Tidbits, Thoughts & Tips around sports business…
News, notes and nuggets from our Publisher for Aug 15-21
Road Trip!
When TMR’s intrepid analyst Jack McCoy asked for time off last week, I figured he just needed a break from wrapping up the last of his NFL Fan Cost Index work. When he told me it was to help a family member move into a new place, I knew he was desperate for a break!
Then he foolishly checked in with me mid-trip and mentioned he was going to take in a Traverse City Pit Spitters game that night. Before he knew what hit him, I had roped him into taking a bunch of photos and writing up his visit to Turtle Creek Stadium. He’ll learn one of these days…
New cutouts in the STL
Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals on their fan-driven move to add cardboard cutouts on Monday.
As you may recall, we wrote about the many MLB teams selling fan cutouts as baseball resumed (“MLB Teams Find Success in Cutting Out Fans“). Well, thanks to fan demand, we can add the Redbirds and their “CardBOARD Nation” program.
The cutouts are priced at $50 for season ticket holders or $70 for general public with proceeds to benefit Cardinals Care. Interestingly, the Cards are the first team to tack on an additional fee ($25) for shipping the cutouts to fans after the season.
And in a smart partnerships move, the team notes that the program “is made possible through a partnership with Sumner One, the official document technology provider” of the ballclub.
Cavs Busy Engaging Fans in a Multitude of Ways
The Cleveland Cavaliers were especially busy this week with multiple fan engagement initiatives.
Last night, though the Cavs did not win the NBA Draft Lottery, the team hosted their Wine & Gold United Draft Lottery Party presented by Panini. Yes, the event was in person—socially-distanced, of course—for Wine & Gold United, the team’s season ticket holder club.
Fans were given multiple ways to participate in the lottery festivities, including:
- “Ping Pong Prediction sweepstakes presented by Lexus“— fans could visit cavs.com/lottery and guess the pick number the team would get to win a virtual meet & greet with the draft pick; a signed draft hat from the pick; a signed jersey from the Cavs player of their choice; gift cards; ticket credits; or a “Cavs x Lexus Ultimate Fan Gift Box”
- “Pick 5 Sweepstakes” — Five fans selected across Cavs social media platforms to win jerseys and other prizes at cavs.com/pickfive
- “Cavaliers Trivia on the Cavs App and Cavs.com” — The Cavs App, by the way, is “championed by Westfield.”
- “Cavs Virtual Draft Lottery Party” — The team streamed a special live show hosted by the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast team of John Michael and Austin Carr across the team app, Cavs.com, Facebook and YouTube.
The team also just announced a partnership with the American Red Cross, along with team sponsor Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Indians to host blood drives throughout September to help “maintain stable supply throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.” The Cavs and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse have already hosted eight blood drives since March, collecting more than 550 pints of blood.
In addition in September, the team and RMFH will host National Voter Registration Day events on Tues, September 22 and is posting (and updating) a Voter’s Educational Guide at rocketmortgagefieldhouse.com/vote.
That’s being a good community member.
SGE Offer for TMR Community
Passionate about sports gambling? Curious of how to bring sports betting together with sports marketing? Want to avoid federal prosecution?
Then you have got to check out the Sports Gambling Education master certification program from Ohio University, US Integrity and Cyanna.
Two courses are already available and the third will be live soon. All of them offer a deep dive into compliance, analytics, sponsorship, media, risk management and more for an industry enjoying explosive growth—even in COVID World. Better yet, the program’s instructors are top notch lecturers from sports, gaming and academia.
Here’s a brief sizzle reel video with more info and if you’re ready to register, don’t forget to use our TMR Community code—TMR15—to get 15 percent off any/all of the three courses.
TMR Updates
Have you looked through the SportsSponsor FactBook and the 5,000+ team and company profiles? TMR MVPs and All-Stars have unlimited access to these team, brand, league, property, agency, supplier and governing body profiles.
Take a peep, for example, at Major League Soccer‘s profile with league news, expansion updates, league sponsors, all team kit sponsors, key staff contact info and much. much, much more. Interested in more details? Want a peak behind the paywall? See something in need of an update? Let us know at factbook@teammarketing.com.
PS — Stop by ROSTER MOVES too! That’s where we track front office movement and sponsorship news. Have roster update worth a share? Fire anything over to editorial@teammarketing.com.
Hope Your Weekend is Not Unbearable
So many dad jokes possible, at least you’ll have all weekend to grin and bear them…
Bearhanded plays are not easy to make.
(MLB x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/XlkCtQQNej
— MLB (@MLB) August 21, 2020
Have a weekend and, as always, stay fancentric friends!