Category: Sports Marketing

Tiger Woods’ Endorser Value Likely Unchanged

News of a traffic accident involving Tiger Woods created concern, followed by curiosity about how and why Woods had a wreck in the early hours of November 27. While there is a great deal of speculation about what happened, speculation that better fits the content of gossip web sites than a marketing blog, there seems to be little evidence that the episode will negatively impact Tiger Woods, endorser extraordinaire. So far, sponsors have agreed with Woods’ assertion that the incident is a private matter and have largely stayed out of the situation.

Unless revelations of inappropriate behavior by Tiger Woods surface, the fallout from his accident on his endorsement potential will be minimal. Tiger has built tremendous brand equity through years of superior play and consistency as a product endorser. The image of Tiger Woods is largely positive, and while embarrassing details could emerge that change the way some people view him, Tiger Woods will continue to be an effective endorser. Americans have a short memory and forgiving heart when it comes to their heroes. I believe Tiger Woods’ situation will benefit from those characteristics of the American public.

Marketing Daily – “Brands Line Up Behind Tiger: ‘Private Matter'”

Celebrity Endorsers Influence Buying Decisions… Occasionally

Celebrity endorsements can move a brand from relative obscurity to greater awareness among consumers and increased buzz in the marketplace. But, which types of celebrities resonate as effective endorsers? According to a recent Adweek Media/Harris Poll, business leaders and professional athletes have the greatest impact. Not surprisingly, consumers view business leaders as the most persuasive (37% cited business leaders). Their expertise in business gives them a high level of credibility when endorsing products.

Enlisting professional athletes as product endorsers is a practice that spans several decades, and consumers still seem to be receptive to famous athletes hawking products (21% said athletes were most persuasive endorser). Acceptance of athlete endorsers was highest among persons ages 18-34, with 24% of that segment indicating athletes were the most persuasive type of endorser. In contrast, only 13% of the sample said athletes were the least persuasive endorser type, with business leaders being the only type with a lower percentage (11%).

Why do pro athletes go over well as product endorsers? First, many of them are well known. Their familiarity helps create awareness for the brands that hired them. Second, they are often admired by sports fans. The image people hold for Peyton Manning or Tiger Woods can influence the image held for brands endorsed by these premier athletes. Creation of a favorable brand image sets the stage for responses by consumers that could ultimately include product purchase.

Despite the warm and fuzzy feelings pro athletes might create, the reality is that endorsement advertising impacts a relatively small percentage of the overall audience. The Adweek/Harris study found that 80% of persons surveyed are not swayed by the presence of celebrities in ads. The implication of this finding is that marketers must understand celebrity endorsements are not the answer for every brand. We return to a basic tenet of marketing: know thy customer. Will your target market be persuaded in some way by your brand’s association with a celebrity? Moreover, is it worth the investment required to sign a celebrity? If the answer to either question is “no,” hiring a celebrity endorser is not the appropriate strategy.

Center for Media Research – “Endorsements Are a Mixed Bag”

What Drag Racing Can Teach Us About Business

I ran across the story of the American Drag Racing League recently. This five-year-old entity is thriving during a time when most sports properties are struggling in the face of the recession. ADRL’s revenues are projected to hit $12 million this year, a 100% increase over 2008. An enviable growth trend, indeed! What makes this growth all the more amazing is that ADRL has virtually no ticket revenue. It gives away tickets in return for attendees’ names and e-mail addresses.

THE ADRL story is a great lesson for businesses in any industry, not just sports. Business success is driven by coming up with game changing ideas and mindsets. The one aspect of ADRL that fascinates me most is CEO’s Kenny Nowling’s view that “our product is our fan, and the customer is our sponsors.” What a unique way to view a sports property! Rather than beating its head against a wall trying to sell tickets in a competitive, economically challenged market, ADRL realized it could harness the value of fan access and monetize it.

Just because no one else does something a certain way is not a reason that your business cannot entertain the thought of playing by different rules. Time will tell if the ADRL model works long-term, but it certainly has given the league a chance to succeed.

CNBC.com – “League Gives Away Tickets, Sees Big Growth”

Is Time Right for WWE Channel?

Word that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is considering a launch of its own cable television channel seems a risky idea at first glance. A weak economy plus the struggles of several smaller cable networks suggests a new net at this time would be an uphill battle. But, the WWE may possess the brand strength to overcome any challenges in the marketplace. First, it is a proven TV brand. Its programs consistently rank among the highest rated cable shows. Second, WWE has demonstrated significant clout and fan interest with its pay per view programs. Third, abundant content is available. A dedicated channel would not only carry current WWE events, but years of past events plus in-depth features on the personalities and history of the WWE would likely appeal to a broad audience of wrestling fans.

Despite the popularity of the WWE, there is no guarantee a WWE-branded cable channel would succeed. However, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB have all entered the cable broadcasting business, a trend the WWE could follow. It has the brand strength and program content to seriously consider such a move. A key to success would be whether cable operators would add a WWE channel to their programming packages. Without adequate distribution, this venture will not succeed. But, I would not count out WWE by any means; if it wants the cable channel I expect we will be watching WWE TV in the not to distant future.

Media Buyer Planner – “WWE Mulls Own Cable Channel”

The Danica Effect on NASCAR

Speculation is ramping up that Danica Patrick, the beautiful, spunky driver that took the Indy Racing League by storm four years ago, is interested in switching to NASCAR. Why move when she has enjoyed fame and some success (one victory) in the IRL? NASCAR is the premier auto racing league in this country. It attracts sponsor and media dollars that dwarf Indy Racing. Many experts believe a move by Patrick to NASCAR would create immense sponsor interest, increase ticket sales, and boost television ratings.

While the idea of Danica Patrick competing in NASCAR and the marketing opportunities it would create is intriguing, the impact of her presence would likely be more noticeable in the short-term than the long-term. The addition of Danica to NASCAR would create great fan interest; broadcasters and track promoters could incorporate Patrick into story lines used to market races. Once she joins the fray, she will have to be competitive. Danica would need to be on a competitive team in order to best leverage her marketing assets. If she does not win races or at least run well consistently, her appeal will diminish.

Danica Patrick is a pretty big fish in the rather small pond known as the Indy Racing Series. A move to NASCAR would make her a distinctive fish as the only female driver, but she would have to win the loyalty of fans by her performance on the track. If she succeeds in that regard, her marketing potential soars even higher. If not, she would join Sam Hornish, Jr. and Dario Franchitti as drivers whose jump from the IRL to NASCAR sounded like a “thud.”

Ad Age – “What Danica Could Do for NASCAR, Sponsors”

Brand Building Starts at Top of the Organization

For all of the investments in brand marks, advertising, and other forms of communication, they are rendered ineffective if brand promises are not kept. That assertion seems reasonable, so any good marketing staff ought to be able to do its job to ensure that execution is consistent with strategy, right? No, the marketing staff is important, but it is not the key to creating a strong brand and bringing it to life everyday. The key resides in the executive suite.

An organization’s leader sets the tone for what is important. He or she articulates organizational values and goals. Everyday actions like meeting regularly with customers versus remaining holed up in an office send clear messages about the leader’s commitment to the organization. It also sets an example of how employees should do their part to carry out brand promises made to customers.

These thoughts come to mind as I read the Sports Illustrated list of the best and worst owners in U.S. professional sports. Specifically, I was drawn to the #5 ranking given to Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg. The franchise had been the butt of jokes for most of its existence. It had never made the playoffs since beginning play in 1998. The previous owner was viewed as unwilling to invest to improve the team. Tropicana Field, the team’s stadium, was considered to be one of the worst in Major League Baseball.

Sternberg arrived on the scene in 2004 and addressed many of the problems plaguing the franchise. He listened to fans, he initiated improvements to Tropicana Field, and the team worked to makeover its image in the Tampa/St. Pete area. These efforts, which also included a rebranding of the team from Devil Rays to Rays in 2008, resulted in greater fan acceptance. Winning the American League championship in the franchise’s first ever playoff appearance did not hurt, either. The value of the Rays franchise is estimated to be $320 million today, a giant leap from the $65 million Sternberg paid to buy the team just five years ago.

The best way to build a brand? A leader with vision and the willingness to serve customers, not just talking about it.

Link: SI.com – “SI’s Best and Worst Owners”

MLB Network: Why”All Baseball, All the Time” Will Work


The fourth U.S. professional sports league that has launched its own television network is Major League Baseball. MLB Network, launched January 1, joins the NFL, NBA, and NHL as leagues with their own cable TV channel. In some ways, launching a network focusing on a single sport is ill advised at a time when competition is abundant and advertisers’ budgets are shrinking. Nevertheless, MLB Network appears to be poised to succeed.

What does MLB Network have going for it? First and foremost, it has distribution. Lack of distribution dooms more new products to failure than any other factor. MLB Network launched with an audience of more than 50 million households, larger than the other three leagues’ audiences at their launches. Second, MLB Network brings brand equity on several fronts. The MLB brand itself is strong, as is the equity brought by its 30 clubs. Moreover, MLB Network personalities like Bob Costas and Harold Reynolds will be familiar faces to baseball fans. Finally, MLB Network will benefit from an abundance of content it can carry. Activity among Major League teams is constant from mid-February through October. Any gaps in programming can be filled relatively easily with classic games, features on old timers, and coverage of minor leagues, to name three possibilities.

I am looking forward to my first season having MLB Network as a resource to help with my fantasy baseball efforts… and I can use all the help I can get!

Link: Media Planner Buyer: “MLB Network Appeals to Media Buyers”

Why All the Madness?

Today is one of my top three sports days of the year. Along with New Year’s Day college football bowl games and Super Bowl Sunday, the first day of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is special. The tournament is more than a sporting event, it has taken on an identity in American culture known as “March Madness.” Why has the NCAA men’s tournament transformed from a basketball lover’s dream to part of the fabric of who we are? I see three reasons:

1.Story Lines – Like the Olympics, stories emerge during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament about players, coaches, or teams that overcame obstacles to achieve success. Heroes emerge like Stephen Curry of Davidson College in 2008. All 64 teams have dreams of success. Half of them will have their dreams shattered by the end of the day on Friday, but all have hope of having a shining moment on a national stage.

2.Scope of Participants – The tournament is national in scope both in terms of locations of tournament games and location and mission of participating institutions. This year’s tourney has teams from 32 states, and the types of institutions range from enormous state supported schools to small liberal arts colleges.

3.Connectivity – Basketball fans both serious and casual are no longer merely spectators. Friends and co-workers participate in competitions to see who can pick the most winners. This ritual is no longer constrained by physical location as Internet-hosted competitions allow friends to gather regardless of where they live.

Enjoy the Madness. I hope you win your bracket competition… unless you’re competing against me!

Clock Runs Out on Arena Football League

The Arena Football League is the latest casualty of the weak economy. The league announced it has canceled the 2009 season. Its goal is to return with a more viable economic model in 2010. Among the changes AFL team owners claim need to occur are linking players’ salaries to revenues, generating more revenues at the league level, and streamlining costs across franchises. Even if those changes and others are implemented, there are no guarantees the AFL will survive.

The problems with the AFL are not operational, they are relational. That is, fan relationships with the AFL and its team brands are insufficient to sustain the league. Arena football has been positioned as sport entertainment, which is both a good and bad proposition. Positioning as entertainment is good because it expands the potential market beyond those people who are interested in the core product: indoor football. Positioning AFL as entertainment is bad because it expands the number of competitors the AFL battles for consumers’ entertainment dollars. The idea of complementing the NFL season by having the AFL be a spring league has not worked. Also, in too many AFL markets there is simply too much sports competition for the AFL team to gain widespread acceptance.

The decision to suspend the 2009 AFL season surely disappointed many fans. Unfortunately, the absence of the AFL next spring may go unnoticed by even more people. I hope the AFL can solve its problems, but I am not too optimistic.

Link: ESPN.com – “AFL Cancels 2009 Season”

Tiger Woods Fails to Make Cut with Cost Cutting GM

Tiger Woods is second only to Michael Jordan in his prowess as a product endorser. He has associated his name with several products since arriving on the national sports scene in the mid 1990s, but one of Tiger’s most visible endorsements has been of General Motors’ Buick brand. His relationship with Buick seemed both appropriate and odd. The pair was appropriate because of an overlap between the target market characteristics for Buick and PGA Tour followers. The Tiger-Buick link seemed odd because Buick and golf are perceived as skewing toward older males, and here was a twenty-something “kid” endorsing an old guy’s brand. Turns out that the partnership worked for Buick as owner data indicates the average age of a Buick driver dropped from around 50 to 40 during the Tiger Woods-Buick era.

That era is coming to an end as Woods and Buick amicably part ways. Both sides are saying all the right things, but GM’s woeful financial picture has to have played a role in the decision to end the relationship. GM had already announced it would not be advertising during upcoming high profile events such as the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. Fortunately for GM, the positive effects of its association with Tiger Woods will likely carry over for a period of time following the end of his endorsement deal. While brand building needs are taking a hit at GM these days, the company is in a fight for survival first.

Link: Ad Age – “GM Ending Tiger Woods Endorsement Deal”