This week’s Top News In #Sportsbiz includes the NFL RedZone as a perk for “The Membership Club” and the Jacksonville Jaguars creating “Stand United Fridays” to engage fans. Other news includes the Galaxy Gear being pre loaded with MyFitnessApp, Beaver Stadium attendance dropping, and MLB teams trash talking on Twitter. Get in and get your #Sportsbiz fix!
Sports Business
NFL RedZone offered to season ticket holders as a perk
With the NFL kicking off on Thursday night, the NFL shed light on its perks for the league’s season ticket holders. A few benefits have been introduced to reward members of the NFL’s “The Membership Club”.
With about one million members, The Membership Club is aiming to reward these individuals for their fandom. A major perk for these fans includes access to the NFL RedZone on their mobile phones, whether they are a Verizon customer or not. With Verizon as the league’s official mobile sponsor, it was a necessity that they support this initiative.
The NFL RedZone provides fans with whip-around coverage of the best plays happening in the league. Coverage will jump around to teams inside the red zone, show scoring plays, and keep fans up to date with the best plays in football. This service has been made available to The Membership Club members even when they are not present at the stadium.
Another perk offered by the NFL involves EA Sports. Members that purchase EA Sports’ “Madden 25” will receive extra in-game content. This content is aimed at rewarding season ticket holders with game-enhancing content.
With a growing number of fans being content with watching games at home, the NFL is making strides to fill stadium seats. The Membership Club may be a step in the right direction. The kickoff of each season will see additional benefits added for club members.
You can read more here.
Photo credit – michaelsinsight.com
Sports Marketing
Jaguars create “Stand United” Fridays
The Jacksonville Jaguars are reaching out to local businesses to find support for their team. The new marketing initiative is called “Stand United” Fridays.
Jaguars President Mark Lamping has asked for support from the community in an effort to better engage fans. Lamping discussed incentive behind extra support:
“Each month we’re going to have a contest among businesses and schools where those organizations can show how they are standing united with the Jaguars,”
The organization with the most Facebook and Internet votes will receive 40 tickets to a Jaguars game.
Fans are encouraged to wear team apparel and decorate offices. Not only that, but there are a plethora of other ways for fans to get involved:
- There will also be free Stand United fan pep rallies at EverBank Field, the first being Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
- Region-wide appearances from Jaguar personnel and promotions in about 130 bars and nightclubs around the First Coast area.
- A region-wide scavenger hunt on Fridays prior to every Jaguars home game where fans will search the area for a hidden Stand United Jaguars football helmet.
- Citywide displays of Stand United with enhanced signs at Jacksonville International Airport and Friendship Fountain on the South bank being colored teal each Friday.
At virtually no cost to local businesses, the Jaguars hope to have a lot of support from the community.
You can read more here.
Photo credit – deviantart.com
Sports Ticket Sales
A full Beaver Stadium is the life of Penn State
While it may seem hard to imagine, a current trend in college football is declining attendance. It appears Penn State may be seeing the decline more than others.
While Beaver Stadium holds 108,000 fans, Penn State averaged 96,730 fans per game in 2012 – the fifth-highest total of any school in Division I-A. With this number being compared to attendance in 2007, Penn State has experienced an 11.2 percent drop. The average around Division I-A was a 2.9 percent slump. Athletic director Dave Joyner sees these numbers as comparable with the rest of the division:
“If you look at the curve that has been going on at Beaver Stadium over the last several years, it’s been a steady line down, which it has been across the country,”
With sanctions still evident from the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it may be hard for Penn State to get back on track, at least for another few years.
However, Penn State is not discouraged. The athletic department is forging ahead to create a better overall experience for fans at Beaver Stadium. For instance, a new jumbotron is scheduled to be completed in 2014. Other enhancements include better stadium WiFi, “new and improved” rentable seat cushions, and a Beaver Stadium app that was introduced last season that allows fans to see videos and live stats.
Bill O’Brien explains what a full Beaver Stadium means to not only to the football team, but the athletic department as a whole:
“There is nothing more important to the future of Penn State football and Penn State athletics than a full Beaver Stadium this season.”
You can read more here.
Photo credit – onwardstate.com
Social Media in Sports
MLB looks to build fandom with trash talk
Everyone in the sports world should know how important social media is at this point. Major League Baseball certainly does and is looking to find a younger audience by trash talking on Twitter.
Teams of Major League Baseball are more often finding themselves taking part in some Twitter smack talk to create a more human and personal voice. The idea behind smack talk is to reach a younger generation of fans. Bob Bowman, CEO of Major League Baseball’s Advanced Media L.P. unit, explains:
“That’s where the fans, certainly a lot of young fans, hang out. And while they might not be fans who are spending a lot of money right now, we think down the road they will be.”
Teams have shown they are willing to be edgy on social media platforms. Being in the moment and humorous is seen as beneficial to connecting with fans on Twitter.
When the Rays captured first place for a time in July after an especially tense game with controversial umpire calls, the team gleefully tweeted, “Dear @RedSox scoreboard operator, your standings are wrong. Yours truly, @RaysBaseball.”
In response to the tweet from the Rays, the Red Sox replied with this: “Don’t worry, @RaysBasball, we look forward to seeing you in Tampa in September for our home game at the Trop.”
By joining in on the conversation, MLB teams are finding a way to smack talk while remaining in good taste. Bowman also had insight into Twitter’s spontaneity:
“The most effective Twitter stuff is spontaneous, and that’s why we respect Twitter so much, because it’s real people saying real things,’
You can read more here.
Photo credit – crowncrazed.com
Sports Technology
Galaxy Gear suitable for fitness with MyFitnessPal
On September 4, Samsung announced the Galaxy Gear smart watch. With its release later this month, this may be the start of compact wearable technology in the sports world.
The Galaxy Gear comes with a 1.63″ Super Amoled screen that is controlled with just swipes. That means no more unintended actions resulting from screen taps.
But to be more precise, the fitness world can benefit from its release. MyFitnessPal is comes preloaded on the Galaxy Gear, making it fitness-friendly right out of the box. MyFitnessPal is an app that helps users track their fitness, diet, count calories, and more. Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal, explains the app’s worldwide reach:
“It’s been an amazing year for MyFitnessPal – our users reached 100 million pounds of weight loss, we were able to begin reaching users worldwide, and we received our first round of investment funding to power further innovation and international expansion, among other things. Today is another step forward on our path to becoming the world’s leading resource in health and wellness technology. We’re looking forward to consumers getting to experience a combination of Samsung’s expertise in the mobile industry and our seamless, mobile method of monitoring health and wellness.”
With the Galaxy Gear utilizing an accelerometer and pedometer, as well as partnering with apps like MyFitnessPal, perhaps the smart watch will find its way onto the football field or basketball court. Time will tell.
You can read more here.
Photo credit – forbes.com
lmao with the addition of coonnr barwiin (3 sacks), carry williams(watch the cowboys ravens tape haha).. kenny phillips is def solid( if healthy), sopogaga is blah, fletcher is pretttty lame, lol chung is toast! cause he gets burnt so much..and of cour chippy boy,.. lol unless hes a miracle worker and can keep vick healhy and productive i see no chance the egles make it outta 4th place ..
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