"Inside Under Armour's 'Game-Changing' Notre Dame Deal"

From Athletic Business

Review by Rosella Sheehan in KIN 501
In January 2014, Notre Dame Athletics and Under Armour signed a deal that would make Under Armour the official outfitter of all twenty-six varsity sports at Notre Dame, over the next ten years. The deal is reportedly between $90 and $100 million dollars and is unique because it offers Notre Dame the opportunity to take some of the money in Under Armour stock. This deal is the largest sponsorship agreement ever by a university and it has been predicted that as a result of this sponsorship agreement, the Under Armour brand will increase in popularity. The contract with Under Armour begins July 1st, once the contract with Adidas expires (Allen, 2014).

From a sports marketing standpoint, the deal between Under Armour and Notre Dame is a good opportunity for Under Armour to grow as a brand. By placing the Under Armour brand on the uniforms of a nationally recognized university, the budding sports clothing and equipment company will reach a level of popularity only recently seen by brands such as Nike and Adidas.

Notre Dame leaving Adidas and signing with Under Armour may be a sign that brands such as Adidas are no longer the brands that universities and teams want to be wearing. Teams are always looking for the best brand that will help them generate success on the field and with Under Armour continuing to produce new technology for their products; they seem to be a brand that will place a team one step ahead of their competition. Finally, when looking at marketing campaigns for Under Armour, their main focus is on the effect the products will have on an athlete’s performance, whereas Nike and Adidas seem to focus largely on the products themselves or which athletes are wearing their brand. This is important to note because Jack Swarbrick, the Notre Dame Athletic Director, hopes that his student-athletes will become “guinea pigs” for new technology being released by Under Armour. 

 This article is relevant to this course because it is a prime example that in the business of college and professional sports, many times there is no brand loyalty for a team or program. As seen when Notre Dame signed a deal with Under Armour after being with Adidas since 1997 (Allen, 2014). Money seems to always be one of the most important factors when teams are looking for potential sponsors. As sport and recreation professionals, when we are given the opportunity to look for and make a deal with a sponsor, it is important that the deal is best for an organization’s current needs and does not only focus on what has been done in the past. Also, when looking for a particular brand or sponsor to work with, it is important that both sides benefit from the deal.

"Marshawn Lynch Talks Little But Tastes The Rainbow With Skittles Endorsement Deal"

From Forbes.com

Review by Sean Sullivan in SRM 435 (section 2)

I have read numerous articles about Marshawn Lynch and the article by Roger Groves of Forbes was very enlightening. The article discusses the elements of the recent deal between Skittles, Lynch, and the Seattle Seahawks. For fans that follow the National Football League (NFL) they are well aware of the relationship between Lynch and Skittles, but this recent deal could very well revolutionize marketing and promoting products. The article covers basic background of the relationship between all parties, but goes into details of how this deal is first of its kind. The deal is one of the first that will include payment towards a player’s foundation it is also incentive base and will pay the incentives of the player on the behalf of the team; usually the team pays the players incentives. It also allows all three parties to be easily marketable and at a fair cost. Skittles will also design a Seattle Seahawk themed candy leading up to the Super bowl. A summary of the details and benefits of the deal are as follows:

· Skittles: Taps into an established market of Lunch and Seahawks fans. Skittles also saves millions by not having to bid/pay for a Super bowl commercial.

· Lynch: Lynch’s foundations will receive donations and sponsorship from Skittles. Lynch also receives incentives that include every touchdown scored by Lynch he will receive $10,000. This also sets him up for future brands to sign him and to set up a source of revenue after he retires from football; he could become the spokesman for Skittles.

· Seahawks: The Seahawks save money by not having to pay Lynch’s incentives, since Skittles will be paying it for them. They also have their city and franchise marketed through the Seattle Skittles Mix candy pack.

This is a great way to market/promote a product and in a way where each party involved benefits greatly. Seattle saves money and is marketed through Skittles candy across the country, Lynch still receives his incentives, sets himself up nicely for future deals, and his foundations receive generous donations and sponsorship from Skittles. Skittles saves millions and still promotes their product through Lynch and the Seahawks during the most publicized event in the country. Obviously there have been plenty of players and brand deals throughout history of sports, but generally the deals would be a player being paid millions to sign with particular brands; example Lebron James with Nike who will pay him double-digit millions to represent as their spokesman. In this case it is a deal that includes not just the brand and player, but also the team; usually teams fall in the background, not in this case. It is also is interesting how all three parties have worked together in the past. Since 2010 the marriage between Skittles, Lynch, and Seahawks has been outstanding; we will cover this in greater detail when we present. They have worked so well together and this is an example of how important it is to work with brands that you respect and that respect you. This deal also helps Skittles save millions and whenever you can save millions and still market your product at a high level that is a success. We see how all these brands will bid and pay millions, upon millions for a 30 second commercial. Skittles decided to take a different path by paying a much cheaper price through an incentive base contract and donating money towards foundations. They also enhanced their relationship with Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks. Fifteen years ago if you were told to think about Seattle and name the top things to come to your head it would have been rain, coffee, plaid flannel shirts, and Nirvana. Now it is still rain, coffee, Seahawks and Skittles. That is the result of good relations and savvy marketing.

This is relevant to the course because this is just the beginning to future marketing tactics. It already had me coming up with ideas as to how to market products. An idea that came from this was with all the “Omaha” overhyped nonsense, if I was trying to market a product or was in charge of Sales and Marketing with a football organization I am having yearly bids where a company can pay for their product to be one of our teams audible code words. I could easily see a brand paying millions for their product to be Manning, Brady, Rogers, or Brees code word. Imagine Manning instead of saying “Omaha” saying “Pepsi” or “Papa Johns” it is instant marketing and will stick in the mind of those watching. Imagine all the young kids impersonating Manning screaming “Pepsi.” It is a better investment than spending millions for one commercial during one event. Why not spend thousands for your product/brand to be voiced every game and marketed for an entire season, it is a smart tactic. Brands could go through the team to make deals or they could possibly save more money and make the deal through the player. But if you want to be successful and develop a strong relationship, take a page out of the Skittles-Lynch-Seahawks relationship and make a three way deal where everyone wins and receives value out of the deal.

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Review by Zack Krukowski in SRM 435 (section 2)

This article, found on Forbes.com, reports on the new endorsement deal between Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch and Skittles. Lynch and Skittles have been connected for quite some time now, with the star back eating the candy on the sidelines and Seattle fans showering the field with Skittles after a Lynch touchdown. The deal makes their relationship official, through what Matt Dzamba estimates to be “a multi-year deal in the low-to-mid six-figures annually.” The article also touched on Lynch’s reluctance to speak with the media leading up to the Super Bowl. He regularly said the least he possibly could to avoid a fine, something that garnered mixed reactions throughout the league and media.

From a marketing perspective, I believe this is an excellent deal for both sides. When the casual NFL fan thinks of Marshawn Lynch, the back’s love of Skittles may be one of the first things that comes to mind. With Lynch’s Seahawks in this year’s Super Bowl, it made sense for Skittles to get a deal done as soon as possible to best capitalize on his increased exposure. The article also touched on the differences in opportunity from even ten years ago to today. Ten years ago, Dzamba claimed, Skittles would have been very limited in their options for taking advantage of a new deal this close to game day. Today, however, they have the opportunity to launch a PR and Social Media mini-campaign to bring even more exposure to the Lynch’s love connection to the candy. As for Lynch, his well-documented love of Skittles has already brought the brand extensive exposure, so it only makes sense that he be paid as an official endorser. Every time that the camera lingered on a resting Lynch eating Skittles on the sidelines or featured Seattle fans throwing the candy after a big play, the Skittles brand benefitted no differently than they would have with an expensive television ad.

This article relates to our course because we learn about endorsements and about marketing, two prominent themes throughout the piece. Skittles’ ability to capitalize on the added exposure of Super Bowl Sunday will likely emerge as one of the biggest non-football talking points surrounding this year’s game.

"IMG's First Year with WVU Rights Exceeds Goals"

From Athletic Business

Review by Dustin Taylor in SRM 435 (section 1)

West Virginia University closed on a big marketing deal this past July. They put out a bid opportunity for marketing firms, and ended up closing a deal with IMG College on a 12 year $86.5 million agreement. This deal gave all of the universities’ athletic programs marketing right to IMG, and they paid WVU the money. West Virginia hopes for the deal are that exposure and sales for games will significantly increase due to the hard work of IMG. IMG has hopes that the money they make from marketing WVU’s athletics through 2025 will well cover the initial expense of $86.5 million that they paid for the rights.

IMG had some issues when first trying to close the deal with WVU for their marketing rights. The original agreement was worth $110 million, but some problems arose about who had rights to broadcast the games. Therefore, the ending deal ended up not getting done until late July. This posed a huge problem as it shortcut IMG’s marketing group time to work on their plans for the upcoming college football season. The group put together a hardworking team, and dove in head first regardless and ended up having some great results.

The IMG group decided to work with the long time voice of the Mountaineer’s radio broadcast, Tony Caridi, to keep him on the radio as part of their team. This was a huge step since he was so well known, and people liked him. The next gigantic step to improving, and bringing in money was the signing of sponsor UPS. IMG put together a few ads for the football team before the 2013 season to try to get some of the players, and mainly the school in general some major attention now that it has joined the BIG 12 conference. Even with the late start IMG was able to exceed their goals by 22-25% at the conclusion of the football season, also overcoming the team having a poor record. IMG has big plans in the future as they will continue to work, and having a full season to prepare should prove to be very beneficial. IMG also plans to utilize more web-based functions to enhance their marketing of WVU athletics in the coming years.

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Review by Zach Lantz in SRM 435 (section 1)

In 2013, International Management Group AKA “IMG” took over management rights of the University of West Virginia’s multimedia rights. IMG has agreed to pay West Virginia 86.5 million dollars over the next 12 years to manage these multimedia rights. In this article, “IMG’s First Year with WVU Rights Exceeds Goals,” it explains how well and why IMG has succeeded their first year of their contract, despite getting off to a late start. IMG had not started until July of 2013 and still by mid December they were projected to make 22-25% of what they had originally anticipated. After taking over, IMG extended the pre-game show from 1 hour to 3 and a-half hours and extended the post-game show from 30 minutes to 2 hours. IMG has made it known that one of their top priorities is to bring in national companies to sponsor the school. While they have already brought UPS aboard, they are in talks with other companies to sponsor WVU. This article does a great job explaining how IMG became a part of WVU, why they chose WVU and how IMG brought on the adversity of becoming the rights owner of WVU’s multimedia in July before the beginning of the football season.

Many universities today hurt for sponsors for their athletic programs. By choosing IMG, WVU has made a tremendous step in promoting their athletic program. WVU’s athletic director, Oliver Luck, explained that the university chose IMG because they needed a bigger multimedia and sponsorships after joining the Big 12. IMG represents more than 90 universities and also the NCAA. While paying WVU over 80 million to hold the rights to their multimedia, IMG’s contract calls for WVU to invest over 2 million dollars in improvements at sports facilities that can be used for marketing. This does not only help IMG market their school, it also helps bring better facilities to West Virginia University.

This article relates to SRM 435 in many different ways. One of the biggest ways it relates to SRM 435 is the marketing and the promotional tools West Virginia and IMG are using to market WVU. IMG will be marketing WVU by creating deals with national companies for sponsorships, they will be advertising through social media and they will also be creating a brand for the fans of West Virginia by creating an environment that keeps these fans coming back. By having taking over, IMG is using all of the tools that we learn during this course and more.