Articles quoting Zach Anderson or BrandDunk:

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College football secondary ticket sales will not feel much impact by recent moves
TicketNews – June 15, 2010
By Alfred Branch Jr.

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“Can Super Bowl Help Land a Sponsor for New York Stadium?“
Advertising Age article – May 28, 2010
by Rich Thomaselli

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The New Meadowlands Stadium, future home to the New York Giants and New York Jets, has a lot of things going for it — except a multimillion-dollar naming-rights deal. Now that New York has beaten the odds and nabbed hosting duties for the 2014 Super Bowl, that is likely to change.

The 82,500-seat facility officially opened Wednesday with a Bon Jovi concert and will host its first football game in August.

When construction on the new stadium began three years ago, it was assumed a naming rights sponsor would be a fait accompli. And given that the facility had two tenants in the biggest market in the country, a deal would likely surpass that of the $400 million, 20-year agreements that both Citibank is paying the New York Mets for Citi Field and London-based Barclays Bank will pay the NBA’s Nets to name their new arena in Brooklyn.

But the economy tanked, and both the Giants/Jets and the Dallas Cowboys, who opened a new stadium last year, have had difficulty finding naming rights sponsors.

“That will change,” said Chris Foy, president of Denver, Colo.-based General Sports Alliance, which helps broker naming rights deals, among other things. “The naming rights industry took a little bit of a hit with the economy the last couple of years, but it’s poised for a substantial rebound. The New Meadowlands Stadium is the most attractive platform out there. It has two teams playing the most-watched sport in the No. 1 market in the country. My guess is a deal is going to be done here fairly soon, and a few companies will enter into the bidding in the next six, eight months.”

Quiet optimism
For their part, the Giants and the Jets have been quietly optimistic. The teams were in naming rights negotiations with Germany-based insurance company Allianz in 2008 for a reported $30 million annually, but those talks ended quickly when it was reported the company had ties to the Nazis through the end of World War II.

At Wednesday’s press conference following the announcement that New York/New Jersey had been awarded the 2014 Super Bowl, Giants co-owner John Mara was asked if getting the Super Bowl would hasten a naming rights deal.

“It can’t hurt,” Mr. Mara said. “This is a positive factor. It makes it an even more attractive package, the potential naming rights part, but that will come.”

Marketing veteran Zach Anderson, who runs the popular sports branding blog BrandDunk.com, said the naming rights era has changed. Both sides are more wary now in light of the backlash that happened with Citibank, which was lambasted for going forward with the $400 million deal for Citi Field when it took $45 billion in bailout funds.

“You can have the greatest product in the world, but this isn’t the greatest time to be shopping for a deal,” Mr. Anderson said. “The Citibank backlash, that took a whole segment [banking and finance] and just knocked it right out of the potential candidates for naming rights.”

That said, Mr. Anderson said he believes both the Giants/Jets and the Cowboys will soon have naming rights deals.

“You look at what [Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones has done with that new stadium,” Mr. Anderson said. “It’s not just football. He helped get the NBA All-Star Game there and a Manny Pacquiao fight there. There’s been great exposure for the stadium, and with Dallas hosting the Super Bowl [in 2011], I suspect they’ll have a deal in place.”

‘When, not if’
The question is, will these deals be as lucrative and as long-term as once thought? Many companies are doing shorter sponsorship deals, though they clearly see the short-term value of the Super Bowl. Sun Life Financial, for instance, swooped in with a reported five-year, $30 million deal to name Dolphins Stadium in Miami this past January, less than a month before the site hosted the Super Bowl.

It has long been rumored, talked about and blogged about that New York-based JetBlue Airways would be the perfect fit as the naming rights sponsor for the new Meadowlands Stadium — Jet for the Jets and Blue for Big Blue, a nickname for the Giants.

JetBlue did not return a call by press time.

“I think, if the right company comes in, there could be a chance of hitting that [$20 million annual] number for the Jets/Giants stadium,” Mr. Foy said. “From a value standpoint, that price tag being rumored is one that can certainly be justified by the economic exposure those two teams generate in the top market in the country.”

And having the Super Bowl certainly adds to the attractiveness.

“Every year, the Super Bowl just gets bigger and bigger and has a larger TV audience,” said Darin David, group director for the Dallas-based sports marketing firm The Marketing Arm. “But this one in New York is interesting and intriguing and has more layers, more storylines — being in the Big Apple for the first time, the ‘X Factor’ of whether the weather will play a part … all that is attractive, and I just can’t imagine this stadium not having a very lucrative deal. It’s a matter of when, not if. Somebody might come in in the next few months and lock something up, or they might wait until a year out from the Super Bowl. Either way, it’s going to get done.”

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Woods Fuels Minor Surge in Masters Ticket Prices
New York Times – March 29, 2010
By Mike Tierney

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Winter Olympics ratings may not translate into better NHL ticket sales
TicketNews – March 4, 2010

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“Your Client at the NCAA Final Four: Advertisers can connect with fans at the big game“
Media Life Magazine article – February 2010
by Diego Vasquez

“March Madness brings in more national TV ad revenue than the playoffs for professional baseball, professional basketball or college football, and no wonder.  College basketball fans are a very desirable audience. They’re young, with nearly half under age 44, and wealthy, with 42 percent boasting a household income of $75,000 or more.  To give their clients a little extra oomph at these hugely popular events, media buyers can also place their ad messages in the arenas and at pre-game events when the men’s or women’s Final Four are held during the first weekend in April. Final Four attendees are often influential local businesspeople with whom advertisers can connect on a personal level through events that weekend, from fan festivals and foot races to all-star games.  To find out how to get your client at the Final Four, read on.

Fast Facts

What
Advertising at the men’s and women’s college basketball Final Four, being held in Indianapolis and San Antonio, respectively, the first weekend in April.

Who
The NCAA handles all advertising and sponsorships at the Final Four and surrounding events. Participation is limited to NCAA corporate sponsors.

How it works
Out of the 88 championships sponsored by the NCAA, the Final Four is easily the organization’s most high-profile championship event.

The men’s and women’s Final Fours draw more than 180,000 spectators combined for the three-day events.

There are at least half a dozen opportunities for advertisers to interact with basketball fans in the days before the semifinals and all the way through the final tipoff. The number and nature of the events vary from year to year, and the NCAA works with sponsors to plan them well ahead of time.

At this year’s men’s Final Four in Indianapolis, for example, Coca-Cola Zero will sponsor the Bracket Town fan festival at the Indiana Convention Center from April 1-5, an interactive event where fans can play games, watch basketball competitions, get autographs and hear musical performances. Hershey’s Reese’s brand will sponsor a college basketball all-star game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday April 2, the night before the national semifinal games take place in the same venue. And the following day Coca-Cola’s vitaminwater will sponsor a series of youth basketball clinics for kids ages 8-16 at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse, the University of Indianapolis’ Nicoson Hall and at Warren Central High School.

In San Antonio, where the women’s Final Four will take place at the Alamodome, similar youth clinics will be held Friday, April 2.  In Powerade’s Dome Dribble, kids 18 and under will dribble basketballs just over a mile from the Alamodome to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Vitaminwater will hold youth clinics at Trinity University and Sam Houston High School.  On April 3, vitaminwater will also sponsor a 4K run alongside San Antonio’s famed River Walk to benefit the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. On Sunday, April 4, the day of the women’s national semifinals, State Farm will sponsor the River Rally, a pep fest also at the River Walk.

NCAA sponsors can also advertise on concourse signage at the arenas where the Final Four games are played by making a buy through the stadium itself. All Final Four stadium signage is restricted to NCAA sponsors, and their signage trumps any existing signage at the stadium as part of the exclusivity agreement those sponsors have with the league. For example, Pepsi is a sponsor at the Alamodome, but Coca-Cola is an official NCAA sponsor. Thus all Pepsi signs will be covered up during the women’s Final Four.  Unlike most events, the Final Four does not permit any advertiser signage inside the arena’s actual seating areas or near the playing court, such as LED boards that show up on television. The NCAA uses that space to promote the teams involved and the NCAA itself.

Markets
This year the men’s Final Four is in Indianapolis April 1 to 5. Next year the men will play in Houston, then New Orleans in 2012, Atlanta in 2013, Dallas (Arlington) in 2014, Indianapolis in 2015, and Houston in 2016.   This year’s women’s Final Four is in San Antonio April 2 to 6. Next year the women will play in Indianapolis, then Denver in 2012, New Orleans 2013, Nashville in 2014, Tampa in 2015, and Indianapolis in 2016.

Numbers
The 2009 men’s Final Four games in Detroit drew 145,378 fans over two days, a Final Four record. Many of those fans attended other Final Four-related activities: 1,772 participants took part in the 5K run/walk Saturday morning, 11,500 attended Hoop City basketball clinics, nearly 30,000 were at Final Four Friday practices, and 40,000 attended Friday’s AT&T Block Party/Big Dance.  Last year’s women’s Final Four games in St. Louis attracted 37,099 fans over two days.

How it is measured
Attendance at Final Four games and related events is used to estimate impressions.

What product categories do well
Ad categories among NCAA sponsors include insurance, telecommunications, beverages, rental cars, electronics, candy, financial services and home improvement.

Demographics
Nearly 12 percent of avid NCAA basketball fans are ages 18-24, 17.3 percent are 25-34, 18.6 percent are 35-44, 19.8 percent are 45-54, 15 percent are 55-64, and 17.4 percent are 65 and older, according to Scarborough Research.  Avid NCAA hoops fans are 68.6 percent male and 31.4 percent female.  Just over 10 percent of avid fans have a household income of less than $25,000, with 16.3 percent between $25,000 and $40,000, 11.1 percent between $40,000 and $50,000, 19.5 percent between $50,000 and $75,000, 18.3 percent between $75,000 and $100,000, 14.7 percent between $100,000 and $150,000 and 9.7 percent above $150,000.

Making the buy
The NCAA doesn’t enlist sponsors for individual events such as the Final Four. Rather it has partners who sponsor all 88 NCAA championships and programs. The notoriously tight-lipped NCAA also doesn’t disclose the financial terms of its sponsorship deals, but they’re believed to be in the low six figures.  SportsBusiness Journal has reported that sponsorships cost between $1 million and $5 million annually.

Who’s already an NCAA sponsor
This year’s NCAA corporate sponsors include AT&T, Coca-Cola, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Hershey’s, The Hartford, LG, Lowe’s and State Farm.

What they’re saying
“Certainly you’re getting your brand in front of a strong target market. In addition to the fans, there are also a lot of corporate types — a lot of influential people will be there. So if you’re setting up something like a fan experience outside of the arena, you’ll get great traction locally and get exposure among corporations entertaining clients, as well as the fans.” Zach Anderson, a marketer who runs the blog BrandDunk.“

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“Marlins have hope for stadium naming rights deal as landscape changing but not dying“
Miami Today article – May 2009
by Risa Polansky

Through the recession and potentially beyond, we could see more short-term and in-kind sports venue sponsorships like the newly announced LandShark Lager deal at Dolphin Stadium, marketing experts say.  Still, though it’s unlikely naming rights contracts through the next several years will carry huge price tags, the depressed economy doesn’t spell the end of long-term, lucrative deals, they predicted, forecasting hope for the Marlins in a new Little Havana ballpark.

“There’s no reason to think when this economic malaise gets past us some of the big stadiums that are out there won’t be signing some bigger deals,” said Zach Anderson, a marketing veteran who runs sports branding blog BrandDunk.com. “There will always be a market for those long-term deals.”

In 2006, now-financially troubled Citigroup inked a $400 million, 20-year deal to call the new New York Mets ballpark Citi Field. But since the economic crash, all’s been fairly quiet on the sports-venue sponsorship front — until last week, when Jimmy Buffett brought Margaritaville to Miami-Dade.  The carefree Key West crooner clinched a season-long deal to rename Dolphin Stadium LandShark Stadium after the Busch beer that bears his Margaritaville label.  Players haven’t disclosed the terms of the deal, but it’s been reported that the short-term arrangement is based on in-kind payments: Buffett appearances and other marketing opportunities in exchange for the new, temporary stadium signage.

“I think this is something that people are going to see more of in the future,” Mr. Anderson said, although the days of lucrative, longer-term deals are “absolutely not” gone for good. “I don’t think they’re over. I think they’re kind of quiet right now,” he said.

Noted sports economist and author Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in Massachusetts, said the same.  Companies spending lavishly to promote themselves — a form of what he called “conspicuous consumption” — “is now seen in bad taste because of the difficulty of the economic times,” he said.  But that doesn’t mean it will forever stay out of vogue.  “It will pick up as the economy picks up,” Dr. Zimbalist predicted, though “it’s going to be a much more subdued market.”

Regardless of the economy, a deal for the Marlins in Miami would never equal that of the Mets in New York, he said. “In any event, you would not find a $400 million deal in Miami,” he said. “That is something that only could have happened in New York and with a financials company.”

But by 2012, when the new, 37,000-capacity, retractable-roof Miami Marlins stadium is expected to open at the site of the old Orange Bowl, the team could have a shot at landing a deal, Dr. Zimbalist said — though prospects are not nearly as sweet as before the downturn.

“I would be very surprised if there was a deal that exceeded $2 million to $3 million annually over a 10-year period” for the Marlins, he said. “Because of the market, I just don’t think the advertising market is going to be strong enough. I think there’s going to be some residual cold feet.”

But to what degree?  That’s the big debate in the marketing world now, said Barbara E. Kahn, marketing expert and dean of the University of Miami’s School of Business Administration.  The question, she said, is whether we’re seeing a reset — a time when assumptions remain the same but behavior is different because of the economy — or a complete paradigm shift.  Considering public outcry after companies that received federal bailout funds paid employee bonuses, “you’ve seen a little hint of, this is more than just a reset,” Dr. Kahn said.

But it’s tough to tell now whether business as usual will return full force when economic prosperity does.  “I don’t think that we’re going to unlearn the type of consumerism we’ve become accustomed to,” she said, but the moral dimension that’s come into play during the recession may stick around. The public may accept a company doling out the big bucks to see its name on a sports venue, but people may also press to see to it that the company is also operating ethically and contributing to the greater good, she said.

“One of the most important assets a company owns is brand equity,” and building that “has been shown to be a very lucrative endeavor,” Dr. Kahn said. “What may happen now is, “let me just make sure its being done for the right reasons.’”

Mr. Anderson of the BrandDunk blog also predicted that big sponsorship deals will get more scrutiny in the aftermath of the recession, benefiting the corporations rather than the teams.  “But the dollars will still be significant,” he said.

The planned Marlins ballpark could be a draw for companies looking for long-term exposure, and factors such as the team’s notoriously low payroll and the stadium’s residential location may not be deterrents, he said.  Though Little Havana isn’t downtown Miami, that means little to a company based outside the county, he said — to most, Miami is Miami. And associating the new ballpark with the old Orange Bowl could be a good move for a corporation, he said, if played carefully.  In its final years, many came to associate the O-Bowl with disrepair. But capitalizing on its long, rich history could be a boon for a company seeking recognition, Mr. Anderson said.

“The Florida Marlins, just like everyone else — there’s a great deal out there.”
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Contact:
Zach Anderson
branddunk (at) gmail.com