Has Alberto been a pretender all this time?

The allegations surfacing today that three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador has tested positive to a banned substance may well be the final nail in the sport’s coffin. His alleged positive test to the steroid clenbuterol came on July 21 this year, in the final days of this year’s edition of the Tour de France, which Contador took home. Whether proven guilty or not, his reputation and undoutedly his sport, will be shrouded in disgrace for some time. He was already banned from the 2008 edition and unable to defend his 2007 crown due to his association with scandal-ridden team Astana.
Just as the cycling world championships being held in Geelong have got underway, a sport that has seen a surge in popularity and credibility in the last few years since the Floyd Landis debacle, will again have to rebuild itself. And with it’s poster-boy Lance Armstrong seemingly unable to return to his former dizzy heights, the sport will now be left reeling and scurrying to find a new flawless hero. Such examples are becoming more and more difficult to uncover.
As a follower of world cycling, and someone who has spent the last few Julys up until all hours of the morning to watch the sport’s best battle it out in the Alps and Pyrenees, you can’t help but feel extremely let down. While at times it feels physically excruciating to stay awake for the final sprint at the end of each stage, the only comfort has been knowing that our sacrifice as television viewers pales in insignificance when compared to what the riders put themselves through every day for three weeks. Next winter, I’m not sure that I can justify tuning in after midnight to watch these supposed freaks of “nature” push their bodies to the limit. I’m sure I won’t be alone. The Tour de France has been described as the most physiologically demanding athletic event in the world, and thats what makes it great to watch. Perhaps it it simply too demanding on the competitors.
And while Alberto has the right to be innocent until proven guilty, the fact is that a large portion of these allegations against world-renowned cyclists have turned out to be accurate, with the only exception coming to mind being that of Landis proclaiming this year that he witnessed Lance Armstrong using drugs.
Contador is claiming the only possible way he could have tested positive would be due to food contamination outside of his control, but the timing of the alleged failed test, in the last grueling days of a Tour de France as he battled neck-and-neck with Andy Schleck to hold onto his yellow jersey, is just too damning. You have to wonder how the riders think they can beat the system, no matter how advanced and fool-proof they think their masking agents are. I hope for his sake and the sport’s sake he is somehow found to be not guilty, but even then, many fans will have walked away already.
Again, this will not only affect the Tour de France’s credibility, but the sport as a whole, and suddenly the current world championships are being looked at suspiciously. Say it ain’t so, Alberto.

The weekend’s drawn AFL Grand Final between Collingwood and St Kilda has caused an astronomical number of issues, with the most prominent being whether or not a full replay of the game one week later is the best way to decide a deserving winner. For the AFL, of course, it’s a terrific idea, for they will almost double their projected income from holding Australia’s most talked about annual sporting event twice in one season.
But for the players and spectators, the prospect of having to do it all over again is draining, and may result in the eventual winner forever having an asterisk beside the tag of 2010 Premiers. Already, a plea has come from the AFL Players Association earlier today that the players be financially compensated for having to front up again next Saturday. The 100,016 fans who attended the game last week, only to walk away without a result, also have the right to feel somewhat cheated. Some had lined up for days to secure a seat, while others paid as much as 10 times the recommended retail price to ensure they were there to witness the event. And this is very much just the tip of the iceberg goes when you consider the extent of this logistical nightmare – after-match functions canceled, the issue of whether to repeat Grand Final week functions, and the implications of all stakeholders’ end-of-season plans.
Despite the fall-out though, every single person attending the match, and probably 99% of those watching at home, knew exactly what would happen if both teams were level when the final siren sounded. It is a unique yet very much traditional part of VFL and AFL Grand Finals – and this is the third time it has happened in a competition just over 100 years old. I think it should stay.
Two extra periods of five minutes each just don’t seem to justify a winner after they have played 120 minutes already and neither has outscored the other. While it may appear greedy now, the AFL has always had this system in place, and the 1977 Grand Final is one of the most talked about now due it having to be played twice. Brendon Goddard’s towering mark and goal late in the game won’t be any less remembered because it saved a Grand Final rather than won a Grand Final.
The physical toll on the players is another issue, and they should indeed be well compensated by the AFL for having to delay and possibly reduce their holiday periods – especially when you consider Shane O’Bree, whose wedding is (was) planned to be held in Bali this weekend, with quite a few participating players on the guest list.

Usain Bolt is adored by billions at Beijing 2008

For two weeks every 4 years, they are the biggest and most celebrated names on the planet. Bolt, Gay, Powell, Wariner. Then, as quickly as they appeared as the lead story on our news services, they disappear from our radars altogether. For the next four years, you might just catch their names at the end of a sports bulletin, but probably only if they’ve managed to break a world record. In the current sports climate, where many different codes have become billion-dollar businesses in direct competition with each other, why should athletics be left behind? After all, basic athletic skills like running, jumping and throwing are the essentials for nearly every sport we play.

In the past five years, other sports like cricket have undergone major transformations with the introduction of the Twenty20 format, as a way of modernising the game, attracting new fans and generating more interest from existing cricket lovers. This has led to an explosion of money being brought into the game. The introduction of the Indian Premier League has seen a domestic city-based first-class competition go from the second tier of cricket-mad India, to the forefront of the international sports media for a month every year. Sponsors have poured money in and players from countries all over the world have rushed to sign highly lucrative contracts, sometimes at the expense of represting their country. This has seen a game with very few changes in its long history become the latest craze for sports fans, and has made major celebrities out of players who might have otherwised never been heard of outside their own countries.

In more recent times, tennis is the latest sport to be earmarked for a revamp, with the introduction of a world cup format being proposed. Both of these radical changes have been made or proposed to be made because sports marketers believed these particular sports could be better delivered to the consumer; that there was an opportunity to improve on the way it was currently being operated. The sport of athletics is in the same boat and, perhaps even more so than cricket and tennis, could simply be much, much bigger than it is right now.

Track and field events are not activities restricted to certain cultures, genders or geographic regions like many other sports. At the last IAAF (International Association of Athletics Foundations) World Championships – Germany 2009 – 202 nations competed with 24 female events and 24 for men. In Australia, athletic events like short and long distance running, long jump, high jump, discus and hurdles were among the first sports we competed in, at things like primary school sports carnivals. At such a young age, almost every one becomes involved to some degree, and although participation is manditory in a sense, the amateur nature of these events means that they are embraced by most. My point here is not that we all wanted to be professional track and field stars when we grew up, rather that athletics has a distinct advantage over almost all other sports because the majority of the world’s population have some understanding or level of previous involvement within athletics.

However, the way athletics is currently delivered gives us very little chance to follow and become passionate about elite athletics. Why shouldn’t athletics be as popular, if not more so, than other individual sports like tennis and golf? And how can team sports like cricket claim to be winning more fans due to the diversity of its three different formats, when track and field can comprise up to 48 different events (at the 2009 world championsips)? With the stars of the sport showcasing such raw skills that have been idolised for many centuries, why is athletics not among the world’s most marketable sports? What other sport can hark back to such a revered heritage, to events like the Ancient Olympic Games? Athletics is not a sport that has been left behind by its rival codes. Quite the opposite. Elite track and field athletes are among the most highly conditioned athletes on the planet. Who knows how fast Usain Bolt might be running 100m right now if he was challenged and performing in front of billions many times a year, rather than every 2 or 4 years?

The presentation of international athletics as it stands today does little to feed the desires of athletics lovers. The Olympic Games every four years are obviously the sport’s main attraction. The Commonwealth Games provide another opportunity for some competitors to again show their talents, but only if they were born in the right country, and even then they don’t always get to test themselves against the world’s best. However, the event the IAAF introduced as a way of gaining some independence from the Olympics, and therefore to promote athletics on its own, is the IAAF World Championships of Athletics, originally held every four years, and now biennially. Despite over 200 countries now competing though, the event has only ever been held in Europe and Asia, with Canada the only exception, in 2001. Hardly an event that has encapsulated all parts of the world. Plus, is a carnival every two years really going to bring athletics to the forefront of the sporting landscape?

Carl Lewis captivates the crowd in the Olympic Long Jump

Another organisation under the IAAF banner is the World Athletics Series, which in 2010 will be made up of 6 events, some indoor, some outdoor, one is for juniors only and the others are event-specific. Another is the IAAF’s World Challenge, and while these events are held in different continents around the world, they don’t include the world’s best athletes, and the schedule is far from consistent or balanced, with 5 events in May this year, but only one in July and September.

Lastly, is the IAAF’s latest venture, the Diamond League, which has replaced the Golden League from this year. Many of you are probably reading this and thinking the new Diamond League is the answer to what I have spoken about above. It is a slightly more organised schedule of 14 meetings to be held annually around the world, and has many of the sport’s greatest competitors such as Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay as ambassadors. However, apart from two events being held back-to-back in the US, the other 12 are still confined to Europe and Asia. And is a one day carnival really enough to gauge the public’s interest, and raise the profile of the sport of athletics, as former world champion Steve Cram believes it can do? If the IAAF’s Diamond League is said to be raising athletics’ profile through greater television and media exposure, why didn’t I know anything about the first two events ever held, which were both just in the past fortnight in Doha and Shanghai.

There is a massive opportunity for one streamlined annual calendar of athletics events. A touring brigade of the sport’s best competing against each other several times a year in a truly global league that visits Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas, as all of these continents have big athletes and even bigger fans. 10-15 week-long carnivals throughout the year consisting of up to the 48 world-sanctioned track and field events that athletes presently must wait at least two years to have another shot at claiming. This new international athletics league could follow the lead of the ATP and the FIA in attracting major sponsors in each of the cities it visits, and demand the attention of not just those in that particular city, but of passionate followers glued to their TVs and digital media devices worldwide. And how hard would it be to sign big sports companies as major partners, when brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma were built from originally selling track running shoes, and already spend millions on athletics campaigns, like this one from Nike. The Olympics and World Championships would remain an important part of an athlete’s schedule because of the team aspect of winning medals for your country. But this touring league would focus more on individual brilliance.

The many different competitions presently under the IAAF banner are testament to the amount of times athletics has been given a new opportunity to relaunch itself. But it’s clear these have not been effectively managed. I say this because Australians love talking in-depth about their sport, but Australians don’t talk about athletics to much degree at all – save for those two weeks every four years.

Athletics is ready for this total restructure. It needs it, too. It has the unique opportunity to reach everyone who has any level of interest in elite sport. With proper research, planning, financial support and promotion, athletics could become the new formula 1, the new tennis, the new cricket.

Last Friday night the 7th of May, SavvySport took the opportunity to trek down Swan Street and check out the unveiling of the latest jewel in the Melbourne sporting precinct crown, AAMI Park. The stadium took an early hit recently after its original tenant the Melbourne Storm were penalised for breaching the salary cap, and therefore cannot play for premiership points for the remainder of the season. Time will tell if this has a serious affect on crowd numbers and predicted revenue for the inaugural season. Despite this, the Bubble Stadium, as it has become known during construction due its unique exterior architecture, ultimately received the thumbs up. But it wasn’t without a few minor (major) teething problems.

It was an awesome sight walking along the Yarra from the city to see the whole town abuzz with the Melbourne/Bulldogs AFL clash at the MCG and the Kangaroos/Kiwis rugby league tie just across the road at AAMI Park. Every skyscraper in the CBD was fully alight as choppers flew overhead to swoop on the freshest Melbourne photo opportunity. Rod Laver Arena, HiSense Arena and the outside tennis courts also lit up for the occasion.

The exterior ‘shell’ of the new stadium was impressive with the green laser lighting being reflected onto it, and this is only going to improve as the much-hyped LED lighting nears completion. Inside, a brief lighting show was followed by an indigenous ceremony to recognise the original owners of the land. Then a presentation on the scoreboard celebrated Melbourne as the world’s sporting mecca and reminded attendees they were a part of history as the latest chapter in Melbourne’s history was written.

Despite no new public parking space included in the design of the Bubble, fans seemed to arrive early and trouble-free just before or right in time for the deluge of rain about 30 minutes before kick-off that didn’t stop until midway through the second half. However, some would find that they hadn’t escaped the rain entirely. Despite reports of the finishing touches – including guttering – being completed and tested during the week, it seems the rainfall on Friday night far exceeded whatever amounts were used to test and approve the roof.

As the moderate but consistent rain continued to fall, it proceeded to run straight over the inside edge of the roof, and then trickle back along the beams and drip down constantly to drench many spectators. There were at least 10 different spots just in the 50-metre vicinity of our seats that were copping the downpour. It was quite a sight to see families seated near us sitting well inside the area the roofing covers, yet forced to watch the entire first half under umbrellas. Many decided minutes after arriving they wouldn’t be able to tolerate the showers all night, and left their seats vacant to seek salvation elsewhere. This is a huge issue that ought to be addressed as quickly as possible coming into winter and a busy schedule of Storm and Four Nations rugby league matches. It also to led to dangerous situations where stairs and walkways were covered in water and extremely slippery.

Despite this dampener, those spectators who managed to find themselves in a dry seat would have been impressed with their viewing experience. The ’boutique’ style arena ensures that no seats are far from the action, and the compact, partly-enclosed seating structure meant the atmosphere was fantastic. The whole place was electric as the thousands of New Zealand supporters around us joined in as their team performed the traditional haka minutes before the game got underway.

The spectator experience was ultimately a pleasant one. We were situated in the north-west corner of the stadium, probably equal to the furthest point from the action for rugby matches, but it certainly didn’t feel like we were far away. Unlike soccer and rugby games played on oval arenas like the MCG and Etihad Stadium, it seemed like we were right on top of the action. I imagine this view would have been echoed by patrons in other closer areas also. Many entrance gates and the electronic swiping system meant it took only a couple of minutes to get from outside the ground to our seats. This was helped by the match being a sell-out and consequently there were no queues to purchase tickets. The concourse area behind the seating aisles was wide enough to ensure exiting the venue was fast enough too.

Although the weather made things a little less enjoyable, the quality of the game didn’t deteriorate much, and as the Kiwis mounted a comeback late in the game, the crowd really became involved. Another moment of great crowd involvement was right as the game was ready to get underway, a vehicle carrying large speakers became stalled on the ground and took several minutes to remove, much to the amusement of the 29,600 in attendance.

Ultimately, though, AAMI Park was a great experience for us as average fans who don’t passionately follow rugby league, and if the leaking issues can be addressed shortly, I look forward to heading back again soon.

The 31,000-capacity stadium custom-built for the rectangular sporting codes, is home to Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Rebels, Melbourne Storm and Melbourne Heart, as well as being the administrative base for many other organisations, including the Melbourne Demons.

It is my opinion that AFL players should be able to earn more. That isn’t necessarily to say the salary cap should be increased, just that they should be able to earn more through a variety of avenues in their short time in the game.
However, I’m sure most clubs would be happy for the cap to be inflated given the amount of money in the game, when you consider the next TV rights deal is likely to attract $1billion.

But the real issue I believe is the lack of opportunity for players to properly endorse themselves. While marketing companies are partly responsible in not recognising the chance they have of using their great properties to engage millions of fans, in a way they have their hands tied by AFL rulings that restrict players from promoting rival products in the same industry. For instance, you won’t see Chris Judd endorsing a Holden during coverage of a Toyota AFL Premiership season game. In fact, you probably won’t see any players endorsing any other brand anywhere. This is definitely not because every player in the AFL is driving around in a Carolla. It’s because of AFL sponsorship protection laws, and it’s been an ongoing issue since the early 1990s between the governing body and players and their managers. Prominent player manager Ricky Nixon strongly questioned why clubs could be sponsored by a rival company (think Geelong FC and Ford), but players couldn’t promote a competitor. Yet the Intellectual Property of the great players (name, image, reputation) is constantly used to promote the game without them benefitting.

Alas, if the AFL is keen to defend its rights over protection of their major sponsors, then raising the salary cap may be the only option left. They may be at risk of losing potential stars if they believe they can earn more money in other sports as all rival sports become more commercialised. We’ve just seen Alex Keath defect to cricket for the lucrative opportunities in the IPL and Twenty20 Champions League. If Israel Folau can be paid $1m because of his marketing power without ever having played the game, why can’t Chris Judd and Gary Ablett legitimately earn at least that? Sure the fans down here are in love with the game already, but with the Melbourne Rebels and Melbourne Heart on their way, we’d be naive to take the entire supporter base here for granted. As well as the potential greats currently playing a mixture of soccer and footy in the schoolyard. Soccer is still number one for earnings commanded by the elite players, but footy could be equally as lucrative if laws were relaxed to allow players to promote brands. Not just so they can put more money in their pockets, but so fans can have more access and engagement with their idols through promotional opportunities.

The reason NBA players command such high salaries is because they believe the strain on them physically means they could have no other income options once their career is over. As well as the mental strain of over 80-100 games a season. But the physical toll on AFL players is far greater than that of a non-contact sport. The risk of serious injury is far greater. Despite this, the salary cap of each AFL club for 2010 is $7,950,000. The NBA’s is nearing $60m.

We’ve all seen promising careers stopped in their tracks, or some not even get off the ground due to injury. Nathan Brown was never able to re-capture his best form after that sickening broken leg. Players have been told plenty of times they can push through with a bad knee for another season, as long as they realise they won’t be able to walk enough to play with their small children as they grow up. Billy Brownless is only 43 but he can barely walk today due to the wear and tear on his knees. If this was to happen to an employee of any other profession I’m sure they’d be crying out for some sort of compensation.

Charles Barkley branded Australian AFL and NRL players idiots for not fighting for greater earnings over their short career span. And although very outspoken and often out of touch with his ‘expert’ opinions, on this occasion he’s right. “At least in the NFL, you are going to kill yourself but … you get to be a millionaire after it’s over.”

Considering all this, I believe players are warranted in believing they should be better able to capitalise on their time in the game. Andrew Demetriou is a fantastic CEO, with great vision for building the game at all levels. But their isn’t many other sports in the world where the guy in the head office earns twice as much a year as any of the guys providing the product. This should be triggering a few alarm bells. I’m not suggesting Demetriou doesn’t earn his salary, I’m saying there’s enough money in the game, or at least the opportunity for there to be enough, for players to earn far more than they currently are. Something on a relative par with their international counterparts.

This would obviously be quite a big shake-up to the traditional recruiting and trading structures of the AFL. However, the increased pace of the game has led to increased injuries, and its having a huge effect on some clubs. Wouldn’t Hawthorn love to be able to snare a ruckman from another club right now? They have some genuine superstars in their side, especially the midfield, yet without a fit and capable ruckman to give them first use of the ball, another year looks as though it will go begging. There are a few availabilities. Maybe even Dean Cox would entertain the thought of a switch to the Hawks in the twilight of his career, as Nic Naitanui begins to become the ideal #1 ruckmen in a side that needs development before it can push for finals again. Imagine the revitalisation of the Hawthorn list if Cox was to arrive at Waverley (and perhaps if they had another win or two under their belt, rather than 1 – 5!).

Another huge issue is what this would mean to players’ loyalty to their clubs, but i fear the impending free agency will go a long way to eradicating this anyway. This is not something I support, I love the idea of a player remaining at the one club his entire career. The story of Shane Crawford sticking with the Hawks from 1991 to 2008, only to taste the ultimate success in his final season, is one of the great football journeys. And if Nick Riewoldt was to one day claim the flag as a Saint, this too would be a fantastic story.

But as professional sport increasingly becomes a business, and as contract talks have taken a 180 degree turn in respect to who holds the cards in the player v club negotiation in the last couple of decades, I think in-season trading could be feasable. It’s been used very effectively in European football in the past, as well as the NBA, where just this season the Cleveland Caveliers realised part way through the season they were missing something, and then traded to bring in Antawn Jamison, as the final link in their eventually successful quest to clinch the eastern conference.

I know the AFL is different to the NBA in terms of games played and the ownership of franchises/clubs etc, but in relative terms, the money poured into the game by AFL clubs is just as big. And very few clubs in any sport are happy to sit back and watch their team underperform in the first few weeks and remain parked at the bottom of the ladder for the rest of the season. Maybe some clubs right now could use a Jordan McMahon, Quentin Lynch or another player on the fringe and out of favour with their current coach. I’m sure they’d jump at the chance to get an opportunity to prove themselves in a fresh environment, rather than slaving away in the VFL before facing the chop at season’s end.

It’s an interesting concept, and like I say, probably not something we’ll see implemented any time soon. But perhaps free agency will lead to flexibility and a rethink of the traditional trading model.

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on the issue.

Darryl McDonald with the NBL Championship

And the game’s heavies should be able to make it work. They’ve secured free-to-air TV coverage through Network Ten and OneHD, and that’s the first and most important step to reclaiming fans.

The PR teams of the league and the clubs should be able to use this to attract big-name sponsors, hopefully seeing an increase in cash flow and the salary cap. They need to realise that although promoting local talent is important, its the imports that have given the game character over the years, so they can’t be blacklisted altogether. And the recent trend of players such as Joe Ingles to pounce on more lucrative opportunities in Europe should and no doubt would be cutting them deeply.

But how can they turn this all around? The NBL needs to take every leaf out of the NBA’s book. It needs to become the NBA’s apprentice, in a sense. They need to understand that high TV ratings will eventually lead to higher attendance numbers. This could have a huge flow-on effect in terms of merchandise sales, if the game is promoted right – through all forms of the media. It won’t happen overnight, or over the first season, but there’s no honest reason why it can’t happen.

Basketball in Australia and the NBL hit its peak in the late 80s and early 90s as the NBA began its global marketing push through icons like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, and this in turn created greater interest in the game in general and our home competition. With the increased engagement of the NBA in Australia today thanks to its return to free TV, the NBL needs to try and replicate this success.

There are 8 teams signed on for the 2010/11 season, which is less than the ANZ Netball Championship, and it still manages to have every game of the season televised, many of them live. While netball enjoys almost three times the organised participation rates of basketball in Australia, basketball is still a hugely popular backyard and schoolyard activity. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if more Australians, of both genders, have had a casual game of basketball in the last month compared to those, mostly females, who have picked up a netball. The interest is definitely out there.

The NBL needs to understand that it’s appealing to a younger audience, too. 75% of Australian basketball participants are 35 of younger, while for all other sports here, 48% are in that category. Thus, the league needs to push for its games to be shown at suitable times on OneHD. They also need to explain to OneHD that up to five games of baseball a week and only three games maximum of basketball, as is currently the schedule, is not what the Australian public are after. A weekly NBL highlights show in prime-time would be hugely beneficial, too. How many of us used to love our half-hour fix of NBA Action on a weekend?! Again, following the NBA’s lead is important, as the American competition would no doubt have a greater following here currently than our own national league.

It needs to be well promoted in all forms of the media by the game’s most recognisable players. Each team needs to identify its marquee players and greatly build their awareness. Importantly, it needs to get them engaging with fans, and social media is the easiest, cheapest and best way of achieving this in our sporting landscape going forward. I was first attracted to twitter after reading about insightful posts made my Shaquille O’Neal (who has almost 3 million followers) and, a couple of seasons back, LeBron James (no longer on twitter). It forced me to sign up, and I haven’t stopped tweeting since, loving the connection I have with the NBA’s big names like Andrew Bogut, Paul Pierce, Grant Hill, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard (who regularly posts videos and photos of training). I particularly love the NBA‘s use of social media to promote its games, its consumer promotions, and its players and teams. Twitter’s Australian audience grew by more than 400% in 2009 – its a rapidly growing area where the NBL needs to be seen and heard as it looks to engage with its young fans.

But bringing in money is clearly what the competition needs to grow; where it has struggled in the past. And with games shown prime-time on free TV to all Australians, the league and clubs have huge bargaining power to attract the sponsors. If they can have all four games per round on TV, and some or even all live, plus a weekly preview/review show, the corporates will get on board soon enough. There’s a huge opportunity there for them. Particularly if a handful of big name players can be signed. Imagine Joe Ingles (who is already on twitter, though rarely) coming back and being well marketed by a big sports company like Nike or Gatorade. Or Patty Mills returning to be the face of the league.

Joe Ingles - one of the key figures in the future of Australian basketball

The A-League has been successful in its competition re-launch. Perhaps the NBL, too, could look at establishing an Asian Club Championship to boost interest here as well as in neighbouring countries.

The NBL has a great opportunity here. Better players and promotion draws better viewership (on TV and then in attendance), which in turn draws better salaries and ultimately, more of those better players from overseas. And so the cycle goes. A better competition. And personally I hope its done right, because I can’t wait to see Australian basketball back to its best.

To read more about the success of social media use by NBA franchises the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, take a look at these great posts from SportSpiel:
Fear This Deer: Milwaukee Bucks and New Media
In a World of Their Own: Planet Orange

I was super impressed with the creative energy of the place and all the exciting tasks that each different person there was working on. The way they compiled their reports on the current sporting landscape and who the biggest properties were over the past 3 months in terms of brand awareness and likeability was done very professionally, and was of huge interest to me as a student in the sports marketing field.

However, I was a little surprised in my last few days there when I passed around an email with a few links to social media’s possibilties in sport, from favourite blogs of mine such as SportSpiel. (Specifically, these posts regarding How Athletes Are Using Twitter To Build a Brand, and How Social Media Could Have Helped Tiger Woods)

The response I got, especially from the senior consultants there, was very enthusiastic. They thought it was something that was definitely relevant to them. But I was amazed that they hadn’t looked into social media as a sports marketing tool before. Its an area they hadn’t considered tapping into at all.

It was then that I felt like maybe I could contribute to their learning, returning the favour as they were obviously teaching me alot as a work experience student. I looked into things in more depth one night, and thought about how social media could help this firm specifically.

While they currently rely on internet polls for their information on which sports and athletes the average sports fan is engaging with the most at a particular time, there are newer, quicker, cheaper and probably more informative ways (read: much better ways).

Social Mention is a great way to see what’s being said about any subject of interest. A quick search using this tool could enable them to analyse Tiger Woods’ likeability at any given time. They could use it to compare his awareness levels from one week to the next, and which demographics are talking about him the most etc. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Bing’s Real-Time Twitter Seach provides the ability to see which sports, teams, athletes or even which sponsors brands are getting mentioned on twitter.

The consultancy works with all the biggest leagues in Australia, and increasingly abroad, to ensure that their clients can have a positive association with them to build brand awareness among targeted sports fans. If, for example, a client was tossing up whether to sponsor a Queensland sports club or a New South Wales sports club, they could use social media tools such as the ones mentioned above to see which club gets the most mentions in the digital world.

This is an area I am really excited about. Particularly the way athletes can use twitter to increase engagement among fans not only with their club, but also their sponsors. A subtle mention of a sponsor here or there would provide huge benefits to the brand awareness of this company. Imagine if Chris Judd opened a twitter account, and tweeted 3 or 4 times a week about how the team performed on the weekend, or even what he’s up to on his day off. His followers would jump to tens of thousands in a matter of days. Then, imagine he slipped something like this in once every couple of weeks – “Heading off to training, need to pull over and grab a Powerade on the way, feeling a bit flat this morning”. Consumers subconsciously link Judd to Powerade, and some free marketing could turn into cash through increased sales among Judd’s young followers who might drink Powerade before footy training later that week, to emulate their hero.

But at this stage, in Australia at least, the full power of social media is yet to be embraced by some sports marketing organisations. I’m sure it won’t be long though.

North Melbourne knows its supporter base is far greater than the 26,625 they currently have paid up in 2010. This club dominated the late 1990s, yet in the space of a few years, they’ve lost touch with a huge amount of fans. An aging fan base can’t be blamed, as many young adults today grew up on Friday night footy featuring the King, Wayne Carey. A part of the membership decline can probably be attributed to the failed marketing strategy of dropping the North Melbourne aspect of their image to become known solely as the Kangaroos in an attempt to attract fans from outside of Melbourne and Victoria – a move they hastily backtracked on in a defiant bid to avoid relocation to the Gold Coast.

But one simple way James and the club’s membership department can reach supporters, and especially young fans is through social media. Take the following quick example:
The club already has top player and AFLPA representative Andrew Swallow tweeting (@andrewswallow). Imagine ‘Spitta’ offering a free membership to a random fan if they sign up to the official North Melbourne account before the end of the week. The club could soon have an extra 1000 or two followers when you consider ‘ReTweets’ and existing members spreading the word and trying to sign their mates. And the same prize could be offered on Facebook where the club page has over 11,000 subscribers.

It’s fair to assume most of these new twitter followers and Facebook fans looking to win the competition will not already be members, and immediately their target database has grown. Other ideas could involve them giving away Kangaroos jumpers to existing members every week, or products donated from their sponsors so they can cash in and gain brand awareness among fans. Eventually, non-members are going to consider signing up because of the extra benefits and engagement with their team. Couple this with some behind the scenes pics and video from Andrew and the club, and potential members are surely going to feel a heightened level of connection with their club. This newfound sense of belonging and loyalty could sign new members in an instant – turning some simple free PR into cold hard cash.

The future of reaching out to fans is not through cold phone calling or writing impersonal letters, its through social media. And none of the clubs are yet to embrace it fully. As North Melbourne tries to erase its image of a run-down club that has always been a decade behind the rest, this could be an area where they can truly be pioneers. A social media membership drive.

Every aspect a professional sporting club needs for survival will be gone:

Why would any fans want to turn up and support a club that can’t win any premiership points? Especially a club that has betrayed their fans by leading them to believe they were a genuine team of superstars making sacrifices to stay together and achieve the ultimate.

And why, then, will any sponsors want to stay or get on board. Firstly for the simple fact that no organisation wants to be associated with a cheat. But secondly, if there’s no real interest in their games – if no fans are turning up to watch, and none of their games are covered, there clearly won’t be any value from a marketing perspective.

Next, how will the brand new Bubble Stadium react? They’re left with a tenant that won’t bring anyone through the gate. Where’s the benefit for them if one of their four main teams can’t help pay off the stadium? If anything, they’ll be losing money to keep the Storm on board.

Finally, what will become of their most important resource, the players. On top of repaying their $1.1m in prize-money, and the fine of $500,000, they somehow have to squeeze this list of guns under the cap. Guns that will be expected to put their body on the line all season for no reward. Guns taking pay cuts through no fault of their own. Something will have to give, and the lure of a trade may be impossible for the Storm to refuse.

The timing of the impending arrival of the Melbourne Rebels might be too convenient for rugby lovers in Melbourne looking to get off the Storm bandwagon.

Sure, the punishment handed down by David Gallop this afternoon might seem severe, but the future ramifications for this club would appear to be far, far worse. Indeed, the Storm may have passed altogether.

A sense of calm after the Storm as the reigning premiers fade into obscurity.