Most Valuable Puppets

In 1992 Reebok launched the infamous "Dan & Dave" ad campaign that centered around Olympic decathlete rivals Dan O'Brien and Dave Johnson that was built up for months of hype leading up to the Barcelona Games and ultimately suffered an epic fail. The one small problem that Reebok didn't foresee was Dan O'Brien failing to qualify for the Olympics.

Nike launched a "Most Valuable Puppets" campaign at the start of the NBA playoffs. The ads are a hilarious send-up of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant in puppet form a la Crank Yankers. The only problem is that Nike was banking on LeBron's Cavaliers and Kobe's Lakers meeting up in the NBA Finals. The Lakers held up their end of the bargain but the Cleveland LeBron's got upset in the Eastern Conference finals by the Orlando Magic. Nike's gambling faux pas isn't on Reebok's level but it's still got to sting for the Swooshers in Oregon.

Just in case these ads are taken off the air, enjoy what was a fun ad campaign.

The first step in LeBron's quest to become a billionaire

A few years ago LeBron James let everyone in on a goal he has set for himself: he wants to become the world's first billionaire athlete. It's good to have goals but I gotta think having a better than just adequate supporting cast in Cleveland is priority goal No.1 right now.

In any case, LBJ's long-term financial quest goal has been made a little more possible as a result of a slight ownership change that was made with the Cavaliers earlier this month. According to reports, a Chinese investment group has bought an ownership in the Cavs and their arena.

The partnership with a Chinese group would obviously give more marketing opportunities for LeBron in Asia. Asia is a huge gateway for any athlete looking for global marketing success with the establishment of a strong image and brand (i.e David Beckham, Michael Jordan)

Was this simply a shrewd move on the Cavs part to sweeten the pot in enticing LeBron to stay with the team after 2010, when he can opt out of his current deal and become and free agent?

" There has been ongoing speculation that James will leave Cleveland to play in a larger market like New York or Los Angeles because of the vast business opportunities. But James -- and his corporate sponsors like Nike -- have broader goals and may be able to attain them by tapping into China's colossal consumer marketplace without him ever leaving Cleveland." - Source: ESPN.com (AP)

Champions Hockey League

As a follow-up to my posting about all the money that can be had at Football's UEFA Champions League, I thought it would be interesting to compare the juggernaut against Hockey's own Champions League, which was played out it's inaugural season for the 2008-2009 campaign. The Swiss league team of ZSC Lions Zurich ended up defeating the Russian Kontinental Hockey League's Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the final.

Here's a bit of a background on the nature of the tourney:

"The Champions Hockey League is planned over 60 games and five stages with 30 teams from 24 nations. However, the inaugural season 2008-2009 will be played with 12 teams and without the full qualification programme, yet.

The 12-team Champions Hockey League group stage will feature the national champions (playoff winners) from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. Additionally, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden will be represented by a second team - the winner of the regular season (or the second of the regular season, if the regular season winner is also playoff winner)."

The prize money for the Champions Hockey League breakdown as follows:

• 300,000 Euro per team (appearance fee)


• 50,000 Euro for each win in the group stage


• 200,000 Euro for semi-final appearance


• 1,000,000 Euro to the CHL winner


• 500,000 Euro for the other finalist


• 300,000 Euro to each participating league


• 100,000 Euro to each participating national association


• 100,000 Euro in the qualifying round (50,000 Euro each for the 2nd- and 3rd-placed team)

Champions League Money

On Wednesday Manchester United and Barcelona, two of the world's most prestigious football clubs will face off in the UEFA Champions League Final.

The results of a study commissioned by Champions League sponsor Mastercard that examines the financial windfall that the top European football club competition brings in was released late last year, the results of which are interesting.

According to the study each club on average draws €38.45million for reaching the knockout stage (Final 16) of the Champions League. Appropriately, the study speculates on the potential earnings of super clubs like Man U and Barcelona, who coincidentally just happen to be our finalists this year:

"For sides with the largest fan bases, such as Manchester United FC and FC Barcelona, the figure rises to €46.14million. The study also suggests the team which wins the final could make up to €110.35million in the process."

The breakdown of UEFA prize money is as follows:

"UEFA awards €3million to each team that qualifies for the UEFA Champions League, plus €2.4million for participating in the Group stage. A Group stage win was worth €600,000 per game, or €300,000 for a draw. Reaching the first knockout phase has netted an instant €2.2million prize payment. A side qualifying for the knockout phase will secure on average €9.4million in UEFA prize monies.

In total, UEFA prize money adds €2.5 million for each quarter-finalist, €3 million for each semi-finalist, €4 million for the runners-up and €7 million for the winners. According to the MasterCard study, the side that wins UEFA Champions League trophy in 2009 could earn up to a total of €21.9million in prize money, an expected €9.5million market pool payment, €19.95million in ticket revenues, €14million in commercial and marketing revenues, €15 million in increased squad value, and up to €30million in other premiums associated with progression to the Final and victory, including bonus payments linked to sponsorship."

Questionable playoff song choice by the NHL on TSN

The NHL on TSN has been running promos and cuing up games through the postseason with the use of Filter's breakthrough song "Hey Man, Nice Shot". I'm not going to debate that the song is terrific but the choice of it for a playoff campaign is a bit peculiar.



First of all the song is 14 years old, which makes it more appropriate for the play list that the baby boomers who program the music for the NBA on ABC use and secondly and most importantly the song is about suicide. And it's not like the song's message isn't clear, it's quite common knowledge that this song is about suicide, and specifically the public suicide of a U.S. politician who shot himself in the head on live TV. Good times!

TSN has used the "One Shot" slogan to go with the song but unless they are just taking the phrase "Sudden Death" too literally I'm not sure why they couldn't have found another song without such a negative and strong connotation.

Chris Bosh wins the rights to his own website

The ruling made by a California Federal Court last month to give Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh rights to the web domain chrisbosh.com could be a precedent setting case for other athletes.

According to the press release:

"The court ordered that Luis Zavala, and his company Hoopology.com, which registered the domain "chrisbosh.com", turn over the domain to Bosh and cease all infringing conduct. The infringing website displayed ads using Chris Bosh's name to generate revenue for Zavala and Hoopology.com, and had no actual association to Bosh. Zavala and Hoopology.com currently own nearly 800 other domains incorporating the names of various professional athletes, college and high school athletes as well as well-known entertainers, product names and other entertainment properties.

The court ordered the transfer of the domain and $120,000, which includes statutory damages, prejudgment interest, attorney's fees and costs." Source: PR Newswire

ESPN scores large with Rockets-Lakers

The NHL has already enjoyed great viewership numbers this post-season led by the captivating Penguins-Capitals 2nd round series, well know the NBA is able to boast their own success.

ESPN drew it's largest ever audience for NBA basketball with it's showing of Game 6 of the Lakers-Rockets series, netting 7.35M viewers. This is ESPN's 8 year of broadcasting the NBA.

"The game earned a 5.4 national rating and a 16.0 rating in Houston, ESPN's highest local rating for an NBA telecast. ESPN's audience for its six conference semifinal games is up 16 percent from last year." Source - ESPN

Crosby + Malkin + Ovechkin = Huge Ratings

The Pittsburgh Penguins - Washington Capitals series may go down as the greatest 2nd round series in NHL history. That fact that NHL's three best players are duking it out in a fashion we've rarely seen is a true treat, I mean we never got to watch Lemieux vs. Gretzky in a playoff series.

Not surprisingly the TV ratings for the instant classic series are terrific.

"FSN Pittsburgh earned a massive 21.38 rating for Saturday's Game 5, the highest-rated NHL game on any FSN regional sports network. Versus recorded a 1.2 rating during its national telecast of Game 2, making that the highest-rated and most-watched second-round game on cable since 2002. " Source: Washington Post

Just Another Reason Why ESPN Needs to Start Airing Hockey Again

Not enough that hockey fans in the U.S. are being shutout of hockey coverage in some markets where the Versus network is unavailable, now the NHL's broadcast partner is teasing those fans that actually have the network by promoting games that they're not even offering:

Source: Kukla's Korner

"From VERSUS’ NHL Twitter Feed:
Versus coverage starts at 5:00PMET w/ ANA at DET! Go to versus.com/nhl & scroll to the bottom to find your VS channel!

The only problem is the game is not on Versus. The game is on regional networks in the US, plus the NHL Network, TSN and RDS."

Pitt Pens Txt Msg Erreor

The Pittsburgh Penguins communication staff had to offer a mea culpa to their fans earlier last week when they mistakenly erred in sending out a congratulations cell phone text message to 450 fans telling them they've won tix for an upcoming playoff game. The message should have been sent to only one fan.

But credit to Pens, they showed the right way to handle such a situation by making amends with their fans.

"Those who received the message in error got an automated call explaining the mistake and were supposed to be contacted by a team staffer today.

People who received the message by mistake are to receive two tickets to a regular-season game in 2009-10, a Penguins T-shirt and cap and a $25 gift card."

New Owner and Location for the Phoenix Coyotes?

Stop me if you've already heard this story: Jim Balsillie is interested in buying a hockey club in a financial peril and ready to move them to Southern Ontario.

That's right, he's baacck. Here's a statement from his press release:

"The current team ownership asked that I table an offer to purchase the Coyotes and significant discussions resulted in an offer that is in the best interests of the franchise, the NHL, and the great hockey fans of Canada and Southern Ontario," Mr. Balsillie said.

"I am excited to move closer to bringing an NHL franchise to what I believe is one of the best un-served hockey markets in the world, Southern Ontario. A market with devoted hockey fans, a rich hockey history, a growing and diversified economy and a population of more than 7 million people,"

According to numerous reports last week the NHL is now running the Phoenix Coyotes.

And now the latest news coming out of Arizona is that Coyotes have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Detroit Pistons Offer Tickets to Cavs' Fans

This was an forgettable season for the Detroit Pistons it started with the ill-fated trade of MVP-candidate Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson and ended with a four-game sweep at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Pistons also saw their 259 game sellout streak at the Palace of Auburn Hills end. By the end of the year Pistons' tix became such an easy draw that the Pistons even offered playoff ducats to the Cavaliers to sell to their season ticket holders.

"The Pistons gave the Cavs permission to e-mail their season-ticket holders with a phone number to call if they wanted tickets to Game 3 or 4, as the team insisted it has done since 1984 with visiting teams during the playoffs. Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek said 140 tickets were sold to Cleveland fans, who responded to the e-mail"

You have to question the Pistons practice of offering up playoff tickets to opposing fans regardless of the number offered.

Another Basketball Phenom Goes Overseas

A few months ago I wrote about the interesting experiment of hoops star Brandon Jennings spurning NCAA hoops in favour of playing pro basketball and earning $1.2M in salary and endorsements; well now Jeremy Tyler is following suit.

According to a NY Times story: "Jeremy Tyler, a 6-foot-11 high school junior whom some consider the best American big man since Greg Oden, says he will be taking a new path to the N.B.A. He has left San Diego High School and said this week that he would skip his senior year to play professionally in Europe."

Tyler's case differs slightly from Jennings' in that Jennings graduated high school first before flying overseas whereas Tyler is just leaving High School early.

How does Tyler justify the decision?

“Nowadays people look to college for more off-the-court stuff versus being in the gym and getting better,” Tyler said. “If you’re really focused on getting better, you go play pro somewhere. Pro guys will get you way better than playing against college guys.”

Yankees & Mets Out-Price Their New Parks

The New York Yankees and the New York Mets have both opened their new ballparks at the worst possible time: during a recession. The results of the ill-fated openings have been glaringly obvious by all the premium seats that remain empty throughout the early part of the season.

The New York Times ran a good piece on the struggles of the New York-based clubs to sell some of their more expensive seats:

"The empty seats are a fresh sign that the teams might have miscalculated how much fans and corporations were willing to spend, particularly during a deep recession. Whatever the reason, the teams are scrambling to comb over their $295- to $2,625-a-seat bald spots."

"Still, the teams are trying to drum up sales. The Yankees have hired Douglas Elliman Worldwide Consulting, which promotes and markets real estate projects for developers, to sell premium seats to high-end residential customers. The team has also extensively advertised the availability of the high-priced seats, and invited potential buyers to visit the Stadium at a Select-a-Seat weekend last month."

"Unable to sell season-ticket plans for about 100 of their best seats, the Mets have been auctioning them off one game at a time. At least one fan took the bait, paying $7,500 for two seats behind home plate on opening night."

Update: Even with a price cut the Yankees are still struggling to sell tickets.