Another Winter Olympics has come and gone, generating a lot of news worthy of discussion along the way.  Our interest, as always, is focused on a sports business perspective and the lessons the Games provide that can be shared in the classroom. 

While there are a number of highlights from the Games worth recapping, we will focus specifically on those lessons that will translate to topic areas you are likely covering in class. 

Broadcast rights

NBC paid a record $2.2 billion for U.S. broadcast rights to the Beijing and Vancouver Olympic Games.  Prior to the Vancouver Games, NBC publicly suggested they would lose $250…

It is that time of year again…Super Bowl season!  For educators who teach business and marketing, this is a time of year where you can have a lot of fun in the classroom, all while conveying some powerful messages that support valuable business/marketing lessons.  After all, what better way to validate all your time teaching students about advertising than to point out that companies like Pepsi, CareerBuilder.com, Audi and Bridgestone just invested $3 million each for a 30 second spot during this year’s big game.

Among the topic areas that are relevant in the classroom (many relating specifically to our non-traditional…

Like so many American football fans around the country, I was excited last night when the college football season officially kicked off.  I settled in to watch the Oregon State Beavers take on the Stanford Cardinal on ESPN2 in HD on my DVR late last night.  Inevitably, I ended up taking something from the game that could translate to a discussion topic for the classroom. 

Apparently Stanford, whose football team has won just two home games in the last two years, has extended an offer to fans that can hardly be refused.  If Stanford fans purchase a season ticket package and…

It’s early May and the season is already in full swing.  Not baseball, mind you, but marketing.  Well, maybe a little of both.  The season for marketing baseball is in full swing.  As such, it is never too early to look back at a few of the season’s wildest and wackiest promotions.

Last delivered a number of real gems, including the likes of Back Hair night, Britney Spears Shaved Head night, Salute to Indoor Plumbing night, “Price is Right” Night featuring Bob “Parker” Bobblehead, World’s Largest Tighty-Whitey Race and Ugly Sweater Night to name a few.

I’m always amazed by the creative (and often…

As the holiday season revs up, so does the sports marketing machine.  Of course, there is no better time to entice consumers to tap into holiday budgets and buy tickets and team gear as the perfect holiday gift.  Many promotions range from simple “holiday” ticket packages to combination gift packages that feature tickets, concessions AND merchandise.

This week’s post features a sampling of what types of promotions are being offered in the sports business world in an effort to generate revenue during the heaviest period of consumer spending in the calendar year.

RAYS HOLIDAY PACK

The Tampa Devil Rays (Major League Baseball) package…

This week’s post was inspired in part by David Beckham’s quote last week and also from a post a few weeks ago regarding the business of sports (”this is a business…”).

Last week, David Beckham commented that he has never played soccer for the money. Specifically, he said “People say that’s easy for you to say because you’ve got the money. To be honest…the game is important to me. I’d play for free.” Keep in mind the soccer superstar signed a $250 million contract with Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Galaxy last summer.

Around the time of the signing, President and CEO…

As is usually the case, there were plenty of wild and whacky promotions featured throughout the summer at minor league baseball stadiums around the nation.  There’s no doubt the promotions have been helpful in driving attendance to ballparks as minor league baseball announced that the 2007 season marked the fourth year in a row that a new attendance record was established.

According to the release, in 2004, the 106-year-old industry broke a record that had stood since 1949 by drawing 39,887,755 fans. The following season, the number jumped nearly 1.5 million to 41,333,219, an increase of nearly four percent.  Last season, 41,710,357…

How do you know when you’ve hit it big?  Well, if selling millions of copies of books, grossing millions at the box office and selling millions more in licensed merchandise didn’t provide your first, second and third clue, the announcement of a planned theme park might be a pretty good indication.  We’re not talking a special ride at a theme park…we’re talking a complete theme park…20 acres worth. 

Universal unveiled plans in late May that a Harry Potter theme park will open inside Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park (which already houses Marvel Super Heroes and Dr Seuss islands).  The “Wizarding World…

I was in Albuquerque last month and read an interesting article in the Albuquerque Journal.  The headline read ‘Lobos Head to Bahamas Minus J.R.’, a reference to new University of New Mexico men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford’s decision to travel without one of their top players because he is behind in his school work.  I had forgotten that UNM had recently tabbed Alford as coach, news that made waves in the world of collegiate men’s basketball.  After reading the article, I took a moment to analyze the situation and realized that UNM and Alford were charting the perfect course for establishing the…

Although beating the odds and securing the number one pick in the upcoming NBA Draft (they had a 5% chance of winning) was certainly a reversal of fortunes for the downtrodden Blazers franchise, I really believe the real winners of the NBA Draft lottery are the Seattle Sonics.  The Sonics ended up with the second overall pick.

Although I was pulling for my former employer (Portland Trail Blazers), I firmly believe the Seattle Sonics coming up with the second pick will make a bigger impact on their franchise…and that is saying a lot.  I spoke with several Blazers employees right after the…