Footiebusiness

Some business thoughts from the weekend that was.  MLSSoccer.com completed a great interview with Sporting KC’s President Robb Heineman about some business issues involving the team and the opening of the new stadium  The entire interview is worth a read, but here are some noteworthy highlights.  First, Heineman indicates that the team is nearing 9,000 season tickets for 2011 with a goal of 12,000 for the year.  That is a significant number, and would put KC near the top of the league in season ticket sales.  Other key facts from the interview include the team’s efforts to secure the services of a second DP, efforts to capture Hispanic audiences and efforts to promote the team throught the Gold Cup. Heineman is probably the most accessible front office member in the league and he does a great job keeping fans informed about the team’s efforts in the transfer market.  His openess is extremely appealing and helps fans feel like they are an integral part of the organization.

In draft news, WPS finalized its college draft in Baltimore on Friday with the participation of an unnamed team. We have documented the league’s struggles, but things reached a bizarre stage when the former Washington Freedom franchise was sold to a Florida based investor who has yet to name the team or hire any coaching staff.  Thus, the franchise went through the draft without an identity.  Despite that strange circumstance, the league continues to pick up new sponsors. WPS announced that Sahlen’s Hot Dogs is the league’s 6th official sponsor. Each team will wear Sahlen’s patch in 2011.

Finally, Steve Goff is reporting that DC United has identified two potential stadium sites within the District. With Baltimore wooing the team to leave RFK, this latest DC stadium effort feels like a last ditch effort by the team to secure a spot in the District.  DC’s inability to secure a home within the Distric has been well documented.  RFK is in a great spot with great Metro access, but the stadium is in disrepair and is too big for MLS.  DC has long been a flagship franchise, but their stadium situation has seriuosly lagged behind the rest of the team.

Thursday was the MLS SuperDraft, and as we did last year, we thought we would take a look at some of the business aspects of the proceedings.  Before we explore the broadcast, a couple of notes on some of the coverage of the event.  The Twitterverse was exploding with coverage of the draft.  Journalists, fans, teams, players, bloggers and others drove the draft coverage to the top of the Twitter lists of trends.  Multiple outlets carried live coverage of the event online, with chats, commentary and more.

The ESPN broadcast was anchored by Stone and Harkes, with Lalas and Twellman based in Bristol to provide commentary.  ESPN drew on its long experience in televising the NFL draft to provide helpful graphics to keep track of potential drafteess, key additions and more.  ESPN did a good job showing some of the Portland Timbers ads that we highlighted a few weeks back.  The first round of ads featured MLS sponsors VW, and also included One A Day and Phillips. Overall, there were only limited ads.   ESPN made an interested choice to have Twellman carry some of the coverage and conduct an interview with the second overall pick, Darlington Nagbe.  The network certainly seems to be grooming him for an expanded role.  ESPN did a good job staying with the entire first round, and despite some awkward moments in passing the broadcast from Bristol to Baltimore, the team did a fairly good job.

Unfortunately for MLS, the drafting of Wayne Rooney’s brother was one of the biggest story of the draft. CNNSI covered the first pick and the second round selection of John Rooney.  ESPN.com wiped coverage of the draft off of its front page within a few hours.  However, its coverage of the draft on the soccernet page was thorough.  CNNSI.com hasd similarly elimanated the coverage from its front page by evening.  Local outlets in Vancouver and Portland provided solid coverage of their local picks.

It’s draft day in Major League Soccer, and once again, ESPN2 will offer coverage of the first round in Baltimore.  As in past years, the draft is in the middle of the day, requring working fans to DVR the draft, watch online or follow one of the many blogs that will offer coverage.  On Thursday we will offer a business blog of the draft and draft coverage.  Last year, the draft was memorable for the presence of the Sons of Ben and Philly’s first ever pick.

Last year’s broadcast was presented by adidas, and commercial advertisers included McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Scottrade, the Post Office and AT&T.  Commercials were actually few and far between.  Screen graphics were easy to follow and highlights were well timed and presented professionally.  Last year Rob Stone was the host of the draft coverage, with Harkes, Hopkins and Lalas on site.  This year, Twellman and Lalas are expected to provide the analysis, with Hopkins manning the convention floor. After the first round, the rest of the draft will be streamed on MLSsoccer.com.

Unlike most leagues, the majority of players in the draft have already signed with the league, either with standard contracts or through the GA program.  Thus, there will be no holdouts and no teams afraid to pick certain players because they cannot afford to sign them.  There is a list of approximately 150 players that are eligible for the draft and all drafted players must come from that list.  There are number of busses sponsored by the league and assorted supporters groups plan on making the trip.

By far, the biggest soccer news of the day was the announcement that Bimbo Bakeries has signed a four year, $12 million dollar deal to serve as the Philadelphia Union jersey sponsor.  As part of the deal, the Bimbo logo will feature prominently on the team’s jerseys while the company will also take an active role in the Union’s youth soccer efforts.  The Union will also have an opportunity to play in a a training camp with other Bimbo franchises, including Saprissa, Chivas and America. Bimbo’s US headquarters are in the Philly area and its name has been penetrating the market in the area for years.

The deal isn’t limited to the Union.  Bimbo will have a sponsorship role with MLS and will be the league’s baked good sponsor.  The brand will also promote a Soccer Mom of the year contest that will provide the winner with a trip to MLS Cup.  Bimbo ads will likely be apparent on league broadcasts and within stadiums.

After the announcement, a number of fans were critical of the choice because of the English connotations of the word bimbo.  People have predicted mocking from non-soccer fans and 15 year old girls getting suspended from school for wearing a Bimbo jersey.  Yet our (admittedly informal) survey revealed that most people will be pretty accepting of the name. This is especially so because Bimbo is expecting to roll out its own identity (rather than the Arnold’s, Boboli, Thomas’, etc… brands it owns) this year.  Bimbo is already a household name in many Hispanic families, and the company hopes to expand that penetration nationwide.

Coming off a three week period that saw the end of the Best Buy and Glidden relationships with teams in MLS, this is great news for the league and the Union.

Few things differentiate the business Major League Soccer from the other major American sports than the availability of the teams’ jersey fronts to potential sponsors.  Over the last few years, major companies such as Best Buy and VW have paid significant dollars to put their names on the uniforms of the teams of MLS.  Both Portland and Vancouver are entering the league with prominent jersey sponsors and Commissioner Garber announced during MLS Cup that multiple new sponsors would be announced in the coming months.   It seemed high times for the league and important source of revenue.

Yet it is not all roses on the jersey sponsorship front.  Although rumors are swirling about a Union sponsor, the second year franchise went its entire first season without a sponsor.  Neither of the teams in MLS Cup 2010 had a jersey sponsor and long standing franchises in New England and Kansas City have been without since their inception. Perhaps even more alarmingly, Chicagp lost its longstanding jersey sponsor Best Buy and the Crew announced the jersey sponsorship relationship with Glidden would not be renewed.

Jersey sponsorships bring revenue to the teams and allow spending on additional players.  Also, in a world where MLS is fighting for credibility among hard core soccer fans, jersey sponsorships provide credibility and a sense of “arrival”.  For the sake of the league, hopefully Garber’s predictions will come to fruition and a number of sponsorships will be announced before the end of the season.

The big weekend story for MLS fans was the combine in Fort Lauderdale. The most notable sponsor name at the combine is adidas, the league Players, coaches, league personnel and other descended on the city for a couple of days of scouting, mingling and more.  Perhaps most notable are the waves of soccer agents who attend the games, stake out the hotels and approach players with an eye towards securing unaffiliated athletes for their roster.  Most report that the agents are largely given a free hand to approach players during the weekend events.

Elsewhere, Commissioner Garber met South Florida soccer fans about the possibility of the league expanding to the Miami area. Garber recommended that fans serious about convincing the league to expand to the area need to support soccer in its current form.  That includes lower division soccer, Champions League and more.  Obviously, the absence of a ready investor and a firm stadium plan presents significant hurdles.  Also significant is the area’s previous failure with the Miami Fusion.  Despite all the noise about support for lower division soccer, the keys for an planned MLS expansion are a wealth investor and a stadium plan.  There have been noises about various investment groups looking.  A while back, it was reported that Barcelona combined with Marcelo Claure and Florida International University to  submit a bid to bring MLS back to South Florida.  That bid seemed to fade away and South Florida seems a long way from a future franchise.

One final point of note.  A close look at the SBJ/Turnkey poll reveals some glaring absences in the universe of MLS Sponsors.  The league has no hotel sponsor, no insurance sponsor, no fast food sponsor, no shipping sponsor and no bank sponsor.   Burger King was the last fast food sponsor for the league and Four Points hotels sponsored the MLS playoffs.  However, these are some glaring omissions from the roster of product categories that could be sponsoring the league.

We are out town today, but the MLS Combine is upon us. We thought it worth re-posting our interview from last year with Buzz Carrick about the business of the event.  Enjoy the post and the great insights from Mr. Carrick.

It’s time for the MLS combine, when college seniors and Generation Adidas players showcase their wares for MLS coaches and general managers.  While the players receive most of the attention, we thought we would take a look at the business side of the combine.  Buzz Carrick, of ESPNDallas.com, and a veteran of covering MLS combines, was kind enough of to answer a few questions for us about the business of the combine.  Mr. Carrick also covers the draft for ESPN.com and provides detailed analysis of the prospect.  Thanks to Mr. Carrick for his answers.

Footiebusiness.com: In what form are league sponsors typically present?  Is there signage,
apparel and/or personnel from these sponsors at the event?  To the extent
sponsor representatives are in attendance, what role do they play?

Buzz Carrick: The only sponsor I recall ever seeing is adidas.  They have signage on
the field and the team jerseys are all provided by them.  Also the teams are
named after shoes in the adidas soccer line.  I don’t know of any sponsor
representatives.

FB: The players will stay at the Westin in Fort Lauderdale.  Are meals
arranged for players? How about travel?  Are events arranged for down time?
Do sponsors get a certain amount of time with select players? Do the players
have non-field MLS responsibilties, such as interviews with MLSnet.com?

BC: I believe meals are arranged and the league pays for travel.  The players
are required to do some combine type testing, sprints, agility etc.  I think
interviews with any media, including MLSnet, are on a request basis.  There
is a chance to talk to any player post each combine game.  Players are given
time off and there is a rest day after the first two.  The keepers run
through a training/scouting session on the off day.

FB: How has media coverage of the event grown over the years?  How many
media typically attend?  What arrangements are made for media with respect
to player/coach access?  Do team personnel make themselves available to
media during the combine?

BC: Media coverage has gone up a little bit over the years but not by much.
Usually there are between 1 or 2 professional media and 5 or 6 “bloggers” on
their own dime.  There are no specific arrangements for media other than
asking the one MLS PR person around for an interview, or just walking up to
any given player after a game.  There is also no specific method to talk to
MLS coaches.  You can either go through the team PR, or just walk over and
talk to them.  There is a press box with one person for PR who has some
basic materials.  The press can also sit in the stands on the side of the
stadium that is coaches/media only.  The public is limited to the “open”
stands on the other side.

FB: Are the players cognizant of those that have GA contracts versus those
fighting to get noticed?  How does this dynamic play itself out?

BC: Yes the players are aware.  There isn’t really any difference that I can
tell, beyond some players signed to deals in advance not playing quite as
hard later in the combine.  Players who have no deal usually play hard
through all three games.  That’s about the only difference, although I don’t
any would admit it.

extra… one thing you didn’t ask is about agents.  All of them are here, or
at least have handlers and reps.  Most of these players go into the combine
and draft without agents, so the agents are here scouting and trying to land
guys at the same time MLS is.  They are ever-present through almost
everything.

Thanks to Buzz Carrick for providing some great insight into the business of the MLS Combine.

On Tuesday we gave a status update on the business aspects of the Portland Timbers’ final weeks before they open against Colorado.  Today, we thought we would take a look at their expansion twin in Vancouver.  The Whitecaps will enter the league as the second Canadian franchise and as one of three teams in the Pacific Northwest.  There are about 72 days until the Whitecaps open against Toronto in what promises to be a fabulous rivalry.

In Vancouver, renovations continue at BC Place, with an expected Summer of 2011 re-opening.  Until then, the Whitecaps will play their games at Empire Field, a 20k seat venue. The new BC Place will have a retractable roof that can open and close in 20 minutes minutes.  The stadium will also feature movable loge boxes that will bring fans of the Whitecaps directly down to the field level.   The stadium will also have a four sided HD television that will be visible from every seat.

On the sponsorship front, Canadian communications giant Bell will be the Whitecaps jersey sponsor when the team starts play in 2011.  The multi-year deal will see all Whitecaps teams wear the uniform,  including men’s, women’s, residency and prospects teams. As part of the relationship, there will also be exclusive mobile video content.  According to the Digital Journal, “through an exclusive agreement with Whitecaps FC and MLS, Bell mobile clients will be able to view unique Whitecaps FC content on their mobile smartphones beginning in 2011. This will include live matches, behind-the-scenes access to Whitecaps players and coaches and other Whitecaps-specific mobile applications.”

Vancouver announced BMO as its initial founding partner.  The four year deal will focus on the Whitecaps youth soccer initiatives and will give BMO a relationship with both of Canada’s MLS franchises.  The relationship will include opportunities for more than 100 local youths to participate in events surrounding Whitecaps home matches at the newly renovated BC Place.  Speaking of the Vancouver, the team also stated that the team has surpassed 16,000 season ticket deposits.  Given historical conversion rates of deposits, this figure bodes well for 2011 Whitecaps attendance.

The Sports Business Journal has reported on the findings of the 2010 “Turnkey Intelligence sponsor awareness survey” which gauged loyalty and awareness of sports fans to the products and companies that pour money into their sports.  MLS sponsors such as Visa, AT&T and Pepsi enjoy significant recognition among fans of Major League Soccer who showed high cognizance that these companies are official league sponsors.  According to the survey, the fans’ recognition of these brands continues to increase with almost 40% of MLS fans recognizing Visa’s official status (over 20% more than two years ago) and more than a quarter of fans recognizing the status of AT&T and Pepsi.

Significantly for prospective MLS sponsors, “in similar surveys fielded in 2010 that tracked brand awareness among fans, the official credit card sponsors of the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA Tour and NASCAR each received lower recognition levels than Visa did in the MLS survey”  As indicated by that statement from the SBJ report, the data suggests that MLS fans are more cognizant of their official sponsors than fans of other sports.  Even more significantly, according to one of the questions on the survey, 80% of avid MLS fans are more likely to recommend a product or service if it has a relationship with the league.

Because of MLS’ relative newness to the sports scene, MLS fans have more “ownership” in the league’s success.  Unlike fans of the NFL, MLB and other mainstream sports, fans of Major League Soccer have real concern about their league and its place on the sports landscape.  Fans work hard to bring friends to games, introduce family to the sport and cheer for MLS teams in international competitions.  This personalized relationship to the sport lends itself to these same fans taking an interest in the corporate entities that keep the league solvent.  Moreover, because the relationships are promoted through means other than commercials (jerseys, signage, etc…), the names of these companies are always prominently displayed.  From a league perspective, this survey should give SUM and MLS ammunition to attract more sponsors impressed with these numbers.

The clock is ticking down to the to the Portland Timbers’ franchise opener on March 19, 2010 in Colorado.  The team has been making great strides towards that day, so we thought we would provide a status update on those efforts.  We’ll start with tickets, where the team has announced that it has sold 10,000 season tickets for its inaugural campaign.  The team has sold out more than 33 sections and all of the suites have sold for multiple years.  The team plans on capping season ticket sales at 12,000, and with more than two months until the first kick, the team has a good shot to sell out its season ticket allotment.

On the stadium front, the PGE Park renovation is continuing towards its March opening.  The team expects to have a new sponsor for the stadium, but the renovation is apparently on schedule.  For those intersted in the status of construction, the team offers a neat one minute time lapse camera of recent construction.  A summary of the renovation and a 3D image viewer of construction is here.

On the sponsorship front, Alaska Airlines signed a multi-year deal to serve as the jersey sponsor of the Portland Timbers.  The airline will be the first domestic carrier to sponsor an MLS team.   The arrangement includes multi level digital advertising at the renovated PGE Park and a role in the Timbers’ youth set-up.  Alaska Airlines employs approximately 2,300  employees in the Portland area.

Finally, the Timbers have embarked on an innovative marketing campaign.  The ads feature Timbers’ fans in a series of poses and prominently features the Timbers logo.  The ads are part of the “We are Timbers” campaign and represent an impressive effort to combine affordable marketing with a catchy slogan and fan involvement.