Where does Jordan Brand success leave Nike in basketball?

Ad Age did a brief case study on the Jordan Brand last week, revealing that it has eclipsed the sneaker sales of Reebok and addidas. That surprised me for a minute, but not when you look deeper at the roster of athletes it has assembled. Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Paul are arguably the [...]

Football Business Not Bulletproof

Without debate football is the most popular sport in this country, though in some parts college may edge out the pros, on the whole the NFL stands atop the perch. Many factors contribute to its popularity – the shorter schedule makes it easier for fans to follow and each game more meaningful, the hitting and [...]

NHL Trip Abroad Misguided

A few weeks ago the NHL dropped the puck on its new season, which many of you may have missed. Even those who watch hockey might not know opening weekend took place in Helsinki and Stockholm. Another misguided, failed business move by the league, though I can’t say what they failed at since its not [...]

OptionIt Allows Teams to Combat Secondary Market

Last week OptionIt, a ticket futures marketplace, inked the Boston Celtics to a pilot deal, their most high profile team yet. It’s a small deal – only 15 games and a handful of seats at each game, but it’s a direction more teams need to seriously assess, given the amount of value they currently relinquish [...]

New Ticket Offers: Innovative or Another Reason to Worry?

In this blog, I’ve previously lauded the Cleveland Indians for cross-marketing deals with the Browns and creating ancillary revenue streams by hosting dinners on the field and additional events outside the game. However, after the Tribe recently announced another cross-marketing deal, this time with the Blue Jackets, a few weeks after owner Charles Dolan claimed [...]

Natural Evolution of Advertising Hits Golf

ProBagAds might be changing how player sponsorship and advertising for golfers work. SBJ reports the company has released a golf bag with a built-in H-D, weatherproof digital display that can show advertisements, similar to the outdoor digital billboards that are growing in popularity. Tour player Michael Allen debuted the bag in August.
At a time when [...]

Activist Owners Good For Sports

You can go both ways on Jim Balsillie’s pursuit to own the Coyotes – he doesn’t deserve to own a team because of his brash antics and the fact the other owners don’t necessarily want him, or that he would be good for the league, infuse money, and good business sense. The more this carries [...]

Create the College Football MLB Stadium Tour

The NHL crafted a regular season event with the Winter Classic, MLB and the NBA have All-Star games, the NFL and MLB have taken the show on the road to play overseas, college football has an opportunity to ratchet things up in the regular season that has started to take form.
Grant it college football has [...]

IBM Continues Model Sports Sponsorship Plan

Sometimes they fly under the radar in sports sponsorship coverage because they don’t resort to flashy activations, gimmicky promotions, or execute groundbreaking deals. Still, dollar for dollar, IBM is arguably the leader in integrated sports sponsorships that create a dual value-add for both sports property and brand. In the current world of scrutinized spending and [...]

A-B College Beer Cans – Great Idea, Poor Execution

A-B’s campaign to brand beer cans with local college colors was a simple, yet brilliant product marketing idea. They have successfully rebranded bottles and cans in the past and fans have exhibited a definitive affinity to purchase school branded products. Sometimes, the best ideas simply reinvent the wheel. However, A-B fell asleep at the wheel [...]