In today’s Sports Business Daily, there was an interesting article about a 2K Sports ad for their tennis video game Top Spin 4 featuring Serena Williams that was supposedly rejected for being too sexy. The ad has ended up on YouTube anyway, so before we discuss further, you can see it for yourself:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2yolyf2kVQ

The decision on whether or not to use a commercial like this comes down to a conflict between two opposing forces. On one hand, you have the fundamental (albeit cliche) idea that “sex sells,” and on the other hand, you have the debate as to what is and isn’t in good taste. Serena Williams is widely recognized as having tremendous sex appeal, which combined with her tremendous on-the-court success has made her into an iconic figure in sports, fashion and pop culture. So the idea of using a sexy image of her seems like a logical option. But does the combination of revealing outfits, poses and grunting turn sex appeal into something trashy? This is where 2K Sports must have ultimately felt this particular spot went too far.

Now I have three other questions to ponder, and I’d love your thoughts…

1. Would this ad have led to more sales for Top Spin 4 than a more conservative advertising approach?
2. Would running this commercial have adversely affected the brand of 2K Sports? Or for Serena herself?
3. Are ads like this a good or bad thing for women’s tennis overall?

I’m still going back and forth on these myself. I think you can make a good argument that this approach would have sold more copies of this particular game, but that short-term spike may not worth the risk of longer-term brand devaluation.

As for women’s tennis, the idea of using sex appeal to promote women’s sports actually came up at the Women in Sports panel at the Global Sports Forum two weeks ago. Even these distinguished panelists seemed unsure about what’s best in situations like this. Some felt that anything that increases the level of media exposure for women’s sports would be a positive thing in the long-term, whereas others were more concerned about maintaining a positive image. If they can’t decide what the best approach is, it’s not surprising that these decisions are so tough.

I don’t write much about tennis here, so when a friend of mine sent me a press release about a tennis partnership that combines a major sporting event (US Open), a top athlete (Venus Williams), cool technology (a virtual interactive clinic), a top fashion line (Polo Ralph Lauren), a premium sponsor (Mercedes-Benz) and fundraising (Women’s Sports Foundation), I thought I would share some of the release with you. This is the type of partnership-driven event that really creates value for every party and brand involved, from the sponsors to the consumers.

POLO RALPH LAUREN PRESENTS THE LEGENDS CLINIC FEATURING VENUS WILLIAMS

In celebration of its sixth year as the Official Apparel Sponsor of the US Open Tennis Championships, Polo Ralph Lauren presents the Legends Clinic with Venus Williams, a live interactive virtual tennis clinic produced in partnership with Mercedes-Benz at New York’s SPORTIME Tennis Center on Randall’s Island on August 26 at 2:00PM EST. Tennis enthusiasts around the world will tune in as seven-time Grand Slam Champion Venus Williams answers questions, demonstrates technique and offers hints and tips on how to improve your game during this live one-hour interactive clinic. The clinic will reach a global audience as it will be streamed live online exclusively at RalphLauren.com and accessible on mobile devices at m.ralphlauren.com/USOpen.

“The Legends Clinic is ground-breaking. This is a dynamic way of connecting fashion, technology and sports in a way that has never been done before,” said David Lauren, Senior Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. “We are providing our customers around the world a unique experience to personally connect with one of the world’s premier tennis legends while she is engaged in her sport.”

Ralph Lauren will design a limited-edition dress in partnership with Eleven to be worn by Venus Williams during the Legends Clinic as well as a special limited-edition US Open polo shirt to accompany the collection. Both the Ralph Lauren designed limited-edition dress and polo shirt will be available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop and online at RalphLauren.com. Additionally, the limited-edition US Open polo shirt will be exclusively available at Macy’s Herald Square in New York. Fifteen percent of sales will be donated to the Women’s Sports Foundation, dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.

“It is truly exciting to partner with Polo Ralph Lauren in this unique endeavor and to bring my professional expertise and personal experiences to tennis fans around the world,” said Venus Williams.

The Ralph Lauren US Open collection is available on-site at the US Open Polo Ralph Lauren shop open for the duration of the tournament. The store also features a wide selection of items such as tote bags, tennis dresses, skirts, sweaters, commemorative caps, classic Polo shirts for men and women. The collection will also be available at select Ralph Lauren stores, department stores and online at Ralphlauren.com.

As part of the Legends Clinic, Mercedes-Benz, the official vehicle of the US Open Tennis Championship and presenting sponsor of the Men’s Single Championship, will highlight its new SLS AMG supercar that draws inspiration from the 1954 300SL Gullwing, a legendary car known for its iconic style and innovation.

This announcement reinforces Polo Ralph Lauren’s leadership in major sporting initiatives. The company also serves as the Official Outfitter of the Wimbledon Championships and will be the Proud Outfitter for the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Polo Ralph Lauren also sponsors an elite roster of professional golfers, as well as the Blackwatch Polo Team.

Today we have a special guest post and contest for everyone. Donald Dell, Founder of ProServ and President of Blue Entertainment Sports Television (BEST) recently released his new book, “Never Make the First Offer (Except When You Should) – Wisdom from a Master Dealmaker.” You can learn more about the book and watch video clips of interviews with Donald by visiting www.donalddell.com.

Donald has graciously provided an excerpt from the book below, and we’ve put together a contest to celebrate the book release. We are giving away three copies of his book, and there are three different ways to win. You can…

• Add a comment on this post (and make it relevant – unrelated comments will be deleted)
• Tweet this post clicking the “retweet” button at the top left
• Leave a comment on The Business of Sports Facebook Fan Page regarding this post

One lucky winner will be randomly chosen from each of the three different audiences, and you can enter via all three methods (only one entry per person will count for each method of entry). The contest will run from now until Sunday at 12pm EST. Good luck, and enjoy the book excerpt!

Look at the Big Picture

The biggest problem with accurately reading situations is to understand that you are part of the problem. In other words, since you are inside the situation yourself, it is hard to look at it purely objectively. Sometimes it can be really helpful to take a moment to step back and look at the big picture. How are you progressing in terms of reaching your objectives? What is standing in the way? What is your part in it? What can you do about it?

Even though this anecdote isn’t strictly about business, I want to tell a story that illustrates this point of looking past the minutiae at the larger picture. In fact, I want to tell it because, first, many of the lessons in this book can and should be applied to personal as well as professional matters, and, second, it has never been told before. Had it come out when it took place, twenty-five years ago, it would have made front-page headlines all over the world and probably gotten Bill Talbert and me ostracized from tennis. It is the story of how I helped to salvage the finals of the 1983 U.S. Open in a match between Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors.

During practice on the day before the finals, Connors ended up with a giant blood blister between two of his toes. It was like a stone bruise – really big and really painful. On the morning of the match Jimmy tried to practice, but not only couldn’t he run, he could barely walk. Shortly thereafter I got a call from Jimmy’s mother, Gloria, who said, “Jimbo can’t play. Default him. He’s out.”

When I heard this, I thought: “Jimmy’s thirty-two years old. He may never get this opportunity again. CBS and the USTA are going to go ballistic (not to mention the tennis public) if the U.S. Open finals doesn’t happen.” The growth of tennis had started to plateau, and I could see this non-final really hurting the game. Once I stepped back and considered all the options, I felt I had to do something.

Through a friend I got in touch with the New York Jets’ team trainer, told him the situation, and asked him if there was anything he could do to relieve the pain. “Sure,” he said. “I could shoot him up with Xylocaine,” which is like a souped-up version of novocaine. This would mean Jimmy wouldn’t be able to feel the toes that were in pain.

So I asked my Jets trainer friend, “How would you like to attend the finals of the U.S. Open?”

Now I had to persuade Jimmy to go along with the plan. I walked into the locker room. There were about five people surrounding Jimmy – including his wife, Patti, his bodyguard, and one of our agents – but fortunately, not his mother. I said, “Give me a few minutes alone with Jimmy.”

Once we were alone, I said, “What’s the story?”

“I can’t play,” he said. “I’ve got to default. Even if I could limp around, I’d rather not play than have Lendl beat me.”

“What if we could fix your foot so you could play?” I said, and then I told him about the trainer for the Jets.

He was still unsure, so I said, “Let’s be honest here, Jimmy. You’re thirty-two years old, and you have a shot at winning your fifth Open. I know you think you’ll be back, but we both know there’s a good chance you may never get to the finals again.”

He said, “Well . . . if you handle my mother . . . ”

I said, “I’ll get the trainer.”

The trainer told us the shot would last about an hour and a half, so I thought, “Damn. I’m going to have to find some way to pull Jimmy off the court in the middle of the match so the doctor can shoot his foot up again.”

I then went to the tournament chairman, Bill Talbert, and told him what was going on. “I can’t authorize that,” he said.

I said, “Well, you have two choices. You can let me fix his foot, or he’ll default and you’ll have no tournament final.”

Talbert said, “I never heard about this.”

Under the tournament rules, each player can leave the court once at any time for a bathroom break, so I went to the tournament supervisor and told him, “I’m going to take Connors off the court at some point for a bathroom break. I don’t want any interference. I don’t want anyone bothering him. I also want the biggest policeman you can find sitting in a chair right out front of that bathroom door. And when Jimmy goes in, I want that cop to block the door so no one can get in there.”

He wasn’t too happy about this, but Talbert was standing right there, so he nodded.

This was in the old stadium, the Louis Armstrong. One of the bathrooms is located directly across the court, slightly to the left. I told the trainer I’d give him a hand signal when it was time for him to go into the bathroom . . . and hide.

Finally the match started, and I began to wonder, “If this goes more than three hours, we’re dead.” Jimmy won the first set 6–3 but promptly lost the second set 6–7.

Now the score was 2–1 in the third, and Jimmy had started to limp noticeably. I signaled the trainer.

Jimmy called for a bathroom break and started to walk across the court. Meanwhile, Ivan Lendl, who is very smart and very cagey, was the only one in the stadium who figured it out. He started screaming to the tournament supervisor, “Watch his foot! Don’t let anyone touch his foot! Don’t let him out of your sight!” But no one paid any attention— or, more likely, the officials decided to ignore him. If they chose somebody to accompany Jimmy into the bathroom, we’d be out of luck.

Connors came back to win the third set and the fourth, and made tennis history by becoming the only man at that time to have won the U.S. Open five times. (Pete Sampras would later repeat the feat.)

Afterward the official doctor for the Open, Dr. Irving Glick, came up to me and said, “Donald, I don’t know what you did, and I don’t want to know.”

I said, “If that’s the way you feel, fine. But I can live with what I did.”

At the press conference later, the first question to Jimmy was, “Why did you have to leave the court?”

“I had a horrible attack of diarrhea,” Jimmy said, and that became the official story that appeared the next day in the New York Times and the Washington Post and was told on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The US Open receives a lot of credit for some of their creative and engaging sponsor activation opportunities. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the event myself to write a recap, but the good folks at PartnershipActivation.com and SponsorPitch.com have let me “borrow” some of their great recaps to share with you here.

The US Open Smash Zone – The US Open worked with Synergy Events to create this incredible fan engagement experience at the USTA Indoor Training Center. There were multiple opportunities to play different style tennis games, including the American Express “Challenge a Pro” green screen exhibit that puts you into a “virtual” match with a professional player. Check out this video example below, and read the full write-up at PartnershipActivation.com:

Mobile Engagement from Chase and American Express (via SponsorPitch.com) – Chase had a simple but effective text-to-win program where fans could enter via a mobile text message to win free tickets. Meanwhile, American Express had both a branded iPhone application that provided live scores and American Express Radio Live that let fans listen to live commentary while watching the matches.

Mass-Mutual Half a Racket Game (via SponsorPitch.com) – Attendees could participate in this game, playing with literally half of an actual tennis racket. Seems a bit frustrating, but it emphasizes the point of how difficult it is to manage with half of anything, such as the income most people get while on disability, thus providing a unique way for Mass Mutual to promote their supplemental disability insurance.

Creative Brand Elements from Continental and Others (via PartnershipActivation.com) – This airplane built out of tennis balls that was part of the Continental booth definitely help catch people’s attention. There were several other creative and effective branding displays, such as the Heineken Pub, a giant Lexus tennis ball and a truly “oversized” Wilson racket. Visit PartnershipActivation.com for more great pictures.

The Basic Booth Approach (via SponsorPitch.com) – Some companies, like SpongeTech and Oikos Yogurt, took the basic route of product display and free samples. As long as you have a good location for these booths, this can still be a very effective way to connect with potential customers at the event.

Thanks again to the guys at PartnershipActivation and SponsorPitch for sharing their great US Open activation content.