"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.

"Trade to Jets Launches Tim Tebow Into Marketing Stratosphere"

From Forbes

Review by Chad Byers in Kin 435 (section 1)

Jeff Bercovici’s article in Forbes discusses the benefits Tim Tebow will enjoy from a marketing perspective following his trade to the New York Jets. Forbes discusses the new opportunities that the New York market presents to Tebow. “Tebow-mania” was already at an unbelievable level in Denver but the author shares some of the benefits he will gain from being in the biggest media market in the nation.

Tim Tebow already enjoys endorsements from Nike, Jockey, and EA sports racking in 1-2 million dollars a year. Bercovici informs the readers that Tebow can increase this number drastically almost with regional sponsorships. He states that there are several opportunities to break the million dollar mark with companies that only advertise within the New York and New Jersey area. One of the most obvious facts that determine his strength in endorsement will be his performance. If Tem Tebow can become a starter and succeed in this role it is projected that he will easily top the 10 million dollars a year annually in endorsements. While there is much dispute between the Tebow fanatics and his “haters;” there is a database that compiles statistics on consumer’s perceptions of different celebrity endorsers. Tim was at the top of many of these categories on par with Larry David and Ricky Gervais. Bercovici states, “Tebow is near the top of the chart on a variety of measures, including trust, influence and trend-setting power.” This is why every company wants his face on their product.

I personally find this article completely accurate. Tebow has proven that he has what it takes to win in the NFL and his work ethic will mend the negatives in his playing style. Some people call him phony but Tebow believes what he says all the way to the core; and that is why he is an extremely marketable athlete. I do find that a lot of the attention Tebow gains is from the media pushing him in the spotlight because of his unique way of living his life. His market strength will increase because he is now in New York but the longevity of these deals will depend on his success. New York loves a winner and forgets about a benchwarmer quicker than any other city, the sky is the limit for Tebow but it all rides on his shoulder.

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Review by Josh Futter in KIN 435 (section 3)

The article we chose for our marketing presentation is “Trade to jets launches Tebow into marketing stratosphere” by Jeff Bercovici. This article talks about how Tim Tebow is going to a small market in Denver to a large market in New York City. It talks of the opportunities that present itself for Tim in his move to New York.

This article talks about the “what if’s” for Tim and the kind of money he could be looking at depending on the future he has in New York and the amount of playing time he receives with his new team. It states that Tim could be looking at and upwards of 10 million dollars in endorsements on top of the 1 to 2 million dollars he already receives from his sponsors EA Sports, Nike, and Jockey. This depends on playing time and how the Jets do as a team. The article also states that New York is one of the only, if not the only place where Tebow could get a local sponsorship totaling the 7 figures mark. It also states that Tebow could also get sponsorship deals while riding the bench.

According to the Davie Brown index which tracks consumer perception of around 2500 athletes Tim Tebow is at the top of this study using trust, influence, and trend setting power to measure where the athletes stand with the consumers. This comes with a middle of the road appeal score due to his love him or hate him nature with the fans.

Sports agent Eugene Lee says that If Tim Tebow can win a Super Bowl it can take him to level of stars such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. This article gives you a lot of “what if” situations but leaves a lot of what happens with Tim’s marketability up to him and his performance on the field. The article doesn’t give any real definitive marketing strategies that will be used or new sponsors Tim will have because of his move, leaving a lot up to the reader to figure out on their own.