From Bleacher Report and ESPN.com
Review by Ryan Gerrity in SRM 334
The article and group discussion that we decided to bring to class was about Bryce Harper, and his early introduction into the sports media world. The article that we chose was about both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, and how they are taking the MLB by storm at such a young age.
The article talks about how that at age 16 Bryce Harper was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated. They compare him to LeBron James because he was the first high school player to ever be on the cover of that magazine. The article than goes on to describe how the hype is surrounding them both. Trout even though, he is having a better year than Harper, is not receiving the same attention from the media.
The way that Harper approaches the media is also another part of the article. He does not handle the media well at all. It seems like he gets frustrated very easily with the media and will have outbursts and sometimes even attack the reporters verbally. It is unnecessary and very immature. At a very young age he was put into the spotlight of the media, and this made him grow up very quickly. Even though he is in the media spotlight, he is still a young man, and may not be prepared and may still be very immature. Personally, I believe that he was put on a pedestal at such a young age by his parents, and by the media that surrounded him. This caused him to become a little over confident in himself and his ability to play baseball. He was a spotlight in a feature called E:60 by ESPN when he was 16 years old and that was when he was in high school. He then took that and believed that he wanted to leave high school early, and go to a community college so that he could go to the MLB draft when he was 19. He was drafted first overall, and the spotlight was on him since that day.
This subject has to do with our class because it is based on the media and the effect that it had on him at such a young age. The way the media portrays him and how it effects him is very noticeable. The media shows him as a young immature player and person, and he follows through with that stereotype by the way he handles himself with the media. I do not think that he is doing a good job when he is handling the media. I believe that his teammates and his fans are annoyed by the way he handles himself.
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Review by Steve Robertson in SRM 334
When I think of the media today I think of a monster. It can essentially make you or break you. I find it extremely interesting how influential the media can be for the fans, and how it keeps them coming back for more. I did my article on the MLB Rookie, Bryce Harper, and his popularity between the league and media.
This article begins with comparing him to NBA Champion LeBron James as a rookie coming out of high school and his fan base in the MLB, compared to Tim Tebow’s popularity within the NFL. The major similarity which was highlighted was similar to LeBron, Harper found himself on the cover of Sport Illustrated as a teenager in high school. Furthermore, Bryce was also drafted number 1 overall in his draft class, similar to LeBron.
As the article continued, it began to compare Bryce Harper to the other new MLB rookie Mike Trout. Mike Trout has actually been out performing Harper throughout the entire season. However it said due to his struggles before he was called up, was when Bryce Harper “went-off.” As the article began to wind up the author mentioned that, “Hype has its place and serves a purpose in the sports-entertainment world. It cultivates interest—both positive and negative—which generates publicity, which increases newspaper circulation and page views, which facilitates the pursuit and attainment of the almighty dollar. “
Honestly anything that has some sort of drama/hot topic can sell, in the media sense. A big reason that Bryce has become so popular throughout the league has been because was talked about a teenager and the media fell in love with not only his athleticism, but his character as well. I feel the Bryce Harper needed to learn how to mature quickly when coming into the MLB. A major reason, I feel why the fans and media love him is because he can be quite unpredictable and has had a history of immature outbursts during interviews and has already had multiple ejections throughout his baseball career.
I think Bryce Harper along with Mike Trout have very promising careers ahead of them. I feel in order for Bryce to thrive in the MLB however, I strongly believe that he needs to grow up quicker in the league- he will not be a teenager forever.
Monday, September 17, 2012
"The Alchemy of Olympics Advertising & Sponsorship: Turning the Games into Gold"
From the Journal of Management Policy and Practice
Review by Ben Thacker in KIN 501
Over the past several months, there have been several current events that pertain to marketing within the sports world. The first that came to my mind was the Olympics. The Olympics are a fantastic opportunity for companies to get their name to people watching the games on both TV and at the events. Companies take advantage of marketing during the Olympics by utilizing both sponsorship and or advertising techniques. Companies that utilize sponsorship own some of the rights to the event and their competitors aren’t allowed to participate at the event itself.
The Alchemy of Olympics Advertising & Sponsorship: Turning the Games into Gold is an article that hypothesizes whether advertising and sponsorship in the Olympic games actually helps to generate stock increases in stock prices. The article hypothesized that Olympic stocks would outperform the SAP 500 during the Olympic games, during a four week period thirteen weeks before the Olympics there would be no significant difference between the Olympic stocks and the SAP 500, companies that use sponsorship and advertising do better than companies just advertising and companies that use both sponsorship and advertisements will not see a major difference in a four week period thirteen weeks before the Olympics.
To accomplish this study the researchers looked at 225 publicly traded firms that had participated in the last seven summer and winter Olympics. The control period (the four week period, thirteen weeks prior to the beginning of the games) was used exactly thirteen weeks prior to the games. Comparisons of companies that used both sponsorship and advertising to companies that used just advertising techniques showed a vast difference between their stock price performances.
Overall, the study showed that these hypotheses were all confirmed. Hypothesis one was supported. Olympic Stocks did better than the SAP 500 Hypothesis two was supported. There was no significant difference between Olympic Stocks and SAP 500 in the four week period, thirteen weeks before the games. Hypothesis three and four were supported. Companies that used advertising and sponsorship outperformed companies that only used TV advertising for the first week. Lastly, the authors said that this Olympics proved to show a synergistic effect, where the Olympic stocks actually did much better than anticipated. This study may have several implications and they showed that stock prices can go up during the winter Olympics and not just the summer games. Also, this study shows that more companies would want to make future investments and lastly, firms would want to study the more successful Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola at McDonalds.
Overall, this is an interesting study. The study shows that there is usually no correlation between advertising and sponsorships with the stock price of a company. The trend seems to show that there are several companies who benefit from being Olympic sponsors and advertisers. By doing other research and finding a relevant video, I did notice that there seems to be a trend with the research. Since Nike has been a publicly traded company they typically do well during the Olympics. The only Olympics that Nike struggled during was in 2010 at Bejing and that was during the beginning of the economic downturn. Lastly, this study seems to prove true and indicates that investors could make a fair amount of money during the Olympics if they pick the right companies during the Olympics.
Review by Ben Thacker in KIN 501
Over the past several months, there have been several current events that pertain to marketing within the sports world. The first that came to my mind was the Olympics. The Olympics are a fantastic opportunity for companies to get their name to people watching the games on both TV and at the events. Companies take advantage of marketing during the Olympics by utilizing both sponsorship and or advertising techniques. Companies that utilize sponsorship own some of the rights to the event and their competitors aren’t allowed to participate at the event itself.
The Alchemy of Olympics Advertising & Sponsorship: Turning the Games into Gold is an article that hypothesizes whether advertising and sponsorship in the Olympic games actually helps to generate stock increases in stock prices. The article hypothesized that Olympic stocks would outperform the SAP 500 during the Olympic games, during a four week period thirteen weeks before the Olympics there would be no significant difference between the Olympic stocks and the SAP 500, companies that use sponsorship and advertising do better than companies just advertising and companies that use both sponsorship and advertisements will not see a major difference in a four week period thirteen weeks before the Olympics.
To accomplish this study the researchers looked at 225 publicly traded firms that had participated in the last seven summer and winter Olympics. The control period (the four week period, thirteen weeks prior to the beginning of the games) was used exactly thirteen weeks prior to the games. Comparisons of companies that used both sponsorship and advertising to companies that used just advertising techniques showed a vast difference between their stock price performances.
Overall, the study showed that these hypotheses were all confirmed. Hypothesis one was supported. Olympic Stocks did better than the SAP 500 Hypothesis two was supported. There was no significant difference between Olympic Stocks and SAP 500 in the four week period, thirteen weeks before the games. Hypothesis three and four were supported. Companies that used advertising and sponsorship outperformed companies that only used TV advertising for the first week. Lastly, the authors said that this Olympics proved to show a synergistic effect, where the Olympic stocks actually did much better than anticipated. This study may have several implications and they showed that stock prices can go up during the winter Olympics and not just the summer games. Also, this study shows that more companies would want to make future investments and lastly, firms would want to study the more successful Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola at McDonalds.
Overall, this is an interesting study. The study shows that there is usually no correlation between advertising and sponsorships with the stock price of a company. The trend seems to show that there are several companies who benefit from being Olympic sponsors and advertisers. By doing other research and finding a relevant video, I did notice that there seems to be a trend with the research. Since Nike has been a publicly traded company they typically do well during the Olympics. The only Olympics that Nike struggled during was in 2010 at Bejing and that was during the beginning of the economic downturn. Lastly, this study seems to prove true and indicates that investors could make a fair amount of money during the Olympics if they pick the right companies during the Olympics.
"JMU Announces MadiZONE to be Free For the 2012-13 Season"
From JMUSports.com
Review by Patrick Gotimer in SRM 334
The choice for JMU to provide free coverage of home JMU athletics shows a changing market for the sport media industry.
For starters, a big reason for the change is social media. Users can instantaneously comment and discuss about games and events for free via blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. This type of coverage forces better coverage (i.e. video coverage) to compete with coverage one can receive on one’s smart phone.
As for MadiZONE, turning to free coverage of JMU Sports was just a natural evolution of media. Free coverage means a greater number of viewers and more viewers means there will also be a greater demand for advertisement space. Subsequently, the revenue loss from MadiZONE subscribers when MadiZONE had to be paid for to watch, is made up and surpassed by advertisements.
To further increase the demand for advertisement space, MadiZONE must first increase the number of viewers even more; by increasing the quality of the production, MadiZONE can achieve just that. One suggestions we had for Mr. John Martin was to further market to students who, for example, may be studying but able to flip between homework and the game. In addition, by having more sequences of student spectators at the game could increase viewership. For one, people want to see their friends and family on camera. Also, prospective students will also see a better student atmosphere which could ultimately attract better student and better athletes to James Madison University.
In conclusion, MadiZONE is on the rise. It’s free subscriptions will help JMU Sports promote JMU by using MadiZONE as a recruitment tool for athletes and students alike. I look forward to the changes and updates to come to MadiZONE.
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Review by Chase Warren in SRM 334
MadiZONE is the best place to go for all of your James Madison University sports, and it recently became free. In the past, a paid subscription was needed in order to use MadiZONE and get access to JMU athletics, but that has changed. For different reason, such as contract negotiations, MadiZONE decided to change its ways. This website gives JMU sports fans access to virtually any home game, and even a few away games. There are many perks to this website becoming free. It is a great way to promote JMU as a university in general and it creates a better fan base. Another perk to MadiZONE being free comes from a recruiting standpoint. For example, if a player is thinking about JMU but lives on the other side of the country, his or her parents will be pleased to hear that they will have free access to every home game right on their computer at home. One last thing that it does is creating a higher demand for advertising space. With that being said, the advertising space will help to make up for the lost funding created by MadiZONE's conversion to free, rather than paid. The amount of viewers has grown exponentially since the change has been made. Last season, football games averaged about 750 MadiZONE viewers per game, and in the home opener against St. Francis, $4,700 viewers tuned in to MadiZONE . The fact that this is a sports website that is interactive with fans makes it relevant to this class. It is a type of sport communication, and it becoming free is the type of thing that can happen to many different types of sports media at all levels of athletic competition. Money will always be a huge issue in the world of sports media.
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