Michelle Mattis said...

This article is about Nascars new deal with Monogram Food Solutions, a full line of meat products, which will be coming out on Sept. 18. The meat will include hot dogs, bologna, smoked sausage, lunch meats and bacon. Last year NASCAR signed with Castellini Group, distributor of vegetables and fruits. Castellini ships the food out with NASCAR logo on it. NASCAR also signed partnership with ZT Group, first NASCAR licensed computer, fans can buy the officially licensed PC model, notebook Model, and two LCD monitors.
I think that this is good for NASCAR because they are making money off the partnerships with the food and computer products, plus this is giving them more publicity to show that NASCAR is growing.

5:43 PM

"Putting the bite back in the browns". (volume 8, issue 18) by Robert Conrad.

I didn't notice in what kind of shape the browns were in. I know that there not the best team in the NFL and don't get the best ratings. It's sad to see sponserships not wanting to spend as much money as they did the first time trying to sponser the browns. like gaint eagle the store but the most money in history as a food store to sponser a NFL team. But now they don't want to pay that much. i'm not a browns fan but i would like to see them go up in the ranks and be advertised some more. Also i thought it was interesting to read about the browns moving and how the fans didn't agree with that. fans are a huge deal in football cause a lot of money comes from them.

"Sponsors can't wait to get season started" (Volume 8 Issue 18, p.60) by Steve Jackson

This article talked about many differnt companies that are unpatiently waiting for the kickoff the the new season of NFL. They are nameing these types of overly abondent sponsors "Road to" XL. A few of the large companies that are involved in this marketing skeem are Sprint, Pepsi, Coors Light, GM, Motorola, EA Sports, Dairy Management Inc.,Visa, Canon, Campbell's Soup, and Gatorade. Not are they only directing there new adds and promotion to the season but they are going as far as directing it towards the Super bowl. This is in the fourth season of what they call "NFL Kickoff" and they are celebrating more sponsor activity than ever before.

This is something that I like to see because it shows to the future Sports Marketers that companies are more than willing to put there name out there for sports related activities. For the most part these companies are not sports related, the main objective for these poeple is to increase revenue and the way they feel fit is to support the NFL. Although this is the most widely watch sporting event in the United States it still shows that poeple want to pay a price to market there product in a sport related venu.

“Visa expands NFL playbook with new marketing efforts” (vol.8 issue18, p60) by Dave Andrews

Entering in its 11th year as the NFL’s corporate sponsor, Visa is planning one of its more ambitious marketing programs ever. Included in these efforts are a mobile marketing unit which tours the country asking fans to emulate their favor NFL heroes by creating their own choreographed end-zone dance, a youth-targeted financial literacy program, the usual push rewarding card with NFL prizes and a creative television ad.

Visa recently renewed their contract in the early 2004 season with a six year extension worth a total contractual commitment of $300 million. Unlike previous years which Visa used their sponsorship for branding purposes, this year they want to focus more on benefits and specific products they have to offer. For example, the Tom Brady commercial seen on last weeks opening Thursday night’s Oakland Raiders-New England Patriots game emphasized the security that Visa has to offer. This was portrayed by having Tom Brady out to dinner with his five offensive linemen (the players who have the duties of protecting their quarterback).

Other promotional efforts include more than 1,000 prizes that will be given away throughout the entire season which range from Super Bowl trips, plasma TVs and other NFL merchandise. Gift cards will be yet another big push this year; they will include all 32 individual team logos (rights permitting) that will be sold by Visa banks. Last by not least, a financial literacy program that will use an NFL “financial football” version of Visa’s “Practical Money Skills for Life,” in which players will also endorse.

According to Visa, they are “…seeing our biggest activation numbers ever…” said Michael Lynch, senior vice president of event and sponsorship marketing. They also commented on how the NFL is approaching the value of the Olympics to US domestically. Comparing the NFL’s sponsorship to the Olympics is a huge comparison, given that MasterCard (Visa’s top competitor) already has twenty NFL teams locked with exclusive sponsorship. This forces Visa to bring down their marketing efforts to a local reach. That is why they will travel across the nation with this new end zone dance competition.

"Sus Monkey around with new play area" (vol 8, issue 18, p18) by Kevin Conlon

The Phoenix Suns franchise has added a 6,000 square-foot kids play area in the upper deck of their America West Arena home. The franchise shared the multi-million dollar price tag with the city of Phoenix.

In order to complete the project, the franchise had to eliminate many of the upper level parking spaces, but decided that it was a better idea and investment to create the children's play area.

The area itself will be used to test climbing skills of youth at the games, and allow the kids to take a break from games to enjoy themselves with others of the same age. It will also be a spot where the kids can hangout with and play with the Phoenix Gorilla, the mascot for the Suns.

I think this is a creative and unique idea that will be successful and should be in other arenas across the U.S. Kids can easily be distracted and lose focus while attending a game, and this gives them a chance to have fun and not have to be tied down in a seat all night. They can get a chance to run around and have some fun while also enjoying the game atmosphere. It is also good that each kid can spend time with the mascot, because most kids love to meet the mascots at sporting events.

The article says that this play area was made for the working class families with children who arent sitting in the "prime" expensive seats. And its a truly great idea. Kids who are courtside get to be close to all kinds of different entertainment options, but those families who are in the less expensive seats dont have much of a chance to participate in all activities. Now with this new play area in the upper deck, it will give these families and kids something to do and have fun with. I commend the Suns on taking this step, and deciding that the youth is more important than a few parking spaces, and also for helping the middle class families have a little fun.