Generating sponsorships takes a community effort

The foundation for many athletic programs is sponsorship.  On any level, sponsorship can make or break a football program.  Most of us hear about the lucrative TV contracts that school receive, and this can make up a huge amount of an athletic department's revenue.  For smaller programs, even in the bigger conferences, there is a desperate need for more money coming in, than going out.  That sounds obviously simple, but when you consider less than half the schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision consistently turn a profit, it can help you grasp how desperate the situation really is across the board.  In previous posts, I have discussed this topic, so I will not explain too deeply here.  Most athletic programs rely on the only sport that turns a profit: college football.  The question is, "what will sponsors look for when they decide to give money".  I will use the city of Macon, GA as an example. 

I was able to attend the mayor's meeting to bring baseball back to Macon.  Odell, the designers for a possible new baseball stadium in Macon, gave a proposal at the mayor's request.  The company talked about revitalization efforts in many of the cities they had worked in, one of which was Oklahoma City.  They talked about how they were able to completely redesign a section of town to create a completely new public space, which supports peripheral traffic whether or not there is a game in town.  People may not attend the games, but their presence can provide a great atmosphere that can help that area grow.  Macon is in the process of eliminating blight throughout the city, which is why the example with Oklahoma City really stood out to me.  It is more that just placing a stadium in a city; you want something that places the city in the stadium.   

With the success of the renewed Mercer football program, this seems like a perfect time to generate sports fans in central Georgia.  In an effort to make the transition back to college football popular and profitable, many ordinances in the city had to change, such as open container laws.  On days that Mercer has a home game, there is a larger window and acceptance for drinking around downtown Macon.  The city also provides transportation between certain sites in downtown Macon and the campus of Mercer, which helps to minimize drink driving, or even drunk walking.  In this instance, the city helped create a buzz around bear football.  It encourages people to spend time in Macon, not just attend the game, especially guests for the visiting teams who may be from as far away as California.  People will talk about their experiences on road trips.  It gives the city a chance to market itself a supporter of sports programs, which is key if you want to restart a baseball franchise. 

Just to clarify this post a little, I am not supporting or objecting to any new sports programs in Macon.  However, I do want to highlight the background information for this simple fact: sponsors look at these types of items before are willing to donate funds.  They do not want to put money in a situation that will fail, or does not have much local government support, let alone public support.  One of the keys to getting money is doing the free work first.  

Oklahoma answers the Longhorn Network

            Changes in conference membership are based on many issues.  Better competition or increased enrollment and changes in NCAA divisions are usually the main reasons.  In today’s media market, a quiet deal between ESPN and the University of Texas created a separate media deal and TV rights contract enjoyed exclusively by the University of Texas.  This created issue with many programs in the conference mainly because Texas still receives a share of overall Big XII TV revenue and this new network would be viewed as an unfair advantage in recruiting.  Missouri University and Texas A&M University both left the Big XII in 2011 as a result of the conference office not really stepping in to oppose the deal.   The University of Oklahoma, on the other hand, has decided to create its own network as well.

            The Longhorn network almost destroyed the Big XII.  Even when Colorado and Nebraska departed before 2010, it was mainly due to revenue sharing from TV contracts.  Texas appeared to be the favorite child of the conference and revenues were unfairly split.  The creation of the Longhorn Network did not help in this perception since revenue goes to Texas exclusively.  In the creation of the Sooner Sports programming deal, it will not be a 24 hour network.  It instead will broadcast home games for men’s and women’s basketball and other sports.  Oklahoma already has a contract to broadcast football games with Fox, but this new programming deal includes coaching shows, pre- and post- football game shows, and can give the sooners over 1,000 hours of programming each year of the contract.  Because it is a programming deal, it can air on existing FOX channels instead of seeking its own carriers.  This is the problem with the Longhorn Network.  It could only get a contract with AT&T U-verse instead of  a provider like Cox Cable or Comcast.  Revenue terms were not disclosed. 

Oklahoma agrees to TV deal with Fox Sports- Houston Chronicle

Oklahoma, Fox Sports launch sports TV venture- Yahoo! Sports

OU Football: Oklahoma Sooners and Fox Sports announce partnership- Examiner.com

Big East TV contract lessons learned

No matter what their actual record may be, the perception of the Big East is that it is a weak conference in football.  Most TV contracts with a conference revolve around upon how well they do on the football field, but in this instance, it is the national perception.  The Big East has been hand picked by the ACC over the past few seasons, in spite of an overall winning record against the ACC.  Syracuse, Miami, Pitt, Boston College, Virginia Tech and now even Notre Dame have defected from the Big East in favor of tougher competition in all sports, but mainly football.  When negotiating a contract, you have to know your worth and the Big East rejected a 1.4 million dollar contract with ESPN, which led to the more recent defections of Pitt, West Virginia, Syracuse and even TCU.  TCU signed to join the Big East, but within a few months signed as part of the Big 12.  Now the conference has expanded as far west as Boise St and San Diego State, and as far south as Houston and Central Florida.  However, adding these teams may actually hurt chances to gain money from the previous deal with ESPN.  Its strength is in basketball, but that does not have as much TV revenue as football, and a smaller deal with more schools means less money per school.  The current contract expires in June 2013, but the Big East is hoping that expansion into San Diego and Houston TV markets will help them broker a better deal.   The league will have teams in 13 of the top 50 TV markets, so expanding to include those teams may have been a move for TV more than for competition.  What the Big East may need to consider is tapping into the needs of other networks.  FOX and NBC are expanding their sports’ coverage and seem willing to give the Big East a good deal.  ESPN deals are contingent on the quality of the product, but a deal with NBC or FOX may just rely on whether or not the product exists.  The Big East may need to forget about trying to swoon ESPN, though it includes ABC, and go for a new network. 

Big East hires firm to lead TV contract negotiations- Orlando Sentinel

Big East set to begin TV negotiations- ESPN

What's in a trademark? Texas A&M

One of the most notable issues of collegiate intellectual property violations occurred in a case between the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise and Texas A&M University.  For years, dating back to the 1920s, Texas A&M has used the 12^th man to identify a student athlete who was called from the stands to participate in an important game.  Though the student dressed for the game, he did not play, but the dedication of the student to the success of the team became synonymous with the commitment of the fans to the Texas A&M program.  In American football, only 11 men per team participate per play.  In its current form, the 12^th man symbolizes how intimidating Texas A&M home crowds are to visiting teams.   The 12^th man moniker is a registered trademark of Texas A&M. 

The Seattle Seahawks fan base used the name beginning in the 1980s to signify how loud crowds were at the Kingdome, making it one of the most intimidating stadiums in the NFL.  The franchise also retired the number 12 jersey and the number 12 is used city-wide in this representation.  Seattle does not officially adopt the 12^th man name, but claims it is mainly used by its fan base and they are not liable. 

Texas A&M had issues with other entities using the 12^th man, but once those entities were informed of the trademark registration, they ceased usage.  Seattle and Texas A&M eventually settled out of court, and because Seattle still uses the term, they may be paying Texas A&M for permission.  Now it seems as though the Denver Broncos may be getting a lawsuit from Texas A&M as well. 

The reason this case is interesting is because most fan use the 12^th man to describe their own support.  If the phrase was not trademarked, it would be a non issue until someone did trademark it.  Texas A&M cannot sue individuals for saying it, but once t-shirts are printed or other merchandise used to promote a team under that phrase, this is where it violates the trademark.  This will continue to be an issue until the protection expires in 2020. 

12^th Man segment on ESPN College Gameday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLQiSrXUmhE

College Confidential: Aggies prepared to defend trademark infringement in use of phrase “12^th Man”- Jimmy Burch

http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/colleges/2012/01/aggies-prepared-to-defend-trademark-infringement-in-use-of-phrase-12th-man-.html

Texas A&M unhappy Seattle fans called ‘12^th man’ by the Associated Press http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs05/news/story?id=2309668

Who can and cannot use “the 12^th Man” according to Texas A&M- Best Damn Sports blog by a Girl Period

http://bestdamnsportsblogbyagirlperiod.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/who-can-and-cannot-use-12th-man-according-to-texas-am/

Who is responsible for conference realignment?

There is always more to the story than is reported to the masses.  Headlines sell news, which can lead to great sensationalism.   In some cases, news is not only self generated, but also self preserving.  Take the conference realignments around college football the past few years.  The largest benefactor is not the programs, not the conferences, or even the fans.  It is actually the entity who reports the news and broadcasts the games: ESPN.

Programs are going to find the best situation for success.  Eventually, we are going to see “super-conferences” of 16 or more teams competing for FBS national championships.   According to Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News, the realignment is about making a move before it is too late.  It is about stability.  In his article, he cites PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott as making a point for smaller conferences with more teams to strengthen football.  This is a mindset solidified this year with the creation of a playoff in FBS football.  Now that we know only four teams are going to be allowed to compete for a trophy, the current procedure dictates that the “better” the conference, the more access granted to playing for a national championship.  Schools are running on a “divided we fall” mentality to justify such moves as San Diego State joining the Big East. 

However, the Big East is an isolated situation because they are considered a weak football conference mainly focused on basketball season.  Who drives the SEC, winner of the past six BCS championships, to expand?  One can make the argument that money made that move.  Steve Wieberg and Steve Berkowitz cite ESPN as how conferences decide what schools to add.  The attempt to create the Longhorn Network is one of the main reasons Colorado, Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri left the Big XII for other conferences.  The first two went to the former PAC-10, currently the PAC-12, whose commissioner and ESPN executive John Wildhack acknowledge “a close association between [the two] as the conference was working on expanding although PAC-12 Commissioner Scott created the strategy.  The article also presents a scenario where the value of the Big East TV contract directly influenced Pittsburgh and Syracuse to leave the Big East.  Former San Diego State President Stephen Weber says ESPN’s strength “approaches a monopoly, if it’s not literally one” and views ESPN as “a co-conspirator” in the way the BCS excludes many schools.

Even on a typical broadcast, you can feel the bias of ESPN commentators as they speak on issues of polls, conference strengths, post season individual awards, etc.  It would be folly to assume they are quiet when the cameras are off. 

Is ESPN the force behind realignment?- Steve Wieberg and Steve Berkowitz USA Today

Conference realignment: Smart People making dumb decisions- Mike DeCourcy Sporting News