Saturday, June 4, 2011

Weekend Quick Hits: Around the Web in 80 Seconds

Gone In 17 Minutes: The Winnipeg Franchise, formerly known as the Jets, sold out tickets in 17 minutes. The luxury boxes are also gone for the next 10 years and there is a wait list of 7000.

This begs the question: how much did this help Quebec? I'm guessing immensely. Other owners are now seeing serious revenue/interest coming in from a traditional hockey market, and support for other traditional hockey markets will likely gain some serious traction from inside the NHL.

Knowing hockey would get support is one thing. Seeing it crystallize so dramatically is another.

This type of success is very hard to ignore.

NFL Sponsors Groced Out: AdAge has a good article entitled, NFL Lockout Threatens In-store Promos for Pepsi, Mars, P&G and More.

The story addresses how in-store marketing people are being affected by the possibility of no football in September. Major brand owners aren't sure exactly what they should be doing after having poured millions of dollars into promotion. One thing is clear - unlike anywhere else in sports, sponsors are all hanging around because the NFL brand is immensely strong from a co-promotion standpoint.

Here's an excerpt:
After spending millions in advance on multibrand, in-store promotional deals with the National Football League, Procter & Gamble, Mars and PepsiCo, among others, now find themselves faced with the possibility of a truncated season that could do more damage to their plans and brands than those of the networks and TV buyers.

Networks can schedule alternate programming and marketers can apply media analytics to follow their target audiences wherever they go when they're not watching NFL football. But shopper-marketing events have calendars set a year or more in advance. Product has to be produced and displays have to be filled, regardless of whether games get played.

..."There is going to be a season," she said. "The issue is how late it will start and how it will impact our business." Normally, Mars uses TV ads to plug in-store promos, but the media buying will get tricky if the season is delayed.
...P&G, for example, was aware of the potential for a labor dispute when it negotiated its deal, he said. And one factor behind doing it anyway is the belief that the NFL brand is strong enough to survive "well beyond a game or a few games or even part of the season," he said.
Tebow Can Pitch: According to the Sporting News, Broncos QB Tim Tebow has joined Colts Peyton Manning, Steelers Troy Polamalu and Saints Drew Brees "in the NFL's group of most marketable pitchmen". This is just after one season, which included 5TDs and 3 picks. He promotes Nike, FRS Energy Drinks and Jockey.
 
One expert says a reason for his appeal:  he has an "embraceable wholesomeness".
 
I'm not sure what that means but it makes me want to eat a muffin.
 
Kindly Scratch My Head: The NFL is ahead of the pace on season-ticket sales compared with this point last year. This is fascinating given that the season may start late. However, as I've said all along, I see the season starting on time and a deal in principle being reached in late July.
 
NBA in India: The NBA continues to grow in India. In keeping with its growth, the NBA signed a deal with Times Internet Ltd., one of the country’s largest media companies. The agreement "will create a dedicated digital NBA section on The Times of India and the IndiaTimes English language websites, with the content expected to be featured on other Times Internet Ltd. digital outlets." This is according to the Sports Business Journal.

As we head into a possible NBA lockout, remember one thing - the NBA is very popular overseas. See below for one such indication.
 
Let's Be Friends: And here's your social networking update on the coolest kids on the virtual sports block with respect to Facebook and Twitter combined:
 
Sports Top 10
 

NHL Top 5

1) NHL
2) Hawks
3) Bruins
4) Habs
5) Flyers

NBA Top 5

1) NBA
2) Lakers
3) Celtics
4) Heat
5) Bulls

MLB Top 5

1) Yanks
2) Red Sox
3) Cubs
4) Giants
5) Phillies

NFL Top 5

1) NFL
2) Cowboys
3) Steelers
4) patriots
5) Bears

And here are your top 10 Facebook/Twitter accounts across the virtual board:

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