be able to implement her into advertising commercials in hopes of broadening their outreach to their desired target market.

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Review by Cara Stecher in KIN 435

The article that we did or our sponsorship article project on was an article entitled “Gatorade gets a dose of Hope in new deal.” This article talked about Hope Solo, goalie for the US Women’s Soccer team, and her new deal with Gatorade. The article tells a little bit about the deal, including that deal was worth somewhere in the six figures. The deal is part of Gatorade’s plan to diversify its athlete base, including other signing deals with other athletes competing in surfing, men’s soccer, and swimming. Typically when someone thinks of Gatorade, we think of more mainstream sports such as football, baseball, and basketball. It is smart for Gatorade to diversify the sports that they are beginning to sponsor so that they can reach as many potential consumers as they possibly can. A person who is a surfer or swimmer maybe more inclined to drink Gatorade products if an athlete in their sport is drinking it. Also, soccer is gaining more and more popularity in the United States and could potentially be a major sport within America.

One of the main goals of the article was to describe the marketability of Hope Solo. It talked about her followers on Twitter jumping from 8,000 followers to 250,000 followers in a little over a week. This shows that due to the women’s soccer success at the World Cup these female athletes are gaining more and more attention. Also, it talked about her impact within the sports world. She has a DBI (Davie Brown Index) similar to Dwyane Wade, which is huge because he is a major name within the sports world. She was also on the cover of Sports Illustrated, increasing to her popularity as well.

Another interesting topic that the article discussed was the fact that Solo is gaining attention for more than just her performance on the soccer field. It attributed to her fame mostly for her athletic abilities, but it also credited her physical attractiveness as being a reason why she has gained so much attention so quickly. Which brings up an interesting question, does an athlete’s physical appearance play a part in the marketability of that particular athlete, especially for female athletes? This can certainly be shown in other sports, for example Jennie Finch (softball), Danica Patrick (racing), Anna Kournikova (tennis), etc.

All in all, I think this article was very intriguing and really showed what attributed to Solo’s fame and how quickly she attained it. Gatorade is very smart for signing a deal with her because she is a female athlete and she is a soccer player, which is two markets that could potentially be big money makers for the company.

Open House - JMU's Sport & Recreation Management

Greetings from the James Madison University School of Hospitality, Sport and Recreation Management!

As an alum of sport and recreation management, you and your family/friends are cordially invited to an open house and JMU football game on Saturday, November 12. The open house will be held in Godwin Hall room 354 from 1 – 2:30 pm; the football game vs. Rhode Island will kick off in the newly expanded Bridgeforth Stadium at 3 pm. Parking is available in any of the general lots (http://bit.ly/nhlIt6).

To purchase discounted football tickets, visit http://bit.ly/nyXAtz and enter “JMUSRM” as the promotional code. Please RSVP by November 4 if you are attending the open house. All attendees at the open house will also receive a 20% coupon for the JMU Bookstore.

We look forward to having you back on campus November 12! Go Dukes!

"ESPN Explores Wider World Of Sports With Kenny Mayne Web Series"

From ReelSEO








Review by Kody Farr in KIN 332 (Section 1)


Sports marketing has dramatically changed since the Internet has emerged. Technology innovation and branching out to other cultures has brought sport to the corners of the earth back the United States. For my sports marketing project I chose an article written by Chris Atkinson. It is titled, ESPN Explores Wider World of Sports with Kenny Mayne Web Series. The article describes how Veteran ESPN anchor (writer, comedian) Kenny Mayne travels the globe and explores new sports and brings American sport’s knowledge to several cultures. He travels to different countries and performs skits with random people. From these people he learns about their culture but more importantly their different sports that are probably unknown to people of other parts of the world. The article then goes into examples of Mayne learning ‘Footvolleyball’ or ‘Dancefighting’ in Brazil. Once he learns these sports he then in turn educates youths and adults on American sports. This is a type of sports marketing that is bringing sport to a more globally-centered idea and light. While Kenny Mayne and ESPN explore world sports they are promote themselves and American sports. This brings about an increase in the global market for American sport and other nations’ sports. It also gains more international fans for American sports-which is the most important to the US market. Unknown cultures and sport are learned and ESPN is promoted more than ever on a global scale-which is already the most viewed sport’s network in the world. I personally believe this type of marketing in sports by using comedy and real-life situation is highly affective. Many American sports are not known to citizens of certain countries. By Mayne bringing ESPN and America to these countries this can be achieved.

"Big East Teams Leave Conference for Sports Allies With Lucrative TV Market"

From Bloomberg


Review by James Hemphill in KIN 332 (Section 1)


Two of the most important universities from the Big East Conference decided to leave the conference for the greener pastures of the Atlantic Coach Conference. These institutions are Syracuse University and the University of Pittsburgh. With this realignment, the ACC is attempting to blanket the entire east coast from Boston to Miami with its product. The ACC commissioner is attempting to move the conference tournament to the Mecca of basketball: Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The departures of these two crucial universities from the Big East has upset many pure college sports fan because they are leaving the tradition of the league and the rivalries that have grown since the inception of the league. Syracuse is one of the founding members of the Big East, and will be very difficult to replace. Not only did the Big East lose these two schools, but there is talk that Rutgers and Connecticut could be next to leave. Just yesterday, the Big East received some more bad news as Texas Christian University decided to forgo their acceptance to the Big East for the more appropriate conference geographically speaking in the Big Twelve. With the departures of these marquee programs, they will have to be creative to rebuild the league. The Big East is still intending on expanding their football conference by potentially offering bids to Central Florida, East Carolina, Navy, Temple, Air Force and even Villanova. The Big East is simply in turmoil as a football conference at the moment and has a lot of work to be completed to fix the perception of the league.

The ACC is booming right now with fourteen universities going forward and possibly two more when realignment is completed. By reaching ninety million people along the Atlantic Coast, it has a lot of bargaining power to ensure that a much larger television deal is agreed upon in the upcoming years. It is conceivable that the ACC could become the first super conference with sixteen institutions and that ultimately could allocate for four super conferences of sixteen members each.

Where does the Big East go from here some may ask. They are already hurt by the fact that they are the only major conference that puts more emphasis on basketball then football, because football ultimately makes more money for the conference. They need to react quickly to these departures and figure out a method to lure the best football programs and rejuvenate a conference that has been decimated by realignment over the past decade.

From a marketing perspective, the Atlantic Coach Conference will have a much broader audience to appeal to fans with Syracuse and Pittsburgh joining the conference. This will allocate the ACC to market their product to the large media outlets of Pittsburgh and New York City. If the ACC Tournament is moved to Madison Square Garden, the conference will be able to promote the event to strong alumni bases in the New York City Metropolitan Area. On the other hand, the Big East will be hurt significantly with the departures of these two vital universities. They must lure in popular schools to ensure that the Big East brand, especially in football, does not fall apart and cause further departures to occur. They must hope for the loyalty of the conference to take precedence over the fact that two of its most popular universities have abandon the conference for basically more money and better opportunities.

"14 Bills are given amazing ovations"

From Buffalobills.com





Review by Joanna Kirby in KIN 332 (Section 1)

I took a different spin off of my article. The article written by the director of Marketing of the Buffalo Bills goes into detail about 14 players supporting the Play 60 Challenge supported by the NFL. To my dismay, I noticed that the article concentrated much more on the players themselves then on promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Although “the Play 60 campaign was created in response to the national decline of physical education programs and lack of physical activity for today’s youth”, it seems to me that this campaign was just a way to target a younger crowd during their games. There is a tendency that many young boys usually watch football with their father, and during commercials they see beer, cheerleaders and food, nothing they can relate to. The commercials do not have much substance other than children their age interacting with professional football players. Their naïve imagination makes them believe that they are also capable of achieving this. Specifically in this article I found a few quotes which acknowledged chants for a certain Buffalo player, their undefeated record, and their standing ovations and a small portion was about health. By promoting this campaign teams hope to send off that their players are charismatic and that they care about the health of children. In the video of a pep rally the message may have gotten across better if their mascot was not in attendance, they were not in uniforms and they did not bring up the actual game followed by chants.

A positive reinforcer of this campaign does promote healthy eating and exercise. When they see that their role model supports and is involved with the program it makes them want to be a part of it too; hopefully gaining the published goal of the campaign: obesity. But what I got from the article is just another way to get out to the audience to promote a hidden charming personality and a game day audience.

"Sporting K.C. creates high-tech spin-off company"

From the Sporting News


Review by Zach Jackson in KIN 332 (Section 1)


Sporting Club has decided to launch a High-tech consulting firm that will be used to share the knowledge gained from the technological advancements in the building of the Sporting K.C.’s new stadium, Livestrong Sporting Park. With the addition of Google, Inc. in the design and implementation of some of the new technology within the stadium, Sporting K.C. now has a high-speed connection “three to five times faster than inside Cowboys Stadium,” according to Sporting K.C. CIO Asim Pasha. Google has chosen the new stadium to introduce its new high-speed network. The Google Fiber service will be able to provide unparalleled video content, 3-D video, and even mobile applications developed specifically for Sporting KC fans that will allow them to view live video feeds from different camera angles. All of these advancements have given the company a wealth of information that could be shared and used in other sports, such as the NFL, MLB, and European Football Leagues. Sasha Victorine, director of business development for Sporting Club states that Sporting Innovations is, “based off of what we’ve learned with the stadium and the key relationships we have with tech companies.” She also states that, “There are a whole host of technologies we feel are going to change the way sports connect to fans.” As of now, no clients have been signed, but representatives from the NFL, MLB, NBA, English Premier League, Verizon, AT&T and Cisco, will be at the announcement of the new firm. Client offerings and cost structures have yet to be determined by the company, however, with the large amount of information and innovations that have been developed, it will be hard for other companies and leagues to deny such advancements in the fan experience and interaction with their teams. This relates to Sport Marketing because of how easy it would be to market a stadium that not only gives a percentage of all sales to Cancer research, but also is capable of taking the fan experience in sport to another level, which would be a sport marketer’s dream in my opinion. Furthermore, the new stadium provides fans with unprecedented access and use of social media, which could be used by Sporting K.C. as a way of viral marketing. If the fans love the new stadium, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter will receive posts about it, which will generate awareness and publicity.

"Nike, top sports brand in China, plans to build new campus in Shanghai"

From OregonLive.com


Review by Michael Seibert in KIN 332 (Section 2)

Nike is arguably the most popular sports brand in the world, spanning more than 130 countries and is home to over 1 million employees. That doesn’t even count the fact that it has one of the most recognizable logos in the world. Nike reaches people from all over the globe, and is constantly looking to broaden their horizons. Starting out in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike has spread to Europe with a headquarters in Hilversum, the Netherlands, and now has its eyes set on China.

Just like any other company, Nike desires new markets to promote their products and jack up their revenue. What better place to do that than China? China is home to more than 1.3 billion people, which looks like an extremely generous market to me. Nike has already grown to more than $2 billion in sales and 7,300 stores in China, and the new Shanghai campus should just help to increase their profits.

The campus is said to be very similar in scope to its world headquarters, which is located in the U.S. Nike has visions of one day generating revenue numbers in China similar to those of the U.S., which pulled in $7.58 billion in North America last year. Plus, with China’s huge population and the popularity of sports such as basketball taking off in China, there is no reason Nike’s profits in China shouldn’t skyrocket. American athletes such as Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant are already extremely popular in China, and Nike can use them as a powerful marketing tool.

Overall, the article definitely flexed Nikes true strength within the sporting world. Nike is constantly growing, and making it harder and harder for competitors to keep up. The new campus in Shanghai should do nothing but boosts Nike’s sales even higher than they already are. To me, Nike has an awesome marketing strategy, which helps make it one of the most popular brands in the world. 

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Review by Matt Heinkel in KIN 332 (Section 2)

The Nike brand has always been one of the most innovative and forward thinking companies in the world. They are arguably the world leader when it comes to sports-wear and equipment, as they continue to push into new markets. I would argue nearly every person my age either owns or has owned some type of Nike apparel at one point or another. That may be so for the American market, but Nike has taken their brand globally. The article I found, “Nike, top sports brand in China, plans to build new campus in Shanghai” discussed Nike’s plan to expand their business even more in the Asian market. Already having major campus’s in Washington state and Europe, Nike plans to build their new campus in the populous area in the world. This is the most logical step as Nike’s revenue figures continue to grow. Sales in China have already exceeds $1 Billion dollars and Nike expects to double that figure in the next year. The popularity of Nike can be an attributed to their marketing skills that include the endorsements of some of the world’s greatest athletes. The popularity of Nike products in China was due in large part to the arrival of Yao Ming to the NBA. Now we are seeing more American stars travel across seas as they play in exhibitions and tour the Asian countries, while sporting Nike products.

The announcement of the plan for the new Nike campus comes a few months after the opening of the company’s largest product facility in Jiangsu, China back in February. Another key moment in the success of Nike in China was the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Although Nike had already been operating in China for some time, the Summer Olympics were a crucial time for the company to have their brand is a part of the largest sporting event in the world. As President of Nike Brand, Charlie Denson said, “We were going to do that with leadership from three categories. It was going to be driven by three categories, basketball, running and sportswear. Now, we've been operating in China for almost 30 years. Actually, a little over 30 years. We've been the number one brand for most of that time. But we wanted to end the debate. We wanted to make it very clear.”

No one can be sure what the future will hold for the Nike Brand as they strive to take hold of the global market for sport-wear and apparel, but if their past in any consideration, they will continue to be successful. They may face issues of cultural, economic, and social differences as they work in the varying markets. However, sports tend to have an universal appeal and as long as games are being played and fans enjoying watching their favorite athletes compete with the Nike swoosh on their jersey, they will continue to buy the products.

"More College Athletic Departments Partner With State Lotteries"

From Athletic Business


Review by Logan Klooster in KIN 332 (Section 2)


The article we selected “More College Athletic Departments Partner With State Lotteries” was written by Paul Steinbach for the October Issue of the Athletic Business journal in 2011. This article focuses on the College athletics and allowing the images of different universities branding on lottery tickets. The first two universities the article talks about are Oregon and Oregon State. Oregon refuses to put there emblem and mascot on the lottery tickets yet, Oregon State has no problem allowing their emblem on the scratch off ticket. Both Universities are publicly owned so both universities are state funded therefore both universities receive money from the lottery ticket. “Since 1990, the University of Oregon has received more than $11.3 million in lottery proceeds, while Oregon State has received $10.9 million, according to Chuck Baumann, the Oregon Lottery's senior communications specialist.”(Steinbach, 2011) Oregon’s IMG general manager Brian Movalson says, "It would be hypocritical, I think, to accept those dollars and not participate in something like this." (Steinbach, 2011) As for the second university mentioned in this article, Iowa doesn’t want to participate in the lottery because the lottery used a parody of their fight song and used unauthorized video of the inside of the stadium. These are not the only reasons why Iowa doesn’t want to get involved with the lottery. Iowa also doesn’t want to associate college athletics with gambling. Which brings up another question. Is it ethical to predict the scores on the scores on scratch off lottery tickets? In my opinion, I think it is ethical because it is merely a hypothesis of the outcome of the game and most people do this in their head. As for the Marketing implications in this article, they mention things such as branding of universities on lottery tickets, promotions for entering lottery, sales of lottery tickets, revenues earned from lottery tickets, and fan appeal. In my opinion if the university wants to receive funds from the lottery then they must be willing to use their emblem on the lottery tickets.

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Review by Brandon Schroth in KIN 332 (Section 2)

This article deals with college sports and the lottery. In particular, the controversy between Oregon and Oregon State. Oregon state decided to lend its trademarks to the new lottery promotion celebrating the “Civil War”, which is traditionally the last regular season game between the two teams. Oregon decided to offer the lottery a promotional presence at all seven of their home games, while Orgeon State allowed the lottery to have a presence on two gamedays. Over the years, the two schools have accepted millions of dollars in lottery proceeds. Oregon IMG general manager Brian Movalson said, "It would be hypocritical, I think, to accept those dollars and not participate in something like this." While some support these lottery proceeds, others think the issue of gambling can be a problem, especially in college sports. As the NCAA currently stands, championship events are prohibited from associating with state lotteries. However, individual schools and conferences are free to participate with state lotteries. Forty-three states now offer lotteries, and those that partner with college athletic departments do so as a means to communicate the gaming industry's contributions to their respective state societies. Like any successful sports marketing campaign, fan affinity is the key, and the same goes for promotions launched by state lotteries.

"His vision of eyeblack company is paying off"

From the SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Brad Harner in KIN 332 (Section 2)

Peter Beveridge decided one night when he was watching baseball, and saw some baseball players wearing eyeblack patches, that he was going to create a company using this idea already created. He thought that he could put a symbol or logo, such as a Nike “swoosh”, on this patch and sell them. Soon after, he followed his vision and became CEO of the recently created eyeblack.com which is increasing revenue by 35 percent annually. The main trick to his company is that he gets a lot of publicity from fans seeing the players wear his product on the field. Mr. Beveridge has recently signed NFL football players Stevie Johnson and Marshawn Lynch to help promote his new product.

The CEO, Peter Beveridge, believes he can get many fans to start wearing these patches below their eyes when they see famous, well known, athletes wearing them. He had to convince MLB and NFL to approve this product for their players to use, which was not an easy task. MLB and NFL were not questioning whether or not the players would wear the product but rather if this product would sell to fans. They finally approved eyeblack.com and have not regretted their decisions thus far. The company sold 5 million pairs in 2010 and hopes to sell upwards of 7 million pairs of eyeblack patches this year. Eyeblack.com decided to test the product out on some universities to see how the players liked the product before the company produced these patches in bulk. Virginia Tech, University of Miami, University of Florida, and University of Maryland were the schools selected by the company to test out the product. The players gave valuable feedback to the company and the patches have caught on like wildfire since.

I am interested to see if this company will eventually get big deals with sponsors like Allstate or AT&T and get players to wear these products. In my mind there is no better spot to advertise than on a professional athlete’s face while they are playing the game. Player’s faces are shown on television very often throughout a game which could be a very desirable spot for an advertisement.

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Review by Erik Norquist in KIN 332 (Section 2)

EyeBlack.com is a company/website that sells customized eye black for athletes and fans. The designs on the eye black range from team logos, to phrases, to Eyeblack.com’s most recent idea – company logos. Eye black has been around since about the 1920’s when Babe Ruth was the first player ever officially reported to use it. His purpose to wearing the eye black was to reduce the glare, and he used pure grease. This was common, as the first eye black consisted of burnt chalk or grease. Eye black as since then evolved into black tape patches.

CEO Peter Beveridge came up with the idea for EyeBlack.com when he was watching a baseball game about 8 years ago and saw all the players wearing eye black patches. He realized that this could be a profitable opportunity to customize the eye black with designs. He founded EyeBlack.com in 2003 and since then, profits have risen 30-40% per year. Peter estimates that half of all NFL teams, 90% of major college teams, and many MLB teams are using EyeBlack.com products. In addition to that many fans, high school athletes, and middle school athletes are using their products.

EyeBlack.com has tremendous marketing implications. The company’s most recent products have aimed at putting company logos on the eye black. A Nike swoosh or the AT&T logo are just a couple examples of what the designs could be. This means that corporate sponsors will have another opportunity to put their logo on players and advertise their product. Another marketing implication of EyeBlack.com is teams being able to market themselves in a new way. As fans see more and more athletes wearing the eye black, they will become interested in doing the same. There is already a strong EyeBlack.com retail market for fans, according to Peter Beveridge. EyeBlack.com seems to have a very high ceiling for growth, and I have a feeling we will be hearing a lot about them in the years to come.

            

"EA Sports to North America: ‘Even if you don’t necessarily love soccer, ‘you’ll still love new ‘FIFA 12’ game"

From the SportsBusiness Journal


Review by Phillip Offman in KIN 332 (Section 1)

FIFA is looking to expand their marketing strategy, and aim it towards North America. EA Sports has seen much success with the sales of FIFA overseas and are looking to do the same in North America with FIFA 12. With sales up still the game in the US is at the bottom of the totem pole. Its low sales in the US market is related to the low popularity soccer has here in the US. Madden, NHL, and NBA 2k sports games dominate the market due to the fact that these are the sports that’s what most of the people who live in the US like to play. EA sports is marketing the game to attract new users, not only soccer fans but fans of all sports. FIFA has gained exposure through a variety of TV media sources both in entertainment and sports. With its attempt to bring in fans from our country, EA has coined the slogan “United States of FIFA.”

EA Sports is doing well with their launch of FIFA 12 in North America. With EA Sports trying to get their game off they have aired TV commercials on different networks which will give them all the exposure they are looking for. Getting star athletes such as Landon Donovan, Hope Solo, Steve Nash and Tim Lincecum for their TV commercials is smart because it branches out to more fans in different sports which are what EA is looking to do. These stars are also making appearances at retail stores in LA and NY; this will be good for advertising the game and will give fans a chance to interact with their favorite stars creating a buzz for the game. Airing the commercials on other entertainment networks not just sports gives them a better chance of advertising the game to a more diverse group of people. From marketing view the more sources of advertising the better chances for sales. With the popularity of soccer on the rise and their use of marketing FIFA as they did EA Sports should have much success in North America and should only continue over the years.

"Phoenix Suns hiring social media sideline reporter to track hot topics during televised home games"

From the SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Jordan Hunter in KIN 332 (Section 1)

The Phoenix Suns are a very popular NBA team with many fans from across the world. However, as well as any other professional sports team, they desire new methods to increase their fan base. The Suns wanted to get their fans more involved and active during the home games. This caused them to hire a social media sideline reporter.

The Suns never used this strategy before, but they recently thought of it as a major marketing component. In fact, they will be the first NBA team to hire a social media sideline reporter. Also, the Suns are offering a discount on a ticket package for all social media users. The ticket will be valid for five games. This was another first time approach for them as well. Everything that is recorded by the reporter will be shown on Fox Sports Arizona, which broadcasts the Suns home games at the US Airways Center. Another responsibility of the reporter will be to give updates on what people are saying about the Suns on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or any other website. In addition to a new social media sideline reporter, they have recently started a front-office position for Greg Esposito. He is a columnist for Arizonasports.com that will now be the social media specialist for the Suns.

Sports marketing can be done in a bunch of different ways. Many NBA teams use similar techniques, but some come up with other, creative strategies. This article portrays sports marketing by the hiring of a new member, which caused the fans of the Suns to become more active and involved with the team. Fans are a major aspect of how successful NBA teams become, and they allow the programs to continue to grow. The suns are doing this as a promotion for their team, which seems to be greatly helping their business.

"New Florida Marlins ballpark can guarantee fan comfort, but not wins"

From the Sun Sentinel


Review by Austin Hersh in KIN 332 (Section 1)

When a city has a baseball team that has just finished in the cellar of their division, has a very weak fan base and no clear sight of future success what do you do? Apparently in Miami, Florida, you build a brand new $515 million stadium.

The Florida Marlins have been the joke around the National League since their World Series championship in 2003. Not only due to the lack of talent, and lack of fan base, but to the fact that they were one of two Major League Baseball teams to still play in a football stadium. With ticket sales continuing to decline, the Marlins decided to move out of the stadium they have always called home.

The new facility features a retractable roof, climate control when the roof is closed and many other state of the art upgrades. But even with the new stadium and all of the excitement, the glamour of the ballpark will quickly wear off if there is no production on the field.

Even with opening day sellouts expected, baseball has to be the hardest professional sport to market due to the lengthy season. With promises to increase team payroll to attract fans, the Marlins seem to want to wait last minute to put a winning team on the field. But as the Minnesota Twins learned this season payroll does not win games. Since the inaugural season of the Twins new stadium, the team has gone from a division winning team to last place in the division all while increasing payroll by $97.7million. Money can buy many things, but team chemistry, and fan loyalty are not on that list.

Without the guarantee of the renovated team giving the fans what they want, it then falls on the marketing team to fill the new seats. The article speaks about a 41-game ticket package which includes marquee games against the Red Socks, and Yankees who have some of the most fan loyalty in all of sports.

Team President David Samson has stated, “It is the most important offseason in the history of our franchise.” The newly found hype and excitement about this ball club is something that has been lacking since the teams championship in 2003. The major question marks would also tend to mean that job security could be in question for many, if the Marlins continue their old ways in their new home.

"More College Athletic Departments Partner With State Lotteries"

From Athletic Business


Review by Zack Miller in KIN 435

There is an annual game every year between Oregon and Oregon State called the Civil War. The Oregon state lottery has seen this big game as a great opportunity to cash in on some promotion by getting sponsorship on a scratch off lotto ticket from Oregon State. They tried to have the same sponsorship from Oregon, but the university’s Athletic Director didn’t feel comfortable with the idea. Instead, while Oregon State has their official logo on the ticket, Oregon has allowed promotional presence to the state lottery at each of its seven home games this year. The lottery offers a good sum of money, $60,000, for allowing the promotional use of the schools. Oregon’s IMG general manager stated that it would be hypocritical to accept the money and not allow some form of promotion for the lottery. After all, the state lotteries have given over $11 million to Oregon in the last 20 years, and over $10 million to Oregon State. I believe that the state lottery has done an excellent job in marketing and finding an easy way to use the classic rivalry game to help promote their product. The ticket is a basic two dollar scratch off and therefore is not a big expenditure for fans who want to try their luck. What is interesting is the difference in the way they have gotten promotion from the two schools. While the “Civil War” game is a state wide event, it is my opinion that Oregon actually offered a better deal to the lottery than Oregon State gives. By being able to show up at all seven home games and have a consistent presence, the loyal fans who show up at every game will realize that state lottery has an invested interest in their school. Therefore, they might be able to sell more lottery products rather than the one big game promotion that Oregon State gives. 

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Review by Dale Robins-Bailey in KIN 435

The question of state lottery affiliation has surfaced recently with many top schools and their football programs having to make decisions. Teams like Oregon, Oregon State and Iowa have all recently signed agreements to be affiliated with their respective state lotteries. Questions of hypocrisy have been raised as some schools do accept lottery funding from the state but choose to opt out of being used in promotional lottery games. Sales of lottery scratch games would increase in those areas if they used local university teams to market them.

Recently a lot of programs have started to jump on the lottery bandwagon but there are some that feel it is not ethical to promote gambling. Some schools do not even agree with the NCAA’s rather unclear stance on the matter. The NCAA prohibits affiliation with state lotteries at NCAA championship events but looks the other way as regards to conference and out of conference games. Their official stance is that they are opposed to all types of gambling but do realize there are financial and promotional benefits of such an affiliation. Having said that the NCAA seems hypocritical in itself as it does allow gambling at the conference level at the same time as wanting to be seen as taking the moral high ground. They are aware that some members of their organization feel that the benefits of being linked with gambling establishments such as Casino’s can help market their schools. The NCAA it is missing out on a huge revenue source here as sales of tickets from championship events would surely bring in more money than conference games.

Schools are now beginning to see the benefits of a partnership with state lotteries. With over 43 states offering lotteries, it is a huge opportunity for advertising. The marketing implications mean that both schools and lotteries benefit from the advertising as schools gain exposure from scratch cards and other promotions, and the lottery improves its public relations when schools make it know they are benefiting from lottery funding. Programs include the Bright Futures program at the University of Miami.

In all, the article highlights the opinions of schools and organizations on the partnership with state lotteries.

"Fee-Fi-Fo-Funds"

From Athletics Management

Review by Rocky Morris Jr. in KIN 435 


This article discusses different ways to introduce or raise fees to increase the revenue of athletic departments within NCAA school divisions. Most of the schools that have already implemented an increase in these fees discuss how they have handled this situation when it is presented to the school as a whole and what sorts of reactions take place. The Athletic Directors of these schools see the fees as a necessary income to be able to compete at the highest level that they can at their given conferences, while understanding that it is difficult to convince an already money-strapped school to justify increasing tuition costs. For the majority of the schools in the article, they listed that they reached out to the students in one way or another and made sure that there was appropriate communication as to why fees needed to be gathered. The Athletic Director from Missouri State implemented the help of a student committee and ran a campaign to help promote a fee. At Georgia Tech, a pre-planned committee made up of only a handful of individuals decides on whether to raise additional costs, while a vote at California State University Long Beach went against a price increase because of the possible technological issue of new voting methods that didn’t quite resonate with students. Afterward, a re-collaboration from different department heads decided on a student excellence fee to bring in more funds. Still at other schools such as Buffalo State College, a fee increase means a lot and must go through much scrutiny and possible cuts to athletic budgets before getting passed. Education of why raising fees is beneficial and working together ultimately wins over the drawbacks.

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Review by Brent Henchen in KIN 435

Every semester colleges go through an internal struggle it seems as to whether or not to increase tuition and fees. Especially with the value students and alumni place on sports, there is continually mounting pressure on college athletics to perform well; and sometimes they need more funds to stay with the competition. So, those schools are forced to increase student fees. In “Fee-Fi-Fo-Funds” Dennis Read asks directors from different school how they increase fees and asks what the resulting consequences are. In most colleges, like Missouri State, Utah State, and Georgia Tech, an increase in fees has to be passed by a legislative body. And that body usually contains current students. Dennis investigates the reactions to fund increases and examines ways in which some directors have gotten bills to increase fees approved by the required number of students.

A few of the techniques the administrators have used are to: try to influence student leaders, who will in turn influence a lot of the student body; view the proposal from the student’s perspective in order to know what benefits to convey to the students; educate the students on the athletic department’s needs; putting together a student committee to help; show the fees they charge in relation to the fees charged by other schools in the same conference, and so on. These methods, some of them used together, were mostly successful. Fees increased without upsetting a majority of the student body.

This article can help other administrators with a list of do’s and don’ts when trying to increase fees for athletics. Every year it seems more money is needed to keep up with a growing college or college athletic program. Knowing how to “sell” a fee increase is very important for maintaining a balanced budget and staying out of debt. The same selling tactics cannot be used year after year, so new persuasive arguments will need to be used, which will require administrators to continually face the problem of convincing students and faculty to approve an increase in student fees. Therefore, a universal answer to this problem cannot be determined, but instead temporary answers will have to be implemented and disposed of yearly.

"PepsiCo expands lucrative NFL partnership"

From SportBusiness

Review by Matt Curtis in KIN 435 


The article that will be critiqued is called “PepsiCo expands lucrative NFL partnership.” The article was about the relationship PepsiCo has with the NFL. It first starts off by saying that PepsiCo has had a 28-year relationship with the NFL and will expand their deal with the NFL for 10 years, lasting through the 2022 play-offs. The article says the exact terms of the deal have not been disclosed but the contract is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion. Under the contract, PepsiCo also sponsors the NFL international series, which is a game that takes place in London and had been running for 5 consecutive years. Pepsi Max is still going to be the official soft drink of the NFL, and the Gatorade G series will support athletes and back education programs. PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats and Tropicana brands will now become partners of the league in order to promote those products. The article ends with saying how the NFL commissioner Roger Goddell, and PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi are happy with the deal.

The article was a little vague. It didn’t go into any details about the actual ways they plan on marketing the new products. It also talked about some programs they plan on running but didn’t give any information as to what they were. Also, when talking about the contracts, it didn’t elaborate on what exactly it means to be the official sponsor of the NFL. There are some heavy sales implications that stem from the article however. The contract being worth $2.3 billion was only an estimate, but that shows the importance the NFL means to PepsiCo. They are basically saying that investing $230 million each year into the NFL alone will earn them more than that in revenue. Not to mention the money they will have to spend on their marketing campaigns.

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Review by Sky Powell in KIN 435

PepsiCo has been partners with the NFL for 28 years now, and just recently signed a new contract to extend that for ten more. The contract will last until the 2022 play-offs and is reported to be worth up to $2.3 billion. The new deal will start at the beginning of the 2012 season and is one of the most profitable signing deals ever for the league and a sponsor.

With the agreement, Pepsi will continue to be a sponsor of the NFL International Series, which is when two NFL teams play a regular season game in London. This will be the fifth consecutive year they have done this in an effort to help promote American football to a European crowd.

PepsiCo also plans to gain exposure through the NFL for their other brands as well. They are the owners of Gatorade, Pepsi Max, Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats and Tropicana. Pepsi Max will continue its role as the official soft drink of the NFL, while Gatorade will remain supporting athletes through their Gatorade G Series campaign. Gatorade is also involved in an educational program called “Beat the Heat,” in which they are concerned in teaching athletes, parents, and coaches heat-related illness and the importance of staying hydrated before, during, and after practices and games. Quaker Oats as well as Tropicana will become new partners with the NFL at the beginning of next season and it is estimated that both brands will be investing at least $15 million per year.

Since the 1980’s, Gatorade has been a sponsor of the NFL, but PepsiCo did not gain the main sponsorship of the league until 2002. Their rival, Coca-Cola had held those rights for almost 20 years, but Pepsi was able to strike up a better deal to land the spot as the primary sponsor. Pepsi and the NFL hope to build a better relationship between athletes and fans through their top of the line marketing schemes. They want to work together to bring the fans a more NFL-themed promotion all year round.

I think that the contract is beneficial for both sides because Pepsi is allowed to promote all aspects of their company, while the NFL is going to gain exposure through each of those brands.

"Marketing the 'Big Game': Developing a Student Rewards Program in College Basketball"

From Sports Marketing Quarterly

Review by Ryan Richardson in KIN 332 (Section 2)


Kansas State University found the student population to be sparse at non-marquee games leading up to the historically sold-out Kansas State vs. Kansas University basketball game (also known as the “Sunflower Showdown”). KSU also had a “first come, first serve” seating policy for students at home games, which created a mad rush when the gates were opened. To increase student turnout on the non-marquee games leading to the Sunflower Showdown and to create a safer alternative to students rushing to seats, KSU created a student rewards program.

Students were encouraged to sign up for the program in groups of two to ten people. Students were awarded a point for each home game they attended. The average number of games attended by members of the groups determined their seating for the

Sunflower Showdown. Pre-determined seating would eliminate the unsafe rush for marquee games and rewarding students with seats to the Sunflower Showdown would give students incentive to attend the games leading to it.

The program consisted of 3,324 students in 999 groups. Grouping the students would encourage entire groups to attend games. Registering in groups also emphasizes attending sporting events because of their social nature. Pressure is created on the students to organize and connect with members of the group for each game. This social aspect would also impact less committed spectators who want to be involved in a group. Also, if an individual’s reference group approves of going to the game, the game experience itself is perceived more favorably. Any student who only attended marquee games would be forced to attend other games.

Student attendance to the nine games leading up to the Sunflower Showdown increased on average by 1246 a game when compared to the previous season. That is an 18.2% average increase per game! The program was so successful KSU incorporated it into their other sports. This article shows marketing a rivalry is good. A rival can create an Us vs. Them mindset which helps increase the value of that specific game. Students will also be willing to attend other games to get seats for a rivalry game. It brings in the question of what else students will do to get seats to an important game. The rewards program could be implemented across all sports so attendance to less popular sports increases. The students are provided with a motivation to attend games. The perceived value or importance of non-marquee games increases. This could generate more hype and students not even involved in the program may attend because so many others are.

The program’s reward must be appealing to the customer segment you are targeting. Also, existing marketing activities such as half-time giveaways and entertainment must still be provided. It is important to keep marketing strategies focused on forming stronger connections with the team during a rewards program. Also, the social aspect of attending a game should be highlighted so win or lose, the fans enjoy their experience.

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Review by Jake Kennelly in KIN 332 (Section 2)

In the article it discussed how UNLV was losing attendance at their sporting events and how Kansas St faced a similar issue. It outlined the problem and solution that K. State came up with, and how UNLV could apply it to their own problems. I though the article was very interesting and the idea behind it was very clever, but I don’t think it was necessary to add the UNLV section to it in addition to the Kansas State. I understand that it set up the rest of the article but they could have just based it on Kansas State as they were the ones who were actually implemented the reward system. However, I think the rewards system in a great idea and that it could be used not only in college sports but in all sports as well. I think that JMU could greatly benefit from this system as well. My friends and I only go to a few select games, similar to the situation at Kansas St. and if this reward system was in place I think it would greatly increase student attendance. Also this could be an effective strategy in the 25 strong campaign as well for next year and even for when more renovations are done on Bridgeforth. Kansas State was able to achieve an 18.2% increase in student ticket sales, combine that kind of success with all sports and you can see the potential. This article also had interesting points as to the reason people attend games. The main distinction was between fans and spectators; fans attended because of a deep rooted connection with a team and a spectator attended just to attend. So this system could also potentially turn casual spectators into die-hard fans which would increase profits in not just ticket sales but other areas as well.

"Ambush Marketing and the Right of Association: Clamping Down on References to That Big Event With All the Athletes in a Couple of Year"

From the Journal of Sport Management





Review by Nicole Crivellaro in KIN 332 (Section 2)


The article chosen is about ambush marketing. It is a peer-reviewed article that goes in to great detail about the complications ambush marketing brings to companies and sporting events. It starts by defining ambush marketing in two ways. Even though each definition is different, both describe ambush marketing as a company marketing themselves or their product without consent from the event owner. This causes problems with the sponsors/advertisements that do get consent from the event owner due to a number of legal issues. To name a few, the article mentions and describes unfair competition, trademark infringement, tort of passing off, false/misleading representations, false advertising, and disclaimers. These legal issues have not stopped ambush marketing due to freedom of speech laws and consumer perceptions. To further explain, any company that has marketed their product during a sporting event without consent is not allowed to deceive the consumers. This being stated, companies have found ways to market their company/product without committing any crimes or deceiving the consumers attending the events. Thus, a new legislation was enacted and is now strongly enforced in a number of different countries. The Sydney Olympic Games was the first to establish such legislation and many have followed. New Zealand established MEMA, South Africa established the Trade Practices Act, 1976 and Merchandise Marks Amendment Act, 2002, London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act (2006), and Canada enacted Olympic and Paralympic Marks Act of 2007. Along with these legislations, the right of association addresses ambush marketing on a national level. Even with these laws, ambush marketing will always be a problem in the sports world. Sports marketers, companies, consumers, etc. are affected each day with the legal implications brought by ambush marketers and need to know how to deal with such issues.

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Review by Vince Mullhausen in KIN 332 (Section 2)

Teresa Scassa concentrates on both sides of the issue when it comes to Ambush Marketing in her article Ambush Marketing and the Right of Association: Clamping Down on References to That Big Event With All the Athletes in a Couple of Years. Ambush Marketing broken down is an organizations effort to be associated with an event without paying legal sponsorships fees. She wrote about countries that already enacted laws against this technically legal issue, in relation to how the laws are made to actually protect the consumer as well. Finishing the article with how the Ambush Marketing laws that have been enacted infringe on personal rights and freedoms.

This creates a problem for the sports market industry on a global scale. Organizations advertise at sporting events and obtain association without paying sponsorship fees. Therefore, it creates an unfair advantage with the organizations that did pay for their advertising rights. Misleading the consumer, false advertising, and trademark infringement are some of the legal issues that can arise. However, the evidence of most Ambush Marketing cases is based on the consumer and how far the consumer was mislead, deceived, or confused. This creates many issues with prosecuting or enforcing these laws because it is very difficult to prove how far the consumer was misinformed. Despite that the laws are made to protect the consumer as well as organizations and their events. Critics of these regulations argue that they infringe on personal rights and freedoms. The new laws limit the street activity that can occur by protected events.

Ambush Marketing is a controversial and often contradicting issue. With so many factors that play into Ambush Marketing it is hard to say a concrete solution will arise anytime soon.