If you don't pay attention to them long term, you are going to wake up one day and have asked yourself, 'Where did all your fans go?' |
It may not be a mass audience, but a passionate audience. You're probably paying less than to get a mass market appeal. It gives you a focused way to reach the core of the brand. |
It's not about bringing the loyal fans back. They're probably at the doors now. It's the casual fans that will make the difference between teams being profitable and not being profitable. |
It's paramount that they get people back in the building to remind them how good the sport is. |
Kobe was seen as this non-controversial, rather worldly good guy. He can rebuild his image, but it's never going to be the same that it was. |
Nobody we've seen in the last 10 years has fallen as hard and tried to come back at this level. It makes sense to come back with a product that focuses on the court, where his performance message counts most. The core target audience here may be urban youth, but his image is still relevant, for example, to the mother of the shoe buyer, or anyone who holds the purse strings. Perception is what drives the market. |
Teams are realizing that it's not their business to be in broadcasting. |
That helps from a budget-planning perspective and brings expertise to the college level that professional sports teams have had in-house for decades. |
That's what folks thought Kobe could become. It was such a shock to the system what happened in Colorado. |
The American population is continuing to diversify, and Hispanics have become a very important part of the sports economy, |
The Cadillac dealership deal is an obvious and natural connection. But it's like a building that has a naming rights deal. It might prevent him right now from other deals, |
The general feeling is that firms are trying to be more selective about the number of athletes with whom they have relationships. You have to remember that, for the most part, the industry is young and learning how to measure success and get the best return on its investment. The emerging trend is the use of entertainers and retired athletes to market these products. |
The good news for NBC is that China is a bigger story than any athlete. The significance of those Games will draw the casual viewer because it's China. ... You are talking about 1.3 billion people and a country that is using the Games as a statement of its place in the global economy. |
The leagues, especially the NFL, don't want to discount their product for a particular market, |
The NHL has taught us that the players need to understand that this is about extending the revenue opportunities to keep the dollars flowing. If you want to make millions, (you) have to do some things that are creative. It's about as saturated a marketplace for sports today than we've ever seen before. |