Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126636
NFL's split with Sprint quickly became an ugly divorce THE LEFTON REPORT TERRY LEFTON his reporter has been married to the same saintly woman for 3D -plus years , so while we don't know much about separations , we are certain th ere is no easy way to say " I wan t a divorce" after a lengthy relati onsh ip. We have heard tales of amica ble breakups, but Sprint's recent separation from th e NFL was not one of those. We can't blame the NFL for taking th e bigger bucks and opting for NO. 1cell carr ier Verizon Wireless' cons iderab ly larger network. Still, Sprint marketers headed to the Super Bowl last month thinking "we were very, very close" to renewing the leagu e deal they or iginally signed in 2005. Until word slipped out at th e Friday night Commissioner 's Party that Sprint was out. That left its marketers, including Bill Morgan, senior vice president of corporate mark eting, scrambling since top personnel, including CEO Dan Hesse, were arriving imminentl y without knowin g th at the NFL had hung up on Sprint. Perh aps they were mis guided to expect a smoother transition, but recall the hundreds of millions that Spr int had spent T SBJ ~ ~ l! The league dumped Sprintin favorof bigger bucksoffered by Verizon Wireless. promoting th e NFL in its two separate stints as NFL sponsors, including an ad for its Boost Mobil e brand in thi s year's Super Bowl. At a min imum , Sprint shouldn't have left that relationship rooting for an NFL work stoppage. "They [the NFL] did wha t they did with good justification," said one senior mark eter fam iliar with the deal. "The way they handled the transition - or at least th at portion - was as bad as I have ever seen." We note th at Sprint's exclusive negoti- IN~DEPTH ating window expired well before th e last NFL season started, but we also know that the dynami sm of the wireless market cannot be overstated. The NFL's side of all this? "We enjoyed the Sprint partnership and working with their entire organ izat ion," said Brian McCarthy, vice president of commun icatio ns. We will be interested to see where Sprint goes after its NFL league sponsorship . There has been some chatter that Sprint will retain some sort of football presence on its hand sets. Recalling that Sprint is title sponsor of NASCAR's top circuit, the company does not strike us as an ambusher of an y sort. Still, it closed last season with around eight NFL team deals, so a locaIIy based NFL content platform is a possibility, or perhaps one based on NFL media buys. Sprint is th e incumbent sponsor of CBS's Sund ay NFL halftime show.As one marketer with hands on the wheel advised us, an y re placement NFL deal "doesn't have to be sports or even sponsorship necessarily,just some platform or programming that drives customer acquis ition or subscription revenue:' We hope that one ends more smoothly. > GROWING AUTHORITY: Fox NFL analys t Michael Strahan is rapidly becoming th e face of The Sports Au t hority, th e full-line sporting-goods reta iler that has 462 stores in 45 states. The follow-up to the "fish-out-of-water" in-house Sports Authority TV ad that had Strahan hitting baseballs while touting Easton bats is an ad where th e former New YorkGiants defensive end plays lacrosse. The sporting goods retailer will follow up those th is year with Strahan in golf, soccer, football and holiday spots. > HERE & THERE: Carmine Pa risi, former NFL busin ess development vice president , (NOT th e sourc e for th e Sprint story above, for all you NFL plumbers) has resurfaced as senior vice presid ent of sales for the Outside Televisi on Network, form erly th e Resort Sports Network, which has aro und 2 million subscribers in more than 100 resorts like Aspen, Colo., and Key West, Fla. The rebranding followed a min ori ty stake investm ent by Outside magazin e publisher Mariah Media and th e relaunch is slated for June. Parisi, who was at th e NFL for three years, will also sell for Outsidetelevision.com.. .. Olympic skiin g medalist Lindsey Vonn has retained P MK-BNC for media relations. She will work with Executive Vice President Lewis Kay and join a roster that includes Danica Patrick, Serena Williams, Carmelo Anthony an d Bill Simmo ns . IMG continues to handle ef• forts for Vonn outside of PRo Terry Lefton can be reached at tle fton@ sportsbusiness journal.com. MAY 3 Media Upfront As ad buyer s review their options at the annua L media upfront, Sport sB usi ness Jou rna L wi ll see how spor ts pro gramm er s are positioning their inventory and tryin g t o sta nd out in th e crowd. What exposure w ill they offe r brands. from m uLtipLe pLatf orm s to bra nded conte nt, and can they get many advertisers to L ock in earLy ? The deaLs they get done this spri ng wiLL go far in dete rminin g what they can expect for the rest of the year ahead. SpartSBusiness .JOURNAL 11I 1 MARC H 29 -AP RIL 4 . 2 0 10 www.spo rtsb us ines sjournal.com I Street & Smith's SportsBusiness,JOURNAL