Minor League Hockey

Even as pitchers and catchers report in the States for Major League Baseball, our master marketers in the minors continue to be innovative and find ways to keep their local brands active, alive and relevant to the consumer, their partners and the media.

Matt Futterman in Friday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting look at what happens when the ownership groups of franchises have their primary business suffer large losses, and how it can effect their secondary business…which in many cases can be a franchise.  The crazy situation with the San Diego Padres sell off due to a divorce settlement, is one of the more extreme problems that can arise when owners financial issues off the field effect performance and brand of the franchise.  The bottom line is that franchises and those who run and sell them, should always look to how the brand can best fit the assets of the owner, whether that is creating more ROI for the local car business th

As the AFL shut down its season in ‘09, one of the things that was missed in the reporting is that the smaller market version af2, which works with but is not the same model as the AFL, will continue on. How in this economy could that be possible, especially since the larger AFL had the equity partnership of ESPN, the larger markets, the fan friendly protocol and solid outside growth over the last few years.  The difference is really in market size and cost structure, and the fact that perhaps af2 is really the niche of niches for pro sports in select markets.  As minor league baseball flourished and even grew during the MLB shutdown, and minor league

Now it may have happened by accident, but an interesting development this past week for the Washington Capitals actually gave a front office staffer a few seconds of a lifetime on ice close to game time, and could unleash a new round of experiential marketing for teams and fans going forward, especially for the minors.  An injury and a late arriving backup forced the Caps to petition the NHL to have a third goalie, that being web programmer Brett Leonhardt, off his computer and into uniform for warmups until Simeon Varlamov could arrive from minor league Hershey.  Now Leonhardt had played in college and had actually worked out with the Caps in some

Like the Million Dollar Arm, another example of a unique idea riding a wave of popularity is the people’s soccer club, the UK’s Ebbsfleet United.  Almost a year ago, the idea was pushed forth in Portfolio and other places by an entrepreur to have a soccer team where fans could buy in and make the day to day decisions of the club.  As chronicled in the New York Times this week, the Ebbsfleet idea has worked wonderfully in the first year, with the club achieving onfield success never seen before while garnering over 30,000 “owners” who have a say in the business.  The idea worked this time because of