Will Pats Fans Have to Choose Sides?

As the football season progresses, it will be interesting to see how the New England Patriots and Tom Brady handle the less than stellar receiving corp. issue. At the moment, from a media standpoint, Tom and the lack of receivers are the hottest story for the team other than analyzing the weekly match-ups.

Boston media loves to start drama and controversy since it brings in money and “certain” reporters have slightly huge egos. It will be interesting to see how Belichick handles Tom’s well being with the media. We all know that Bill never wants to talk to the media and gives as little information as possible. Brady, on the other hand, is the star QB and talks to the media regularly.

In the future, if the Pats start losing (which is doubtful), could there ever be dissention in the ranks? Could Brady come out against management and say they never had a chance since they didn’t bring back their receivers? Who do the other players side with?

Now, how do the fans and media handle this? The fans have always said “In Bill We Trust” and have always backed Brady. Who will they choose?

From the media’s standpoint, which side are you going to take? The coach, who is bland, gives one-line answers and never shows his cards or the quarterback who is open, a down to earth, approachable person who shows some emotion.

I know this theory is a stretch, but if the Sox are quiet this fall, which is possible, the Pats are going to move to center stage in the Boston sports scene. The media is going to find or make an issue like this relevant to local sports fans.

HBO’s Wait till Next Year: Saga of the Chicago Cubs

If you get the chance, take an hour to watch HBO’s documentary on the Chicago Cubs. While I don’t think it was as good as the Red Sox documentary (maybe I’m biased), it still hurt to watch replays as the ball flew through Leon Durham’s legs in 1984 or watching Steve Bartman try to catch the foul ball in 2003.

Gold Star of the Day – Versus

So Versus, former OLN, may have finally figured out the cable station needs to do some serious marketing. According to a recent article in MediaDailyNews:

"Versus has done research on 21 million TV viewers who are competitive, but don't watch OLN. 'For some reason, they aren't watching us. They may watch reality shows, ESPN or local TV hockey games. But not national TV hockey games on OLN,' [Bill Bergofin] says. To get the word out, Versus will purchase spots in print, radio, local and national cable networks, as well as late-night broadcast programs that target young men. For print, Versus will be buying FHM, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Men's Health, USA Today, and local newspapers, especially in NHL markets."

FINALLY!! We have discussed the issue about the lack of exposure for this new station. I am excited to see they have listened to someone who has a clue. The story added the station plans guerrilla marketing tactics which "will include signage at sports bars, wild postings and other marketing tactics."

Perfect, do risqué marketing tactics and out the box ideas. It is the only way the company is going to generate exposure in the future.

On the flip side, Versus’ PR department should never let Bill Bergofin, senior vice president of marketing and promotion ever speak to the media. It is one thing to use marketing speak during interviews, but this guy is over the top. See below:

Strong, prominent black and red on-air graphics will frame the network. "It's liquid black," says Bergofin. "We call it Batman-chic, a place where it doesn't rain every day."

Um…is he serious? Did "Batman-chic" get approved by PR?

Will NASCAR Become America’s Number One Sport?

So they are a lot of football fans reading this title and they are shaking their heads. I can hear them now – “The NFL will always be the number one sport in America.” Personally, I am not a big fan of NASCAR, but I have accepted that it is more popular than baseball and I believe the sport is on par with the NFL.

In regards to straight media coverage, the NFL has NASCAR beat hands down. Games are shown on four stations each week and there are a plethora of football shows on during the weekend. NASCAR, on the other hand, is at a disadvantage since it one has two races each weekend – NASCAR and Busch race.

Since there are only two stock car races each weekend, over 100,000 people usually attend every race. I wish I had the stats on the amount of money NASCAR fans spend at an event after buying their tickets. They drop hundreds of dollars on apparel at the races. It is not even close to how much a football fan spends and that includes tailgating. Now, some football fans attend eight home games a season so the money would even out in the long run.

I think the real difference is the marketing and sponsorship activities with each sport. If you are a company looking to sponsor a sport in the U.S. and the NFL and NASCAR offer the same ROI, which league are you going to partner with? Well, that’s easy – NASCAR. The fans are, by far, the most loyal fans in all of sports. Everyone knows how their fans will buy products that are associated with NASCAR. The league understands how to market it sponsors and works with them to ensure they see a strong ROI from their partnership.

NASCAR drivers also understand the importance of working with sponsors and promoting the league. They participate in commercials, attend signings, talk with the media, etc. NFL players, on the other hand, have a set amount of times they must appear in public on behalf of the team and then they are done. These players don’t have the same passion in helping to raise exposure for the sport.

Like it or not, if I was looking to have a company sponsor a sport, I would look to NASCAR before contacting anyone else.

Why Ortiz Won’t Win the MVP in 2006

Someday David Ortiz may win the MVP, but it won’t happen this year. While statistics and a winning team are extremely important to a candidate’s chances of winning the award, the media has the ability to sway the vote one way or the other.

If you analyze the national baseball media, the Sox have an amazing amount of reporters who root for the team. The only other team that receives the same amount of coverage is the Yankees.

Think about it – Gammons, Simmons and Sean McAdams cover the Sox regularly on ESPN.com. SI and ESPN Magazine usually has a player on the cover once during the season. Other baseball beat reporters sometime cover team issues as well.

Last year, when Ortiz should have won the MVP, the pro-Boston beat reporters were actively speaking up that he should win. This year? Reporters are looking at Jeter or Justin Morneau.

This posting may not have offered a strong story angle, but I thought it was an interesting glimpse into baseball’s media.

Boston Fans Misunderstand the Details

Earlier this week, the Globe’s Steve Bailey wrote an article titled, "Sox owner may invest in NASCAR." It has been known for some time that Sox owner John Henry is a huge NASCAR fan and he has asked FSG to find ways where the company could be involved with the sport. The article highlighted how Henry and the rest of the Sox front office attended Sunday’s NASCAR race in Loudon.

Towards the end of the article, Bailey opened up a hornet’s nest with Boston sports fan. He noted, "For the Red Sox, these non baseball opportunities are particularly valuable because they are not subject to Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing tax. But they also raise dicey questions for Henry & Co. For instance, if the Red Sox owners can spend $50 million on a NASCAR team, why can the Yankees outspend them by $75 million a year for players? And why should taxpayers kick in for improvements around Fenway Park?

Some of the limited partners have been asking questions, too. If the Red Sox can spend big on a NASCAR team and Kenmore Square real estate – thanks to revenue that has exploded by $100 million since Henry bought the team in 2001 -- why can't they make distributions to the partners? No one has left the partnership since Henry put the group together, but at least one limited partner has recently explored selling his shares."

Over the last few days, Sox fans have been ranting on WEEI wondering why the Sox don’t spend as much money as the Yankees to win the World Series. The problem is that once you “peel the onion,” there are a plethora of other items on the table.

· Let’s say the Sox spend an additional $50 million dollars on player salaries. That is all fine and dandy, but the team would then have to pay an exuberant revenue-sharing tax. The team is maxed out financially. There are only four or five teams that have a team salary over $100 million. If Bostonians didn’t have such an inferiority complex to the Yankees, I doubt the team would need to spend all this money. On the flip side, they also wouldn’t contend every year.

· New England Sports Ventures, the parent company of the Sox and the other businesses, paid a ridiculous amount of money for the Sox, NESN and everything else. It will take years for the owners to pay down all the loans. They need to find other ways to generate revenue.

· As we know, NASCAR is becoming the most popular sport in America (sorry football fans.) The marketing and sponsorship opportunities are endless. With FSG’s marketing prowess, they could generate some decent revenue if they worked in the sport.

· From a business of sports perspective, it is also a smart move to develop a partnership between New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR and the Sox. FSG has the contacts and the power to convince additional sponsors to become partners with the Speedway. How easy do you think it would be to do business with prospective clients if either organization could offer NASCAR or Sox tickets?
I will be surprised if FSG jumps into NASCAR quickly. I heard they were going a different way for the time being, but it is still exciting news. Boston sports fans just need to know the full details before lashing out at the team.

Budweiser’s Interesting Idea

Budweiser is launching an Internet TV network titled Bud.TV, that will cost an estimated $30 million to launch. The launch is set for February 2007 to coincide with the Super Bowl. According to an article I read, "It will feature 24-hour live and on-demand programming and other content including humorous Webisodes, sporting events, consumer-generated content, field news reports, celebrity interviews, music downloads and comedian vignettes."

This is an interesting idea. The company is moving past RSS and blogs to create this TV network. As long as it is not too Bud-positive, this could work. It is something different that not a lot of companies are doing.

Doritos – What Are They Thinking?

As Bill Simmons wrote recently on ESPN.com, sports teams really need to hire a "common sense" manager who can make decisions for a team when it looks like they are going off the deep end. As I continue to read the sports marketing practices of large corporations, I believe some of them need to hire a "common sense" manager as well. This person can sit in on meetings and when they hear an idea that is "just a little too out there," they can voice their opinion. See below:

According to Promo Magazine, "Yesterday Doritos launched a contest for consumers to create a 30-second spot to air during Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, 2007. The winning ad will air unaltered and untagged during the game. It's the only spot that Doritos will air during the Super Bowl, and its first appearance during the game since 2001. (No word yet on Frito-Lay's other brands' ad plans for the game.) Entrants submit their videos online, from Oct. 2 through Dec. 1; Frito-Lay will pick five finalists to post at Doritos.com in January for a public vote. The top vote getter wins the airtime."

Um…let me get this straight. Doritos is going to pay close to THREE MILLION dollars for a 30-second ad to let some consumer create a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl. The ad will be unaltered and untagged so there is no guarantee that Doritos’ messaging will be correct. The company will not be able to target a select audience with this commercial. The television viewership is close to a billion people. I don’t think a company should be testing out an idea of this magnitude during the big game.

At the 50,000 foot level, this is an extremely interesting idea. Maybe though, a company should try it out during the MLB playoffs, football postseason or the MLB World Series, but not the Super Bowl. This ad is either going to raise their brand ten fold or be a plane that flies straight into the ground.

I disagree with this marketing plan if they plan to air the ad during the most important sporting event of the year.

Bank of America and NASCAR

BoA continues to make a strong push with its sports sponsorships. The company has a national sponsorship with MLB and recently signed an agreement with NASCAR. Promo Magazine reported, "Bank of America is cashing in on its sponsorship of the inaugural Bank of America 500 NASCAR race with a promo that lets fans jockey for the chance to say four words to be broadcast round the nation—Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"

According to the article, "it holds the title of the official bank of baseball and is an official sponsor of the 2006-2008 U.S. Olympic Teams. The bank’s nationwide sponsorship portfolio also includes professional golf, football and motor sports."

A spokeswoman added, "The bank recognized that NASCAR has some of the most loyal fans in sports and certainly we want to have a relationship with those fans," said Jill Gregory, senior VP racing platform at Bank of America (BOA). "A lot of NASCAR fans are Bank of America customers and we wanted...to be more of a part of the NASCAR environment and talk to those fans."

This race is during the "Chase for the Cup", which is NASCAR’s postseason. There is tons of additional media coverage and television viewership during the postseason. The sponsorship allows the bank to develop relationships with fans, while also bringing clients to the race. The bank can create a "VIP Experience" for select clients by bringing them to the garage, pit road during the race or by having the opportunity to meet a driver.

I believe this sponsorship will help the bank’s brand over the long term and it was a smart business decision.

Sports Marketing: Pushing the Envelope

From today's WSJ (thanks dad):

"In New Zealand, German sportswear maker Adidas has launched a marketing campaign to bring fans closer to the country's hugely popular All Blacks rugby team -- by sharing samples of the players' blood.

The blood, taken from every member of the national team, was mixed into the ink used to make a poster of the team given to fans who buy a $70 team jersey made by Adidas. Each of the 8,000 posters comes with a certificate of authenticity."

This idea is creepy. From a PR standpoint, I would have had a tought time approving this campaign. I am absolutely amazed that Adidas has not received bad PR from this event.

"The idea for the 'Bonded by Blood' campaign came from ad agency TBWA\Whybin, a joint venture majority-owned by Omnicom Group of New York. Around the Asian-Pacific region, TBWA has developed a reputation for pushing the envelope with stunts for Adidas, such as dangling soccer players off billboards in Japan and bouncing around soccer fans inside a giant ball in New Zealand. Both of those campaigns won major creative awards at the Cannes advertising festival."

These are interesting ideas, but I really wonder if they would have the same positive affect in the States.

Changing the Face of Marketing

Interesting article from BusinessWeek last week entitled, "Marketing to Kids Where They Live." The feature noted how marketing is moving away from conventional ad-based media planning toward marketing-based communications planning. This includes branded entertainment, event marketing and experiential marketing. This is a smart move that all companies need to embrace in the future. If you want to reach the younger generation, you have to "think outside the box." The story also noted:

"JP Morgan Chase, looking to foster loyalty among college kids who like to use their credit cards, recently hired students at 300 college campuses to produce sponsored food-and-game incentives that would appeal to young people. Instead of using its Web site, it chose Facebook as the medium to reach students. That's just one example of how social networks serve as bulletin boards to get messages out. Marketing initiatives that involve young people need to go farther than placing banner ads on a Web site. They have to speak directly to them, and give them something relevant, like a free meal. Other companies creating campaigns for social networks include Burger King, Apple Computer and Wendy's. Burger King's MySpace page for 'the King,' its new, wide-grinning mascot appearing in most of its commercials, has amassed more than 120,000 friends. How does a blatant marketing ploy land that many friends? Free giveaways of TV shows, like Fox's '24' and 'American Dad.' If you give these kids free stuff, they'll happily lap up whatever marketing message you offer. MySpace, with its 50 million uniques, is the right place to be."

Dunkin’ Donuts and National Sports Sponsorships

I was reading recently that “Dunkin' Donuts plans to open 10,000 new stores around the U.S. by 2020. It also intends to add 325 stores in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore by 2010. A similar announcement has already been made in Chicago, and several more are in the works around the country. Dunkin' Donuts currently has 4,400 stores, compared with 8,600 for the more upscale Starbucks.”

The Company has had a lot of success with its sports sponsorship activities in the Northeast. Most sports fans know about their Dunkin’ Donuts seats at Fenway or their sponsorships with the Garden and the Pats. During every Sox home game, Jerry Remy makes sure to highlight the kids who are sitting in the Dunkin’ Donuts seats. This is great branding for the company/

With all the success they have had, why don’t they purchase a national sponsorship? I understand it will be expensive, but from a branding and relationship building aspect, this is an ideal way to connect with new customers. Traditional forms of advertising are not connecting with consumers like it did in the past.

Recently franchisees’ have opened Dunkin’ Donuts shops down south. People were excited about the donuts, but didn’t have a clue about the coffee. Most kids who are born in New England know about the importance of Dunkin’ coffee has on adults by the time they turn three.

Why don’t they develop a sponsorship with NASCAR? They don’t have to sponsor a whole team. Maybe Dunkin’ could be an associate sponsor on a team or maybe it could purchase a national sponsorship. We all know that NASCAR fans flock to products that are associated with the sport.

Dunkin’ should also consider sponsoring a golf tournament or even a fishing tournament down south to help raise awareness of the brand if the company plans to compete with Starbucks. They need to sponsor sporting events that are important to people in the region.

From what I have heard, Dunkin’ does not plan to role out a national sports marketing plan which I believe is a bad idea. This will hurt the company’s U.S. expansion in the long term.

Red Sox and Patriots PR

The sports PR landscape is starting to change in Boston. It has been interesting to see how the media has handled the news from these two teams.

The Patriots:

We all know the Pats like to release as little information as possible. At times, they don’t feel the need to announce players’ signing new contracts or other items that would interest a football fan. Why should they? Their stadium is sold out, the mantra across New England is “In Bill We Trust” and they have a season ticket waiting list of 50,000. Yeah…they really don’t need to spend a lot of time promoting the team. Win a Super Bowl and watch how the media comes to you.

It has been interesting to watch how the Pats handled the Branch situation. How many players really talked about Branch? The rookies sure didn’t since they are on probation. Belichick always would say, “Let’s talk about the players who are here.” We all heard from Brady earlier this week and I know one or two other players have spoke on the situation. How many times did Branch even speak about his holdout?

It is pretty amazing that Stacey James and the rest of his team was able to really control this story and not make it an issue for the team. Then again, the team has learned how to handle these types of situations after letting go of Law, Milloy, Bledsoe, etc.

It will be interesting to see if how the media secures quotes and information from the team this season.

The Red Sox:

How times have changed for the Red Sox PR machine. From the end of the 2003 season to the beginning of the 2004 season, I heard the Sox were in the newspaper every day during the off-season. Even though the Pats were on their way to the Super Bowl, the Sox still took center stage.

Now that the team is out contention for the Wild Card, things have gotten awful quiet. We knew that Theo put down a directive before he came back that management needed to reign in its love of coverage. As I have said before, how many times have you seen Theo interviewed on TV, radio or in the newspaper this year? In the past, this team would have been looking for any angle to generate news even if they were losing. It’s not the case anymore.

Times are changing in Boston. I am interested to see how the Bruins and the Celtics handle their PR and sports marketing activities this winter. These two teams should try to generate as much coverage and interest as possible.

Sports-Based YourTube

Due to the fact that my computer is as slow as Benji Molina, I have not had the opportunity to fully appreciate YourTube. I know, I know, the site is the best thing since the Red Sox finally won the World Series.

I assume the site has a sports channel, but I wonder why a company, like ESPN, CBS Sports, etc has not announced the creation of a sports-based YourTube. I would have to believe that VC and angel investors would be jumping at the chance to create this business.

What is included on the site:

· People can download sports-based home videos.
· Sports team can download games, interviews or other items.
· People can download sports-based television shows.

How does the site make money?

· Have sponsors of the different channels and allow banner advertising.
· Charge users a small fee to have the opportunity to view games from the professional leagues. The site would have negotiate agreements or create partnerships with the different leagues. I know some of the leagues might be skeptical, but this is a great way to generate exposure.
· Make sure to include non-traditional sports like Poker, skate boarding and any extreme sports.
· Create the ability to watch games live from the site – this could bring in some serious coin.
· Allow the leagues to all sell DVDs and/or apparel from their respective sport.
· Have a weekly e-mail newsletter, branded of course, that highlights different new videos that have been posted to the site.

This is a site that would draw traffic as well as sponsors and be a serious money maker over time. It will be interesting if someone could ever put it together.

Boston Bruins – Gold Star of the Day

I am excited to see the Bruins are finally reaching out to the community and its fans.

Bruins individual game tickets go on sale Thursday, September 14th at 11:00 a.m. and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online through Ticketmaster, by calling (617)-624-BEAR and at the TD Banknorth Garden Box Office (located on the West Side of North Station platform, to the right of the Bruins Pro Shop). Several members of the Bruins will be available to sign autographs throughout the day.

The autograph schedule will be as follows:
11:00-1:00 p.m.: Terry O'Reilly
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Marco Sturm, Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson
3:00-4:00 p.m.: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes and Marc Savard
4:00-5:00 p.m.: Hannu Toivonen and Tim Thomas
5:00-6:00 p.m.: Dave Lewis

This is a decent group of players to have at a signing. I am also impressed Dave Lewis, the new coach, was willing to put himself in front of the Bruins faithful. They are going to be asking him a lot of random questions.

Since a plethora of the Bruins players are new, management MUST get the team out into the city and the surrounding communities so fans can put a name with a face. If Boston sports fans can’t see the players are human and can’t find a way to connect with them, then the team is in for another long year.

They may still have a strong showing of support at games, but the team, as well as the league, needs to do something about the television audience. It was morbid last year.

Boston Celtics/Bruins FanFest

The Boston Celtics and the Bruins are always looking for ways to draw fans to the games. Why in the world don’t they ever host any type of Fanfest events outside the Garden? They could put a huge tent in the parking lot area in front of the arena. They could have games in the tent including shooting free throws, three-pointers or dunking on smaller nets. There could be old-time Celtics videos, maybe retired players could sign autographs, face painting and other activities. These events wouldn’t take place every night but maybe three or four times a year.

What would make this event beneficial are the sponsorship opportunities that would be available. A sporting goods company – Nike, Reebok, even Dick’s Sporting Good could sponsor the event and put their logo on the tent. This branding would offer tons of exposure.

Inside select companies could give out free products, while other companies might want to sponsor select activities. The could have a charity set up a table to be the "Celtics Charity of the Night."

Parents would bring their children to the event and if their experiences were positive, the kids would remember these events forever. The children might also become fans. Now the teams have a new generation of passionate followers. This type of event is an innovative way to generate exposure for the team and its sponsors.

I understand there would be a ton of logistics to set up an event of this nature, but this is something that needs to be created moving forward.

RSS and Selling Sports Tickets

Why aren’t sports teams using RSS to sell unused tickets? Why don’t ticket agencies consider purchasing the software as well?

How easy would it be to post information that a certain group of tickets will be sold at a discount rate the afternoon before a game? I bet you could sell half the tickets that way.

Why the sudden urge in develop this effective marketing idea that can produce a positive ROI? An article I read from ClickZ.com titled, "Real-Life RSS Marketing," notes the following:

"Any number of online providers have made coupons available through feeds. Aggregators, including CouponBar, All Online Coupons, and CouponClock, are just a few consumer sites to have jumped on the bandwagon. Many, such as Deal of the Day and Phatdeal.com, offer customizable coupon feeds; just baby stuff or beauty offers, for example."

"From Amazon.com to more modest e-tailers, one click feeds you all the deals, new and special offers, updates, and products that may interest you."

It can’t cost a lot to purchase the software and develop. Some intern could run the whole program. Teams could also post press releases, coupons from top sponsors or deals for team apparel. The marketing opportunities are endless.

Ticket agencies never want to have unused tickets. I understand they can go to the event to sell some of their ticket beforehand, but how easy would it be just to put the tickets on a RSS feed instead of Craigslist or eBay?

I would be shocked, if any ticket office didn’t see an immediately rise in ticket sales after a couple of months.

See Manning in My Sleep

Is it just me or is anyone else at a saturation point with all these Manning family commercials? The list includes: the one for ESPN, Sprint, Direct TV and NFL merchandise. Since the Mannings’ are competing against each other tonight, every station in the world has shown some piece on the family over the last week.

Now, last year, the Manning MasterCard was fun and entertaining. The commercials were played a lot, but not all at once. Someone’s agent, either Eli’s or Peyton’s, needs to talk to the marketing/PR manager and tell them to relax. Why the sudden push to make both of these players nationally known? Why throw it down our throats? Neither of these players is going to retire next year.

Archie is even hawking products at the moment: "Canon USA, Inc. has tapped former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and sent an e-mail blast to more than 2 million Canon loyalists as part of a campaign that dangles a trip for four to next year's Super Bowl as a grand prize."

I agree it was a smart plan to include all three QBs (including their father) in commercials since they can relate to a wide range of fans.

I understand it is important to make money when it is available and I also understand this is a perfect time to help create a “Manning brand” away from football. I am concerned that fans are going to be stuck watching all these commercials throughout the season and some “may” get stick of seeing this family on television. I am already at that point.

FSG and Video Games

Fenway Sports Group is always brainstorming for new and innovative ideas to make money for Sox ownership. I wonder if they are involved with the following project:

Curt Schilling, the Boston Red Sox pitcher, on Friday announced he has founded a new company with Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore, two video game creators, to develop massively multiplayer online games. The new company, called Green Monster Games, is now in pre-production on their premier title and is currently looking for employees.

Some well known people founded this company. It will be interesting to see if they use FSG to help market the company and its products.

Alienate the LA Football Fans

If I live in L.A. the thought of watching football at this time is not high on my radar. L.A. is the number one or number two television market in the country and they don’t have a professional team. How much would companies pay to marketing their brand or products to viewers? The NFL, the team and the cable stations could make millions, but they are still fighting.

Last week the LA Times reported the following:

"The cable television giant and NFL Network are in the midst of a bitter dispute, and the Los Angeles City Council is on NFL Network's side, as evidenced by a resolution passed Friday

But even with City Hall on its side, NFL Network faces a difficult battle that could keep it out of 2 million cable homes in the Greater L.A. market, and 600,000 homes within the L.A. city limits.

For three years, Time Warner Cable has refused to carry the league-owned network, which launched in November 2003.

And when Time Warner Cable recently replaced Adelphia and Comcast cable in the L.A. market, it took NFL Network away from those customers who were getting it.

The Federal Communications Commission ordered Time Warner Cable to put NFL Network back into those homes for 30 days, since it was taken off without warning."

Time Warner and the NFL are continuing to fight how much it should cost consumers to pay for the channel. In the end, no one will win in this battle.

Continuing the Bruins Transformation

Pat offered some impressive ideas to help revitalize the Bruins to the New England community. I definitely agree with some of his ideas and want to discuss these bullet points further.

1. Change uniforms. There is nothing exciting about their uniforms. Also, when you change uni's, you open up another opportunity to generate revenue on sales of new sports gear.

Response: One of the problems of late is the Bruins have been changing their uniform designs almost too much. They have a jersey for home, for the road and for games against the Original Six. I believe fans just want some consistency with the jerseys.

2. Freeze 2nd-tier pricing. The people that can't afford to go are the people paying $20/seat, not $150.

Response: I totally agree with Pat on this one. I don’t know how much the Bruins pay to lease the Garden, but they need to keep the third-tier seats low to convince families and hopefully, a new generation of fans, to regularly attend the games.

3. Market the personality of the team. Inject the players into funny commercials that play during morning & evening local newscasts.

Response: Since there are a lot of new executives within the organization, I really hope they infuse a lot of time and energy into marketing the team. I was told a while back, onside counsel recommended the Bruins send players to firehouses around the city on Sept. 11 to thank the fire fighters for all the work they do. The players would give out some tickets, sign some autographs and say thanks. The media would not be invited to make this look a little more genuine. The Bruins front office balked at this idea and I forget the reason why. This would have been a perfect way to connect with the community.

The Bruins did a great job last year securing media coverage. They had articles in the Boston Sunday Magazine and ESPN Magazine. They also showed those Dennis Leary commercials every five seconds.

The Bruins don’t need more media coverage; they need to get their players out in the community so they are more visible. When is the last time you went out in the city and saw or recognized a Bruins player? I never hear of these guys going to charity events or just out in the city. This needs to change.

4. Make the front of the Banknorth Garden more inviting. Hold public events out front on game night. Right now, it seems cold and closed off to the public - you can't even enter the building from the front, only the sides. Huge, huge mistake. The Sox do a great job of this, creating a festive atmosphere before gametime.

Response: Pat, this idea was, by far, the best one you came up with. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this. Here is what the Garden needs to do to clean up the area:
· Move the scalpers away from the entrance. I have no problem if they sell tickets, but move them to the side.
· Open up the parking lot in front of the Garden, like Pat said, to create a hockey fanfest. I would be shocked if a company wouldn’t want to sponsor something like this. People attending the game would see the company’s branding as well as the people catching the trains at North Station.

ESPN Mobile Phones Part Two….

According to MediaPost, "ESPN WILL OFFER UP TO 25 college football games live a month on its consumer mobile service throughout the college season starting Sept. 4."

Hmm…I know that ESPN is putting a plethora of advertising and marketing dollars to gain a significant share of the mobile services’ market, but is it really worth it? How many people do you know who watch videos on their phones?

"Linda Barrabee, program manager for U.S. wireless research at Yankee Group, said that live sports programming on ESPN Mobile, which runs on the Sprint PCS network, would help differentiate the service from competitors. Aside from live audio streaming of baseball games through Major League Baseball, there is little sports or any other kind of live programming for mobile phones today, she said. Only about 1 percent of wireless users subscribe to any data service that includes mobile video, according to Yankee Group research."

Um…according to Yankee Group, "only about 1 percent of wireless users subscribe to any data service that includes mobile video."
While would you spend some much time and money on one percent of the wireless users? Most people have access to televisions unless you are in the woods or out in a boat. In those places, you have to worry to see if you have enough service. I understand this one percent will grow over time. Is it worth hemorrhaging money to wait for more sports fans to purchase this service?

ESPN, at this point, reminds me a lot of Microsoft. They are the 800-pound guerilla in the room. Sometimes their products are innovative and helpful to consumers. I just don’t see a lot of people paying the money to ensure they can watch college football games on their phones.

Sports Teams and YouTube

I just read an impressive marketing article on Advertising Age entitled, “http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=111546,” which discussed the steps to gain positive traction when marketing on the Web site. This is the type of plan that any sports team who wants to be considered forward thinking and innovative around Web 2.0 should use as a start to gain eyeballs and mindshare on this popular site.

The article highlighted the following steps which I agree with:

* Secure your brand channel and make it a destination. Brand channels offer a bit of a "safe haven" on YouTube, allowing you to have moderate control of your message and providing a platform for telling your story. A good example is Warner Bros. Records' Paris Hilton Channel. (In the spirit of full disclosure, Organic was the agency that arranged for Fox Broadcasting Co.'s show "Prison Break" to sponsor the Paris Hilton Channel in its first week.)

* Respect "tribute-ors." We define "tribute-ors" as those who pay tribute to a brand by making their own home-brew advertising. Think of it as consumer-generated media in the form of an ad. Like tribute-ors or not, they are on YouTube and they have their own opinions. By having your own brand channel, your story will be there to speak up for your brand.

* Put it all out there. Remember, YouTube is the de-facto research for TV spots and video content. Make sure that you are well represented. Did you have a celebrity spokesperson for a campaign? Put some footage of the shoot or an interview up.

* Haters hate. Demonstrate that you are a 2.0 brand by embracing all comments, tributes and ratings.

* Reward loyalists. Surprise your favorite people with special content and exclusive offers. People love to be in on a secret. If they know one, then they're sure to tell a friend.

Sports team need to work with their league’s broadcasting department to gain the ability to put the following on YourTube:

* Team commericals
* Post game press conferences
* Charity events that include athletes on the team
* Clips from previous games

I knwo league broadcasting departments want to control where the league is broadcasted, but there is so much useless footage they could put on the site that would interest fans.

From what I can surmise, most teams want to stick to the traditional marketing practices. They don’t have the time or energy to deal with podcasting, blogs or YourTube. They also don’t want to be the first to try experimenting with this type of marketing due to concerns it might fail.

I totally disagree. You can hire college interns or kids right out of college to oversee this marketing channel. Theese interns understand the tagert market the teams are trying to reach. The team will be able to connect with the younger generation, the fans of tomorrow.

Bruins Receiving the Wrong Type of PR

ver the last few weeks, the Boston Globe has reported how the Boston Bruins plan to raise tickets prices right along the boards. Management says that these tickets are extremely under priced compared to other teams in the league. Um..when was the last time the Bruins made the playoffs? When was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup? Is this a wise move?

The NHL now has a hard cap so the Bruins do not have to worry about other teams spending more for salaries every year. I understand the team wants to make money, but is this the right image they want to present to their fans?

This morning, the Globe reported:

"Bruins season ticket-holders received invoices last week, and as noted here a couple of weeks ago, the front-row loge seats took a big bump, from $90 to $150 per game (66.7 percent increase). The same seats will go for $175 per game at the box office. Cost for a pair of seats along the glass for a full season: $12,610. According to information provided to season ticket-holders, the Bruins will freeze the $150 price for three seasons, and ticket-holders also will receive memberships at Legends, the Vault's third-floor bar/eatery."

Season ticket holders will have the opportunity to sell back tickets to the team, but this bump in ticket prices is NOT a smart move. Here’s why:

· The NHL is continuing to repair the relationships with its fans. They have connected with the “hard core” fans, but need to do some major work connecting with the peripheral fans. These peripheral fans, over time, become hard core fans and that is important for any sports team.
· For a team that has not made a strong run in the playoffs recently, the team is turning away fans buy increasing these tickets by 66.7 percent.
· The Bruins are going to receive PR over the next few days leading up to training camp highlighting this increase in tickets, but I sure don’t think it is going to be positive coverage.
· The Bruins must continue to generate a rolling thunder media campaign to attract fans to attend the games as well as watch games on television. From what I remember reading last year, the NHL saw a drastic drop in its television audience. There is still a lot of work to be done.

The hard core fans are going to root for the Bruins in good times and bad. I bet most of the season ticket holders who sit along the glass have had these tickets for generations. Why in the world are you going to have them start the season with a sour taste in their mouths? I understand money rules the world, but I disagree with this business decision.

Bruins Receiving the Wrong Type of PR

ver the last few weeks, the Boston Globe has reported how the Boston Bruins plan to raise tickets prices right along the boards. Management says that these tickets are extremely under priced compared to other teams in the league. Um..when was the last time the Bruins made the playoffs? When was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup? Is this a wise move?

The NHL now has a hard cap so the Bruins do not have to worry about other teams spending more for salaries every year. I understand the team wants to make money, but is this the right image they want to present to their fans?

This morning, the Globe reported:

"Bruins season ticket-holders received invoices last week, and as noted here a couple of weeks ago, the front-row loge seats took a big bump, from $90 to $150 per game (66.7 percent increase). The same seats will go for $175 per game at the box office. Cost for a pair of seats along the glass for a full season: $12,610. According to information provided to season ticket-holders, the Bruins will freeze the $150 price for three seasons, and ticket-holders also will receive memberships at Legends, the Vault's third-floor bar/eatery."

Season ticket holders will have the opportunity to sell back tickets to the team, but this bump in ticket prices is NOT a smart move. Here’s why:

· The NHL is continuing to repair the relationships with its fans. They have connected with the “hard core” fans, but need to do some major work connecting with the peripheral fans. These peripheral fans, over time, become hard core fans and that is important for any sports team.
· For a team that has not made a strong run in the playoffs recently, the team is turning away fans buy increasing these tickets by 66.7 percent.
· The Bruins are going to receive PR over the next few days leading up to training camp highlighting this increase in tickets, but I sure don’t think it is going to be positive coverage.
· The Bruins must continue to generate a rolling thunder media campaign to attract fans to attend the games as well as watch games on television. From what I remember reading last year, the NHL saw a drastic drop in its television audience. There is still a lot of work to be done.

The hard core fans are going to root for the Bruins in good times and bad. I bet most of the season ticket holders who sit along the glass have had these tickets for generations. Why in the world are you going to have them start the season with a sour taste in their mouths? I understand money rules the world, but I disagree with this business decision.