ESPN.com presents Sports Business http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness 60 en-us Sun, 26 Feb 2012 02:57:52 webmaster@espn.go.com http://assets.espn.go.com/i/espn/teamlogos/lrg/trans/espn_dotcom_black.gif 110 110 He may have been acquitted by an arbitration panel, but plenty in the court of public opinion still believe NL MVP Ryan Braun is guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. And that is of far greater concern to the marketing world – which affects his endorsement status -- than the panel’s decision. “What was unfortunate for Ryan was that the [news reports] came out at all,” said Milwuakee-based sports marketer Steve Dupee of GMR Marketing.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/394/brauns-win-comes-with-endorsement-cost Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:04:40 EDT 394 Conference realignment is coming along with short-term costs in the 2012 college football schedule. Before it left the Big East, West Virginia canceled its game against non-conference opponent Florida State and paid a $500,000 cancellation fee. But Elliott Finebloom, an assistant athletic director at FSU, said the loss of the home game will cost the Seminoles far more than the program received in the cancellation fee. “We’ll probably lose $2.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/386/loss-of-games-due-to-realignment-costly Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:41:02 EDT 386 Will New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin be able to add “facilitator” to his growing list of credentials? A theory since Lin’s emergence is that growing discontent from Time Warner Cable customers will force the cable provider and the Madison Square Garden Network to reach a deal in their bitter dispute that has kept fans in much of the New York region from seeing the Knicks on MSG since Jan. 1. But it likely will come as no surprise to the 4 million or so viewers affected that there’s a debate about whether Lin’s success will benefit one side over the other and thus help force a deal.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/375/lins-ascent-not-yet-assisting-msg-viewers Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:28:42 EDT 375 Linsanity is sweeping the nation, but is the Jeremy Lin phenomenon -- albeit producing the highest point total for a player in his first four career starts since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77 -- enough to build a marketing platform? Maybe a local one right now, but it might take a bit longer for him to become a national player. “It would not be prudent for a big company to all of the sudden center him in a big national campaign unless someone wanted to do a quick one-off spot and capitalize on him right now,” said Doug Shabelman, president of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/362/it-may-take-time-to-cash-in-on-the-linsanity Sun, 12 Feb 2012 11:00:08 EDT 362 When Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson step up to the tee at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Thursday, they do so as last year’s highest-earning active U.S. athletes. Forget that they ranked 135th and 12th in PGA Tour money earned; their fortunes came from tens of millions of dollars in endorsement deals. Luke Donald, the first golfer to top both the PGA Tour and European PGA money lists in 2011, out-earned Woods and Mickelson on the course with $13.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/354/its-tiger-phil-the-greats-and-no-one-else Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:16:07 EDT 354 Eli Manning may have won the MVP and given himself a boost in net worth, but Victor Cruz ruled social media, just as he did during the NFC Championship Game. According to Twitter’s official Super Bowl tracker, Cruz led Manning in Twitter mentions most of the game, although Manning took over once the game ended. So will that end up being simple trivia for Cruz, or could the buzz lead to more endorsements? “If you’re making clutch catches game in and game out through the playoffs and the end of the year, you’re going to become marketable and have that recognition factor right away,” said Doug Shabelman, president of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing Inc.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/342/some-off-the-field-super-bowl-winners Mon, 6 Feb 2012 14:00:15 EDT 342 It’s just a few days before the Super Bowl and a good time to check your preparation. What better way than with a quick pop quiz about the teams' presence in the all-important digital space?      1. Which New England Patriot was tweeted about most leading up to the playoffs? Sigh. We’re one question in and you’ve already messed up your chances for a perfect score. Hard to believe, we know, but coach Bill Belichick took honors with more than 3 million tweets compared to Tom Brady’s nearly 700,000, according to Banyan Branch, a social media agency.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/326/lets-test-your-super-bowl-knowledge Thu, 2 Feb 2012 09:16:22 EDT 326 The numbers, crunched by consultant Kantar Media, are almost mind-boggling: •  Over the past 10 years, Super Bowl advertisers have spent $1.7 billion on TV ads. •  Advertisers spent $228 million on the game last year. •  That sum, about what is expected to be spent this year, will account for about 25 percent of the $1 billion NBC paid for rights to air the game. How advertising has become so integral to the Super Bowl is about more than the 110 million or so people who watch the game.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/311/super-bowl-ad-experience-goes-past-game Wed, 1 Feb 2012 09:34:58 EDT 311 Many woke up Tuesday morning to the Dunk Heard ‘Round the World -- a one-armed dunk by Blake Griffin over the head of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kendrick Perkins. The Twitterverse has been lit up since; even LeBron James noted Griffin’s dunking prowess: “Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I'm #2 now. Move over #6.” Griffin is very well known for his dunks -- the one over a Kia sedan during last year’s NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Contest probably drew the most national attention.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/296/dunks-clipper-wins-money-for-griffin Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:00:03 EDT 296 As difficult as it is to predict a winner on the field in this year’s Super Bowl, it’s just as difficult to judge which star quarterback -- Tom Brady or Eli Manning -- will win off the field. New England's Brady has Hollywood looks, a supermodel wife, and an edge in endorsement deals to date, but Manning is part of a family that’s football royalty and is not as far behind in big-dollar deals as fans might think. Brady made about $10 million in endorsements in 2011, and Manning about $7 million, according to Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing.]]> http://espn.go.com/blog/sportsbusiness/post/_/id/285/eli-manning-may-win-endorsement-game Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:23:00 EDT 285