Earlier today, Jonathan Goldberg (@JRGoldberg on Twitter) pointed out a promotion that the Florida Panthers just launched. Take a look at the screenshot below:

While the team can’t actually use LeBron James to sell hockey tickets, the references are obvious and offer a creative way to try to leverage the buzz of LeBron’s potential move to Florida to sell hockey tickets.  Panthers President and COO Michael Yormark said “Based on the hype surrounding rumors of a new King headed to South Florida, we wanted to remind our fans that we want them to feel like royalty. Certainly, it’s an exciting time to be part of the South Florida sports industry.” (ESPN.com)

What do you think of this type of promotion? Some people would call it creative and outside-the-box, while others like @JRGoldberg call it “tacky” and says “This makes them look minor league, desperate and silly.” Share your thoughts in the comments (after you watch LeBron’s special of course, which is on in 10 minutes!)

On Tuesday night, I finally took in a New Jersey Devils game at the Prudential Center, which opened back in October of 2007. Having been to several Devils games at the older Continental Airlines Arena (now the Izod Center), I was looking forward to seeing what the new building had to offer. Here are some quick thoughts from the game, including some tweets that I sent during the game.

Stadium Environment

• Taking in the Devils/Bruins game at the Prudential Center. My 1st time here at “The Rock.” Definitely like it http://tweetphoto.com/16470860
• Prudential Center has a great open-back design on one end of the mezzanine seating/concourse area. Unique feel for http://tweetphoto.com/16475479
  • It almost had the same feeling I get when walking a baseball concourse, where you can still see the on-field action while you get to your seat.
• They’re doing Score-O (four fans try a shot from mid-ice with most of the net blocked off). I did Score-O back in high school and made it on the first shot! One of the sports highlights of my life.
  • I was 16 when I did this contest, so that means they’ve been doing it for at least 13 seasons now, and fans still seem to enjoy it, especially when the first guy made the shot.
• Fun video during the break of the Devils’ ushers dancing to the music. Crowd got into it too. http://tweetphoto.com/16480551
  • I love when the personality of the arena staff comes through like this.
• Guy not paying attention to the mascot’s t-shirt toss just got hit it the back of the head w/ a shirt. At least it wasn’t a puck!
• There was a “deck” in one lower corner of the arena where the Devils had some female dancers. The location was odd as only part of the arena could see them, and only some of their dances ended up on the center-hung scoreboard.
• They also featured jerseys of all New Jersey high school and college hockey teams hanging on the walls throughout the entire building.
• The food selection seemed pretty standard with typical prices. The one “extra” that I really noticed was the “Taste of Newark” section on the mezzanine concourse that featured food from popular local restaurants.
• The egress from the mezzanine level was a little rough. They could definitely benefit from additional escalators.

Sponsorship

• The permanent naming rights signage for Prudential Center is prominently featured everywhere inside and outside the building, and always includes both the company name and logo for full branding impact.
• PNC Bank has a strong presence, particularly in the PNC Tower, which is also where the box office is located (more visibility). You can’t miss PNC in the building – they also had frequent appearances on the scoreboard and LED.
• Frank’s Red Hot Sauce was just on the scoreboard and ribbon LED. Don’t think I’ve seen them in any other sports sponsorships.
• Great presence by Verizon at the Prudential Center. Phone demos, sales staff, free co-branded t-shirts, games and more http://tweetphoto.com/16477636
  • I cannot over-emphasize how effective this activation was. There was a “Text Battle” station where kids used Verizon phones to answer Devils trivia, a long line to get the free Devils/Verizon t-shirt (which also included a product demo), and Verizon sales/service staff answering questions and showing off new phones.
• The Belvedere Vodka Ice Lounge premium club seating. Looks very nice inside. http://tweetphoto.com/16477896
• @SeatGeek I walked past it (The Fire Lounge) on the other side. Can’t get into either tonight but they look great. Love the Fire and Ice theme between the two.

Sales

• My favorite Devils sales rep (@isatten) swung by and dropped off a season ticket flyer. And I’m actually contemplating it.
• The Devils have put together some creative season ticket offers, including a 12 month payment plan, guaranteed early purchase/renewal benefits, additional higher-end pay-in-full benefits, and 15 different top-tier prize drawings that all early-buyers are eligible for.
• The team also offers a $15 and $30 price point for select locations, which is a pretty affordable option for hockey tickets (and I firmly believe there is no such thing as a bad seat for a hockey game).

I have to say that I came away very impressed with the arena across the board. I’m sure the Devils are quite happy with it as well!

I attended last night’s Rangers/Thrashers game at Madison Square Garden (unfortunately, the Rangers lost in the shootout). While I was there, I decided to send out a series of sports business “tweets” based on some of my observations. In case you missed them in real time, here they are again for your viewing pleasure. As always, I’d love your feedback and thoughts in the comments.

• Some #sportsbiz thoughts from tonight’s #NYR game: I don’t like the “I am a Ranger” messaging. Been done too many times by other teams.
  • Reply from Stefmara “I am a Ranger” has been their tagline for 3 seasons now.
• I want to ride the SpongeTech zamboni! http://mypict.me/266xU
• Rangers dashers are packed tight, only one spot that I can see with an in-house ticketing message and two for MSG HD.
• No ribbon bands at MSG, which limits inventory a bit. Even so, there is still some internal facade that could easily be used but isn’t.
• Some scattered no shows in the building, but still very good for a Monday vs. Atlanta. Rangers have had a great show rate all year.
• Also find it interesting that the MSG teams refer to their season ticket holders as subscribers. Makes me think of a magazine subscription.
  • Reply from bluejayrock - Or perhaps a subscription to your friendly local cable company, say maybe Cablevision?
  • Reply from mario_prosp – “Subscriber” makes the fan sound more connected w/ the team, “ticket holder” sounds transactional.
  • My reply – I see that perspective. But I also think that of a subscription as something that I can just cancel – I don’t feel invested in it.
• Just had the Coca Cola fan music choice of the game. Nice way to activate in a unique way around a basic part of the game experience.
• Sponsor of the Night: FXDD – in the ice, on screen for replays, text messaging promos. I have no idea who they are, but now I want to know.
• Might have spoke too soon. The NY Lottery’s Human Puck Race was great! Engaging participants and the crowd loved it. http://mypict.me/269e6

Last week the NHL had their 2008-09 end-of-season awards ceremony at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. It was a night to celebrate a great season of hockey, with Alex Ovechkin taking home three awards and three different players from the Bruins winning individual awards.  From all accounts, the event seemed to be a great way for the NHL to cap off a successful year.  However, I want to talk about a different event that took place out there.

While the NHL was taking over Las Vegas, they partnered with PokerStars.net, a free online poker site, and the World Series of Poker for a special charity poker tournament.  The tournament (which was appropriately a “shootout” style event) featured a combination of current NHL players, celebrities and amateur poker players that won their seats through PokerStars.net.  Scott Hartnell from the Philadelphia Flyers ended up winning the event, earning $25,000 for the ASPCA.  You can read more about the event at NHL.com and PokerNews.com.

Now the NHL and the World Series of Poker might seem like an unusual pair of companies to work together.  After all, poker is viewed as a gambling activity, and most professional sports do everything they can to avoid connections to gambling. But in this case, the pairing seemed to work out well for both sides.  The NHL found a way to gain more exposure for their first Las Vegas awards show and create another unique event to add to their get-away weekend. The World Series of Poker got to add a unique hockey flair to their events for a day and tap into some of the NHL’s recent positive publicity.  Take a look at some of the pictures here, courtesy of PokerRoad.com. I particulary like the hockey rink style poker table and the hockey boards in front of the spectators.  They even brought out the Stanley Cup during that day’s WSOP tournament winner’s ceremony.

Ultimately, both “leagues” are looking to increase their public exposure.  The NHL is still viewed as a distant 4th in the “Big 4″ U.S. sports, but is arguably gaining ground.  Meanwhile, poker and the WSOP want to grow their audeince and be viewed as “sports entertainment” with their coverage on ESPN.  I think both brands benefit from an event like this, and they deserve credit for their unlikely partnership.

Here are three quick thoughts on sports business storylines for the 2009 NBA Finals.

• What happens to the Kobe/LeBron ads?  Whether it’s Vitamin Water, Nike or the NBA itself, there was a lot of hype focused on Kobe vs. LeBron.  Now that the Magic have eliminated the Cavaliers, will these ads disappear?  Maybe Nike can add a puppet for Dwight Howard, since those commercials had done so well.
• Speaking of Mr. Howard, how will he be used in the NBA’s marketing efforts, or in the marketing from league partners?  Off the top of my head, I’ve only seen him in the T-Mobile ads where he plays second fiddle to Wade and Barkley.  Howard is a funny, charismatic athlete and should be easy to promote.  When I asked people on Twitter what stories they were following, this was definitely the most common response.
• The ratings for both conference finals were excellent, but will any disappointment about the match-up impact the rating for the finals?  I think there will be a small hit, but they still have the power of the L.A. market.  I think one early win from the Magic would reassure people that it will be a good series and keep the viewers tuned in

And of course, I cannot forget the NHL Stanley Cup Finals, even if I’m two games late!

• How will the declining auto industry and specifically the recent bankruptcy filing by GM affect ticket sales for the games in Detroit.  The Red Wings do a great job drawing fans in, especially in the playoffs, but the fans still need money to buy the tickets.
• Is the rematch from last year’s finals a good thing or a bad thing for the league? Since we’re two games in, we already know some of this answer.  The ratings are upfrom games 1 and 2 last year (which were on Versus) and from NBC’s first two games last year (games 3 and 4).  I would think the league is happy to see the Penguins come out of the East, but it might have been a great opportunity to strengthen the NHL’s presence in Chicago (top 5 media market) if they had advanced over Detroit.
• Does the NHL need to worry about over-marketing Crosby?  Clearly he’s one of the most talented players in the game (arguably #1), but his team is already down 2-0.  Is there a risk to pushing Crosby if his team fails to win again this year?  Maybe there is too much pressure on him to succeed.

Finally, here are the results of the poll that I’ve been running the past two weeks:

While more readers said they were paying closer attention to the NBA playoffs, the numbers are pretty close!  

So what other stories are you following?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!

UPDATE:  Well, it didn’t take Vitamin Water long to get their Dwight Howard ad together! Check out this post from Darren Rovell of CNBC, complete with the commercial video clip.

I recently interviewed Dani Muccio (also know as @dani3boyz on Twitter) regarding all of the NHL Tweetup events (www.nhltweetup.com) that have been taking place throughout this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.

How did the idea for organized NHL Tweetups start and how did you get involved?

It all started with a single tweet. Even in that first tweet, I tagged it #NHLtweetup. After getting my first taste of networking outside of Twitter’s 140 character limit at a tweetup in my area, I thought it would be great to try and gather some of our “Hockey Tweeps” for a gathering in a central location (NYC). Getting like-minded people together is something that I’ve always enjoyed doing through my volunteer work in my community. The idea really took off and quickly evolved into an international event with 23 locations planning events for the first playoff games  The experience of coordinating these events on an international level, revolving around a sport that I love, has really been incredible. The best explanation of what happened after that first tweet was put together by Angela Robson (@goaliegirl) in her blog post which can be found here. I have continued to be the contact person/coordinator for NHLtweetup events. I monitor Twitter for mentions of NHLtweetup and reach out to people who are interested in hosting an event in their area. I supply them the info they need to get started and gather information I need from them in order to help them promote their event via nhltweetup.com and @nhltweetup. Angela Robson created and hosts nhltweetup.com and continues to serve as the site’s administrator.

What has the attendance been like at the various locations?

Attendance varied greatly from location to location. The smallest was in Belfast, Ireland which was dubbed “The Littlest NHLtweetup” with two very enthusiastic attendees. The largest were the first round events  in NYC at the NHL Store and in Nashville, which topped off at about 100 people. All over the US and Canada you could find events that had anywhere from 10-30 attendees.

Have the events grown in popularity as the playoffs progress?

Yes, they have been extremely successful in getting hockey fans together and have gotten quite a bit of media attention. The most exciting, was a mention in USA Today. A quick Google News search of NHLtweetup brings up pages and pages of articles. Each write up touts NHL fans as the most tech-savvy of any major league sport with these events as an example of how social media is being used to connect with and extend its fan fan base.
 
Some locations, such as Washington DC, have had 5 or more events since the inaugural night. Other locations like NYC, Pittsburgh, Denver and Chicago just to name a few, went for Round 2 and Round 3 tweetups and are already discussing a NHLtweetup for the final. Currently, there are two more events that I’m directly involved in that I will attend – one in Farmingdale Long Island on 5/27 and another (maybe two) in Montreal for the draft during the weekend of June 26th. Other events in Seattle, Denver and Cincinnati will take place this week. As soon as the final schedules are released, the planning will start for those games as well.

Are there any plans to organize events like this next season?

Absolutely. I’ve been told as soon as the 2009-10 schedule comes out, I better hold onto my BlackBerry very tightly because a number of cities are going to want to have NHLtweetups during their team’s first away game. I expect the beginning of the season to be pretty big. I’m looking forward to it. This is something that I’ve enjoyed doing and will continue to do so as long as the demand is there.

What have you learned from NHL Tweetups that other teams/leagues could benefit from?

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that hockey isn’t “celebrated” the same way in all markets. Whereas some areas, such as NY and NJ, have “social hockey fans” that will get together to watch just about any team play, other areas such as San Jose, Detroit, and most of the Canadian market, are team loyal and are mostly interested in their local teams and not the NHL overall. Identifying these differences and marketing appropriately would be beneficial to the fans as well as the teams and league.

Also, the league and teams should not dismiss social media outlets such as Twitter, or the fans that utilize it. NHLtweetup is proof that this is a powerful tool for for connecting with the fans and bringing them together. These outlets are also a valuable tool in drawing attention to the sport and raising interest in the more passive fans or creating new ones altogether. The events that were supported by the NHL and/or their local teams had the best turnout and were more likely to have follow up events.

If you want more info, you can visit:

• http://delicious.com/angela/nhltweetup (List of links that contain mentions of NHLtweetup)
• http://www.blogtalkradio.com/PredsOnTheGlass/2009/04/28/PredsOnTheGlass-Radio- (A podcast with Dani and Buddy Oakes from PredsOnTheGlass)

Everyone here has most likely seen this classic sports commercial, featuring a very intense game of HORSE between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird:

Why doesn’t the NHL (or one of the NHL’s top sponsors) create a similar commercial featuring Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin?  These two are clearly the most marketable players in the league, and on top of that, they have quite the individual rivalry brewing.  How hard would it be to put the two of them together in a hockey-style HORSE match? 

If I was creating this commercial, I’d even try to make it as close to the commercial above as possible.  In fact, isn’t McDonald’s a league sponsor?  They should be the company to recreate it.  Combining the nostalgia of the original commercial with the top two emerging stars of the NHL would be an instant hit!  Someone get McDonald’s and the NHL on the line!

This year, the NHL is going “big time” with their end of season awards by hosting an all-out awards show next month in Las Vegas.  Take a look at the image below which is from an email I recently received:

I think this is a brilliant idea.  Right now, the only sports awards show in existence is the ESPYs, and that show has gained popularity over time, so if you were the NHL, why not put on your own production? Other leagues handle their awards with little more than some press releases, and maybe a quick trophy presentation before a playoff game.  This is a chance for the NHL to gain more attention for their sport by highlighting the best players and moments from the season.  Hopefully, the event will get the full “awards-show treatment” complete with the red carpet intro and plenty on celebrities from both the sports and entertainment worlds. Another nice touch is that fans can by tickets to attend the actual ceremony at ticketmaster.com/nhlawards, and of course the show will be broadcast on Versus. If this event is a success, I would not be surprised to see other leagues copy the idea for their next season’s awards! You can read more about this event at NHL.com.

On a personal note, this is the 200th post on TheBusinessOfSports.com. Thank you to everyone who reads and follows the site. I really appreciate your support, and I hope you all continue to find the site informative, entertaining and valuable.

By this point, most people know that the Phoenix Coyotes have declared for bankruptcy and the team will end up being sold to someone.  Beyond that, the story gets interesting depending on who you ask and what perspective you’re looking at the situation from.  Here is a quick run down of the parties involved in this dilemma:

Jim Balsille - The Blackberry billionaire has been trying to buy an NHL franchise for a while now (he previously tried to buy the Predators), and he’s made an offer that the current Coyotes owner wants to accept.  However, Balsille will only buy the team if he can move the franchise to Ontario.

Jerry Boyes - The current Coyotes owner has lost millions on the team (as much as $100M depending on what reports you look at). The team has filed for bankruptcy, and Boyes wants to sell the team to Balsille because it is currently the best offer.  However, the NHL feels that Boyes does not have the authority to accept the offer, because…

Gary Bettman and the NHL - According to sources, the NHL has actually been in control of the team for some period time, possibly dating back to the fall when they loaned the franchise a lot of money. They want to help Moyes sell the team, but not to Balsille.

The City of Glendale – The city wants to keep the team in town and force them to honor the 30 year lease with Jobing.com Arena that was signed.  They are taking the team to court over this – the only way the team could get out of their lease would be through the bankruptcy process.

The Canadian Public - There is an online/grassroots movement to support Balsille’s bid and bring a 7th team to Canada.  They have created the website www.makeitseven.ca, and you can also find them on Twitter and Facebook. It’s too early to tell what type of impact this support could have.

There are lots of moving parts to this situation, and I have no idea how they will all play out.  This is definitely a story to watch closely!

I’m watching the Rangers/Capitals playoff game this afternoon (which is quite a fun game to watch), and on the bottom of the screen, they mention the NHL Star Cam.  Apparently, NHL.com is offering a live stream that follows around the star player of the game, which for this game is clearly Alexander Ovechkin (when Ovechkin is off the ice, the camera follows a different star player).  If you visit NHL.com during the game, you can play the stream right from the home page.

This is an interesting way to promote and market hockey.  Normally, teams and leagues are hesitant to focus their marketing around specific players.  This approach can backfire if a player is traded, gets hurt, or simply under-performs.  Also, most sports believe that marketing the team or the game itself is enough to generate interest from their fans and potential fans.  However, since the NHL has had some trouble generating as much public interest over the past couple of years, I like that they are trying new things.  In particularly, the league has two very marketable players in Crosby and Ovechkin, and they should find new ways to leverage these superstars wherever possible.  The star cam also offers a unique way of viewing the game that existing fans will appreciate.