"Hawks fans ready for record roar"

From The Seattle Times

Analysis by Danielle Poplawski in SRM 435 (section 2)

On September 15, 2013, the Seattle Seahawks set the Guinness World Record for the “loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium” at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks were playing their rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. This record-setting event was organized by the group Volume 12 and was not directly related to the Seattle Seahawks organization.

Seahawks fans pride themselves as being the loudest in the NFL. The crowd at the stadium is known as the 12th Man. Volume 12 is a group specifically for those who consider themselves to be a part of the 12th Man fan base for the Seahawks.

In July, Volume 12 announced that they would attempt to set the world record. To excite fans, the group held a tailgate outside of the stadium. The previous record of 131.76 decibels took place at Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul on March 18, 2005 during a soccer match. Seattle’s CenturyLife Field broke this record twice in the same game. The first time in the first quarter with a level of 131.9 decibels while the second time took place in the third quarter with a level of 136.6 decibels.

To market the event, Volume 12 sent information, such as news releases, out to the media. In addition to this, they also made a YouTube video and posted on their various social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. The week before the game, Sunday Night Football discussed the record-setting event and just how loud they thought it would be. The Seattle Seahawks have added the world record to their 12th Man page on the official website.

Holding the Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium will likely bring in some spectators who wish to see what all of the hype is about. Because of the 12th Man pride in Seattle, it also gives fans another commonality; thus uniting them more and providing the fans with more motivation to attend games rather than watch them on television. In a sense, a large part of the Seahawks game-day experience is the crowd, which requires a person to attend the game at CenturyLink Field.

The media attention gained from this event also brought attention to the Seahawks and their 12th Man. It is free publicity for the team. While discussing the world record, media outlets are also likely to discuss things such as the team’s record and other information. Volume 12 has also been able to gain from this event. The attention from media outlets has helped to spread their name and who they are. I believe that the Seahawks organization made a good decision in not being directly a part of the record-setting event. First, they were able to save time and money on promotions. Volume 12 took care of this all themselves and the Seahawks were still gaining attention. Secondly, by not becoming involved, it was less likely for the NFL to be able to intervene and cancel the event for any reason. Finally, by not putting their name on the event, the Seahawks organization can boast of the accomplishment that took place in their stadium without having to directly answer to any backlash.

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Analysis by Eric Brent in SRM 435 (section 2)

In the Seattle Times article “Hawks fans ready for record roar,” the author discusses the fans of the Seattle attempting to set the record of the loudest crowd at a sports stadium. This was set to take place on September 15, 2013 at the Seahawk’s home opener against the San Francisco 49ers. All of the planning and execution was put on by Volume 12, which is a direct link to Seattle’s “12th Man” fan base. Joe Tafoya, co-founder of Volume 12, sent in an application without thinking too much of it, but a week and a half later to his surprise Guinness World Records was on board. Even with having knowledge of the approval the Seattle Seahawks organization itself continued to keep its distance from the event. No marketing or promotion of any kind was put on or linked to the organization.

At a time where it is difficult to get fans to come to experience a game at the stadium rather than sitting at home watching from their television, the Volume 12 found a way. Once Volume 12 found out Guinness World Records was on board, advertisements were placed on the Volume 12 social media sites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter), news releases were completed, YouTube videos were made, and NBC Sunday Night Football even mentioned the plan a week prior to the Seahawks Sunday Night Football game. The game not only sold out, but Seattle had its largest crowd ever a record breaking 68,338. This is the first time I have seen a marketing strategy involving fans setting a Guinness World Record, and it gave each person the opportunity to be a part of history. Not too many people can say they have been a part of breaking a world record.

This relates to the course due to the fact of all the conversation and discussion about how can we get people to the games and stay at the games and what are some unique ways to market a game. The opportunity to set a record caused the Seahawks to break another record that was not even being promoted, which was having the largest crowd attendance in Seattle Seahawks history. The reason I say it got people to stay at the game is because after the record was broken earlier in the game, it was not until the third quarter where the Seahawks fans set the highest mark of 136.6 decibels. From a marketing standpoint everyone involved indirectly or directly received great exposure. Seahawk’s organization probably benefited the most indirectly due to it being at their stadium and their team but having nothing to do with the planning. Volume 12 benefited the most directly because all of the planning and organizing was through that organization. NBC’s Sunday Night Football and Guinness World Records also received some good marketing because the game was held on NBC and Guinness was the reason Seahawk’s fans had this opportunity.

"More Fun for Fans"

From Athletic Management

Analysis by Alyssa Truesdale in SRM 435 (section 1)

The article, More Fun for Fans, by Mary Kate Murphy (Athletic Management, 2013), looks at the reasons why more and more college athletic programs across the country are adding alcohol to their concessions at sporting events. The three main reasons listed as to why schools are allowing the sale of alcohol now are: it boosts revenue, enhances game-day experience, and increases crowd control. 

According to CBSSports.com, as of July 2012, of the 120 Division-I football programs, just 21 sell beer to all fans of legal age and out of those 21 schools, only 11 of them are on-campus, university-owned stadiums (DeRusha, 2012). One of the major schools listed in the article that we read is West Virginia University. In 2011, one year after being appointed Athletic Director, Oliver Luck began having beer sold in the stadium during football games. After this first year, WVU saw its number of police cases, calls made to police, and arrests during games drop significantly. The other positive for the university was increased profits. By combing alcohol sales and sponsorships the Mountaineers were able to profit over one million dollars after just two seasons.

A few other schools mentioned in the article that have added alcohol to their list of beverage choices at sporting events are Colorado Mesa University, University of Texas-Arlington, and University of Maine. Colorado Mesa started selling beer at their baseball games for similar reasons that WVU started selling beer; they wanted to control the amount of alcohol their fans were drinking in hopes that they would have less incidents. The University of Texas-Arlington had location on their mind when adding beer and wine to the menu at basketball and volleyball games. Because of their close proximity to professional sports stadiums in the area, the university felt the need to enhance fans’ game-experience in order to compete. Also, they wanted to make sure that they were appealing to alumni and adults in the community. “The Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers are in our backyard, so our spectators are used to the professional experience, and that's what we're trying to provide,” stated Athletic Director, Jim Baker (Murphy, 2013). The University of Maine also wanted to increase entertainment value by created a “Bavarian Beer Garden” for their home football games. “It's more about providing a convivial, positive social environment where mature adults are given access to something they enjoy,” says Robert Dana, Vice President of Student Affairs (Murphy, 2013).

Ohio State University was the only school represented in the article on the negative side of adding alcohol to concessions at sporting events. OSU Athletic Director, Gene Smith, wants to keep their school moving in the opposite direction. He does not feel that with the size of the university they will be able to control the crowds if alcohol is sold. He also feels that it would be very costly to add more security and programs to help with the increased number of intoxicated fans. The fans’ safety his most important value, which is why he accepted the fact that there would be a loss in revenue when cutting ties with all alcohol sponsors also.

From a marketer’s standpoint, I think that universities should absolutely sell alcohol at sporting events, especially football games. It is obvious that most students, alumni, and other adult fans attending the games are going to tailgate beforehand and consume alcohol. If they knew that there was going to be alcohol provided at the stadium, then they would be less likely to spend their money at other stores to purchase it and would spend their money at the stadium instead. Also stated in the article is the cost for alcoholic beverages, which can be at a higher price. A fan consuming alcohol is most likely going to purchase more than one drink in the time that they are at the game. Revenues will increase from game day purchases, and also from increased sponsorship by alcohol companies.

This is also a way to get the student population at games to increase. Many students at JMU for example have admitted that they would rather tailgate than actually attend the game. If students knew they could purchase alcohol at the game, they might be more inclined to go, and stay there longer which also means possibly spending more money. One other point is that colleges are competing with other professional sports and entertainment events. If they want to be at their level in entertaining the crowd, they need to provide alcohol. Like Athletic Director Jim Baker said, if fans are paying a lot of money to attend college games, they should be provided the best game-day experience.

This article directly ties in with the topic of promotion and sales, which have been discussed in class. Part of the promotional mix is the atmosphere at games. We asked the question, “How can you keep fans coming back?” The other question we can add to this topic after our discussion last week about the declining number of students in attendance at football games is, “How can you keep fans for the duration of the game?” I believe that selling alcohol is one solution to this problem. According to this article it will not only solve the issue of promoting collegiate-level sporting events, but will also increase ticket sales revenue, concessions sales revenue, and sponsorship revenue.
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Analysis by Jen Nelson in SRM 435 (section 1)

All across the United States, students, fans, and alumni are taking part in tailgating at their colleges and universities. Tailgating has become accepted as the “thing to do” before a sporting event. Not only at the college level, but at the professional level as well. Students and fans are looking to continue their drinking, but most schools and universities can’t meet their needs. Their alcohol consumption is put to a halt before they are allowed to enter the game. What many people don’t even realize, is the amount of school and universities that don’t allow alcohol sales at games. The big debate that has become quite controversial, is if alcohol should be allowed at sporting events. The article goes in-depth about several different athletic departments that believe selling alcohol is beneficial to their program which will help increase revenue for their school. On the other hand, there are many factors to consider, especially many legal aspects, which is why the majority of schools have opted not to sell alcohol.

This topic is extremely relevant the Sports Marketing Industry. Schools and Universities are essentially a business whose main goal is to provide entertainment for their fans. College and Universities are always looking for other ways to earn revenue, so why are some of them not allowing alcohol sales during games? Sporting events are all about the game-day experience, and getting everyone involved. Jim Baker, the AD at the University of Texas-Arlington states, “Another big reason to sell alcohol at athletic events is to appeal to alumni and adults in the community” (Page 2). He makes a valid point explaining that alumni and adults are an important demographic that attend a good amount of sporting events. From a promotion aspect, allowing alcohol sales would create sponsorship deals with alcohol companies, which would increase the schools revenue. On the other hand, if only 21 schools currently allow alcohol sales that is something to keep in mind. There has to be a main reason why Division 1 schools aren’t jumping on the band wagon. As a society, the drinking culture in colleges and universities will continue to increase, which will also cause more schools to need to provide more law enforcement. In the future, this is something Athletic Directors may need to change their schools polices, or keep them the way they are.

For JMU, if eventually they are going to move up conferences in the future, allowing alcohol sales, may be an option that the AD will need to take into consideration. A main problem JMU marketing faces now, is how can they get upperclassman to stay past half-time? This is a huge consideration that would potentially cause upper-classman to stay past half-time. Most upper-class man are tailgating anyways, but would like to have a drink during the game if available. Maybe JMU could establish some sort of system, like wearing wrist bands to signify you are over 21, or even a designated area of alcohol such as a Beer Garden like the University of Main has. Or like WVU, they have a no-pass out policy meaning you can’t leave the stadium at half-time to stock up on drinks and come back into the game. These are all ideas that AD’s can factor into making their decision. At the end of the day, the AD needs to do what is best for their institution. The Ohio State AD states, “It depends on the environment of a particular university. Athletic Directors who put adequate controls in place and ensure the safety of their fans should go ahead with the idea” (Page 3). So now the question is, will universities be turning off the taps, or kicking them into full gear?

Internship Opportunity: Association for Women in Sports Media

The Association for Women in Sports Media is now accepting applications for the 2014 scholarship and internship program. Please click here for the application site. The program is open to female undergraduate or graduate students working toward careers in sports media – from newspaper and online writing, to broadcast journalism, to magazine writing, to sports media relations.

Winners will receive up to a $1,000 scholarship and be placed in a paid internship for the summer of 2014. The organization's 2013 interns worked at ESPN, Sports Illustrated, MLB.com, The Denver Post and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

For the fourth consecutive year, an AWSM intern will attend the intensive SJI training before beginning her sports writing internship.

Finalists will be chosen by a panel of AWSM board members, and winners will be selected by the organization's prestigious group of employers.

Applications will be accepted through Oct. 31. Winners will be notified in December/January. Students need the following to apply: resume, three references, a letter of reference and five work samples.

For more information about our internship program, please visit our site.  For questions, please email awsminternship@gmail.com to get in touch with Internship Coordinator Lake Litman and AWSM Vice-President of Student Programing Stacy Hicklin Bauman.

"Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’"

From NESN

Analysis by Adam McElrath in SRM 334 (section 2)

With the Boston Marathon Bombings and the Aaron Hernandez arrest happening all within the month of June, the New England area has been the center of attention for the media in recent months. Jake and I have focused our attention to how the Hernandez arrest became all that was talked about on numerous television and social networks. We also wanted to take a different approach to our presentation and look at the future of Hernandez after coming across an article by Mike Cole of the New England Sports Network titled, “Rolling Stone Writer Believes Aaron Hernandez Could Be Back in NFL ‘Within Three or Four Years’” This article is interesting in many different ways. First off, at this point in time it seems farfetched that a return to the NFL for Hernandez is remotely possible. Also, in this article Cole interviewed Rolling Stones journalist Paul Solotaroff, who is responsible for writing a polarizing article delving into the criminal’s dark past with interviews involving close family and friends of Hernandez. From Cole’s interview with Solotaroff and his viewpoints on the legality of the case, we see a distant possibility of the John Mackey Award winner returning to the league. If this ever does happen and Hernandez is found innocent or completes a short term in prison, the media will have a frenzy speculating which teams will be willing to take the risk.

The media was in uproar when the story first broke back in the middle of June. With the bulk of the action being located in the town of Bristol, Connecticut, ESPN was one of the first to report on the subject. Shortly after ESPN arrived at Hernandez’s home, the word was out everywhere and from a viewers standpoint, it was almost impossible to escape the talk as Twitter and Facebook exploded with rumors and stories and how all major television networks were right in the heart of it all, covering it 24/7.

The mass media continues to put large emphasis when any new, developing stories arise involving the possible sentence Hernandez will face. TMZ outbid Barstool Sports for $20,000 over a handwritten letter from Hernandez in his jail cell to one of his friends as Hernandez kept pleading his innocence and how “God” has a plan for him all while begging his friend to keep this off social media. In this day in age, no matter how close of a friend he might be to the former Patriots’ tight end, no way was he not going to take this opportunity to bank a lot of cash.
All in all, as a student in a Sports in Media class, it is easy to see how the media loves to get their hands on intriguing stories before their competition does. And it is also obvious to see how these same people feel the urgency to be the first to break a story to the public. But with this being the case many rumors can start making their audience “trust” that they are being provided with facts ultimately leaving no chance for other opinions on the subject matter. In the Aaron Hernandez situation, the media has portrayed him in any way possible as a criminal, a convict, and a murderer.

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Analysis by Jake Porter in SRM 334 (section 2)

While researching articles for this presentation Adam and I found a vast amount of reports that have detailed the Aaron Hernandez murder case. This made it very easy to find a relevant report even though we had to sift through and find what was fact and what was speculation. Our main article written by Mike Cole gives a somewhat fresh viewpoint on a story that has already been blown out of the water by major news outlets like ESPN, CNN, CBS, etc. This article introduces the idea that Aaron Hernandez could possibly be integrated back into the NFL, given that he beats the multiple murder charges standing in front of him.

In the article Mike Cole interviews Paul Solotaroff, writer for the Rolling Stones, who claims that Hernandez can easily beat the alleged murder charges set before him. The article explains that Hernandez is likely looking at about 3 years of jail time for gun charges, but Aaron is young and pending his release will have, "very low mileage on those legs of his and a lot of time to heal up" (Cole). Paul is later quoted in the article that he would not be surprised if some NFL teams pursued Hernandez if or when the charges are dropped against him.

No one knows what the future really holds for Aaron Hernandez. The future may l look grim to some, but there are plenty of optimists out there that would not be surprised to see Hernandez back in the league within the next half decade. During the course of this project it has been interesting to see the role the media has played in this case. From the day the story broke to the weeks following it seemed that most major news outlets covered every minute detail. Even though the story has died off in recent months, the media can still play a big role in the future. Hypothetically if Hernandez is released and charges are dropped, the media will play a huge role integrating him back into the league, because they have the influence to turn a man once seen as a monster back into a cherished NFL superstar.

NFL hopefuls try to gain attention of league via YouTube

From Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports

Analysis by Cory McCagh in SRM 334 (section 2)

Last year there were 254 collegiate athletes selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. After their college season ends, some players are invited to participate in front of NFL scouts at combines and camp workouts. For under the radar players trying to make their way into the NFL, players have started using social media sources such as Youtube to gain the attention of scouts. Rather than work out for scouts in person, displaying their overall skills, players have started using Youtube to market a particular skill. Youtube has developed a way for players to go from being completely unknown to Youtube celebrities in a span of a few weeks. Youtube is one of the most popular websites on the Internet, reaching over one billion users a month and it is a great spotlight for unknown players to get their name out to NFL scouts.

Essentially these players are relying on Youtube users to view their video until it becomes popular enough to be seen by NFL teams. Alex Tanney had just finished his senior season at Monmouth, a Division III school, and was not invited to the NFL combine or expected to be drafted by any teams. Tanney, along with a few friends, made a five minute video composed of the D-III quarterback making spectacular trick shots. After quickly becoming Youtube famous with now over 3 million views, the video made it around the league and Tanney was invited to attend the rookie minicamps of multiple teams. Norwegian player, Harvard Rugland, put together an impressive enough kicking video to convince NFL scouts to invite someone for a tryout who had never even played a real football game in their life. Youtube has presented low profile players with a way to make NFL teams more interested in them in a matter of a few minutes than they were throughout their entire season.

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Analysis by Cody Fazenbaker in SRM 334 (section 2)

Havard Rugland, a 28-year old from Norway, has recently become an internet sensation with a video he posted on YouTube. Having never played a game of football before, he was able to catch the attention of NFL scouts and coaches in a video displaying a wide variety of kicking skills that Rugland possesses. After seeing the video, the Detroit Lions contacted Rugland and offered him a try-out.

From a media and communications standpoint, this was a very smart and successful move from Rugland. He had never played football before and knows nearly nothing about the rules and yet was contacted by multiple NFL teams. Without using social media like YouTube, his skills and ability would have gone unnoticed. By placing the video online, it was able to spread quickly to millions of people. As the 4-minute video gained popularity, it started to reach members of different NFL teams who immediately took an interest in Rugland. The media also became aware of the video, and Rugland earned himself an interview on Good Morning America and a long article in the New York Times.Without the use of YouTube and other social media sites, Havard Rugland would not be who he is today. He would not have had these opportunities presented to him. This article is relevant to this Sports Media course because Havard used the media to get exposure and become recognized globally. In this digital era, he was able to use technology to his advantage and become successful. If he wasn’t able to put this video online, it’s safe to say that not nearly this many people would recognize his name.

"Special Report on Oklahoma State Football: The Overview"

From Sports Illustrated

Analysis by Graham Sharples in SRM 334 (section 1)

On Tuesday, September 10 2013, Sports Illustrated began the release of a five part series of their findings after a 10-month investigation on the Oklahoma State football program. Their special report examined violations that occurred within the OSU football program from 2000-2011. After receipt of information of possible corruption at the university, SI senior writers George Dohrmann and Thayer Evans sought to speak with more than a hundred individuals, which included 64 former Cowboys. All of these players spoke on the record and shed light on the extreme measures OSU took to build a winning program. The 5 part series that SI released detailed individually all the accounts of corruption through money, academics, drugs, and even sex.

Though the investigation covered a decade of NCAA violations committed by OSU, only recently were these transgressions revealed. The media, Sports Illustrated being the main source, played a huge role in highlighting the extreme measures taken by the program and also the damages that resulted from them. It all began from a leak of information given to these two reporters and consequently an investigation began in attempts to obtain more information. They used available resources by techniques of communication through interviews to individuals with ties to the university in order to gain insight about the corruption within the program. From that Sports Illustrated created a five series special report that detailed their findings and started their release on September 10 and titled the whole series “The Dirty Game.” The five parts were named: the Money, The Academics, The Drugs, The Sex and The Fallout. The violations that OSU committed aren’t uncommon in regards to big-time college sports programs especially in specifics to the acceptance of money or academic dishonesty, but one of the most troubling aspects of this case that the media wanted to emphasize was the collateral damages to humans that were also exploited by the university. Sports Illustrated looked to not only investigate these allegations against OSU but also the impact that it had on the players. They exposed how many of these players that were involved in this scandal were basically “cast aside.” Consistently from the interviews, the players exposed how their experience in university didn’t build them up for the future but their involvement with the corrupt football program left them with next to nothing. Some players were even kicked out, stripped away of their scholarships and returning to environments they believed to be done with.

Sports Illustrated took a very strategic approach to this case by releasing their results in an investigative series on all SI platforms. The fact that they decided to release it in individual parts makes the story much more appealing and intriguing. The main reason why this story is now such a big issue is due to the investigation that Sports Illustrated conducted. Since the release of the story there have been multiple press releases, news conferences and interviews investigating in depth of the allegations uncovered by SI.
The relevancy to this course rests in the techniques that Sports Illustrated used in order to present their story. Specifically, the amounts of time spent in creating this story as well as the amount of promotional work used to market the OSU scandal as well, not to mention the press release prior to the five segments were set to release. The story itself was set to release on multiple platforms, first on their website and then all together in a published magazine to increase their coverage. Sports Illustrated through the release of this story has profoundly affected both the university’s reputation as a football program as well as the players involved. They looked to not only exploit the deceit and disingenuousness of the school but also invited the audience and SI readers to feel empathy with the players who were deemed no longer useful to the program.

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Analysis by Austin Hersh in SRM 334 (section 1)

In this article Sports Illustrated investigators bring to light the foul play that occurred during Les Miles and Mike Gundy’s tenders as head coach of Oklahoma State University football. In the article you will find that there was everything from failed drug tests, sex provided to recruits, and money payments for good play.

The investigators found it odd for OSU to go from a, “big school stepping stone” to a major contender for a national championship in such a short period of time. Sports Illustrated interviewed 64 former Cowboys and received stories of players failing multiple drug tests with no repercussions. Many players would receive drugs for free and some on the team were dealing drugs as well. This lack of authority in these young men’s lives led many to drug abuse and some to end up in prison after leaving Clear Water. Payments for good play and sex provided to big name recruits seemed to be something of the norm in the OSU football community and as long as wins were rolling in, figures of authority seemed to turn a blind eye.

After life as head coach for OSU, Les Miles went on to create a powerhouse in Baton Rouge for LSU. With no consequences for his actions and how he ran his programs he now has more power and more tools at his fingertips to create champions on the field and rake in the cash for the university. What was interesting is that while all of this did occur, that SI decided to investigate years later. The investigation will do nothing but tarnish a once proud school and once proud program. Players with no association to the regime that caused so much pain now have to represent a legacy they did not sign up for.. Being a former college athlete and in speaking with former and current athletes at universities all around the country I still find it amusing to hear stories such as this one. Foul play occurs at programs all around the nation and it seems to be accepted that in order to succeed, “if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.” While I understand it is the nature of the media beast to find dirt any way possible, I feel that the majority of fans do not realize that this sort of thing has been happening for decades and will never go away. Coaches will always give players/ recruits whatever it takes to keep food on their tables. OSU might be the latest on the long list of scandal ridden programs but the surface has only just been scratched.

"Ryan Braun's Dirty Deed"

From Slate

Analysis by Patrick Arnold in SRM 334 (section 1)

The topic we chose for our current event covers the use of performance enhancing drugs in the MLB, with our presentation mainly focusing on Ryan Braun. We will take an in depth look at each event that happened and its outcome during a long and grueling process. The use of PEDs in baseball seems to be a common trend in today’s game, resulting in continuous speculation of cheating from the game’s biggest stars.

Evolution is happening everywhere around us. Should we accept the fact that new supplements are allowing us, as fans of the game, witness exciting feats that we have never seen before? Back in the early 2000s, many of the game’s sluggers were taking banned substances. Ratings at that time were at an all time high, with balls being hit over 500 feet and numerous 50+ homerun seasons. . Some of those substances weren’t banned from the league’s drug policy at the time, so was it wrong or unethical? At that time we did not know any better, speculation isn’t what it is like now. Sadly, our society views most accomplishments within the game as something that was unjust because of previous incidents. We’ve seen great efforts from Major League Baseball to try and clean up the game in the past five to six years. Braun’s actions have even more exemplified why professional baseball is in such a dark hole right now.

On August 22nd Braun finally issued a statement admitting his guilt. Was this 944 word statement enough? This was nearly a month after MLB suspended him for 65 games - the remainder of the 2013 season. The way he attacked innocent people, along with the overdose of denial to media and fans makes it hard for the average Brewers fan to oversee the past. Especially for someone who enjoyed watching his 2011 MVP campaign, which led to a contract extension with an annual salary of $10 million through 2020. The organization is in trying times right now being 21 games back in their division with the face of their franchise looking to regain the trust of everyone around him.
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Analysis by Jeremy Cappert in SRM 334 (section 1)

No matter your level of involvement, sports play a major role in many people’s lives on a daily basis. Catching the latest news and highlights via ESPN, reading blips with the recent advent of sports apps, or public opinion on Twitter, we are fortunate enough to have more information at our hands than ever before. As we see in developing cases such as with Ryan Braun, the reliance on media sources at all levels for timely news is beyond measure, but can we always trust what we hear and whom we hear it from?

The chronicle of Ryan Braun first began in early October of 2011 when he was selected for a random drug test. As a result of this test, Braun tested positive for the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) and with it began the two-year long stint of questioning and validation of media, fan, and athlete controversy. In December of 2011, ESPN and Yahoo released news of Braun testing positive which led to his appeal of a 50 game suspension in January of 2012. As of February 23rd, 2012, Braun won his appeal with a 2/3rds majority vote, the first ever in MLB history. Backed by thousands of loyal fans that proudly wore the number 8 in Miller Park and most notably, close friend and QB of the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers, it seemed as though justice had finally been reached. However, much to their dismay, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

In February of 2013, an article from Yahoo Sports linked Biogenesis, the same company who assisted Rodriguez and various MLB players to Ryan Braun. Finally, on July 22nd, 2013, Braun’s appeal was overturned and he was ultimately suspended for the remainder of the season (65 games). Consequently, the feeling of betrayal towards the many that backed him over the ordeal was astounding, most notably leading to jersey alterations changing Braun’s name to “Fraud.”

What can we learn from the controversy following the Milwaukee Brewer’s Ryan Braun? First and foremost is the importance of media to present proper facts. We see in this case especially, no matter the likeability of a person, their actions speak louder than any public statement they can make. The once MVP will most likely forever be tainted for the remainder of his career because of his own choices. As a result of his perpetual lying, Braun was made an example of. His fixation on being innocent lead to further investigation and report by the MLB and media in order to reveal the truth. The fact that he brought so many into a personal ordeal and negatively affected them is absolutely astounding. A Brewer’s teammate, Zack Greinke stated,

"Just the fact that he was willing to use anyone that got in his path. The closer you were to him, the more he would use you. It's just disappointing that a human being could be like that" (Mark Townsend).

Now faced with distrust from the Brewer’s organization, the MLB as whole, and countless fans, he is tasked with an uphill battle to restore any character and credibility that may be salvageable. Going forward, we as students in SRM 334 should take away the fact that deal media will either make or break you. Societies’ tenacity for reliable information will forever be the motivation behind media to provide up-to-date coverage of the latest stories and it is our responsibility as students in this field to provide it.

"Strategies For Boxing Promotions Are Evolving; Mayweather Vs Alvarez Is Proof"

From Sports Networker

Analysis by Zachary Graham in SRM 435 (section 2)

The boxing industry is currently at a crossroads; the golden era of boxing is over. Tyson is gone, Ali is gone, Sugar Ray is gone, and now lightweights and international fighters dominate the sport. With MMA coming on stronger than ever, and with the sports juggernauts like football, basketball, baseball, and even soccer the boxing window may be closing. However this article describes an alternative solution, change the way the sport is seen, and most importantly promoted to the public.

Boxing has always benefited off having superstars, and none may be bigger or better than Mayweather. Mayweather is pound for pound the best fighter in the world, and his record proves that. He also is one of the richest athletes in the world bringing in $41,000,000 for this one fight. However Floyd is getting up there in age at 36 years old, Boxing is realizing that they are going to severely miss the attraction of “Money Mayweather.” Boxing is also putting one of its brightest stars Canelo up against Mayweather, as what could be the passing of a torch.

Boxing is trying new tactics and old ones more effectively to promote this fight unlike any fight in years. One tactic is now that Showtime is owned by CBS they have a great opportunity to market the new commercials during football Sunday. As well you will be seeing a promotion during the big game between Alabama and Texas A&M, hopefully appealing to new fans. They are also trying some old school tactics by running the fight in over 500 AMC theaters. They are trying to promote the idea that watching it in a theater is similar to actually being there. They are also running an eleven city tour that goes to all the major big cities, including Mexico City, appealing to it’s largest demographic. These tours will be open to the public and hopefully will drive up the hype and make fans tune in on fight night. Finally the last thing they are doing is weeks before the fight they are stealing a page out of the NFL’s playbook with a behind the scene look into their training and lives. Similar to Hard knocks of the NFL on HBO, or the Association of the NBA, and even Ultimate Fighter of the UFC; “All Access” is trying to help new fans associate with the real person. This article is relevant to this class because it specifically discusses the ins and outs of marketing for a sport other than the usual juggernauts of the sports industry. Marketing for the NFL is easy, but when trying to keep an aging sport relevant like boxing, marketing can have its challenges. Marketing for boxing requires new creative ideas, as well as re-visiting old ones and improving them. 
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Analysis by Joel Simms in SRM 435 (section 2)

Sports! Sports! Sports! People just love sports so much that the sport industry in generating more and more money every year. This is what you would think that would happen in each sport, but boxing is steadily on the decline in viewer ratings and generating revenue. Why? People believe that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting is more interesting than boxing because MMA is new to the sport industry. As the society evolves and people are prone to like new things, sports have to evolve as well in order to have fans excited about sports. Boxing is trying to use different promotional strategies to target the boxing fans and fighting fans in general who love to see two people go head to head in a ring throwing punches at one another. 

There are several ways that boxing is trying to bring back high television ratings and sales. One way is by having commercials broadcasted during another sporting event such as a football game on Sunday. The advertisements that are aired during football games can allow football fans to become interest in boxing because of the violence or physicality connection between the two sports. They have started using this promotional strategy with the Floyd Mayweather versus Canelo Alvarez title fight. I think from a marketing standpoint that airing commercials during footballs will allow people to maybe be interested in outcome of the fight, but maybe paying to watch the fight on paper view television is too early to say. I think in the long run, if they continue to air fights during football games, in the future more people would want to watch boxing since they are being repeatedly shown the sport.

Another way to promote boxing is by having city tours where the boxers will have a press conference and interact with the fans. These tours seem to be fun especially when the boxers face off one another. Face off in boxing means the two boxers stand face to face looking at one another with very seriously faces. In my opinion I think this is funny because I know some fighters do not be as serious as there face would show, so why would they act so serious? I believe from the marketing standpoint that the boxers are supposed to portray this image of intimidation and anger that allows fans to see how serious of a fight it will be. Having the city tours allow fans to get hype for the upcoming fight and see the seriousness of the fight.

Last, but not least, having televised segments of the boxers is a great way to reach out to people who do not know the accomplishments of the boxers or history. One thing I know is that most people enjoy watching television and since these broadcasted episodes are free with cable, people are able to watch the segments without paying. From a marketing standpoint, I can understand why boxing is trying to use new promotional strategies to attract more fans and that is simple because boxing is competing with other sports. Trying to generate more revenue and sales is hard when your competition is growing in the industry, so in order to compete and stay relevant, business strategies have to change and excite people. The way boxing is changing or evolving in the promotional aspect relates to the class material we learn in class. The change in boxing promotions relates to the topic of sport promotion and sales, and it relates to the journal articles all we have read online. In the Allstate article, they did a Tailgate Tour which is similar the city tours that the boxers do. One article I read was about sports starting to broadcast segments such as “The Journey” which has famous stars, Magic Johnson and Drew Brees on the episodes. Just like that of “The Journey”, boxing is using segments to attract fans and this is related back to the online journal readings. I believe boxing was end up declining at times and increasing at times because it is hard to appeal to the youth when you are competing with Mixed Martial Arts violence. The society has the concept that new is better and boxing is trying to attract fans to watch boxing.

"Dunkin' Donuts Is Launching the First TV Ad Made Entirely From Vine"

From Adweek

Analysis by Ryan Dunn in SRM 435 (section 1)

Dunkin’ Donuts will have the first TV ad made completely from Vine. This ad will debut during the first Monday Night Football game of the 2013 season between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins. The Vine video will be on an electronic billboard that appears between segments of ESPN’s programs. There are four versions of the Dunkin’ Donuts Vine Ads. This week’s ad will be a representation of an opening coin flip using lattes instead of players and referees.

Dunkin’ Donuts thinks this short visual add is more “engaging” than a traditional still billboard that are typically seen in stadiums. Other than this pregame billboard Dunkin’ Donuts will also take one key play from the first half and remake it using their products and post it on Twitter using the #DunkinReplay. To promote this and try and get the word out more Dunkin’ Donuts plans on purchasing promotion Tweets where they will target the people who are watching the Monday Night Football game. Dunkin’ Donuts is trying to connect with the highly social fans of sports and more specifically football.

Other brands have started using Vine to appeal to a younger generation as well. One of the companies listed in the article is Virgin Mobile who ran a spot on MTV and Comedy Central to try to reach the young demographic that tends to use Vine.

Dunkin’ Donuts is trying to appeal to the new age of social media where everything is connected. I think that using popular social media forums is a good way for the younger generation to see the ads. When a company is able to keep up to the popular technology of the day it allows them to more successfully access a different group of people then the companies that don’t take advantage of the same technology.Using Monday Night Football to promote a product will get a lot of viewership for the ad. The most intriguing part is the recreating of a play that has happened in the game and posting it during the game. Advertising eventually becomes a part of most things that are popular. Vine will be no different. I think that Dunkin’ Donuts has a great idea and are going to start a trend. Using their products to promote itself in a new unique way is always a good marketing idea.
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Analysis by Val Southall in SRM 435 (section 1)

During the Monday Night Football game on September 9th, between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins, Dunkin Donuts ran the first TV ad in history made entirely from a single Vine, the new popular 6 second video social media platform. Dunkin donuts will use a 5 second billboard ad unit, which appears full screen between segments during ESPN programs for the remainder of the season. “We think a billboard using Vine is dramatically more engaging than a standard billboard with a corporate logo on it,” said Scott Hudler, Vice President of global consumer engagement, Dunkin’ Brands. “Everyone is multitasking while watching TV with their phone, tablet or laptop. A lot of times, the content on their mobile device is not related to their TV shows. We want to make sure we’re supporting our TV investment with social media that’s relevant. It’s our job to make sure that it’s tied together to drive consumer engagement.” In addition to the 5 second billboard ad,ESPN will promote a Vine the retailer tweets out in the final quarter of each game using the #dunkinreplay hashtag. This will include a memorable play from the first half, recreated virtually using dunkin donuts products. 

Essentially, Dunkin Donuts is using Vine to appeal to a younger audience and keep them engaged throughout the game, even during breaks in the action. They realize watching a football game has always been somewhat of a social event. “We’ll buy Promoted Tweets on Twitter and target people who are already watching the game, so they know that this fun content is available,” explained Stacey Shepatin, Senior Vice President at Hill Holliday. “Sports have always been one of the most social environments—especially football. So we’ll get good intel on whether people want to participate in this way.” The use of Vine and #dunkinreplay lets fans interact with each other and provides an innovative way to market Dunkin Donuts and promote Monday Night Football. In addition, its helping pave the way for more Vine based ads, Nissan is planning to use Vine for future ads and Virgin Mobile has already used a 30 second ad comprised solely of vine compilations.The use of vine for advertisements is somewhat uncharted water for businesses. Dunkin Donut’s use of Vine sets a precedent in funding and preparation for ads, while a typical NFL ad is costly in both time and money, a vine can be made almost instantly and without any funding.

"Joe Flacco banners annoy fans"

From ESPN.com

Review by Ethan Miller in SRM 435 (section 2)

The NFL is one of the biggest organizations in America; along with have one of the most loyal fan bases to go along with it. However, are those fans actually loyal to the NFL or loyal to the NFL team themselves? This article answers that question, by proving that fans are more loyal to the team itself rather than the organization that created them.

Throughout the years the NFL has grown to become almost unrecognizable compared to the league that existed 50 years ago. The game on the field is part of the changes that have gone on, but what has changed the most is the fans’ experience. Now more than ever the fan experience at a NFL game is one of the greatest in all of sports. This has helped them develop the loyal and vast fan base that they’ve become known for. This same fan base is quick to turn though as shown by the banner that they posted at Mile High stadium of Joe Flacco. The NFL posted to banners next to each other, one of the Denver Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning and the other of the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco. The NFL said that they were simply promoting the opening night of the season and there was no harm meant. Needless to say, the whole city of Denver was outraged and began defacing some of the NFL promotions as a form of protest against the advertisements.

Was this the right move by the NFL? It’s tough to tell. The NFL Kickoff game is one of the most important games during the season. In 2010, the Kickoff game brought in 27.485 million viewers to the game. Other than the Superbowl, this is the largest viewership the NFL has during the season. Another factor that went into the banner placement was the fact that ever since 2004 the Kickoff game has been played at the defending Superbowl champion’s stadium. However, due to scheduling conflicts, the NFL was forced to schedule the Kickoff game in Denver and forced the Baltimore Ravens to be the away team. This put the NFL in a huge bind because they were forced to advertise the Kickoff game as the big event that it is for the league, but were advertising the Broncos’ opposing QB on their stadium. (Not to mention it was the same QB that knocked them out of the playoffs the previous year).

The intention of the banner and smaller ads was to promote the NFL as a whole. They were trying to promote the brand and organization. However, the NFL failed to realize that by doing this they were alienating the Denver fans. Ultimately this promotion actually hurt the NFL because the people they were advertising to (the city of Denver) were the people who hated the ad the most. If anything this made the city of Denver lose brand loyalty to the NFL, and instead be loyal to the Denver Broncos instead.This article relates to this class because the NFL is always trying to expand their brand and fan base. They often are very successful in including the fans and increasing the fan experience, but when they misfire they misfire bad and causes a city to cause uproar like in Denver.

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Review by Chase Warren in SRM 435 (section 2)

Opening kickoff for the NFL season holds almost as much prestige as Super Bowl Sunday Kickoff. This years season opener featured the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens visiting the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority at Mile High. In the article “Joe Flacco understands fans’ ire”, Jeff Legwold expresses to us the way that Joe Flacco felt about the fact that he, along with Peyton Manning, would be featured on large banners outside of Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Obviously, Denver fans were not happy with the fact that Flacco’s banner was hanging on their stadium alongside the beloved Manning. When Flacco heard that this was going to be happening he was very surprised and actually agreed with the Denver fans. He exclaimed, “ I think it’s all deserved, I don’t know if it’s deserved towards me, I happen to be the guy they put up there. But I don’t think here or anybody in our city would be too happy if we had somebody else from a different team on our stadium. I wouldn’t expect anything different than all of the people in Denver to be pretty upset by it.” Again, Flacco understood the fans dismay, and he made a good point that any other city in the league would feel the exact same way if that was happening in their stadium.
From a marketing standpoint, there is no one to blame besides the NFL itself. It was not the Denver Broncos or the Baltimore Ravens that were to blame for all of this controversy. The “NFL Kickoff Special” is nothing but an NFL promotion. The NFL decided that they would feature both teams because they were coming from a neutral standpoint, trying to promote the game to all NFL fans, rather than just one team. NFL vice president Brian McCarthy called it a “celebration” of the NFL season, not just the Denver Bronco’s season. This makes perfect sense from a marketing standpoint. It is much important to appeal to the entire league as a whole. Fans that have a neutral standpoint on the game do not want to see any favoritism towards a certain team during the first game of the 2013 NFL season. As stated before, it is a “celebration” of a new season for everyone, not a promotion for the Denver Broncos. This article is relevant to the course because it touches on how it is important to target the right audience in order to maximize fan potential. This article was very interesting and was a perfect example of sports marketing in a certain industry. There is a lot more to simple marketing strategies than what shows on the surface.

"Schools Strategize to Increase Student Football Attendance"

From Athletic Business

Analysis by Cameron McKinley in SRM 435 (section 1)

Football has been a long standing tradition of the college experience, however recent trends may suggest a falling off of the place gameday holds in the hearts of many students. This article by Paul Steinbach entitled “Schools Strategize to Increase Football Attendance” spoke towards the increasing difficulty with which college football marketers are trying to engage their respective student populations in order to increase involvement and attendance. Not only does the article go into depth about the course of action taken by many schools, but also details the reasoning behind the alarming trends schools are starting to see. This trend is not solely based on the smaller schools not traditionally known as powerhouses. The blue-bloods of college football, such as Alabama and Michigan, nor teams celebrating recent success they have long since been without, such as South Carolina and Georgia, are not exempt from having difficulty attracting fans and convincing them to stay for the entirety of the game. In all, there is a two percent decrease in student attendance while schools seek out solutions to reverse this trend.

In the article, the main two conferences detailed about their recent lack of student involvement for football games are the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Big 10, perhaps the two biggest conferences in terms of fan base and money-making power. SEC school Alabama, which has won three out of the past four NCAA National Titles and is this generation’s closest thing to a college football dynasty, has seen the percentage of student tickets used hover at about 70 percent. At the University of Georgia, another SEC school, only approximately two thirds of its student tickets are being used on a per game basis. At South Carolina, a team that has enjoyed back-to-back 11 win seasons and an Eastern Division Championship, there is a new trend of a mass student exodus at halftime. For a conference that boasts about its football fan bases, these trends can be unsettling for schools across the nation as they seek out ways to combat them before they take their toll on the programs.

Schools across the country are employing a multitude of new ways to get students more involved in the gameday atmosphere. For example, Michigan State has added a two million dollar wi-fi system that will run throughout the stadium in an attempt to keep students connected while they are in the game. Maryland has upgraded their ticketing operations to allow students to access games via their smartphone rather than traditional ticket printouts. Both of these examples shows that teams no longer want to compete with the technology craze of this generation and are accepting it as a way to lure fans into the games.As covered in our class, higher attendance rates can lead to more money for the respective program. This is not just due to an increase in ticket revenue, as many student tickets are priced at a point where they will do little to increase overall income on gameday. However, many of these teams are ones that play on television week in and week out. These bigger names in college football are ones with which sponsors can easily get their names out on a national stage. But they are more willing to spend their money in sponsorship deals with teams that are able to fill their stadium and have their names be seen by the highest amount of people. Without being able to fill their stadiums and create an atmosphere that sponsors will want to be a part of, teams may see their revenues fall if they are not able to reverse these gameday trends.

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Analysis by Dejor Simmons in SRM 435 (section 1)

Student’s involvement in games is a big problem in collegiate sports. Most students are either leaving the game early or arriving late which is a problem in keeping the home team at an advantage when it comes to the twelve man. Even big schools like the University of Alabama who won three out of the last four national championships, has seen ticket sales hover between 68.4 and 71.8 making student apathy one of the biggest concerns facing the school’s football association. University of Georgia officials are heated with the turnout of the student section that usually sat 17,910 people only averaged 11,800. Now officials are opening more than 2,000 seats to recent graduates who will be willing to pay $40 per ticket compared to the $5 student price. South Carolina students almost made it a weekly tradition to leave games at halftime, pressuring Coach Steve Spurrier to publicly plead students to act like they're part of a winning program and stay to the end of the Gamecocks' home finale. Making USC officials wonder if it’s the heavy party scene in Colombia or the social media that make students leave maybe even the heat. So a solution to the weather they offered free bottled water on the hot games. There are many different things that collegiate officials are doing to make the students attendance increase and making and keeping them satisfied during and before games. Michigan is raising student prices by 23 percent and switching the policy for student seating to first come first serve in hopes of contesting a student no-show rate last season of 25 percent and a late-arrival rate of 50 percent. The University of Minnesota are dedicating parking lots close to the stadium for tailgating since studies shown that students want places to gather before the game. Also, a year after installing a new sound system and two new video boards in its stadium, Michigan State invested in a stadium wide Wi-Fi system to allow greater fan interaction. And lastly, Maryland has a new ticket system where students can get there tickets via email instead of the hard process of printing out tickets which allow greater ease of access.

Internship Opportunity: Northern Texas PGA

The Northern Texas Section of the PGA of America is headquartered in Dallas, and serves more than 350 golf facilities and 725 professional members across Northern Texas.  They are seeking two qualified applicants for a 13-week internship position in golf tournament operations during the spring of 2013.  Please click here for more details.

2013 United States Olympic Committee Recruitment Fair

The USOC is holding its Intern Recruitment Fair at the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center from October 27 - 29, 2013.  Click here for more information.

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.