"Men's College Basketball Programs Facing Attendance Declines"

From Athletic Business

Review by Heather Holston in KIN 332 (section 1)

The article “Men’s College Basketball Program Facing Attendance Declines” is about the current problem facing ticket sales in college basketball programs across America. The article states that the NCAA Division 1 basketball teams had a decline by 47 fans last season. One in five programs have seen a 20% attendance drop or more over the past four seasons. Half of the programs affected were in the Pac 12. The article list three problems that could contribute to the problem. One is the effect of the NBA being close to major colleges. The article states that more fans want to spend money on NBA games than college. Second is technology making it easier for people to stay at home and watch the games. Their saying students can watch games on the phone or ipads. Third, when it comes to basketball, viewers are more interested in the post season. Fans don’t want to watch every game because it takes time. The article had a lack of the sports marketing that the basketball venues were trying to do. In the article, it states that Duke University had declines but wasn’t going to buy into the cheesy promotions during the games. However, Bobinski states that enhancing the experience or non-conference scheduling can help reverse the decline. I believe that Bobinski is right. If the colleges want to get more students and alumni in the stands, enhancing the experience in the stadiums will help. It might be easier to watch it on tv with today’s technology but it’s not the same. If the stadiums had more in house promotions or more advertisement within the community, more people would come. The Duke reporter said they don’t play the canned pop music or any of those things before a game. It seemed to me that in the article, the colleges gave up when trying to compete with the NBA or get fans in. True the NBA may have bigger stars and more excitement, but nothing is more exciting that rooting for your own college with your friends on a Friday night. Even if that does entail cheesy promotions and canned music.

"NFL Teams Turn To Social Media To Connect With Fans"

From Forbes

Review by Amber Bolen in KIN 332 (section 1)

In today’s world, technology surrounds our daily lives. Most of everything we do involves the use of technology in some sort of way. In the article, “NFL Teams Turn to Social Media to Connect with Fans,” it explains the NFL’s efforts to make sure that all fans can access team information and news. These features will benefit many different people depending on their lifestyle.

The NFL teamed up with Buddy Media which gave the insight to the NFL of what fans wanted in terms of social media and mobile technology. Every single NFL team now has a mobile site that everyone can access on their phone to make browsing faster and easy. And most, not all, teams have their own mobile app that someone with a smart phone can download and track their favorite team. 

Specifically, the New England Patriots have created an app that allows you check news, keep live updates of the game, and even watch highlights from a previous game. Not only do the Patriots have this app but they have an app that is free for users with premium seats to download and see on demand instant replays from many different camera angles and a feed of NFL’s Redzone channel so that they can see what is happening across the league.

I loved this article simply because it showed me where media was going in the future. I like the NFL but I’m more into college athletics and if this continues to grow into college sports it would definitely make me more interested. Even though most games are played on Sundays, some people still work and giving those type of people who cannot catch games go to an app and access updates and even go back and watch highlights of the game from their phone. The only thing that I do not like is how people with premium seats are the only ones who can get that app for free. Some people have just enough money to buy the cheapest tickets/season tickets. It is not fair to limit one group of people to this app.

"Tanzania’s ‘tentacles’ reach Seattle"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Peter Brosnan in KIN 332 (section 2)

Tanzania, a relatively small East African country that holds a relatively big population of about 43,000, has recently brought attention to itself through advertising in Major League Soccer and the English Premier League. In July, the Seattle Sounders FC signed a one-year partnership with the Tanzanian Tourism Board, making it the third consecutive year that they’ve done so. The relationship between those two areas of the world started about two years ago, when Sounders assistant coach and head scout Kurt Schmid visited Tanzania to scout players and search for talent. Since then, Tanzanian tourism has been advertised through scoreboard messages, LED panels on the sideline, and two large murals on either end of CenturyLink Field, where the Sounders, Seahawks, and University of Washington football team play. The Tanzanian Tourism Board also has a deal with the English Premier League, advertising in the stadiums of six small clubs. They chose a six-team deal as opposed to a single deal with a powerhouse like Manchester United, expecting the former deal to produce a bigger market. It is way too early to come up with any substantial results from this partnership, but according to the Tourism Board, they’ve been hearing from many tour operators in the Pacific Northwest already.

As hard as it may be for me to grasp this concept, the country of Tanzania is itself a product. There are natural wonders there that most people have never gotten the chance to see, and giving people that chance is a way to seriously boost its’ economy. That being said, I believe there are few better ways to advertise a product than through sports, so I believe that this is a smart partnership for both sides. The Sounders have opened up a pipeline with Africa, increasing the possibility of bringing international players over to play in Seattle. Not only that, but Tanzania is now advertising in a market that they haven’t reached before, which should have positive long-term effects on their tourism and overall economy. Soccer is an international sport. In fact, it is without a doubt the most popular sport throughout the world. With the growth of globalization and social media it has become even more popular in recent years, and the Tanzanian Tourism Board has utilized that in order to try and sell its product.