Naming a Champion by Default

Some companies are so closely related to a product, the brand replaces the generic name for the product.  For example, Klennex is a brand name that replaces the generic term ' facial tissue.'  Coke is almost the same replacement for soft drinks.  Bowl Championship Series, replaces the term NCAA champion, but unlike the products named before, the BCS is not an NCAA champion.

Starting in 2014, a playoff will replace the current BCS system, but the NCAA won't recognize this as a "champion" either.  In fact, the NCAA does not recognize any champion at the FBS level of college football.  According to its website, the NCAA only recognizes three football playoffs: Football Championship Subdivision or Division I, Division II and Division III.  The bowl series dates back to 1998, but arbitrary polls such as the AP and Coaches Poll, have determined the "national champion" almost since the creation of college football.  Reluctance to change this system is what has led to the BCS and now the 4-team playoff.

The participating teams will still be determined by a panel of members who decide who is worthy to play in the championship games.  There will be no NCAA insight into the decision-making. Even though his article FBS Four-Team Playoff Won't Stop Controversy, Chuck Herron makes a valid point on politics influencing the decisions made.  Under the current system, computers make a decision, based on some human inspired data, as to which school should play in the championship.  The new panel probably won't be bound by the polls created, but it is sure to maintain the same built-in bias that keeps the rich teams getting richer in the national championship picture.

The whole process goes against "...NCAA mandates [for] fair access to their championships," which is why the NCAA does not recognize the BCS champion and probably won't recognize the champion of the new system, in spite of the use of playoff.  However, thanks to clever marketing, and a general understanding by the typical fan, arbitration does not matter.  Nor does the honor of actually being an NCAA champion.

Relating to the Loyal Football Fan

Sports sponsorships support sports.  You might consider this redundant, but considering how there are many franchises that survive in spite of poor records and ticket sales, the opening statement might not be a given.  Earning sponsorships is the key, and in today’s environment of communication, it could be much easier than many make it. 

Many people are bold about their allegiances now.  The use of a simple hash tag connects people miles apart to an identifying thread.  The main goal is to capitalize on this common thread by aligning yourself with your target market. 

I don’t have many numbers to support this next theory, but AT&T must be going after a younger demographic, or at the very least the passionate fan base of college sports.  There is not question that coexisting with college football is a quick way to get money, and tapping into people’s allegiances is the quick way to do it.  I am already an AT&T user, but I like what they are doing with the new “Be The Fan” Campaign.   The campaign gets people to accomplish weekly tasks using the hash tag #BeTheFan.  For example, this week, you have to send in a picture of your game day sign. This crosses all lines of communication, because no phone company owns twitter, but someone may say to his or herself, “I love what AT&T is doing in activating their sponsorship of the sport. Let’s see what else they have to offer.”  When you consider the fact that texts are free, you get a complete scope of how much money this campaign can make for AT&T. 

Hyundai has a campaign based on loyalty.  The car company refers to what different fan bases at tradition rich programs do to display their loyalty.   Then they describe what Hyundai customers do: buy another Hyundai.  This I am sure causes people to say, “Why be loyal to Hyundai?”   The car company has ranked #1 in loyalty for four straight years.  

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