Wrap It Up

Prior to this sports marketing blog, I had never blogged before in my life. Unless, of course, you count xanga, but that was a completely different type of "blog." Throughout blogging, I've learned a lot about how sports relate to marketing. I've learned that every situation that arises in sports has a marketing effect, whether it be positive or negative. For example, say a baseball player is caught using performance enhancing drugs. That typically has a negative effect on that player's brand. On the other hand, refer to the blog about the Detroit Tigers acquiring Johnny Damon. This provided the Tigers with numerous positive marketing oppportunities. I've also learned that not only is blogging a great way for people to share their thoughts, it's also a great way to stay updated on currents news, whether it be in sports or any other topic. Because I subscribed to so many various other blogs and news feeds, I was constantly fed the latest information about sports and marketing. In some cases, I even received news updates on the same story four times in one day. Overall, I've learned that blogging is not only a great way to share stories about other people's brands and how they are being managed, but it is also a great way for people to shape and form their own brand. I would consider using blogs or some other form of social media in the future.

The following is the link to my Google Reader account: http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#overview-page
Also, the news feeds I have been following are listed on the right column of this page. I hope you've enjoyed blogging with me. :)

The Scoop on the Tigers

As many of us know, the 2010 MLB season kicked off this week. That being said, journalists and bloggers everywhere are analyzing their favorite team's first few games in hopes of predicting the season ahead of them. Recently, I read an article at MLive.com that simply gave some numbers about various aspects of the 2010 Detroit Tigers season-opening roster. These numbers led me to some interesting ideas from a marketing standpoint.

First, the article claimed there are nine players total who have either not been on an opening day roster before or who were not active with the team in 2009. These 9 players are capable of drawing in new fans for the Tigers. It would be beneficial for the Tigers to capitalize on the novelty these players possess and do extra promotions featuring these players, or aim some of their marketing campaigns towards the new players. Also, one key new player on the team is Johnny Damon. Clearly, his clout will draw in many observers. These observers could be Damon fans, or they could be skeptics that want to see how Damon performs in a Tiger uniform. Regardless, the Tigers will want to market Damon heavily because he is such a well-known player. Finally, the opening-day roster has eight players on it who have been All Stars before. These players are obviously more well known than several other players on the team; therefore, the Tigers may also want to gear some promotions and campaigns towards those players to draw in the fans that admire their All Stars so much. Whichever way you look at it, the Tigers have a lot of options for marketing that will draw a crowd in the upcoming 2010 season.

To read the original article, please follow this link:
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2010/04/tigers_roster_by_the_numbers.html

MLB's Kanye West

I recently read at article at ESPN.com, which talked about Milton Bradley and his role as the "bad guy" of MLB. Spoken by Bradley himself, he claims that he is the one player the fans can point out as the "bad guy." Probably as a result of his "bad guy" persona, Bradley has played for eight different teams throughout his eleven-season professional baseball career. Some might wonder as to why Bradley would not only publicize the fact that he is a so-called bad boy, but he almost seems proud of this fact. At first glance, some would assume that teams wouldn't want to hire a player with a persona that has negative qualities attached to it, especially since he rarely lasts more than a year with any given team. However, there could be some advantages to acquiring a player like Bradley. For instance, he clearly has a lot of star power attached to his name. Even though he has been made popular for his boisterous ways, he still has become popular. This somewhat follows the concept of "Any publicity is good publicity." Additionally, if he is, in fact, the one player that most fans characterize as "THE bad guy," this gives Bradley and whatever team he plays on a competitive advantage in terms of luring in crowds. If Bradley is the one player in all of baseball who has the greatest "bad boy" persona, this is a quality that no other teams can possess. Therefore, if fans really do want to go see the bad guy of baseball in hopes of a rowdy game or possibly an ejection, they will go to the games where Milton Bradley is playing. While the idea does seem slightly far fetched, you have to give it to Milton Bradley for marketing his image so cleverly.

To read the original article at ESPN.com, please follow this link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5025391&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines