From ESPN.com
Analysis by Renee Layne in SRM 334
On January 14, 2014 the Chicago Cubs announced their first mascot as Clark the bear cub. Clark is named after the intersection of Clark Avenue where Wrigley Field is located. The Chicago Cubs took a survey that revealed fans’ desire for a more “family friendly” atmosphere. Clark the mascot will hopefully bring a family friendly feel as he is intended to hand out T-shirts and welcome guests into the stadium before each game. Clark will also be seen waving goodbye to fans after the games. Unfortunately for the Chicago Franchise their new mascot was met with wide spread disapproval from the public on social media sites such as twitter and facebook. The reason this story is pertinent to our Sports Media class is because of how the media has helped project Clark as a laughable disgrace. Several ESPN clips can be viewed comparing the previous unpaid mascot John Paul Weier to the new mascot. John Weier has been dressing up in a bear costume with a cooler collecting donations from fans. The Chicago cubs have asked Weier to stop numerous times and even offered him $15,000 if he would agree to stop the charades. Unfortunately Weier has refused all such offers.
The tirade of outraged Chicago fans continue with such quotes as , “No pants. Yep Clark is definitely a cub.” And “he looks sad.” Several Clark photos have been photo-shopped to expose a reproductive organ on the cub. Clark made his first public debut at a children’s hospital in the hopes of building a family friendly reputation in the eyes of the public. Although the Chicago Cubs try to assuage their fans the negative media attention surrounding Clark continues.
From Athletic Management
Review by Josh Hogan in SRM 435 (section 2)
Why is alcohol not sold at all college sporting events is a question that is asked by so many people and quite frankly myself as well. There is bias in my reasoning because I am a college student, but I do see a merit to this action being taken by a university. Recently the University of Toledo permitted alcohol to be sold at its football and basketball games to the public, not just luxury suites. They are doing this not only for money and sponsorship deals, but also to enhance what Mike O’Brien, athletic director, says is the “game day experience”. They have seen the merit like 22 other NCAA schools in selling alcohol. Of course the proper implications will be in use such as security, id verification, and same game day rules in general for public.
The tailgating experience is one that many people come to football games for, but sometimes abuse this. Fans know that alcohol can’t be purchased inside the stadium and may just try to abuse alcohol as much as possible before the game, then may not even go to event itself. Toledo has recognized this and many other schools are starting to see this too. You want to retain spectators at events not only for the teams support, but the longer they are at event, the higher the percentage they will spend money there. The sales of alcohol could really be a strong benefit to keep the fan at a game and for revenue of selling of alcohol. With big name sponsors coming in such as Budweiser, Coors, etc., I see the potential for bigger prizes for fans. Entertainment could increase, maybe post game shows, or fireworks can become a common theme. JMU I believe is a school that can and needs to move in this direction for the same exact reasons. With an expanding campus, high level of competition for the university, and yes the “party” tagged word for our school. I believe that JMU students wouldn’t abuse alcohol as much in tailgates because they know they can get a beer for the game. I hear it to many times from fellow students that they just want to just leave at halftime because they want to go party. It comes in unison for the home team to also be good so the fan can enjoy the game. I’m afraid that the JMU community is just afraid to take this step, but with the right message being sent to them, I believe they would shift their views.
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Review by Tucker Koch in SRM 435 (section 2)
The article we used for our presentation focused on the idea of the University of Toledo selling alcohol at their football and basketball games. This makes them the 23rd school across the country to do so and it has been a highly controversial decision in almost every case. Toledo will add extra security to games and looks to copy the success of other schools who have seen decreased arrests on game days since allowing the sale of alcohol. Communities tend to be hesitant but schools are extremely optimistic about the possible added revenue. In some cases, like West Virginia University, revenue from alcohol sales at games can exceed one million dollars.
This relates to our class because the whole idea of selling alcohol is in essence a sales promotion to get more people to come to games. Changing the culture of a football stadium is not easy to do at any level, but especially Division I college football. Other than free t-shirts, a good halftime show or a rival opponent, it is extremely difficult to entice fans to give up a Saturday to watch a struggling team. That’s why in the current state, it seems the emphasis to the students is put on the tailgate and not the game itself. The amount of students who tailgate but don’t go into the games at JMU seems to increase every year. In the case of JMU, selling alcohol at the games might entice more people to go to the game, stay past halftime and thus increase the game day experience and atmosphere. With an increased fan presence maybe the team will start playing better at home and then the program becomes one that students and athletes love being a part of.
From Athletic Business
Review by Shane Eachus in KIN 501
There are a number of sports marketing objectives that are a constant focus for collegiate athletics departments. The most prominent objective in major college athletics marketing often times is to grow the athletics brand and to increase notoriety for the university. The 2013 NCAA men’s basketball tournament saw a #15 seed, Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), advance to the sweet 16 round of the tournament for the first time in tournament history; FGCU became a social media marvel and a Cinderella story for the ages thanks to their rise from obscurity via high flying basketball and a social media explosion. Following an opening round upset of perennial power and #2 seed, Georgetown University, and in particular following a series of highlight reel dunks and alley oops, a twitter account posted a message stating that previously unknown Florida Gulf Coast University must be located in “Dunk City, Florida.” The nickname “Dunk City” quickly caught on and FGCU became characterized by both their style of play and their carefree fun loving attitude, both of which were pointed to in the newly acquired nickname and marketing campaign. Less than 5 hours after the Georgetown game had ended, a music video had been created that would soon go viral referring to FGCU’s basketball team, affectionately referring to the team as Dunk City. Following the game and the popularity explosion of the video, dunk city tee shirts were made, dunk city video packages were produced by CBS and ESPN was featuring the program on SportsCenter.
To date, FGCU athletics is still utilizing the “Dunk City” moniker. Every copy of the 2013-2014 season media guide possesses a QR code that can be scanned by iPhone and android devices, bringing about a mobile highlight tape consisting of every dunk from the previous year and a half of FGCU basketball. Fans at the institution, as well as in surrounding southwest Florida, have jumped on board with the FGCU, which opened only 17 years ago. A constant objective of sports marketing is to grow the fan base, or increase the number of individuals who recognize and identify with a particular team. Through a number of statistics, including a 415% rise in merchandise sales, and a 154% increase in season ticket sales, we can see that these types of behaviors have certainly grown at FGCU. The primary end result of the dunk city marketing campaign was described as “transformational” by FGCU athletics director Kevin Kavanagh; notoriety for the less than 20 year old university has truly spiked following the dunk city campaign during the 2013 NCAA tournament. One professor who was spending time over the 2013 summer in China reported being approached on the street as a response to his FGCU apparel with only the words “dunk city” being exclaimed at him; university officials even go as far as to praise the 2013 NCAA tournament success and exposure as being the primary reason for the schools admissions application hike (a 35% increase in applications for undergraduate enrollment from 2013-2014).
In the context of sports marketing the athletics department at Florida Gulf Coast University struck gold via another individual’s social media post; without the tweet referring to “Dunk City, Florida” the school’s successful marketing of the basketball program may have never taken off. However, the athletics department displayed a brilliant strategy of building off of a team’s success to produce a monumentally successful advertising campaign. Dunk city was clearly a monumentally successful sports marketing campaign in that it helped to increase the fan base and increase fan behavior/activity. More so, the dunk city marketing campaign extended beyond sports, the sports marketing campaign extended into the institutional realm helping to improve the national and international face of an entire fledgling university. Dunk City has become the brand of FGCU basketball, thanks to the University’s acceptance and promotion of the ad campaign. The catchy and proper fitting nickname helped bring about massive positive changes; in this instance, the relevance and popularity of the nickname or moniker simply made the ad campaign.
