The Future of Sports Communication

There is certainly no more business as usual when it comes to the current state of sports communications and what the future holds.  This class has certainly put things into perspective as far as the origin or sports coverage and where the industry is now.  I am actually very excited to see what new innovative strategies and fads will be presented in the future.  The need for instant gratification and wanting to be the first to report the latest story has become an interesting dynamic thanks to the internet.  As journalists work to cover their stories average people are able to utilize blogs and Youtube to beat them to the punch.  In other cases teams and individuals have begun to manage their own sites and social media accounts, drawing in fans giving them that "personal" relation ship that they would not have from average coverage or from the new report.  I think the future will entice the competition between current media giants such as ESPN, ABC, and Fox by challenging them to reach their target markets in new and exciting ways.  I also think there will be even more coverage of international sports, and an improvement in the live stream feeds that are used.  The other day I watch the US Men's National Team beat Italy as they played overseas.  Although the commentary was clear they picture kept freezing.  On a regular television I would have changed the channel but because it was giving me the viewing option that I otherwise would not have had I kept it on.  I am sure I was not the only one that felt this way, as other people in the office did the same.  A clearer feed would attack even more viewers.  There are so many revenue driving opportunities in the sports communications industry.  With magazines, social media, commercials/advertising/ live stats, and sponsorships I think it will be interesting to see how all of them continue to play into the new digital standards.  I think there will be an increase in those that are in the IT field to find themselves in jobs that are sports based.  There is no real need of sports knowledge but to give an athlete, team, or organization to push out information quickly will certainly be an asset.  I would not be surprised if players begin doing their own post game interviews with webcams.  One thing that does worry me about the future is the transferring of rights between organizations and advertisers.  With many of them there are all ready so many shameless plugs and commercial interruptions and product placement.  I only wish I had a DVR so I could speed right  past them like millions of Americans do, although its not the case when watching a live event.  My fear is that the money being made could come at the expense or safety of the players.  Earlier this year there was a basketball game that was played outside in the hanger.  I thought it was a great idea, the game looked amazing on tv!  On the court there were these advertising stickers that both of the coaches had complained were a hazard because they were not level with the floor and they were sticky.  Sure enough a play slipped on it and had to be tended to, as they worked on him all I could think was how excited the advertisers were because they kept focusing on floor sticker and if they were even concerned for the player.  There is no question that there is a lot of revenue that can and will be generated from the industry, but at what cost?  Don't get me wrong I am looking forward to watching people and companies trying to top themselves while keeping up with the demands and fast pace of delivering sports information quickly and efficiently.

Tony Hawk Skate Park

I think the city of Hamilton, NY or one of the surrounding cities would be a great place to have a skate park built.  I have been here for about 4 months and working with a lot or recreation centers and youth organizations I have found that the things for kids to do here can be limited because of our rural upstate location.  It seems that skate parks are usually built closer to the big cities, but there are lots of kids that enjoy skating that live in the country as well.  Although the university bring in money and there are a number of alumni that reside here, the cit is surrounded by smaller towns such as Utica, Oneida, Binghamton, and Ithica that have a large number of families in poverty.  Hamilton itself has about 8,000 people but we attract a lot of families to our sporting events because we are always offering deals for our tickets.  As drive past various schools on the weekend there are always kids skating in the parking lot or in their neighborhoods.  25% of the married couples in Oneida are low income, and there are less people there then there are here in Hamilton.  The median household income is $25,000.  The surrounding residential income is 17.8% below poverty.  

I think the best plan of action would be to team up with some of the surrounding your groups and the mayor (she has very easy access and attends many Colgate events).  There is also a local snowboard/bike/skate board shop that I am sure would assist with what to sponsor the park or do something that would help get it up and running.  Since the city is out in upstate New York there is lots of open land.  I dont think it would need to be a mega park but something that would suit the youth in our community.  The closest skate ramps near this city are Black Mamba Skate Park in Syracuse (an hour away) and  Manatauk Skatepark (3 hours away) in Long Island.  The general location would be near the college.  There is always a sense of community here in Hamilton and I feel like with the right marketing it would be possible to get the University to help fund the park.  There are also a number of students that, despite the snow, enjoy skating around campus or to class.  I think the part would draw even more families to the city and would give us a platform to offer new and exciting recreation opportunities to the kids in the and around the community.  

I think its very important to expose kids to various recreational activities, especially in an area such as this were parents may not be bale to afford to do more expensive sports or travel to see sporting event.  Given the income of the area skate boarding is a very cost effective hobby, and keeps the kids active.  I have no doubts the the city and potentially the college would support this venture.  There are number of marketing events and community relations opportunities that would stem from this.  In addition bringing more people into the city, even if only for a day, will also benefit local businesses such as sandwich shops and convenient stores.  I think this is a great foundation that not only exposes kids to a new sports but does so by providing a safe and secure means of doing so.  Although it may be flashy in some of the larger cities I think skate boarding would certainly be a cost effective, fun, venture to add to the Hamilton community. 

Colgate Men's Hockey vs Union

Tonight the Colgate men's Hockey team fell to Union at home during their final regular season game.  Currently the Raiders are ranked 5th while Union remains in first place after their win tonight, also clinching the Cleary Cup.  Although it was a great match in the end Colgate fell 4-3.  Union scored first to make it 1-0 about six minutes into the game.  During the second period Colgate was able to rally back by coming from behind and hanging on to a 2-2 after a power play goal.  Unfortunately Union answered with a goal about 20 seconds after Colgate giving the a 3-2 lead.  Union found the back of the net again during a five minute major power play. Austin smith was able to add to his first period goal with a second goal in the third period making it his 34th goal this season and 52 regular season points. Despite their efforts Union was able to clench the Cleary Cup after they scored on an empty net with 28 seconds left in the game.  Union will get to host the ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals which will take place on March 9th.  The Raiders have earned a bye and will have two weeks off from play, who they will face in the quarterfinals is yet to be determined.  The winners of the ECAR playoffs will be headed to Atlanta City for the finals.  Although I an still fairly new to the Raider Nation, the men's team has made it to the tournament the past 3 years.  MVP Austin Smith is having a fantastic season, he is on the all-time scoring list with 155 points.  

Today was also senior day for the men's hockey team.  We honored 9 seniors that have played and worked hard in their studies and athletics.  They were recognized during the start of the 1st intermission.  They are great kids and will be missed dearly, the world is now their oyster.

When reporting a story there are a number of things that could potentially hinder getting a story reported quickly and accurately.  Personally, I was not there specifically to report on the event because I was the event manager.  That being said when I was not able to be in the arena I would ask people how it was going.  Having the right information such as score, penalties, and the overall tone of the game it can make things a little tough.  In the press box there are outlets for reporters and programs in order for them to be as well informed about the players and teams as possible.  We also make sure they have wifi connections in order for them to get information out as close to real time as possible.  This includes live stats, social media, and internet access in order to research any other information that ma be needed.  Although  I had to help break down various things in the arena from a day full of events I was still able to get home in time to post the event.    The original event I had planned to cover was the Mens Lacrosse game, but after much snowing and shoveling it was postponed due to our lovely lake effect snow here in New York, so I was not able to attend.

Penn PR or Lack There Of

Penn State clearly dropped the ball when it came to crisis management with the news of the sexual abuse scandal flooding every possible medium.  I am sure the university was aware of the charges for Sandusky were going to be considered the court well before it became breaking new to the public, yet they still had no solid contingency plan.  As I remember from my undergraduate public relations studies, when dealing with crisis management is important to try to get some kind of response out within an hour of the news being released to the public.  Even when the perjury charges for Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were floating around the Penn State communications team remained silent.  Despite being aware of what was going on there was clearly no preparation, of which they had plenty of time to do.  Their lack of action leads me to believe that there was an assumption of Paterno's status it would eventually just go away despite the innocent victims involved.  

It seemed that the only plan of action on the communications side was to avoid the media all together.  There was no response to any of the allegations,  Joe Paterno canceled his weekly news conference 30 minutes before it was scheduled to begin.  The public quickly became uneasy about this and and began expressing themselves what the University should have been doing.  Their silence was loud and unappreciated by fans, viewers, and alumni.  When there is no response from an organization in a situation like this its easy for the public to begin to alter their feelings or ideas towards it.  If they are not being reaffirmed by apologies or notified of improvements in policy or procedure then the image of the organization can become tainted very quickly.

There are 5 important steps to handling crisis management which include, research, assessment, chain of command, notification, and control.  Penn State dropped the ball in all of the areas.  Knowing these charges were going to come out to the public there should have been a "crisis team" that was constructed and dedicated to policing the scandal as it unfolded.  The team should have assessed all of the possible situations that could have potentially happened in order to prepare at least a spokes person to address the public. There also needed to be a clear chain of command to report to and obtain information from.  Taking these simple steps could have cut some of the backlash that university has dealt with due to their loud silence throughout the situation.  

Media Release

    

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

Contact Information:
Nathalie Carter
Event Director
123-456-7890
http://usatf.org

The 2012 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships Makes its Way Back to Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque, New Mexico will be the host of the 2012 USA Track & Field indoor championships on February 25th and 26th at the Albuquerque Convention Center.  Hundreds of the nations best track and field athletes from Team USA will be fighting for 400 National Championship title spots and $130,000. This will be the third consecutive year that the final event of the Indoor Visa Championship series has taken place in New Mexico.

Finalists will of the Track & Field Championships in New Mexico will also have the opportunity to qualify for the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey in March.  The IAAF championships is an international state where Team USA qualifiers will compete against elite athletes from more than 160 nations.  This is a yearly event that will take place March 9th - 12th.  

Tickets for the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships can be purchased through the University of New Mexico ticket office (505)925-5858, or online at www.unmtickets.com

General Tickets

Two Day Chair Back                            $25

General Admission 2 Day                      $20

Single Day                                            $15

General Admission/Single Day              $12

Senior/Student Tickets

Two Day Chair Back                            $22
General Admission 2 Day                     $18
Single Day                                            $10
General Admission/Single Day              $13



For more information on the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships please visit www.usatf.org

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Media Kit to Include:

*History of the Championships 

*Highlight record holding athletes

*IAAF Championship Qualifying Info

*Media Guide

*Fact Sheet 

*Media Release

*Statistics top contenders 

Recruiting & Fundraising

"Recruiting is like shaving, if you dont do it everyday it will show."  I dont know if it could have been said any better than that, and yes the same goes for fundraising.  Recruiting and fundraising must be done over time in order for them to have positive results.  Both certainly take a lot of management and nurturing over time.  The article referred to other various similarities which included

1. A pool of prospects - finding students or donors that will help you reach your goals

2. Qualifying the pool of prospects - determining height and skills vs affluence with an institution

3. Ability & Fit - a walk on vs someone that may want to donate but not have the funds

4.Contact with the prospect - sending recruiting letters vs sending fundraising information via mail

5. Research on your prospect - evaluating a prospective student athlete vs checking resources on how to communicate for funds (networking, alumni, etc.)

6.Personal contact with the prospect - In both cases this would be calling and talking wanting to play for the school vs donating to the organization

7.Personal connections- finding references that confirm the skills or the donation potential of the prospects

8.Personal visit to make the hit - prospective student athletes taking an official visit and being offered financial aid vs meeting with donors for a verbal agreement

9.Final Stage - Signing a national letter of intent (NLI) vs getting the check

10. Stewardship - maintaining relationships is always crucial in keeping consistency within any program.  In this case sending positive information about the team to a prospect vs sending tangible clips for donors to see what their money is going towards

11.The continuous process - students involvement during their academic year at an institution vs donors who may have unlimited commitment

I have never really thought about the comparison as it pertains to retaining but it does make sense for the general selection and retention process to be similar.  Just as a coach wants to build a strong team with smart kids that improve over the years so does an organization that is raising money.  Only in this case you look for donors that can be entice to want to give more over time for an infinite amount of time.  In both cases they are building programs that will be consistent in their success, which would ideally attract other to want to be involved.

 

Tim Tebow - Jockey

This is the first Sunday with no football in a long time, and in memory of that I am highlighting Tim Tebow and his as he has begun to dip into the wonderful world of endorsements.  Tebow is not doubt one of the most popular players in the NFL following he numerous come from behind wins and his unforgettable playoff performance.  It was only a matter of time before companies started knocking on his door, especially with his clean image that adds even more appeal.  Tebow currently has endorsement deals with Nike, FRS, EA Sports, and his newest addition that has been made public, in between him crashing Twitter pages and Tebowing, is his latest venture with Jockey.  This endorsement has raised some eyebrows given that he is selling an underwear collection which is usually associated with a limited amount of clothing.  Unlike previous Jockey endorsers, Tebow refused to pose solely in his underwear.  This has given Jockey an opportunity to alter their marketing strategy while still reaching out to the male and female audience despite Tebow not dropping his trousers (which I really respect him for standing his ground).  

Previous athletes such as David Beckham are known for showing their body.  Given the terms of working with Tebow the new approach is to market layers.  I think this is actually good for Jockey because they are able to capitalize on his celebrity with more versatility because they can highlight various pieces opposed to just underwear.  

Jockey was still able to come up with ads that were tasteful and still showed a little skin.  In one of the Jockey commercials Tebow is seen for about 2 seconds with his shirt off.  Even though it is a short shirtless clip there is a lot of buzz about it which is great for company.  Needless to say Tebow has done wonders for the brand.  Despite the marketing spin that was once thought to pose a problem, the "Tebow Effect" has driven up sales for both men's and women's products.  Specifically, the stay cool have underwear have now become the fastest-selling collection in 135 years of history.  His fan base is huge, appealing to men and women of all ages. The Jockey Facebook page has welcomed more the 2000 new fans and get thousands of hits everyday. 

  

FRH Energy Drink

                                                                                                                                                                            

Tebow's other main marketing money maker is with FRS (video link in above).  This is a drink developed by health scientists to produce and sustain energy.  Tebow is known for using FRS chew on the sidelines during game which made it easy for him to market the product, which actually began when he was a Heisman Trophy winner.  During his playoff run her wore an FRS hat while on camera and their was an immediate 500 percent increase in their web traffic.

Boom! Nike Commercial                                      

EA Sports

Tebow has also endorsed Nike and was the cover of EA Sports game while he was still a Gator.  He is very selective about the companies that he decides to market to, and from the research that I did none of them really disclose the amount that he makes from them.  He is been able to maintain his standards while still being able to capitalize on marketing opportunities.  Some critics claimed he would not be that successful because of the pro life Super Bowl commercial from last year, but I dont really see the correlation.  He has been able to use his platform to do great things and market himself in a positive way benefiting himself and the companies that he is working for.