MLB Streaming is no longer Free !!!

If Baseball is suppose to be America's game then why can't we watch it online for free? A recent article on thebusinessofsports.com stated that  allfacebook.com is reporting that Major League Baseball will no longer be streaming live games online for free through its Facebook page. The main reason that this approach is no longer in action is because while this idea was to draw interest for spring training baseball games it was not generating enough subscription to MLB.TV. MLB.TV is the official online network of MLB to garner new subscriptions to catch all regular and post season games.  Just like Directv has the MLB Extra Innings package where fans can watch all regualar and out of market games for $128, MLB.TV has the deal but for $29.95. While you might say that the price of both is alarming they are offered on two different mediums.

The first approach that went wrong was MLB was showing spring training games.  Most fans do not watch the spring training games because they are all waiting for Opening Day to arrive.  The best approach to take to reach more people, is to start streaming select national matchups such as a "game of the week "which does not interfere with Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.  Then as the regular season winds down then I would show the playoffs on online streaming to boost ratings and bring  more site traffic to the page.




A lot of baseball fans were not disappointed with the result because it initally drove site traffic to MLB.COM. Most sports fans do not use the Facebook to check the latest stats or updates on games through Facebook but rather through MLB.COM. Bob Bowman Advanced Media Director of Media stated in a press release that this was another reason why they were not going to continue.

I also think they are completely missing the point the with the social media networking tool of Facebook.  Facebook is the most powerful social networking medium on the planet and there are more than 650,000,000 people on.  This tool could have helped reached a new audience from a global perspective.  The casual fan who does not go on MLB.COM would have looked at the MLB page and decided to watch the game.




Another missed opportunity with this is to reach the casual and sports audience since right now it must compete with NBA Playoffs and the Masters Tournament.  From the national sports landscape outlook,  baseball is right behind football as the number 1 sport in North America. I believe that this would have been a strike the kettle moment because the NFL is in lockout mode and there might not be a season. ( I still believe that there will be a season for 2011).  But the American sports audience has a short attention span and must cease the moment.    

I believe that MLB is completely missing the strike zone on this opportunity and made a bad move. Next time  take a poll question like the Nationally Syndicated Dan Patrick Sports Radio Show and let the fans decide.  I am Mr. Zome and I am out.

High Heat, Low Heat

The biggest news story for Summer 2010 was where was Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh headed to upon their free agency. The answer as we all know was they took their talents to South Beach.  The hype for the acquisitions was unlike anything seen in sports. Including one basketball fan by the name of Jonathan Zairi. Jonathan Zairi is a 21 year old college student who purchased two season ticket packages after the Miami Heat signed Chris Bosh according to the article written by Darren Rovell.( http://www.cnbc.com/id/42218592)   Shortly after the signing of Lebron James, Mr. Zairi was more than elated and thought "Wow I am going to make money off these tickets as everybody is going to want to see them play."  This did not pan out the way he imagined.



To begin with the Miami Heat have had an up and down season with the all drama to fill a daytime soap opera. The current record for the Miami Heat is 50-22. While this is great by any means, this was not the expectations set by the three acquired players.  The media was hyping them to be as great as the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls of the late '90s (whose record in 1997 was 72-10). With the Heat losing the first two games of the season and him trying to sell the third game of the season against the Utah Jazz he ended up stuck with tickets and lost his money.  With all these expectations why wouldn't a young student try to make an investment  and cash in on it during the season.

Here are my reasons for the loss of money from the tickets purchased:

1.  The way that all players came about and threw a big party celebration did not go well with the national sports audience.  The general public felt if they had held a press conference and been more professional about it the outlash would not have been so severe.

2. The travesty of the single press conference held by Lebron James to announce his "decision" as to his NBA future, took a major public relations hit for him and turned him into the NBA villain of the year. Lebron James did not need to do a one hour special just to make a simple statement.  The manner in which he left his previous employer was one in disgust.  Any other employee who works for a company and accomplishes how Lebron left would be labeled as "not rehirable."

*While reasons 1&2 are related, reason 3 is where Jonathan Zairi did not do his research.

3. As a Miami Heat fan myself, when the announcement of the Big Three was made I said to myself, "Well I guess I will be watching the games at home this season."  With the contracts of the Big Three near $110 million the ticket prices would go up for all the seats.  This of course was expected but by how much is where I think Mr. Zairi did not expect. The whole entire marketing department was let go after the guys were signed, so all the ticket specials that were being offered in previous seasons were gone!  Then Mr. Zairi did not expect to see second market tickets sell quickly. Secondary market tickets are tickets which are sold through person to person or scalpers.  In the article he was quoted as saying that the Miami market is a "soft market." I guess somebody forgot to pass along the memo to Mr. Zairi that in Miami there is always another way to get something for less.

Mr. Zairi has lost a total of $2.200 for his purchase.  My message to you Sir is the following: Wait and see before you count all the chickens that have been hatched.

A Fan's Letter to the NFL and NFLPA

Dear NFL and NFLPA,  




To all my readers this is a letter from a fan of the greatest game in the world.  I have been watching football since I was six years old.  My father is a big fan and showed me the passion for the game.  Every Fall season comes around and I look forward to it because my team [The Miami Dolphins] always have a chance of making it to the Super Bowl. I love the hype and attention that fills the week leading up to kickoff.  Now for the first time since 1987 the NFL is locking out the players.  YES that is right we have a lockout! Why do we have a lockout?  We have a lockout because the main issue like everything else in life is about money.  



The simplest way to break it down is as follows:  There is a 9 billion dollar TV revenue money that the owners of each NFL franchise is collecting but are not sharing with the players.  With this big piece of the pie that the players are completely aware of, now they want a piece. HOLD UP!  On top of that money being collected by the owners for the TV contracts they are claiming that they are losing money.  The players are then asking to see all the financial books and audits from the owners for a new collective bargaining agreement.  If the owners want the players to be apart of the collective bargaining agreement then they must give up something to be successful.  Well the time period for this has expired and we are into the third week of the lockout with no new progress.  As a fan I want both sides to come to an agreement so that there is another season in 2011.  The owners should give up the books to the players if they want to make them partners.  Let the players see the books!  It has been two year since the players have been asking for this and you then come out after the Super Bowl and say that you had a 1 billion dollars set aside because you [the owners] knew that the day was coming.  How do you expect the players to come to an agreement when you are not bargaining fairly.

There are other issues that the owners are bringing to the table which include a 18 game schedule and other rule changes.  The players do not want an 18 game schedule because they feel the league does not do enough to insure the health of the players after their careers are over. If the player suffers a career ending injury the players do not have life insurance once they are out of the game. Legendary NFL Veterans are suffering through fatal injuries because of  not having a retirement plan for the players after their playing days.

I do not understand as a fan how we can be arguing over money for a game that is beloved by the world.  I do not understand how new NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell let this happen.  He has been a strict, hard, no non-sense Commissioner when it comes to player conduct policy but yet cannot get the two sides to agree on a new CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement]. Paul Tagliabue, the former NFL Commissioner would have never let this happen.  And Gene Upshaw former director of the NFLPA[NFL Players Association] must rolling in his grave to see these turn of events.

Players and Owners, I urge that you come to a new CBA so that there is a season in 2011. Owners, I urge you to give the players something so that the bargaining process can go about. Let's get a deal done for the sake of not having replacement players and reliving the USFL days.

 Sincerely,

Mr. Zome

A View to a Madness !!

After a short hiatus due to my grandfather's passing, I am back to give you the latest.  Just before the hiatus my last post discussed the new TV deal for the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.  The TV rights for the tournament were distributed amongst the Turner Networks and CBS.  For the first time a viewer will not miss any of the games and can watch to see if his bracket has not been busted by the Cinderella team.  I was excited to bring the press release this new viewing habit for the next 10 years.  Here are my thoughts to the success of distribution of games from CBS and Turner Networks.



1. The first point that I would like to make is that joining of the two networks was great except the studio broadcasting teams. The CBS crew which consists of Greg Gumbel, Greg Anthony, and Seth Davis are great at capturing and analyzing the college game. Now with the merger with TNT, the studio has the additons of Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.  The guys from TNT are suited for the NBA game and needed to make a quick adjustment for the college game.  I love Ernie Johnson from TNT as a studio host because of his mannerism and the way he approaches the game inviting you to watch.  Charles Barkley is just an old retired NBA veteran who cracks more jokes with slurred English vernacular and should not have been brought for these games. Sorry Chuck but you are not a Role Model to future analysts!    During one of the early games when asked for their opinions on the games Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley discussed more about whether they had talent to be future NBA stars than the actual game.  While that analysis is welcomed it was not the right time because after the tournament the discussion for the NBA Draft begins.



2. The announcers calling the action of the game were great in my opinion.  This is the first time in 11 years that I got to hear Marv Alberts call college games.  A little out of the twilight zone but nostalgic as he is the premier sports announcer in the business today.  A rise and fire announcer for CBS is Gus Johnson. Gus Johnson brings an enthusiasm and passion to every game that he calls and makes you watch the game. No matter who is playing. Great to watch any game that he calls.  Here is a prime example of a game he called during the 2010 NFL Season:





3. Enough chatter about the announcing did this merger work for a NCAA March Madness fan? YES! This was a great deal for the fans. Every game in the first and second rounds were shown. Every upset,buzzer beater and rise&fire were not missed by yours truly. I was channel changing through four different stations to catch all games. This was AWESOME BABY! I got to see UCONN and Kemba Walker light up the tournament and advanced to the FINAL FOUR as they were in my bracket. Arizona was my dark horse team and did damage but could not advance thanks to the UCONN Huskies.



It was a View to Madness and cannot wait until next to do it all over again in 2012.

Couch Potato Madness !!!

The Madness is here! I will definitely be enjoying the spring break with all the college basketball games from the NCAA tournament. Hopefully this year nobody will ruin my bracket. As you read this you may be asking why would I be discussing about an event that happens annually. To my readers this is this year the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament is going to be a couch potatoes/sports fan dream. The NCAA has expanded the field of 64 teams to 68 teams and now has added another channel to license the games.





CBS had been the sole carrier of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament for the last 30 years. That meant for all the games, viewers would have to tune into their local CBS station and watch the games that were being shown at that time. Example, if you were a fan of the Arizona Wildcats (* This is my dark horse team for my bracket) but Syracuse was playing at the same time then you would be only be able to watch what they [CBS] wanted to show. This year the NCAA announced that Turner Network: TNT,TBS and Tru TV channels will be showing games for the next 14 year along with CBS. (Official Press Release with all details http://www.trutv.com/ncaa/ncaa-on-trutv.html) The press release will give the breakdown of what games and rounds will be shown on which channel.

This is great for viewers because instead of watching just the six games shown by CBS,college basketball fans can now tune to these channels and catch more games. More games and more accessibility! The move was great to show garner more ratings and viewership throughout the US. Fans are rejoicing and the NCAA is grinning as Turner will be paying the NCAA a record $10 billion. The Turner networks are also planning exclusive digital content to show the games online for sports fans with live access interviews and other contents that the other sports networks will not have. Grab the chips and beer and for the next week enjoy the games couch potatoes!

Power UP !!!

The official Sports Energy Drink for the NCAA in 2011 will be Powerade. Powerade in the sports energy drink department is currently ranked #2 only behind Gatorade. By becoming the official energy drink of the NCAA this will give the Coca Cola brand exposure. In a recent article in adage.com the stats show that Powerade as company rose up 24% in sales in 2010. They are looking to build up momentum in 2011 and have garnered a new ad campaign entitled "Game Science" featuring Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. They will be using the tag line of "Focus, Hustle, Hydrate, and Believe." With this tag line Powerade will also be highlighting its "Ion4 Point Ranking System" a reference used in their drink. The exposure from the games being shown from March 15-18.




Powerade using the NCAA tournament to garner a new ad campaign is an interesting venue. The popularity of the Men's College Basketball has significantly decreased over the last 7 years as players are leaving early to the NBA draft. In my opinion the only way the popularity of this sports energy drink will increase during this venue is the uprising of a college basketball player with the hype of Carmelo Anthony. Can you say Jimmer Fredette ? With all the games being shown throughout the spring break weekend, I will have no doubt that young kids alike will head to the park to catch a game of hoops and have a Powerade sports drink in their hands to refill their "Ion4 Point Ranking System."

Put Your Best Foot Forward

This is a topic that is near and dear to Mr. Zome's heart. After working the athletic footwear business for six years, I love to see when a sneaker company delivers a new ad campaign. In the running footwear world New Balance has been the brand that America loves and knows. However over the last few years the company had fallen on hard times with sales and failure to capture the running world audience with the NB Zip shoe.

With the dominance of Asics as the premier running shoe company, New Balance needed a zip in there step to be back as a the top company in the running shoe company. The company recently hired Hilary Keates from P&G to spear head a new ad campaign and re-brand the company. In a recent interview with adage.com (link for full interview http://adage.com/article/news/q-a-balance-global-marketing-brand-exec-hilary-keates/149137) she stated that her goals when arriving with the company over a year ago was to help the brand expand and re-introduce the company to the American audience.

I recently saw the commercial for which Hilary Keates started her new campaign entitled "Let's Make Excellent Happen" and was pleasantly surprised at how refreshing the commercial was to red-introduce the brand to American audience. This is a smart, strategic move on their behalf with this launch as we near the beginnning of marathon season and retail stores are stocking up on running footwear. With this new launch the company is also introducing their latest shoe "The NB 890" (comparable to the Nike Free).  There is hope with this launch to capture the brand back.



Here is the commercial that captures the spirit of the running community through excellence: