SRM Internship/Practicum Mandatory Meeting

Any SRM student planning to enroll in a Spring ’14 or Summer ’14 practicum or internship should attend one of the following mandatory meetings: Tuesday, September 24; 7:00 AM in Godwin 384 

Tuesday, September 24; 4:30 PM in Godwin 354

Wednesday, September 25; 7:00 AM in Godwin 354

Students interested in a practicum or internship with JMU Athletics should attend the session on Tuesday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m. 

Click here for more information.

"Media Reaction to Johnny Manziel's Antics Atrociously Unfair"

From Fox Sports and Bleacher Report

Review Kyle Clarke in SRM 334 (section 2)

The buzz around Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has reached a high to the point where anything he says or does gets reported and from there, his remarks or actions are critiqued to the max. In these articles, Clay Travis and James Sullivan try to dive inside the minds of audience opinions on Johnny Manziel and point out unfair critiques of Johnny Manziel.

Since beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa last year and winning the Heisman trophy award, Johnny Manziel has been under the microscope of the media across the nation. Every thing he says or does, someone has an opinion on it. Most recently Johnny Manziel played in his first game of his redshirt sophomore season against Rice University. During the game Johnny Manziel did a lot of taunting, “money” gestures after scoring touchdowns, and drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which caused his coach to pull him from the game. Clay Travis wrote on the reactions from the media. “ESPN reacted like Manziel was the Unabomber” (Travis, 2013). He also wrote how Tim Tebow received a taunting penalty however no one really reacted in a way they did towards Johnny Manziel. Clay Travis believed that how someone felt about Johnny Manziel could tell a lot about how that person. For an example, if someone were not in favor of the way Johnny Manziel played the position of quarterback, that person is most likely someone who is a rules follower. “You believe Johnny’s a showboat, and you are rooting for Nick Saban and Alabama, the ultimate rule-following-team, to teach Johnny a lesson” (Travis, 2013).

James Sullivan took the same position as Clay Travis but went into a little different direction. Presented a timeline of what transpired throughout the game. He displayed “The National Response” which was the opinions and thoughts of the media who reacted negatively towards the antics of Johnny Manziel. For the most part, James Sullivan thought Manziel is being crucified for acting like a confident 20-year-old who happens to be the reigning Heisman award winner. Everyone is going to have an opinion on Johnny Manziel. Some feel that he is very immature and that he does not handle his high status among college football well at all. Others feel that he is just your average college student athlete he just happens to receive more attention then others. Because of his success on the football field last season combined with his personality, everything Manziel says or does will draw millions of opinions and analysis. One has to wonder where did this spotlight come from. Was it his performance against Alabama last season that led to an upset of the number one team in the nation, was it being awarded the Heisman trophy season for dominating the opposition last year, or is it a combination of both. His status has elevated beyond Texas A&M and possibly college football in general. No matter how people may feel about him, Johnny Football is the face of college football. Whether he likes it or not, everyone will be watching his every move and it will draw headlines, even if it is him attending a party.

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Review by Patrick Boling in SRM 334 (section 2)

The article “Manziel opinions say a lot about us” (Travis, 2013) is an insightful analysis regarding the recent controversies surrounding 2012 Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. Manziel has recently been involved in a number of incidents that have circulating the national media. These incidents include: Manziel partying with Drake, getting into a bar fight, unexpectedly leaving the Manning Passing Academy allegedly due to heavy drinking, partying at a rival school at Texas University, and then was accused of accepting $7,500 in exchange for signing autographs. Clay Travis quickly comes to the defense of Johnny Manziel with respect to the national exposure and criticism, particularly by ESPN. Yet, Travis does not directly address the controversial behavior by Manziel. Travis goes as far as saying Manziel is, “the most scrutinized athlete in college sports history.” It is my opinion that Clay Travis is correct in saying that, whether Manziel is deserving of the scrutiny or not. Travis was surprised that ESPN made such a big deal out of Manziel taunting the opposition Rice and celebrating by pretending to rub money in his hand after scoring a touchdown. But to me, the thorough coverage of Manziel is not surprising given the advanced evolution of social media and technology. In fact, Manziel was video recorded with someone’s personal cell phone signing dozens of autographs in a hotel, but there was no evidence of Manziel receiving payments for them and thus breaking NCAA rules. ESPN and the most of sports media rely on advertisements for revenue and it is athletes like “Johnny Football” that will make people tune into ESPN for constant coverage of Manziel’s every move on and off the field. Another polarizing attribute about Manziel is he is either loved or hated, but even those who dislike him will still watch Sportscenter story on him or read articles about him online.
The article then goes into depth about how one feels about Johnny Manziel can be a reflection of your personality and values. Travis uses examples of this both on and off the field. For example, if you do not like Johnny’s unorthodox style as a quarterback then you are probably someone that is traditional and a rules follower, but if you embrace Johnny Football’s unorthodox style then you are more likely to be a free spirit and, “prefer heroes to be rebels.” Another point Travis makes is that he sparked a social and cultural debate regarding his party lifestyle off the field. For example, is it wrong for him to be out partying and drinking even though he is underage? If not, what about the fact that every other college student drinks while they are underage and is it fair to hold him to a higher or different standard? No matter how you feel about Johnny Football, odds are you are at least intrigued by him and intrigued enough to keep using sports media to see what Johnny Football will do next.

"ESPN.com Expands NFL Nation Network with Sites for All 32 NFL Teams"

From ESPN.com

Analysis by Chris Vittorio in SRM 334 (section 2)

In late August, ESPN announced that they were expanding their NFL Nation Network by hiring 21 new writers in order to cover every NFL team. A press release on ESPN’s Media Zone announced that each team would have its own website staffed by experienced reporters. Many of the new writers have been pulled from local newspapers and sports blogs who have been writing about their respective teams for years. The past five seasons, ESPN has used only eight writers to cover eight divisional blogs. ESPN’s NFL Nation is aiming to be the prime location for all football fans with the expansion. Each reporter is responsible for providing relevant info about their team several times a day through various forms of media. ESPN.com Editor-in-Chief Patrick Stiegman stated in the press release, “The expansion of NFL Nation represents one of ESPN Digital’s most ambitious projects in our continuing effort to provide the ultimate personalized experience for fans.” The press release article ends by explaining where the information will be hosted along with the names and previous affiliations of the new reporters. 

This new move by ESPN is aiming to dominate coverage on the NFL and has many implications for our class. Now that there is a designated reporter for each team, coverage will be expanded for niche audiences and across all forms of media. Because ESPN is such a sports powerhouse, it was able to easily pull beat writers from many local newspapers and blogs. I think because of this, print media will take another hit. I am from the Philadelphia area and ESPN managed to take one of our well known sports writers, Phil Sheridan from my local newspaper; the Philadelphia Inquirer. I really enjoy Phil’s take on my team, so now I may find myself following him through ESPN. My interest in my local newspaper, especially in the sports section has greatly decreased now that he is no longer reporting. As well as stealing local writers, while I was researching I found that many reporters are very biased towards their own teams. Every reporter predicted their team’s record and the combined total was 283-229. This means that by their predictions, only eight teams will have a losing record. Team bias is okay for the niche audiences but when they expect to share coverage on national TV broadcasts, the bias may provide bad coverage. This topic is relevant to our class because it affects almost every area of media. We will find this new coverage on ESPN.com, SportsCenter, Twitter, Vine, Facebook, Instagram, ESPN Magazine and many others. We are only two weeks into our class and we have already debated about print media and whether or not it can last in our technological age. It looks like ESPN’s move is contributing to the extinction of print media. Hiring 21 new writers to cover all 32 NFL teams is a bold move by ESPN and throughout the 2013-2014 season we will see what implications it has for NFL media coverage, bias and print media.

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Analysis by Casey Hart in SRM 334 (section 2)

ESPN recently published a press release detailing a massive expansion of their NFL coverage called NFL Nation. Up until a few weeks ago, ESPN had a writer for each division, and only the largest markets had team specific writers. This new expanded NFL coverage provides the largest such network of its kind, and provides local coverage for each individual team. Each team now has a beat writer that communicates with fans across multiple different platforms, including, among others, social media, ESPN.com (written stories and video blogs), and ESPN’s televised programming.

This new step for ESPN carries several very important implications. On the surface, it’s a fantastic new way for ESPN to capture the attention of niche audiences, or fans that are more interested in their own teams than the national stories, and provide them with team specific coverage. However, the amount of coverage, in some instances, doesn’t always directly relate to the quality of the coverage. For example, Eric Edholm of Y! Sports recently noted that these beat writers, each guessing only the record of the team they cover, predicted that all teams would combine for a record of 54 games over .500, which is obviously impossible. This is important to note because when ESPN had only one writer per division, it forced the writers to take a less biased look at a wider range of teams, causing predictions to be a little more realistic. So while the coverage has expanded, fans may no longer be getting the unbiased viewpoints that were previously demonstrated.

It also carries several important implications for local newspaper media, at least in terms of their NFL coverage. First of all, many of the beat writers that ESPN hired worked for these newspapers, and were some of the best at their profession. Second, and perhaps more importantly (and relating more to what we have discussed in class), ESPN now offers the same service that these newspapers provide (in terms of NFL coverage), but with a more trusted name -- and for free. Most newspapers, online or print, cost money to access. So why would I, as a fan, pay money for local NFL coverage when ESPN is providing all of the same local scoops for free? NFL Nation poses a huge threat for local newspapers, and they will likely have to change their business model, at least in terms of NFL coverage, in order to compete.

It’s clear that NFL nation provides huge implications for the nature and quality of NFL coverage provided to fans, both in terms of what ESPN actually provides, and its effect on other local forms of NFL coverage. Whether it is overall a positive or negative remains to be seen.

"Johnny Manziel needs to mature"

From ESPN.com

Review by Tim Young in SRM 334 (section 1)

The main article I used for this project was “The Trouble with Johnny,” written by Wright Thompson for ESPN The Magazine. This article is an in-depth account of 12 hours in the life of Johnny Manziel. There is commentary from Johnny as well his family members. The thoughts and feelings of his father, Paul Manziel, are highlighted throughout the piece. The time Thompson spent with the Manziel family came four days after Johnny tweeted about how he can’t wait to leave college station. This tweet came out because Johnny had parked his car in the wrong direction outside the house and instead of the police just leaving a ticket they knocked on the door asking who was the owner the car. Something that is seen as borderline harassment by the Manziel family, especially since as Paul mentioned in the article, the police know where Johnny lives because they drop him off after every game. “The Trouble with Johnny” goes a long way to paint a picture of Johnny that the media hasn’t been portraying. Thompson shows Manziel as the average kid that he is, and shows how much his new found fame and success has changed things for everyone in his family. Family is a main theme of this article; it is very obvious that Johnny’s success has had a huge influence on his family. This article really adds a dimension to Johnny Manziel as a person; he doesn’t seem like the arrogant and rebellious wild child that most media outlets display him as. He seems more like a regular person who has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time in a couple of instances and is now trying to deal with a level of fame that most 20 year olds can’t fathom. This article is relevant to this class because it shows that there are always two sides to every story. Many of the major events that happened in Johnny Manziel’s summer are addressed in this article, and many of them are told differently coming from Manziel then other media outlets. It seems that sport media created a hero in Johnny Football and then after the Heisman Trophy was awarded they tried to turn that hero into a villain. Most news about Manziel these days is negative, showing him as someone who doesn’t respect authority. This article however shows a different, more relatable Manziel; one that is a normal person that rose to fame and now needs to deal with new pressures, especially that his mistakes and flaws will be broadcasted on national television if he slips-up.

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Review by Kevin Hoagland in SRM 334 (section 1)

Going back to August of 2012 Johnny Manziel was just a normal nineteen year old college kid trying to win the starting quarterback job for Texas A&M. In just over a year he has gone from a nobody to the Heisman Trophy winner, and is also one of the most criticized athletes in all sports. One of the main reasons he is so criticized is because of the growth of social media in the recent years. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram athletes have to watch what they say or do because fans have so much more access to content in todays world. For example, just two weekends ago during the opening game of the season after Manziel scored a touchdown he started trash talking to a player and was seen pretending to give the player autograph. When the media got a hold of the incident everyone was saying how cocky Manziel was, and how he needs to start showing more respect on the field. Immediately after the game the first headline on ESPN was “Manziel Taunting.” As a society we shouldn’t jump to conclusions so quickly because after the game the player that Manziel taunted at went on Twitter and said the only thing Manziel said was “Nice hit nick.” So even though the goal of the media is getting the content out the public as soon as possible they aren’t always right. I believe what we see happening with Johnny Manziel is relevant to this course in many ways. In class we have been learning how media has grown over the years, and you can see it when it comes to Johnny Manziel. Back in day the media wasn’t out to scorn or attack athletes, the example was used when two news reporters saw Babe Ruth running through a train car naked. They didn’t report it because they it had nothing to do with Ruth’s performance on the field, and they weren’t out to ruin his reputation. Today's sports media is completely different because all media outlets are so concerned about getting the most viewers possible that they will report anything they can. In today's world Johnny Manziel just happens to be the scape goat of the media. He is only a twenty year old college kid making mistakes just like a lot of people did when they were that age. Even though a lot of people say he’s bringing it on himself I believe if the media didn’t blow up everything he does the criticism on Manziel would go down a lot. Plus, when it comes to a news story as a society we are more likely to tune in if the media is portraying an athlete as a villain rather than a hero. The more “juicy” the content is the more we are going to want to know about it.

"Lance Armstrong must give answers"

From ESPN.com

Review by Zachary Graham in SRM 334 (section 1)

Lance Armstrong is one of the most prolific athletes of our generation. Lance Armstrong was known for dominating his competition over the course of a decade. He was then known for his epic battle with testicular cancer and his overcoming of it. Finally he was well recognized for his marketing ability with many companies, but specifically his Livestrong bracelets, for cancer research. Recently Lance has been in the news for his famous doping scandal. On January 17th 2013, he publicly decided to admit to his PED usage, blood doping, on the Oprah Winfrey show. All of his Tour De France medals were stripped, and was sanctioned a lifetime ban from the sport of cycling. 

Even more recently Lance is back in the news as he is being sued from multiple people and organizations. Acceptance Insurance Company is asking Lance to commit to his first sworn testimony. Acceptance believes Lance Armstrong is guilty of committing fraud of to earn $3 million in victory bonuses. They would like Lance to testify about all the people involved who knew of his doping scandal. The judge has ruled in Acceptance favor, and he will talk in 2014 at his trial. Acceptance is not the only organization-suing Lance, he is currently being sued by the Postal service for $30 million in endorsements, along with 100 people suing to be reimbursed for purchase of his book.

This is a public relations nightmare for Lance and his staff. Lance was a national hero, role model, cancer survivor, and just a very polarizing figure. Lance is now in a position he has never been before he is now the villain, the scapegoat, and the same polarizing figure for PED’s throughout sports. Lance was a media star with his own brand of Livestrong, his own book, and with constant commercials Lance was everywhere. With cycling being such an international sport, he was the main figure of the sport internationally as well. Lance Armstrong was the equivalent of the cycling version of Michael Jordan, and it would similar to hearing that Michael was a cheater as well. Lance will have the most media impact of any professional cyclist for a very long time.This article is relevant to this class because this is a sports marketing class. Lance Armstrong was one of the highest sponsored athletes in our country. The article is relevant because he is now being sued by those same sponsors; and they are asking for their money back. This article is relevant to this class because as future professionals when dealing with marketing disasters such as this, it may be helpful to look back and see how his PR team handled this situation.

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Review by Chris Walker in SRM 33 4 (section 1)

Lance Armstrong is in the news once again, and back in court. Earlier this week, Armstrong was ordered by a judge to provide documents and written answers to questions posed by Acceptance Insurance Holdings, an insurance company that provided Armstrong with millions of dollars in victory bonuses. Now, Acceptance is trying to prove that Armstrong was committing fraud against them during those years, and is seeking damages against the disgraced cyclist. The questions focus primary on Armstrong providing the names of people who knew about his doping, when they knew, and in what capacity they helped to cover up Armstrong’s years of doping. The article mentions this is just one of several lawsuits Armstrong is currently fighting. 

Lance Armstrong is one of the most recognizable athletes in the world. Not only was he an American athletic hero, he won races on almost every continent in the world, making him a familiar name among sports fans internationally. This fact alone means that anything that happens to Armstrong has the potential to be worldwide news. Add the fact that this story is the direct fallout of one of the biggest falls from grace any athlete has ever taken in the history of sport media coverage and it is obvious why Lance’s court case is a front-page headline on the largest sport news outlet in the world. Lance’s story will always garner coverage. I think that people will always tune in to follow the trajectory of Armstrong’s giant fall. With years of lawsuits to come, and so many unanswered questions about Lance’s secret operation, the media will have no difficulty finding fresh angles to report to the world. Lance’s story has all the makings of a media reporter’s dreams: a sports hero, drugs, courtroom drama, corruption scandals, and Oprah Winfrey. It will be a while before Lance Armstrong and the stories surrounding him disappear from the headlines.

Internship Opportunity: Special Olympics Virginia

The Special Olympics has a longstanding relationship with JMU SRM students.  This local internship offers students a variety of sports-related experience while organizing several different events.  The work environment is very low key and relaxed.  The Special Olympics is also willing to work around an intern's work or class schedule.

Please click here for more details.

15th Annual Sport Management Conference at Florida State University

The Florida State University Sport Management program will host its 15th Annual Sport Management Conference in Tallahassee, Fla., from October 3 - 4, 2013.  The conference will include a panel of guest speakers and an Internship Fair.  Please click here for more details.

"NBA Teams to Sell New Ad Space on Courts and Backboards"

From Ad Age

Review by Brad Burgess in SRM 435 (section 1)

The NBA has allowed all 30 teams for the 2013-2014 season to have new areas on the court for sponsorships. These areas include ad space on the apron of the court right in front of the benches and on top of the backboard. Ads are not however allowed anywhere inbounds on the court. The apron ads will be highly visible throughout the game and even though the backboard ads are not as visible they still will appear a few times throughout the game.

These ads are only allowed during pre-season and regular season games that are broadcasted locally. All games broadcasted nationally on ESPN or TNT the ads will have to be removed. This also applies to the playoffs. No ads will be allowed to be shown during playoff games. This ad campaign is a one year trial period. After this upcoming season the NBA will reassess the campaign and discuss what the future parameters will be.

Looking ahead to other future goals for ad sales the NBA has discussed the selling of ad space on NBA jerseys. This is a concept that is currently used in the WNBA and used by other teams worldwide. To many around the world it is normal to have ads on jerseys but to the US it is an uncommon concept. This could lead to millions of dollars in ad revenue. The ad logos have been discussed as being small patches on the top corners of the jerseys in order to keep the jerseys classic, clean, and not plastered with ads.

Analysis:

Ad sales is one of the most lucrative aspects of sports marketing, promotions, and of course sales. Professional teams make millions if not billions of dollars on their advertisements sales each year. Teams and sports are going above and beyond to find the best possible ways to get more ad space into a game, practice, or in the eyes of media and fans. As ad space gets exhausted new creative ways are being born to place ads. In this articles case placing and ad on the top of the backboard sounds foolish at first. However, there will be a handful of times when the overhead cameras on the basket are shown on TV and when that happens someone’s name will be popping up. If someone wants to buy ad space on the top of a backboard for a few minutes of camera time every game then why not. Seeing the opportunity for more money as a team or business is always smart. There are arguments that ad space will consume the game, but the game isn’t changing, the players are still playing the same way. The only time I personally think that ad space/time effects the game is when there are media/commercial time outs. That disrupts the game but ads on the floor should not affect the flow or play of a game. Lastly I think that as a country we are weary of ad sales on jerseys because it takes away from the pride of the team. It may clutter a jersey that to some is a work of art. However, in most countries the entire jersey is sold to a company for ad space. It is the norm to not see a team logo as the biggest logo on the jersey. I think that once as a country we get use to the idea of ads on jerseys it will become second nature to us. I look at it this way, there are millions of shirts given out as free giveaways with tons of ads on them. People still wear those because it’s normal. I think that one day ads on jerseys will be a normal thing too.

This article is relevant to this course because it is showing the importance and need for all three of our core topics marketing, promotions, and sales. It is talking about new ways to market your team and to promote your sponsors. All of it includes the sales of ad space, jerseys, and anything pertaining to sponsorship sales. Most of the money that floats around in sports besides paying the players comes from the sponsorships and ads that are linked to the game. That being physical signage or commercials run during the game. Ads in so many cases are what sports have become.

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Review by Ryan Hourigan in SRM 435 (section 1)

With advertisers still waiting for the NBA to approve the space of ads on jerseys, advertisers will begin to have the opportunity to use ad space on the courtside aprons in front of the player’s benches as well as the top of the backboard. Starting in he 2013-2014 season all 30 teams will be allowed to sell the two new spots inside their arenas. The new aspect of the courtside apron will change from the teams website or twitter handle to the advertisers company name, giving the advertiser an extremely visible location to the local audience. Chris Granger, exec VP-team marketing & business operations at the NBA, declined to tell how much each NBA club would make in ad revenue. These new advertising methods have a catch; it is a one-year trial run that will only show these removable ads during locally televised games, not for nationally televised TNT or ESPN games. The NBA also is exploring the idea of placing advertisements on jerseys like professional soccer teams in Europe and Asia as well as the WNBA. 

The execution of this ad space was well thought out by the NBA in allowing teams to monetize these spaces. The courtside apron has a distinguishable position for many camera angles and will allow the advertiser to have its brand seen numerous times throughout the duration of the game. The previous hash tags and websites clearly did well in a marketing aspect or else the NBA would not have pursued the thought of monetizing these locations. The location of the advertisements on top of the backboard will only have an impact when that camera angle is utilized, mainly after a big dunk. The only downside I see in this deal with advertisers and the 30 NBA teams is that these removable ads will only be shown during locally televised games on local networks and not during the biggest and most watched games on national television. I believe in time this will change after the teams and advertisers get more accustomed to the change. While the NBA is contemplating adding advertisements to jerseys in the future, I believe that is a mistake. Although the teams will make money off of this ad space, I think it takes away the aesthetics of a classic NBA jersey and turns it into a walking billboard. This new way of advertising is relevant to this class because it is a brand new attempt at monetizing space on the basketball court as well as potentially using ad space on jerseys. New marketing schemes are vital to the success of a team in hopes of bringing in more revenue as well as product awareness for the advertiser. It is also relevant because it is using the basic concepts of marketing by putting the name of an advertiser in a high-profile space and will now have brand recognition with a team.

"College Football Encounters Its Biggest Rival: The Couch"

From Time

Review by Ryan Gerrity in SRM 435 (section 2)

College football has been a cornerstone for not only college students, but for fans of all ages. It seems as though college football brings the best out of people because they want to be apart of something bigger than themselves. Football is not just a four hour event, it is a weeks long countdown until a full day event that starts at sometimes, 8:00 AM. Attendance to these college football stadiums has filled over 80,000 people, but in the past couple of years, attendance has fallen dramatically.

The Southeastern Conference is the biggest, best, fastest, strongest conference in college football and they have even seen a fall in attendance. Nine of the fourteen SEC schools have seen a dramatic drop in attendance at college football games. University of Florida had a 137 game streak of sold out home games and that streaked ended just over a year ago. The University of Alabama, who has won the last two National Championships, has not sold out any of their home games in the past two years.

Before attendance dropped dramatically most Universities required the season ticket holders to make a donation on top of their purchase of the tickets. Most schools had a requirement of at least $5,000. Now, there is no required donation because they are trying to attract more people to purchase the season tickets. Another threat to the Universities and a cause of the drop in the attendance is the upper classmen that are attending the Universities. Over the past year 20% more upper classmen are not going or purchasing tickets to the football games. Another problem the Universities are having is promoting the games that the students or fans do not care about. All the fans want to see a top 25 ranked team in the country, and they cannot sell the tickets to the lower ranked teams. Some of the Universities are requiring people to buy tickets in two, one ticket for a big game against a big name school, and a ticket against a smaller school.

Marketing and promotions for college football games is very easy because everyone wants to be apart of the game and atmosphere. The problem the Universities are having is getting the fans into the game. Everyone loves to go to the tailgates, but once the tailgates end most people have started to go hoe to their own house and watch the game on their big screen HD TV. Having promotions at the tailgates is very important and when we worked the JMU football walking around the tailgates promoting the game worked. Interacting with the fans and getting them involved in the process is important because you want to know what will get them into the game and stadium.

A marketing strategy that could work for college football attendance is to promote the idea of being apart of something bigger. There really is not much better than the atmosphere of a intense college football, and you cannot replace that with atmosphere with a TV and surround sound. This article is relevant to this course because there is important ways we can learn how to promote and market tickets to not only students, but also all fans. Learning the different ways to reach people through different kinds of channels like social media, email, personal promotions through the tailgates. Also knowing your client, in this case it is the students and fans, and trying to promote the idea of going into the stadium and game.
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Review by Ben Edsall in SRM 435 (section 2)

The article we chose to use for this assignment was called “College Football Encounters Its Biggest Rival: The Couch” written by Brad Tuttle. This article talked about the current trend of college football teams struggling to sell out games, even including the SEC. It stated that with today’s drastic improvement in television technology, people do not feel the need to go to games when they can watch better quality in their living room. Tuttle also discussed how teams are struggling to sell season tickets as well as games against lesser opponents. The decrease in fan attendance is not extreme, but looks like it will continue to decline in the future. In the article it showed that nine out of fourteen teams in the SEC saw a decline in attendance. With these hard times some teams are starting to not require donations from season ticket holders. One program that was hurt tremendously was the University of Nebraska. The donations for the 2013 season ticket holders dropped 25% to 80% compared to last year. 

Later on in the article the topic of watching the game at home vs. watching the game at the stadium is discussed. People tend to feel that they receive a better experience in the comfort of their own home compared to the stadium. When people watch at home they have high definition television, their own food/beverages, easy access to the bathroom, and can watch multiple games. These factors need to be addressed by college football teams and figure out a more efficient way to market themselves. They need to promote that the experience at the stadium is like no other. I believe that teams can positively promote themselves by reaching out to the media and getting fans excited for the upcoming game. The team can do activities around campus and get the students involved to show school spirit, and make them feel as though they are a part of something bigger. Another strategy is to hang up posters around campus and host pep rallies to create a buzz around campus. Not only is the comfort of watching the game at home a huge factor, but the prices of food and beverages at games as well. From a sales point of view I believe it would be beneficial to lower the prices so more people would purchase the products, rather than keep them high where everyone just ends up getting frustrated. I believe that if football teams took these factors into consideration they could see a rise in ticket sales. 

This article is relevant to this course because it demonstrates the difficulty with fan attendance, and how teams need to market and promote themselves to increase ticket sales. Last weekend I worked the football game for James Madison University against Central Connecticut State University, and noticed some positive aspects of promoting the team. I walked around tailgates handing out posters and key chains to boost morale. Everybody loves getting free stuff and it showed from the reactions I received. If you are able to hand out free merchandise then there is a possibility more students will attend games. Also when students and fans were entering the stadium before kickoff I handed out thunder sticks which increased the excitement in the stadium tremendously. Overall I had a great experience working the game and feel that if teams put more effort into promoting the positive aspects of the game day atmosphere then they would have higher ticket sales.

"With Deals Done, Fox Sports 1 and Advertisers to Hit 90 Million Homes Saturday"

From Ad Age

Review by Ryan Oliphant in SRM 435 (section 1)

On August 17, fox introduced its new national television network; Fox sports One (FS1) to audiences across the nation. The 24/7 sports network reached 90 million homes that Saturday. Reaching 90 million homes pleased many of the advertisers signing ad deals with the network. FS1 will carry advertising from blue-chip marketers in the auto, electronics, food & beverage and insurance categories. General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Microsoft, Samsung, Pepsi, State Farm, Geico, AT&T, Verizon, and Taco Bell are among the companies that will run advertisements on the sports network. Automotive companies so far are spending the most for advertising on the new station. Such companies include Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia and the Big-Three Detroit auto-makers, GM, Chrysler and Ford. Ford has long supported Fox’s broadcast network and will big a big partner once again with Fox’s new channel. The automotive company has agreed to sponsor the pregame show for FS1’s new Big East College Basketball coverage coming in the fall and they will run advertisements throughout the networks regular programing and broadcast schedule. FS1 will lack NFL games but Fox is strongly suggesting companies who purchase times for the NFL regular season as well as time in the Super Bowl too buy time on FS1 too.

What Fox is essentially trying to do is market their new Fox sports 1 channel to companies for ad space. To effectively market FS1 to companies for ad space they have to attract enough viewers and be on enough cable providers. The network must not only compete with the “World Wide Leader of Sports”, ESPN, for business but also NBC Sports, CBS Sports and other sporting networks. To compete with these other networks Fox has to really sell and promote their new channel not only to audiences across the nation but also to advertisers. The television network did a lot to promote the new FS1 by running commercials, internet ads, utilizing social media and sending emails to customers before the big launch on August 17. Besides the different PR initiatives, what will also make audiences aware of the new channel is the instantly recognizable on-air talent including Regis Philbin, former NFL quarterback Donavon McNabb, NBA great Gary Payton, and former tennis star Andy Roddick. With this array of on air talent and personalities, a massive PR campaign, and the rights to broadcast big time sporting events such as U.S. Open golf, World Cup soccer, UFC, and Major League Baseball Fox is very much on their way to attracting consumers to the new FS1. This will also help Fox Sports 1 become a more recognizable sports channel. All these factors appeal to advertisers. Fox recognized this and booked hundreds of millions of dollars in ad sales.

The cable company then had to find interested advertisers to be on board and help support the startup channel. They looked to marketers who had long supported Fox’s broadcast networks, such as Ford. Companies such as Microsoft and Samsung use sports to reach consumers so they as well purchased ad space on FS1. With the cable company reaching millions of homes, more blue-chip marketers than decided to market their brand on the channel. It was important that Fox Sports 1 reached 90 million viewers its opening weekend to convince companies that they made a wise advertising investment.

We had learned about promotion in class and more specifically the sport promotional mix. Fox with their new channel, Fox sports 1, used several promotional tools commonly used in sport to promote the 24/7 sports station. The company used infomercials throughout the summer to get consumers and marketers attention about the release of the new channel. They had several sales presentations, most recently Cynopsis Media’s Second Annual Sports Business Summit. The cable network then created a website to explain about the upcoming programing, introduce the new on air personalities, and inform the public and marketers about what to expect from the new channel. Fox then created a Facebook page and a Twitter account to promote the new channel and get attention.

Another significant concept from our class that we touched on is sales. Fox is trying to “sell” this channel to consumers, to have them buy into their programing and sporting events. They are then trying to sell this new channel to advertisers so they can buy ad space. One initiative that Fox is trying to do is sell Fox Sports 1 ad space with Fox’s ad space during the Super Bowl. The company is really trying to encompass more of an all-buy across the media group instead of having everything be separate. Fox’s new channel Fox Sports 1 is still fairly new, being aired about three weeks ago on August 17. The cable network will have to do a lot in regards to marketing, sales and promotion if they are to compete with the other sporting networks, including the giant, ESPN. By continuing to use promotional tools, selling ad space, and covering big time sporting events Fox could very well grow in popularity. They even one day could surpass the monopolistic ESPN.

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Review by Henry Bronez in SRM 435 (section 1)

Fox Sports Media Group unveiled a new channel, Fox Sports 1 (FS1) as a key competitor to ESPN and other network leaders in the sports broadcasting industry. FS1 was broadcasted in 90 million homes when it premiered in August, which is only slightly lower than the 100 million homes, that ESPN and its networks reach. Major enabling factors for Fox being able to introduce this channel are contracts Fox were able to sign with most major broadcast distributors and monetary support from marketing firms on Madison Avenue that were dependant on said contracts.

Fox Sports Media went down to the wire getting the distribution packages secured but in the end the network was able to obtain distribution deals with all major providers including Time Warner Cable, DirectTV, Dish, and others. These last minute deals are what enabled the new channel to air in those 90 million homes and is the key to being able to effectively compete with industry leading channels such as ESPN and ESPN2. Without these deals coming to fruition FS1 would only have been available in about half of the90 million households that were predicted to marketing firms when obtaining marketing deals and selling advertising prior to the initial broadcast.

The Fox Media Group wasted no time in selling advertising on the new channel. Somewhere in the “hundreds of millions” worth of advertising time was sold prior to FS1’s initial broadcast. The main purchaser of early advertising has been from the auto industry with both domestic and overseas auto-manufacturers purchasing significant advertising time. This is not unexpected, as Fox Media has maintained a strong working relationship with the auto industry in the past, particularly Ford Motors. Insurance companies as well as the food and beverage industry have also purchased advertising time on the channel, which bodes well for early success. Fox Media carries strong brand recognition as a network and without the support from previous advertising clients the success of FS1 during its first few weeks of broadcast would have been suspect.

One key shortfall of FS1 is the lack of its ability to broadcast games from the National Football League (NFL). However, Fox holds the broadcasting rights to this season’s Super Bowl XLVIII and has strongly encouraged those who have purchased Super Bowl advertising time to also invest in FS1. Although FS1 will not carry NFL games Fox Sports Media is using the new channel and promoting advertising as a complete package across several different mediums. Including but not limited to both broadcast and cable broadcasting and digital services in order to offer a more complete advertising portfolio. The media group is promoting Super Bowl advertising as a total buy-in of advertisement rather than simply buying advertising space between linked channels. This new approach may put off some companies who would rather buy time on specific channels to target particular audiences, although if the price of time does not increase dramatically the new strategy of a total marketing package may also gain appeal because it will enable companies to reach an audience across several different channels and mediums for an only marginally higher price.

This approach has the potential to send ripples through the sports and broadcast industries when it comes to buying and selling advertising. If the Fox Sports Media Group is successful with selling advertising as a complete package across an entire network rather than specific channels it may further increase the price of advertising time but also may pique the interest of the companies, teams and organizations wealthy enough to afford expensive air time. A complete network package of adverting is much more marketable as an effective use of company dollars than investing in a single specific channel. The possibilities of Fox’s attempt to create a complete marketing package as a single network is interesting and quite broad in how it may play out, but if successful it very well may be a game changer in how media advertising is bought and sold.

"A Rich Fantasy Life: Sports Fans Dream of Making a Living Off Games"

From The Wall Street Journal

Review by Cara Yaworske in SRM 435 (section 2)

Fantasy sports are a booming industry. With football being the most popular sport in fantasy, people will play in leagues regardless of their interest or knowledge. Players participate by joining leagues, either with their friends or random. Some require buy-ins and others are free. There is a set date and time where the league will complete their draft and players will take turns creating their fantasy team. Each player will act as though they are the general manager for their team by making executive decisions such as drops and pick-ups each game. Some leagues are just for the social fun whereas others have monetary prizes. One lucky man defied the odds and took his winnings further than anyone would ever think of going.

The article chosen primarily talks about Drew Dinkmeyer, a 31 year old male, who felt that he was successful enough in fantasy sports to quit his full time job and make a living off of his earnings. Dinkmeyer began playing fantasy sports when he was 9 years old and now plays every single day with up to $500 on the line per game. He became very popular for his decision that he now writes and hosts his own radio show about fantasy. The article goes on by talking about how in 2012, $1.7 billion dollars were spent on fantasy sports and daily-fantasy games, like the ones Dinkmeyer participates in, contribute $492 million of that total. Fantasy sports have gained up to about 30 million participants in North America alone and the percentage of women participants have increased to 20%. A small handful of people in 2012 won at least $40,000. While the number of people winning that much money is very small, the fact that it is still a possibility is what is making this industry boom.

Fantasy sports are a very smart aspect of the sport marketing industry. It is exempt from the law forbidding online sport gambling, which makes it legal to participate. It increases viewers during every game of every sport and also increases the use of social media and apps so participants can watch their results. It is a booming industry because there are plenty of free leagues available. There are leagues with different buy-in amounts and different grand prize winnings that it is almost guaranteed to find one to please everyone.

This subject is very important to our course and our subject because there are many aspects to the sport marketing industry and it does not always include physically being at a sporting event. Fantasy leagues alone promote teams, players, apps, social media, and the game day providers. It is an industry gaining more and more participants every year and hopefully working to continue to grow.

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Review by Matt Kaiser in SRM 435 (section 2)

Fantasy Sports is beginning to become more than just a hobby in America. With what started as a group of friends competing against each other, people all over the world have begun making serious money playing a tactical game behind their computer screens. So much money in fact that jobs are being quit in order to focus on this game of luck. The article we chose talks about this exact phenomenon that is sweeping the country and some of the few that have already left their jobs to become professional fantasy sports players while offering their expertise and helpful insight on fantasy radio shows and websites. The two individuals discussed were working more than decent jobs as a stock broker and investment analyst, where interestingly enough both jobs deal greatly with numbers. Fantasy sports is an industry that brought in $1.7 billion in 2012 alone with $492 million of that coming in the form of daily fantasy games. It says that up to a quarter of the 30 million fantasy players engage in daily games and that around 100 people earned as much as $40,000 last year, slightly less than average national income. Certain websites have available winnings of $2 million weekly and even held a $200,000 fantasy baseball championship in August of last year. Buy-ins for websites like these are usually $1 to $500 and considering the amount of players and amount of big winners, numbers will prove the same people keep winning while millions of others leave empty handed. Which is where this game of luck suddenly seems to be a game of talent. The main players look in to many statistical factors before putting together their team, which shows that maybe there is an actual science behind what these “pro’s” are doing.

As the fantasy world has exploded, many more commercials are popping up promoting fantasy sports. Almost all of the major television stations offer their own version of fantasy sports and while airing a national game they will promote their networks fantasy games. Certain channels even offer their own television shows geared solely towards fantasy sports and websites where daily money winnings are available have begun promoting on major television networks through cable and radio ads. Marketing campaigns are more than viral now, as they are now featured on billboards and magazines. If you go to the sports section of a magazine rack you will most assuredly find more than a few different magazine publishers version of fantasy sports filled with expert predictions and analysis. Whether through paper or fiber optics, fantasy sports is becoming a cash cow and everyone seems to have taken notice. Potential earnings are being realized in this booming business and I truly feel there will only be a heavier emphasis on marketing and sales in the very near future. Fantasy sports are relevant to this course because of the increase in marketing promotions that have taken place over the last several years. TV shows are being made focused around fantasy football and with what started out as one or two players featuring in fantasy commercials a season has turned into several players running many different commercials. As the business begins to grow and more people start playing for money the sales will go through the roof.

SRM Alumni Updates - September 3, 2013

Elle Bunn (’11) is now the Director of Community Relations for the Charlotte Checkers.  Elle has held various positions with the organization since May 2011.

Dana O’Brien (’13) accepted a position as Assistant Soccer Coach at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Pelletier (’12) has been promoted to Food & Beverage Manager for the Salem Red Sox.  He has been with the team since January 2012.

"Social media communication has changed baseball -- but not for better"

From the San Jose Mercury News

Review by Justin Graves in SRM 334 (section 2)

After the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers in a game of small ball, Rangers starting pitcher Matt Garza went on a Twitter tirade, even calling out the wife of one of Oakland’s players. Throughout the game, A’s infielder Eric Sogard and others laid down bunts that Garza is known having trouble fielding. Apparently at some point, Sogard’s wife said something to get under Garza’s skin, and he lashed out on Twitter, using severely sexist and even misogynistic terminology. Garza has since made his Twitter account private and “apologized” for his inappropriate actions. 

The article goes on to talk about how social media is changing the way players communicate in baseball, but not for the better; at least in this case. Before the game (ironically), Rangers manager Ron Washington was interviewed about the whole concept of Twitter. Washington admitted to not even knowing what Twitter was, which can potentially be a major problem for his players’ sake.

Looking at this issue, it could not apply more directly to this class and what we are learning about. Matt Garza provided a prime example of exactly what not to do with social media. By now, we are all following our favorite athletes on Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and every other possible social media platform. We use these platforms to feel a part of these athletes’ lives, and they use it to interact with their fans and each other. This can be a risky platform because, as Garza so wonderfully demonstrated, athletes can get caught up in the moment and say things they don’t mean. Or maybe they mean exactly what they mean, but it isn’t meant for the public to hear or see.

A’s manager Bob Melvin was also interviewed before the game about Twitter, and he unintentionally pointed out the pivotal downfall in players using Twitter so avidly; once you write a post, there is no going back. Sure, you can delete it later, but you’ve already sent that tweet out for thousands of fans to read, and take screen shots of. You can make your account private, but people have already seen, and taken screen shots of those tweets you sent. Matt Garza both deleted the tweets and made his account private, which really didn’t change anything. I was able to search Google Images and within seconds I had thousands of pictures of the tweets that Garza sent out. Other than the fact that the tweets were mildly disturbing, they were immature, inappropriate, and childish.

The problem with athletes using social media, specifically Twitter, is that they get frustrated, grab their phone, send an angry tweet and five minutes later they immediately regret what they just did. However, as was just mentioned, there is no turning back from what is now available for the entire Twitter universe to see. The other problem is that baseball managers have no way of controlling their players from doing so; they are too old to even understand what Twitter is or how to use it. Baseball is one of many sports that is adjusting to the online world, but they have yet to figure out a way to lay down a sort of “code” on the etiquette players should take on to the social media world. In fact, this isn’t the first time that Garza has gotten “in trouble” for his tweets. Earlier this year Garza went to Twitter calling out Cubs (who he was playing for at the time) fans being “fake” and being excessively negative. While Matt Garza may be somewhat of an extreme case, it seems as though the MLB needs to try to pull in the reigns a little on their players and what they post on their social media accounts. However on the other hand, they are simply humans that have strong emotions as the rest of us, but they have much more of a spotlight on them. Maybe Matt Garza just needs some anger management courses.

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Review by Kenta Kuroki in SRM 334 (section 2)

As we talked about the class for the print media, we have been seeing tremendous changes in providing contents from a paper to a screen in the web. Because of the progress of technology, everybody could be a part of media, which is good. Of course, players could say everything if they want to do. But, at the same time, it becomes more difficult to keep their privacy. Here is an example of bad case for using social media as celebrities. 

Texas starter Matt Garza insulted A’s infielder Eric Sogard and his wife by using the Twitter on the weekend after the game. He tweeted badly because Sogard did a bunt to score knowing that Garza has a trouble with his fielding. Garza said that “It’s a man’s game so keep you trap shut!” apparently to Sogard’s wife. After a while, he seemed that he deleted his tweets, but that was too late. Followers, reporters, and fans knew what he did it.

The article also talks about some problems related to sports communication in baseball by using the current technology. The manager Ron Washington in Texas Rangers did not what the Twitter was before the scandal happened. I think this could be really problematic because the boss should know what is happening in this world as a responsibility of their work. Moreover, the article says the bosses in the sport team might have lack of knowledge how to treat with the Internet things for players, which they should fix that as soon as possible. As another problem with the social communication including the Twitter, the article says “Once you write or say something and post it, there’s not going back.” As I mentioned about the Garza’s case, it is really right. As I found his tweets on the Google images, possibly every baseball fan might know what he has done even if he deleted his stuffs. As a last problem, baseball has many games and more games than other sports have, and that makes baseball get troubles to talk about a lot of things related to games according to the article.

Before going to the conclusion of this paper, I need to mention that other sports players besides baseball do the same thing like the Garza’s case, and actually put the video into our Powerpoint. I found interesting because athletes says something which is not appropriate to speak up as their life standpoint. I mean that celebrities have less privacy and more limitation, so they should be careful on the statement.

This article is relevant to our course because we should know what is happening around us, even if it is a basic level just saying that be careful to use social media as athletes. Lastly, to avoid the Graza’s case, we need to educate players as well as possibly coaches, managers, and maybe everybody related to sports industry. For Garza’s case, he should not use social media as my opinion because he cannot draw the line whether it is ok or not.

"Listen up: NFL moving to mike players"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Jacob Nicely in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League, commonly referred to as the NFL, is one of the most watched and largest revenue generating sports leagues in North America as well as the world. Every Sunday afternoon and Monday night during the fall you can cut on your television and catch an NFL game being broadcasted live with extensive in-game analysis, statistics, fantasy football analysis, and almost every fact you could ever want to know about the players and the teams that are involved in the game. Professional football is one of America’s past-times and it still draws massive amounts of attention but, just like any other business, the NFL is always looking to improve and make the experience better for the fans. One of the newest ideas that owners and the league are pushing for is the idea of placing microphones on players and making the content available for fans live during the game instead of having to wait until afterwards to hear what their favorite players and coaches are saying. This could be a potential smash hit and the next big thing for the NFL but not before it is looked at more in-depth.

Placing a microphone on players and making the content available as a live feature during games is a great attention getter for the NFL and has sparked quite the buzz in the sports world. Even though the talks are just in the beginning stages, the sheer idea of the concept has drawn plenty of attention. With already having such a great product, the NFL needed to come up with more ways to get fans involved in the experience thus generating more money as well as an increased fan experience. This could be a complete game changer for the media world and possibly not in a good way for the NFL or the players. In today’s world everyone already has so much access to the players and coaches through social media and in-depth coverage by the media. Nowadays, players do not have to be interviewed by a reporter or have a press conference to release information when they can just simply send out a 140 character tweet or post a Facebook status and instantly have the world see it and have people directly communicate with them. This has already caused some problems with players not appropriately tweeting or interacting with fans on twitter as well as players tweeting live during the games. Once players are mic’d up, fans will be able to hear everything that they say, and most of it will not be tasteful or be appropriate for a younger audience. This could be a big issue with Commissioner Roger Goodell’s already disciplined player conduct policies and low tolerance for misbehavior. However, per usual, this move is more about generating revenue and media attention for the league than the concern for player’s reputations.

We hear all the time in today’s world about all the negative things that athletes do in their daily lives. As we have discussed in class, negativity sells and if that is what sells then that is what the media is going to cover. You can turn on ESPN and see what Chad Johnson tweeted that was inappropriate or what offensive comment Kevin Garnett made during the basketball game that night or see what just about any athlete did wrong. In athletic competition, athletes are in the heat of the moment and trying to get in their opponent’s heads the entire game. What comes out of athlete’s mouths during games is more than likely fine worthy and will cause fans to look at their favorite athletes differently. Also, with all this unedited, instant access to players and coaches the media will be able to report and comment on it before the game is over and before the team or player can begin damage control. With all the ways we have discussed that sports news can be released, from professional writers to fan’s blogs and anyone being able to discuss in-game conversations that wants to, this could potentially result in being a huge nightmare for the NFL, the owners, the coaches, and the players. On the other hand though, the potential revenue stream could blind owners from seeing the possible negative outcomes.

With a few small-market NFL teams struggling to sell tickets in conjunction with an unfriendly economy, the NFL is looking to increase fans desire to attend games and purchase tickets as opposed to watching their favorite teams from home. This is more so a move on the owner’s part to have it as only an in-game option but nevertheless it is aimed at generating untapped revenue. An increased involvement in the in-game experience would allow fans to get into the game without physically being on the field. This is a brilliant idea from the viewpoint of an NFL fan and probably a dream come true for many fans being able to listen in on their favorite teams and coaches. With the NFL already having “Red-Zone Coverage” of all NFL games, numerous apps, instant score updates, fantasy football, and countless other technological advances it only makes sense to let fans get even more involved in the game experience. Fans of NASCAR can go to a race and listen in on their favorite driver communicating with their spotter and crew chief so it only makes sense for the same option for NFL fans. The revenue from this potential option would more than likely be greater as an in-home option on television due to the increased ad-revenue, subscription fees for the service, and just simply a much larger audience than the number fans at the game. If implemented as an in-game only service, it will only increase ticket sales to games that would not already be sold out, increasing revenue by a much smaller number. Also, if implemented as an in-game option it will eventually be phased out to include an at-home feature in due time because the NFL will not miss out on that large of a potential money making opportunity.

All in all, the plan to mike up players is still in its early stages and probably will not be an available option for a couple more years. With this news release, it garners the media and fans attention and gets them stirred up and discussing this option before it is ever put into effect. Placing microphones on players could very well be the next big money maker that the NFL is looking for but it may come with the cost of NFL player’s unhappiness and their reputations on the line due to the nature of in-game conversations. This new idea would also give the media, as well as fans, instant access to report on players behaviors and actions as well as fans being able to live tweet, blog, or use other outlets to also release news and discuss events before the players and teams ever have a chance to explain or begin damage control. Whether this idea will be good for the league and it’s players has yet to be seen but one thing that is for certain is that this will generate more money for the NFL and as a business they are always looking for new ways to do so.
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Review by Marshall Cohen in SRM 334 (section 2)

The National Football League is always looking to bolster attendance and improve the fans’ in-stadium experience, and miking up players during games appears to be their next move. There is no timetable for beginning this process, but it is apparently becoming a matter of when they adopt the new feature as opposed to if they will adopt it. Stephen Jones, the Dallas Cowboys Chief Operating Officer, has emphasized that there is a level of urgency on all projects designed to increase fan attendance. After player health and safety, ensuring that stadiums are full is the league’s top priority.

There seems to be little controversy on the subject, as NASCAR has shown how easy it is to broadcast interactions between spotters and drivers during their races. However, some competitive issues were raised by players and coaches when talks of miking up players began back in 2011. Audio from players and coaches during games is currently used by NFL Films, but is not available to anyone during the games. There are talks of using the player audio exclusively in-stadium, as an added benefit for fans to attend the game. Making the audio available to broadcasters is another option, which would only increase the experience of watching a game from your couch.

It seems like the most likely path for the NFL to take is to make the player audio available to broadcasters and to find some way to incorporate it into each game on television. Their goal might be to make the in-stadium experience better, yet with better technology the only thing really happening is the improvement of the home broadcast experience. Despite being a cool feature and an interesting concept to improve fan attendance, having the player audio exclusively available in the stadium just does not seem like a huge draw. The more likely outcome would be a slight increase in television ratings, which could possibly lead to an increase in rights deals that companies sign with the league.

There are still a few questions that remain concerning the logistics of having the players miked up at all times. Having the audio available in the stadium might not be the best idea; there is an extreme amount of cursing and trash talking that goes on during NFL games (and almost all other sports for that matter). Another question that comes up is whether or not players would be suspended or fined for cursing or excessive trash talking. The NFL has pretty strict conduct policies, and having the players miked up all the time creates a difficult scenario for the league, forcing them to monitor and deal with players talking during the games. Making the audio available to broadcasters would be much simpler since they would be able to edit and/or bleep out anything that would not be fit for a national audience. However, if it was available during the game in the stadium, it seems as if there would be no way to filter the audio.
From a fan and media point of view, miking up the players and having the audio available somewhere seems like a great idea. It would benefit in getting to know the players and their personalities, which is sometimes difficult during the games as they seen more with their helmets on than off. If the league can work out some logistical issues with having the audio available in the stadium or on television, miking players might just be the next big thing in the NFL.

Robert Grififn III keep delivering headline-driving news

From Redskins.com

Review by John Sullivan in SRM 334 (section 1)

The article I chose to write on for my current event paper was Griffin III: ‘My Eyes Are Set On Philly’’ from Redskins.com. This article was written on August 22, 2013 by lead writer and editor Brain Tinsman. The article is about the Redskins 2nd year quarterback RGIII (more formally know as Robert Griffin the 3rd. ) It talks about RGIII’s healing process and how the media has used it to write stories for the past couple of months. The article also talks about RGIII’s feelings behind the matter of multimedia twisting his words.

From a media standpoint the purpose for writing this article is to give team fans and newsreaders something to read about the Redskins before their season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday, September 9th . The article essentially encapsulates RGIII’s responses to his own healing progress throughout his rehabilitation process. Brian Tinsman is trying to show in this article that RGIII always tells the media ‘how it is’. He tries to tell the readers that the media has been taking RGIII’s words and twist them against him since the beginning of his rehabilitation. RGIII goes on to say in the article “Do I stop being who I am, stop being honest with you guys and giving you guys ammunition to turn against this team? Or do I just go into a shell and ‘Bill Belichick it’ all week?” – Griffin III Everything he says gets turned and used against the Redskins as if they would not survive without him on the team.This article is a perfect example of the communication model. It can be more closely related to the modern model of sports media than that of the historic model. This article can easily be seen and reached by the masses but it is targeted at a niche group of people. The article itself is directly from the official site of the Washington Redskins. It is a perfect example of how mass media can target a niche audience. The article contains video and other multi-medias making it easily available through many social medias. The page has built in Twitter and Facebook links so the article can be easily shared with friends and other people. Because this article is so easily accessible by all, it makes the spreading of this twisted information that much more believable by the un-informed reader. This article follows the modern model of sports media because it can literally be sent, read, liked, shared by anyone to anyone.

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Reivew by Tori Lugar in SRM 334 (section 1)

The article we chose talks about the injury that Robert Griffin III suffered last season. It describes the past four months of the off season and each press conference within those months. Each month was a different update: in May, he could run, June he could sprint, July RGIII could practice a little bit, and then finally in August he was cleared to do full practice with the team. With an update every month, all eyes have been on RGIII and his recovery and fans are expecting a lot.

The media has played a huge role in the whole recovery and comeback of RGIII. From documentaries of his rehabilitation of his ACL, to constant coverage on SportsCenter on ESPN, the RGIII story has been the subject of many conversations, not only within the DC area, but nationwide. Besides Gatorade’s documentary, Adidas has also created the “All in for Week 1” campaign that focuses on RGIII’s preparation for week 1 of the regular season. Although RGIII is now cleared to play, when this campaign began, there was no guarantee the Redskins quarterback would be back and ready to go for the first game. The media took a story of his recovery and made it seem like he would for sure be 100% ready for the season opener. After this was created, RGIII tweeted that it was not a given that he would be back, but he would work hard to try and accomplish the goal. The media took this opportunity and stretched it to try and make a story of it. The media has analyzed the road to recovery of Robert Griffin III in every way possible and has blown up a situation that is so common in the NFL. This is relevant to this course because it shows how social media such as Twitter and various TV commercials have blown up such a common situation. Many players have torn ACLs or have experienced many other injuries, and yet the public does not hear about half of them. The media has taken every little detail of RGIII’s recovery in the off-season and made a big deal about it, often twisting the truth and scrutinizing the young quarterback. This situation can also show how the new communication model works, with mass media and the publicity that the Redskins quarterback is getting, because of a torn ACL. From numerous press conferences, to documentaries, to ad campaigns, RGIII’s injury is well known across America.

"Takeaways from how the media covered and reacted to Aaron Hernandez's arrest"

From Awful Announcing and Rolling Stone

Review by Zach Lantz in SRM 334 (section 1)

Today, the public has the ability to know about everything going on in a professional or college athlete’s life. This is because the media has access to everything surrounding the athlete’s life. A good example of this is the Rolling Stone’s article about the murder of Odin Lloyd, Aaron Hernandez has been charged for a few months ago. The article describes every little detail of Aaron, including how Aaron and Lloyd “kicked it” at a club called Rumor and “smoked that super-duper and Aaron dropped 10 G’s like it was nothing.” Rolling Stone went personal with Aaron Hernandez by having exclusive interviews with family friends. Friends revealed that Aaron was not only smoking marijuana, but he was also using the drug “angel dust’, typically known as PCP. The article explains how Hernandez and Lloyd were in the club when Odin talked to people that Hernandez was not fond of. All of this leading to the murder. 

In my opinion, the media does a great job at covering events like these days. Is it right, that the media has so much access to the lives of celebrities and athletes? One could feel as though it is not morally right, even in situations like these. News is broadcasted faster than it ever has been before and social media websites such as Twitter makes that possible. People can now get texts to their phone with breaking news or with just a quick Google search they can find thousands of articles with news on what they’re looking for. Today, the media is much more close and personal with athletes and it is making their home life much more public.

This article is related to this class because it is a current event and gives a perfect example on how sporting news can be communicated to people. The Aaron Hernandez story was wrote about on a Rolling Stones website where sports are not usually talked about. It also shows a perfect example on how the New England Patriots dealt with a crisis. As soon as Hernandez was arrested for the murder on Odin Lloyd, the Patriots released him and also allowed their fans to exchange their Hernandez jersey for another Patriots player. This article has related to many aspects of this class and made it very easy for me to relate to things that I will learn about.

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Review by Dustin Taylor in SRM 334 (section 1)

Most people who love sports know just about everything that’s going on in the sports world if they choose to do so. The reason is that content providers in sports media are always working, 24/7, to uncover the next big story. They may even be continuing to cover an ongoing story. This summer, Patriots Tight End, Aaron Hernandez was arrested on murder charges. Many media content providers jumped at the chance to cover this story including rolling stones, ESPN, and NFL Network.

Rolling stones just recently released an article detailing a lot about this whole situation. They gave information on Hernandez’s parents, siblings, uncles, friends, coaches, and anyone else that had an effect on his life. Hernandez was bred to be great. His father put a gym with successful quotes on the walls in their family’s home, and drove his two sons (Aaron and his older brother DJ) to greatness. Aaron, however, far exceeded his father and brother in terms of success. He was the greatest athlete his town had ever produced. He went on to college at Florida University, where it is believe Urban Meyer covered for Hernandez on multiple drug test. Following his father’s death Aaron continued to fall out of control. He threated Patriots Wide Receiver Wes Welker soon after being drafted into the NFL. Then this offseason he became addicted to angel dust, started skipping workouts, and was on screw up away from being cut from the team. Bigger things then skipping practice would come before his departure from the team. Hernandez would be indicted on murder charges of his good friend Odin Lloyd. The sports media world would have plenty of coverage to go along with this story as it progressed.

ESPN had live footage of Hernandez getting arrested, and they covered this story pretty constant as Adam Schefter and other sports writers constantly took to Twitter to give sports gurus the news they were after. This is a huge example of how times have changed. Just 13 years ago Ravens Linebacker Ray Lewis was also indicted on charges of murder. While it gained some attention, the coverage was nothing like the Aaron Hernandez case. Twitter, and Facebook were not around. If you go back just a little further in NFL history to the O.J. Simpson case there was an even bigger drop off in regards to media coverage. Newspapers printed the story, and news channels covered it, but no one was there to give real time updates. Hernandez’s case has up to the minute updates as someone in the courtroom with him tweets during his hearing to keep everyone up to speed. In awfulannouncing.com’s article written by Brad Gagnon he criticizes how ESPN left the live coverage of Hernandez’s hearing to speak to their own “experts”. With a story as big as this one there was plenty of time to bring them in once the hearing was done.

NFL Network had a rough job. They had to cover the story since that’s what this day and age calls for. At the same time this story was bad Public Relations for the NFL. They had to walk a fine line, and continue to update the people on what actions the Patriots and NFL would take toward Hernandez to try to help their perception as a league. The NFL, and the Patriots would’ve had plenty of time to come up with a response about 15-20 years ago. Now they have to be on their toes, and immediately taking action to keep the positive model of the league in tack.

This story has many relevant issues that go along with our class. With similar cases in the past this story can show how much times, and technology has changed in regards to sports media. People expect updates, and stories the minute they happen. The next morning paper is out of date. It also displays the pressure put on organizations to have someone good with the media always ready to speak on their behalf.

Get experience with the Turner Ashby High School Boy's Basketball program

The Turner Ashby High School Boy's Basketball program (located in Bridgewater, Virginia) is looking for motivated individuals to fill a variety of coaching positions. Positions include: Varsity Assistant, Junior Varsity Assistant, AAU feeder program coach or assistant, Scout, Statistician, Game DJ, and more. 

Qualified applicants must have a passion for the game of basketball and be very reliable. Applicants should also be detail oriented, able to think quickly on their feet, and have a willingness to follow direction and learn new skills. Experience playing or coaching the sport of basketball is a plus.

You will have a chance to do a variety of tasks such as schedule camps, assist at practice and on game days, help in the weight room, and learn almost every facet of what it takes to run a successful high school program. 

Our main season runs from November through March. We also have opportunity with our AAU program from October through February, and our summer program from June to mid-July.

Interested candidates should contact Chad Seibert at CKSeibert33@gmail.com or 540-908-6394.