"Packers Catching Flak Over New ADA-based Ticket Policy"

From Athletic Business

Review by Brad Newell in KIN 435 (section 1)

"Packers Catching Flak Over New ADA-based Ticket Policy" written by Paul Steinbach is an article that brings awareness to an issue regarding the ticket sales policy change of the Green Bay Packers. With the new Packers policy Green Bay will no longer sell single game tickets to people with disabilities. The main issue is that a previous handicap friendly policy is being changed and blamed on new regulations imposed by Americans with Disabilities Act which states that people with disabilities need to be treated in the same way of those without regarding sales. The Packers claim to interpret this as saying that their previous policy is in conflict with the ADA regulation thus forcing them to change their policy. The claim that this is in violation of the regulations by being unfair in favor of those who are handicap thus not being equal.

In my opinion, the Packers are using the new ADA regulation as a opportunity to change their policy. Knowing that handicap individuals wouldn't be happy with the change they blamed the change on ADA regulations. But, I don't see an ethical issue with this change. People with disabilities can still purchase single game tickets online that are being resold by handicap season ticket holders just like non-handicap people. The only issue could be that there are not enough handicap seats.

There could be a negative marketing and sales impact caused by people who believe the policy change is unethical. If a group of people feels strongly enough about the ethics of the change they could boycott Packers games and shine negative publicity on the organization. Boycotts and public opinions can have a big impact on how a company does business. For example in the 1970's Nestles made some questionable ethical decisions and caused a boycott that effected profits enough that forced the company to make business changes. And on the other side of the spectrum many companies make donations that shine positive light on the company and act as a marketing strategy to bring in new customers.

Regulations can also have a huge impact on companies. Companies spend millions of dollars to stay within state and national safety, health, and ethical regulations. While many regulations are necessary some believe that others force unnecessary spending that could be used to produce better products and more profits.

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Review by Adam Broughman in KIN 435 (section 1)

This article is about the Packers and their new ticketing policy regarding people with disabilities. Since there has been some changes made to the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Packers had to change their ticket policies to coincide with the new regulations. According to the article, ticket sales have to be the same for people with or without disabilities. Since the Packers don’t personally sell single game tickets to able-bodied fans, they also have to withhold single game tickets for disabled people as well. If disabled people want to purchase tickets to a game and not go through a secondary market, they have to buy season tickets, which carry a hefty price tag.

While this may sound like it will hurt ticket sales, representatives from the Packers feel that they will sell all of the tickets reserved for disabled people. I feel like this is a lofty goal and that it will be harder to sell the tickets than they think. While the Packers are abiding within the confines of the law, I feel like they are in a moral grey area. The purpose of the ADA is to help people with disabilities, but I feel like these new changes have hindered them. I think that buying single game tickets would be more cost efficient for disabled people and would allow them to come out to more games. With this new policy in place, I feel like less disabled people will be able to come out to the games. I think this new policy will not only anger disabled fans, but their families as well. It will now be more difficult to obtain tickets for disabled people and that might also keep able-bodied fans with disabled family members from coming out to games. Overall, I think this change will affect ticket sales in a negative way.

"Gatorade announces multi-year partnership with Cam Newton"

From Sports Business Digest


Review by Michael Prince in KIN 435 (section 2)

Gatorade just signed a multi-year partnership with Carolina Panther Cam Newton. Cam joins Peyton Manning and Eli Manning as the only other players represented by Gatorade in the NFL. Newton will appear in television advertisements and also print and digital. He will also be going to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute to work with them on figuring out ways to improve performance out on the field.

This is a huge deal for Cam Newton as he will only be a second year player this upcoming season. Gatorade said, “Cam has proven himself as a naturally gifted athlete with a promising NFL career.” This goes to show how much of an impact Newton had throughout his first season. Gatorade hasn’t signed any other players other than the Manning brother’s so this interesting to see. Cam is very marketable as he is a great player and has a great personality as he is a fan favorite everywhere he goes. He also has proven he is a winner at every level he plays at. Having Cam Newton attached to Gatorade will be a big impact on people that drink sports drinks. People are going to want to be like Cam and do the same things he does. I expect sales for Gatorade to increase as I see them putting his face all over the bottles or on all sorts of advertisements.

This deal can only benefit Gatorade as Cam Newton seems to be the ideal athlete to represent Gatorade along with Peyton and Eli Manning. I’m already a fan of Gatorade and I will continue to keep drinking Gatorade. It will be up to Gatorade to appeal to people that don’t drink Gatorade. This deal will help both parties and I see a great relationship between Cam Newton and Gatorade in the future.

New York Red Bulls Career Fair

NEW YORK RED BULLS CAREER FAIR 

Date: Saturday April 14
Time: 12:00-3:00 PM 
Location: Red Bull Arena Harrison, NJ 

Career Fair attendees will have the opportunity to meet with representatives in the fields of public relations, sales and business development, marketing, broadcasting, finance, journalism, advertising, sports medicine and more. Information will be given regarding full, part-time, seasonal positions, internships and volunteer opportunities.

For more information, click here.

"The Tiger Woods Television Effect"

From the University of Kansas Journalism 

Review by Chad Mozingo in KIN 435 (section 2)

The article that I have chosen to review is “The Tiger Woods Television Effect.” This article was particularly interesting for me because it shows the impact that one single player can have in a sport. It shows the importance of Tiger Woods in the game of golf and how he personally impacts the number of viewers watching golf. It gives key statistics, for instance when he is in the field for a tournament viewership increases approximately 30 to 50 percent. This is astounding to be when thinking about the amount of money that is spent during golf tournaments for advertisements and sponsorships that if he isn’t playing nearly half of the viewers may not be tuning in to see the advertisements. Financially commercials, tickets, and anything to do with the tournament has to decrease in monetary value due to the attendance of one person. The article also had charts showing the viewership in majors since Tiger Woods and how they have increased. When Tiger is in contention to win a tournament on the final day it is the most watch sport. There are other statements in the article showing how he personally has evolved and changed the game of golf himself not just from a marketing standpoint. Because of him personally changing the game and raising the bar of excellence for golfers it has made it more entertaining to watch and play for everyone.

"Is March Madness Marketing’s Next Super Bowl?"

From The Street

Review by James Hemphill in KIN 435 (section 2)

The gold standard for television advertising in sporting events has been the Super Bowl, but the NCAA Tournament has made over $5.2 billion in television advertising from 275 sponsors over the course of the past decade. The 2011 NCAA Tournament garnered $738 million with only 78 sponsors. The key ingredient for the NCAA Tournament to generate nearly three quarters of a billion dollars is passion. Collegiate fans are the most passionate of all sports fans and they are comprised of mostly individuals ranging from ages 18 to 34.

CBS and Turner Sports have capitalized on the growing opportunities to make a profit from the NCAA Tournament. They signed a deal to televise the tournament for $10 billion through the year 2024. Both CBS and Turner Sports realized that the tournament is the second most profitable sporting event behind the NFL Playoffs and continues to prosper. A thirty second television spot for the NCAA Tournament Final costs roughly $1.2 million. The key ingredient for advertisers is the fact that the NCAA Tournament last three weeks and gives them more face time with their potential consumers.

The three main sponsors of the NCAA Tournament are AT&T, Coca-Cola, and Capital One. They each spend millions of dollars to have their companies all over television commercials, but none of them pay as much as General Motors for advertising during the tournament. Backed by their corporate sponsor Buick, GM spends $57.9 million on advertising for the NCAA Tournament. In terms of public sentiment, the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament ranks second in major sporting events behind only the Major League Baseball World Series. This signifies the importance of the Final Four to not only people associated with the specific universities participating in the two national semifinal games but also collegiate basketball fans across the United States.

The downside of the NCAA Tournament is that the awareness and avidity of the event is only half of the Super Bowl. While the Super Bowl has the potential to reach 86.6 million individuals through marketing, the Final Four only has 43.8 million potential customers. However, this has helped smaller companies such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Southwest Airlines, State Farm Insurance, and UPS devise marketing campaigns to promote their products during NCAA Tournament games.

The marketing and sales implications of this article are that the NCAA Tournament is one of the largest sporting events in the United States and there are opportunities for many different types of sponsors to become involved during the tournament. Although it doesn’t reach as many customers as the Super Bowl, the NCAA Tournament allows for smaller companies to advertise their product or service to potential customers. It is likely that the NCAA Tournament will continue to grow because of its popularity and it should continue to rake in large sums of money from sponsors. With the NCAA Tournament concluding this past Monday, it will be intriguing to view how successful corporate sponsors and other sponsored companies were with generating sales.