Competitive Edge is a weekly sports and entertainment marketing news service that highlights unique and relevant news throughout the school year. The questions provided for student discussion will help to create a bridge between industry strategies/trends and the topics you are covering in class.
Shortly after signing an apparel deal with the NBA that would begin with the 2017-18 season, Nike sent representatives to meet with all 30 teams to introduce a novel idea. For most of NBA history, home teams wore white; road teams wore colors; and occasionally you’d see a throwback or an alternate Read more…
Marketing a Hollywood summer event pic is never an easy task. But this year, studios don’t just have to worry about the competition — they have to get people back in the habit of going to the movies after a devastating pandemic. Click here to read the story at hollywoodreporter.com. Read more…
Disney-owned sports broadcaster ESPN has secured rights in the US to La Liga until the end of the 2028/29 season. Financial terms of the eight-year deal were not made public, but Sportico reports that ESPN will pay the Spanish soccer body US$175 million a year, equal to some US$1.4 billion Read more…
The popular conception of lacrosse has been the same for decades. In 2010’s The Social Network, despite already being set amongst the most elite of Ivies, Justin Timberlake as Napster founder Sean Parker makes a point about power by recalling a revenge fantasy against the co-captain of his high school lacrosse Read more…
Adidas has lately been strafing us all with a fresh barrage of celebrity-focused biographical videos/ads featuring its long-running “Impossible is Nothing” tagline, along with an #ImpossibleIsNothing Instagram campaign. Click here to read the story at adage.com. Discussion Questions: What is branding? What is a tagline? Why might taglines be used Read more…
When Netflix acquired the comic-book publisher Millarworld in 2017 for a reported $50 million to $100 million, Mark Millar, the company’s founder and president—as well as the author of titles such as Kick-Ass, Wanted, and Chosen—knew exactly what project he’d tackle first. Click here to read the story at fastcompany.com. Discussion Questions: What is fandom? Read more…
In the 2000 film Cast Away, Tom Hanks’ co-star isn’t Leonardo DiCaprio, Meg Ryan, or some other A-list actor. It’s a volleyball, courtesy of Wilson Sporting Goods. Throughout the film, the volleyball enjoys 10.5 minutes of screen time worth an estimated $1.85m+ in advertising value. And for this exposure, Wilson paid a grand total of Read more…
Formula 1 finally landed a new racing venue in the United States after roughly five years of effort from its owner Liberty Media. Formula 1 will race the next decade in the Miami market after securing a venue and landing financial backers. And with the move, parent company Liberty Media’s U.S. Read more…
During internal Amazon meetings to discuss how it wants to deliver live sports to fans, executives have a saying: “Your game, your way.” It’s catchy, and it provides insight to Amazon’s approach as it continues to increase its marquee live sports offerings. Click here to read the story at nypost.com. Read more…
Bridgestone Corp. will support the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic games as a key sponsor as long as the safety of participants is secured, Chief Executive Officer Shuichi Ishibashi said. The Japanese tiremaker won’t invite guests from overseas, including dealers, for the delayed games, Ishibashi said in an interview. Organizers have already made the Read more…