S4SC with Sonny Vaccaro Day 1 Recap

The 2014 Sport for Social Change Conference started off with a bang Thursday night!  Fans were blessed with a wonderful conversation between ESPN's Tom Farrey and basketball marketing legend, Sonny Vaccaro.  Vaccaro began his basketball marketing career with the Dapper Dan High School All Star Game in Pittsburgh, PA in 1965.  Dapper Dan was the first high school basketball all star game in the country; a groundbreaking idea by Vaccaro to help the public see the young basketball talent in the U.S.

After PGA Championship, McIlroy and Fowler are 2014 Winners

NY Daily News

It was at the beginning of the 2013 PGA Tour schedule when Rory McIlroy signed his massive $200 million long-term deal with Nike. By the end of the year, McIlroy had gone winless and there were rumblings that the deal was a bust. 


Some cited the new club manufacturer as a source of the struggles; some cited his then-relationship with Caroline Wozniacki. A little patience was all that was needed, though. Because in 2014, McIlroy is asserting himself as the top golfer in the world. And he looks to have gained the killer instinct it takes to win majors.

Guard the Post: Super Bowl L errr 50

Yesterday, a historic announcement was made. The National Football League will, for the first time since 1971, not have a roman numeral in the title of it's biggest game. The 50th Super Bowl will not be titled "Super Bowl L", as it should have been if they followed the same trend that they have for the last 44 games. The name of the game, which will be hosted at the brand new Levi's Stadium in San Francisco, CA in 2016, will be Super Bowl 50.

Market Power: NBA Rookie Edition

The NBA postseason is coming to an end with the finals beginning this week. It is a rematch of last year’s thrilling finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. It’s going to be a dogfight. Even though the finals will be going on, June 26th is what many of the bottom dweller teams are looking forward to being the NBA draft. This year’s draft has a ton of talent, but does talent translate into marketability? Earlier I discussed the three players left in the playoffs I would target for marketing. Now I will take a look at three NBA soon to be rookies and why I would choose them to market my company.

Market Power: NBA Postseason Edition

The NBA postseason has been off to a thrilling start. With five out of the eight series in the first round going to seven games, you can’t ask for a more exciting start. There have also been some big headlines this postseason including Donald Sterling’s racist comments, Roy Hibbert’s disappearance for so many games and the Mark Jackson’s firing in Golden State after a first round exit to the Los Angeles Clippers. Even though there have been a number of headlines, I decided to take a different route by taking a look at which remaining players left in the NBA postseason companies should target to help market their company. I purposefully left out LeBron James and Kevin Durant in this because they are the two obvious picks. Here are my top three.

FIFA World Cup 2014: Pokemon Stadium

 

The teams have been selected and the World Cup is just around the corner. There has been a last minute team added to the cup this year, and it happens the be comprised of Pikachu and friends. Yes, there will be Pokémon in the stadium this year! If you don’t get that joke it probably just means you didn’t grow up glued to a Nintendo 64 like I did. It’s ok though, all you need to know is that Adidas, The Pokémon Company, and Japan’s National Team will be teaming up in a new exciting marketing plan. 

Get Ready for alot of Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman has become the next big thing in the NFL both on the field and off.

Prior to his post-game rant, I noticed Richard Sherman in a couple of different commercials. It seems as if his popularity has risen in the minds of companies as well as fans. Sherman is the new athlete in the new episode of the Beats commercial.

For those of you who have not yet seen the new commercial it starts off with Sherman in the locker room surrounded by reporters asking him questions about his rough upbringing and questionable decisions. Sherman answers each question until they cut a little too deep to where he puts the beats headphones on and tunes everyone away.

The Sports Biz Report - Biz of the NBA Playoffs

Co-Op Confidential: Kevin Murray

Name: Kevin Murray

Year: Sophomore

Company: Drexel Athletic Department

Location: Daskalaskis Athletic Center

What is the Drexel Athletic Department?

The Drexel Athletic Department is the section of Drexel University that manages the schools 18 Division-I athletic teams, club sports, and campus recreation. The department is managed by Director of Athletics Dr. Eric Zillmer. Now in his 15th year as Director of Athletics, Dr. Zillmer oversees all components of the Athletics Department.

Sixers Sales

As the Philadelphia 76ers continue through the NBA playoffs looking to survive the Boston Celtics for a chance to play in the Eastern Conference Championship, ownership hopes that the on-court success can translate off-court.  This summer will be a big offseason for the team because it will be the first full offseason for Adam Aron, Josh Harris, and the rest of the new 76ers ownership group.

This season saw the team earn the 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.  The 76ers capitalized on the playoff berth by beating the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs to win its first playoff series since 2003.  The on-court accomplishments have been impressive, but the off-court accomplishments have been even better.

According the Terry Lefton in this week’s Sports Business Journal, the 76ers ticket sales were outstanding for the first season under the new ownership group.  Average attendance at the Wells Fargo Center jumped from 14,751 to 17,503 this season, which was good for moving up from 25 to 14 in NBA.  The statistic that I found most interesting was the fact that the 76ers sold more paid tickets in lockout shortened 66 game season than they did in the full 82 game season last year.  Season tickets have also seen improvement with a jump from 3,294 this season to 5,438 next season with CEO Adam Aron’s prediction that next season’s number will end somewhere around 6,500.

This summer will be the test for the marketing arm of the 76ers.  The team looks to use the momentum from the on-court performance and attendance increases to build stronger sponsorship deals.  Four of the bigger categories of 76ers sponsorship inventory are up for renewal this offseason including beer, healthcare, quick service restaurant, and wireless provider.

One element that may really be holding the organization back sponsorship wise is their lack of signature inventory.  A solution may be on its way because the team is moving its offices out of the Wells Fargo Center and into office space at the Navy Yard.  The biggest plus to this move is the 76ers’ plan to build a practice facility there.  I think this would be huge for the organization because it would provide them a unique sponsorship inventory item and give one of their top sponsors a chance to further brand themself in the Philadelphia sports marketplace. 

I think that the success of the 76ers this past year will help them greatly in the area of sponsorship.  Not that companies looking to partner with the team will automatically throw truckloads of money at them (ignore the impossibility of the physical strength needed), but it will offer a little bit of friendly competition that could push the price up a little bit.  Every little bit counts for a team under new owners, even for new owners like Adam Aron and Josh Harris who have seen great success already.

Agree?  Disagree?  Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!