You’ve Got to Understand Database Marketing in Today’s Sport Climate

This post was authored by Brandon Steffek, a 2009 Ohio University Sport Management graduate. Since graduation, he has been working for Full House Entertainment Database Marketing as Sales and Marketing Consultant.

Full House Entertainment Database Marketing provides targeted sales leads for direct marketing campaigns (direct mail, telemarketing, email). Over 600 sports teams and entertainment organizations have used Full House to find new business and residential customers. Full House works exclusively with sports and entertainment organizations to target businesses and consumers most likely to buy season tickets, group tickets and premium seating (suites, club seating, VIP clubs).

The following is intended to provide a brief overview of how teams use database marketing to improve their organization and generate new revenue. Whether it is professional or college sports; the principles are the same.

Database marketing from my experience can be defined as identifying new customers who possess similar characteristics of sport teams’ existing customers. Whether it’s a particular business industry, or demographic profile of a residential consumer, database marketing can be used to build custom databases of potential new prospects that can be reached through direct marketing campaigns. Database marketing can also be used to collect and market to existing customers.

Luxury Suites: Pro v. College

It has been a while since my last post, sorry! Ohio University has been very busy with the annual Sports Administration and Facility Management Symposium as well as frequent events celebrating the achievements of the undergraduates. The following is based a little bit on my own research, but is mostly the sharing of my own opinion.

As we all suffer through this downturn in the economy, high ticket prices and corporate spending on sports has caught the attention of everyone. The $800,000 Yankees suites got the media talking about corporations that are benefiting from Federal bailout money, yet are still purchasing high priced suites and other forms of premium seating for their clients while we all support their lifestyle. In the realm of college sports, we’ll have to see if any of this discussion trickles over into next season with regard to bad P.R. for any companies identified as spending big bucks for football tickets while they cut jobs, receive Federal funds from all of us, and their clients are trying to put food on their tables.

UNO Athletics; The Students Have Spoken!

The University of New Orleans (UNO) Student-Athletes have had a rough couple of years. First, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the campus and athletic facilities. The result was the suspension of 9 athletic teams and decreased student enrollment. UNO Enrollment has still not recovered to pre-Katrina levels which has severely reduced the athletics funding available from student fees. This, plus recent State budget cuts (athletics share was going to be appprox. $1.5mil) have stressed the finances of the athletics department in a big way. Now, last week UNO students voted “NO” to an increase in student fees to keep athletics functioning.

The result of the “NO” vote by students will likely be the elimination of the entire athletics program. Only if the State Legislature steps in to help (or a major private donor) can the program be saved at this point.

Is college athletics a free market

I was struck by a comment by my good friend Bob Boland at the College Sports Research Institute Conference in Chapel Hill, NC last week. I moderated a panel that included Craig Esherick, the former head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown, Boland, a former collegiate administrator, lawyer, sports agent, and now professor at NYU, Matt Denhart, an Ohio University undergrad representing the Center for College Affordability and Accountability, and Dr. Kadie Otto of Western Carolina, the current Executive Director of The Drake Group.

Bob made a comment regarding coaching salaries and athletic budgets in these tough economic times. He stated that he did not have a problem with coaches earning as much as they can because it is a free market.  Bob is one of the smartest people I know and I certainly understand his rationale, and currently without an anti trust exemption coaches salaries cannot be capped. In a perfect capitalistic economic system this makes sense–but in my opinion intercollegiate athletics (primarily at the D One level) does not exist in a logical economic system given that the generators of the income do not share equitably, or in many cases not at all, in the profits of the enterprise that create the market salaries for coaches.

Coaches Salaries & Using Ohio State as an Example.

Ohio State Athletics Salaries from the Columbus Dispatch

We all know that the discussion of salaries at major NCAA FBS institutions can keep us chatting in the hallways at work or in the classroom for hours. On April 13th, the Columbus Dispatch chronicled “A Decade of Growth” in Ohio State Athletics Salaries. Although, specific to Ohio State, the article reminds us of the tremendous growth over the past 10 years in salaries at the largest and most powerful athletics programs.

Part of me wants to praise Ohio State for supporting all of their coaches with good salaries. The job of being a coach at Ohio State or at any DI institution is not easy and most coaches are underpaid. I’m not talking about football and men’s basketball, but about the other 15-20 programs that DI schools sponsor. Remember, these are folks who place their livelihood in the hands of 17 year olds  during the recruiting process… please choose my school!  They are away from home a large portion of the year traveling with the team and recruiting. Even when they are in town, they are working crazy hours and dealing with everything from girlfriend/boyfriend problems their athletes are having to being a productive member of the athletic department and putting in hours of community service. So, that is the part of me that says, FINALLY – more coaches are being compensated fairly.

What’s in a Name?

Just a few weeks ago, a facility renovation five years in the making finally came to fruition, as supporters of the Miami Hurricanes Baseball Program celebrated the dedication of the completed “Alex Rodriguez Park,” in Coral Gables Florida.  A-Rod Park was funded in part by the controversial major leaguer of the same name as he made a donation of approximately $4 million in 2003.  Although Rodriguez never played for the Hurricanes, he was heavily recruited by the program before signing a major league contract in the early 1990s.

Rodriguez’s gift is rare, but not an anomaly in collegiate athletics, as professional athletes have been contributors to major projects in the past.  What is unique about this situation is the recent developments surrounding Rodriguez’s professional career and his admittance to using performance enhancing drugs.  What, if any, long term effects might this have on the University of Miami?  In addition, what example might this be setting for student athletes on the baseball team?

Collegiate Athletics Not Escaping Economic Concerns

The current state of the economy has people buzzing not only in Washington, but around college campuses all over the country as well. As institutions are coping with decreasing state aid and dwindling endowments, tough decisions are being made on every campus and athletics has not been immune. To date, six Division I institutions have officially dropped a total of 10 sports for the 2009-10 academic year. Unfortunately, the dropping of sports will only increase as institutions process the realities of their FY10 budgets.

If you look at the Division I institutions that have officially announced the dropping of sport programs for FY10 [Portland State, Wagner, Pepperdine, Northern Iowa, Vermont, Iona], none of these schools are considered Division I powerhouses. Couple the fact that they all have limited budgets and resources with an economic downturn, and you create a recipe for needing to make tough and radical decisions. Having been involved in the wrestling community most of my life, I am certainly not an advocate for dropping sport programs.

The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament (Part 2)

The process of hosting the ACC Tournament (and others like it) is a long one. The bids for host city for the 2009 tournament were completed in 2006. The conference set a date for the bids to be submitted from approximately four cities. After receiving the bids, the conference decided which city would suit them best for this year. The winning bid is essentially what is written into contract.

As I said before, the tournament success hinges on the collaboration of several different entities. This collaboration starts with the creation of the bid. Each entity is responsible for its own special offering to the tournament. In this case, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau is responsible for providing hotel and travel information for the bid. This is a vital piece of the bid because it assures the conference that Atlanta has the hotel, restaurants, and entertainment to ACCommodate thousands of fans traveling to the city. In many cases the ACVB creates relationships with certain hotels to provide the conference with discounted hotel rooms, team restaurant packages, or discount packages to attractions such as the aquarium, museums, etc.

National Signing Day – good or bad?

Houston Nutt at a Press Conference from SI.com. Is oversigning players o.k.?

Earlier this year, many fans experienced what is considered to be one of the biggest events in the college football calendar year. Unfortunately, I’m not referring to the BCS national championship game. I’m also not referring to “The Grandaddy Of Them All.”

Arguably, National Signing Day has become as revered by college football fans as any other event during the season. Occurring on the first Wednesday in February each year, National Signing Day provides fans with a glimpse into the future of their favorite college football team.

Recruiting has turned college football into a year round sport. Accordingly, coverage of high school recruiting has become a lucrative business for website networks, mainly Scout.com and Rivals.com. Per NCAA bylaws Coaches and institutions cannot comment on or release information regarding committed recruits until a Letter of Intent is faxed in on signing day; however, team websites on these networks provide extensive information on recruits and their intentions. This information is provided to fans at a cost, approximately $100 a year for a premium subscription.

The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament (Part 1)

Hello all, I appreciate Dr. Lawrence allowing me to contribute to this blog. My name is Jeremy Hammond and I am a ’08 graduate of Ohio University in the sport management undergraduate program. I am now the Event Services Coordinator for the Georgia Dome. My job grows every day and I am surrounded by great people to learn from. My favorite part of the job is the interaction with the client-whether it be the ACC, SEC, Falcons, the bowl, GHSA-building relationships and gaining their trust. The program at OU prepared me for what I hope will be a long career in this industry.

The ACC is coming back to Atlanta for it’s Men’s Basketball Tournament (March12-15) for the first time since 2001. When an event of this scale comes to town, it takes a city-wide effort to make it a success. For the last 8-9 months, staff from the Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta Sports Council, and the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau have been collaborating to ensure that the ACC walks away March 15 thinking “no-one does it like Atlanta”.