9781422285305

Sports Marketing

C areers O ff the F ield

C areers O ff the F ield

Analytics: Sports Stats and More Coaching & Scouting Health Careers in Sports Sports Agent Sports Arena & Event Management Sports Broadcasting Sports Marketing Sports Media Relations Sportswriting and Sports Photography Working in College Sports

Sports Marketing By Brian C. Peterson

C areers O ff the F ield

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2016 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3264-4 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3272-9 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8530-5

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group LLC Santa Barbara, California Editorial Director: James Buckley Jr. Designer: Bill Madrid Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Cover photo: Imdan/Dreamstime.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Peterson, Brian C.

Sports marketing : careers off the field / by Brian C. Peterson. pages cm Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4222-3272-9 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4222-3264-4 (series) -- ISBN 978-1- 4222-8530-5 (ebook) 1. Sports administration--Juvenile literature. 2. Sports--Marketing-- Juvenile literature. 3. Sports journalism--Juvenile literature. 4. Sports medicine--Juvenile

literature. I. Title. GV713.P47 2016 796.06’9--dc23

2015006712

Foreword …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 6 Introduction …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….… 8 Chapter 1: Getting Started …….…….…….…….…….…… 16 Chapter 2: Hard at Work …….…….…….…….…….…….…… 28 Chapter 3: Realities of the Workplace ……. 38 Chapter 4: The Nitty-Gritty …….…….…….…….……. 50 Find Out More …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…… 62 Series Glossary …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….……. 63 About the Author …….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…….…… 64 C ontents Key Icons to Look For Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowl- edge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connect- ed to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis.

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains termi- nology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s abil- ity to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Foreword By Al Ferrer

So you want to work in sports? Good luck! You’ve taken a great first step by picking up this volume of CAREERS OFF THE FIELD. I’ve been around sports professionally—on and off the field, in the front office, and in the classroom—for more than 35 years. My students have gone on to work in all the major sports leagues and for university athletic programs. They’ve become agents, writers, coaches, and broadcasters. They were just where you are now, and the lessons they learned can help you succeed. One of the most important things to remember when looking for a job in sports is that being a sports fan is not enough. If you get an interview with a team, and your first sentence is “I’m your biggest fan,” that’s a kiss of death. They don’t want fans, they want pros. Show your experience, show what you know, show how you can contribute. Another big no-no is to say, “I’ll do anything.” That makes you a non- professional or a wanna-be. You have to do the research and find out what area is best for your personality and your skills. This book series will be a vital tool for you to do that research, to find out what areas in sports are out there, what kind of people work in them, and where you would best fit in.

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C areers O ff the F ield • Sports Marketing

That leads to my third point: Know yourself. Look carefully at your interests and skills. You need to understand what you’re good at and how you like to work. If you get energy from being around people, then you don’t want to be in a room with a computer because you’ll go nuts. You want to be in the action, around people, so you might look at sales or marketing or media relations or being an agent. If you’re more comfortable being by yourself, then you look at analysis, research, perhaps the numbers side of scouting or recruiting. You have to know yourself. You also have to manage your expectations. There is a lot of money in sports, but unless you are a star athlete, you probably won’t be making much in your early years. I’m not trying to be negative, but I want to be realistic. I’ve loved every minute of my life in sports. If you have a passion for sports and you can bring professionalism and quality work—and you understand your expectations—you can have a great career. Just like the athletes we admire, though, you have to prepare, you have to work hard, and you have to never, ever quit.

Series consultant Al Ferrer founded the sports management program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, after an award-winning career as a Division I baseball coach. Along with his work as a professor, Ferrer is an advisor to pro and college teams, athletes, and sports businesses.

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F oreword

Introduction

Words to Understand brainstorming: the act of thinking of ideas with a group of people campaigns: series of promotional events and activities used to support a marketing theme, usually conducted during a set period of time intern: a person, usually a student, who works for free to learn a new job or career licensee: a company that pays a fee, or license, to gain the right to use a sports or company logo

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C areers O ff the F ield • Sports Marketing

Sports marketing happens on a daily basis all over the world, from the largest cities, such as New York, Tokyo, and Paris, to smaller towns, such as Green Bay; Manchester, England; and Ottawa, Canada. Teams being marketed to fans include those with names such as the Pelicans, Wild, Sand Gnats, Salukis, Anteaters, Horned Frogs, and Banana Slugs. Companies use every sport imaginable to sell products used daily by billions of people. The people who do the work of selling those teams or using sports to sell to others are sports marketing professionals. Sports marketers do everything from getting coffee for star athletes to stuffing envelopes with thank you letters. They fill hot tubs with water, speak to youth groups, count thousands of promotional fliers, verify the number of bobbleheads being given away on game day, or write and approve scripts for advertising campaigns . They work for teams to help promote the organization to fans and sponsors. They also work with companies wanting to use sports as a way to sell their products or services. They arrange events attended by a few dozen people, and manage campaigns that will be seen by billions.

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I ntroduction

The average day of a sports marketer can start at the first ray of sunlight in a large empty stadium with sprinklers showering freshly mowed grass. It can also begin with a group of people brainstorming ideas in an air-conditioned conference room. Many times the day ends well past midnight, when the last car leaves the stadium parking lot. There is no such thing as an average day in sportsmarketing. There is also no such thing as a typical type of sports marketing, which includes team, league, college, television, licensee , sponsorship, youth, extreme, and club. Sportsmarketing is part of the overall practice ofmarketing, which involves helping individuals and organizations easily exchange goods and services. In sports marketing, organizations or teams work hard to satisfy the needs and wants of fans, which usually revolve around winning championships. Fans want value, and successful sports marketers are masters at delivering superior value to fans. Meg Patten studied at New York University at the Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media, and Business. In the summer of 2014, she worked as an intern in the sports marketing department of Fox Sports San Diego, the television network

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Companies put their messages in front of huge audiences at sports events, such as on this scoreboard at

San Diego’s Petco Park.

of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres. Her day began before she even got to her office. “I was constantly checking scores, staying up to date with all sports news, and posting to social media outlets before, during, and after work,” she said. “While I was in the office, the marketing team would meet to discuss weekly events, games, and goals.” Her marketing group was tasked with promoting everything from the game itself to a volunteer opportunity to a surfing contest. “Every day was different and allowed me to do a bunch of different things that relate to the business of sports broadcasting,” she said.

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I ntroduction

Patrick Klinger is one of America’s most influential sports marketers. Klinger is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Patrick Klinger & Company, a leading sports marketing agency. Before starting his own firm, he served as the vice president of marketing for the Minnesota Twins for 14 years. While he was working there, the baseball team was named “Sports Organization of the Year” in 2002 by Horizon Awards, and Klinger was the Horizon “Sports Person of the Year” in 2006. While with the Twins, Klinger managed all areas of advertising, promotion, broadcasting, game presentation, special events, and emerging markets. He was a leader in the design of the Twins’ new ballpark, Target Field, which often is considered among the best in baseball. He also has been widely credited for the bobblehead doll craze that has swept sports. “A typical day is dependent upon where we are in the season,” said Klinger. “The off-season is a time of planning and preparation, including development of the advertising campaign, creation of collateral materials, coordination of promotions and special events, and determining pricing. We also have off-season events to keep the team in the public eye. During the season, everything is adjusted based on the team’s win-loss record, trades, player acquisitions, etcetera.”

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Bill Robertson serves as commissioner of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), where he oversees all the business operations. The historic conference has ten teams competing at the Division I level in collegiate hockey in five different time zones across the United States. Before leading the WCHA, Robertson was vice president of communications and broadcasting for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild from 1999 to 2011. During that time, he

helped establish the then-new franchise and the events it hosted. The experienced sports executive has also worked for the Los Angeles Angels baseball team, the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA, and the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, while also

Bill Robertson had a marketing challenge introducing a new team to the NHL when the Minnesota Wild joined the league in 2000.

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I ntroduction

The Olympics, including the popular hockey tournament in the Winter Games, offers many marketing

moments for international sponsors.

working for the U.S. Olympic hockey teams. Like many sports marketers, his skills transfer fairly easily among different sports. “I think the thing that’s most typical is that there is not a typical day in sports marketing or communications,” said Robertson. “The biggest thing is that you enter each day with a detailed game plan of what you want to accomplish. At a moment’s notice in sports, you can get thrown off by a trade, a

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