September 28th, 1972: Paul Henderson, assisted by Yvan Cournoyer and Phil Esposito, 19:26 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Luzhniki Ice Palace, Moscow.
September 15th, 1987: Mario Lemieux, assisted by Wayne Gretzky, 18:34 of the third period, Canada vs. Soviet Union, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ont.
February 28th, 2010: Sidney Crosby, assisted by Jarome Iginla, 7:40 of overtime, Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver.
Could it have been scripted any better for Team Canada and Canadian hockey? Could there be a better or more dramatic ending to Vancouver 2010?
A Sidney Crosby overtime goal to defeat the United States 3-2 to win gold for Canada in the marquee event of the 21st Winter Olympiad; a goal that set a new record for gold medals won -- 14 -- by a country at an Olympic Winter Games.
It was the single last action by an athlete at these Games.
Crosby's shot -- and commentator Chris Cuthbert's call of his "golden goal" on CTV and that of Pierre Houde on RDS -- becomes a defining moment in Canadian hockey history. It becomes an iconic flashpoint for our national heritage and culture, as it does for the game of hockey and Vancouver 2010 itself.
It immediately took its place on the podium of the biggest goals in Canadian hockey history.
That podium includes Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Super Series between Canada and the old Soviet Union, the 1987 Canada Cup winner over the Soviets scored by Mario Lemieux on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Wayne Gretzky and now Crosby from Iginla in overtime in the Vancouver 2010 final.
There will be debate about which goal goes down as the biggest. Henderson's rescued our hockey pride against the backdrop of the cold war era and did so on faraway ice in Moscow. It is often referred to as the most famous goal in Canadian hockey history and is dubbed the "Goal of the Century". Lemieux's was arguably the most beautiful and decided a memorable Canada Cup of three 6-5 games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.
To me, Crosby's goal carries the widest audience, the biggest reward and the largest impact.
The goals by pre-digital Henderson and Lemieux were watched on television and heard on radio in English and French. Crosby's goal not only comes on the three screens of the Internet era of TV, computers and mobile devices, it comes on the massive media and global television stage created by Vancouver 2010, CTV, NBC and official national broadcasters around the world. It was called in multiple languages on multiple platforms. And it was scored in overtime in the most-watched hockey game in history.
Henderson's won an historic eight-game exhibition series between the world's hockey superpowers. Lemieux's goal won the Canada Cup, the unofficial world cup of hockey. Crosby's marker won Canada the biggest hockey tournament in history and an Olympic gold medal. It also gave Canada a stranglehold on the gold-medal podium at Vancouver 2010 and set the record for most golds by a country in a Winter Games. Those are the biggest prizes of any of the three goals.
Yet what distinguishes Crosby's overtime winner from the other iconic goals in Canadian hockey history is its larger impact. Crosby was scoring not only for his hockey team and his country, but for the larger Canadian Olympic team of 203 athletes. His goal came in a 12-team tournament that was part of a larger worldwide competition featuring 2,700 athletes from 82 countries. It mattered to more than the two countries facing off.
That's why it'll hold special status as the most important goal in Canadian hockey history...and Canadian sport history.
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Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Vancouver 2010 exemplifies the new millennium of the Canadian female athlete
With all four of the host country's medals, day 13 of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games was anything but unlucky for Canadian female athletes.
It was an historic day of good fortune for Canadian women, who scored one gold, two silvers and a bronze and who have now figured in 12 of Canada's 15 medals at Vancouver 2010 (one of which was shared by Olympic ice dance champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir).
Golds by Maelle Ricker in snowboard cross, Kristine Nesbitt in speed skating, Ashleigh McIvor in ski cross and Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse in bobsleigh have not only led the way for Canada at Vancouver 2010, they exemplify the new millennium of the Canadian female athlete.
Turin 2006 saw 16 of 24 Canadian medals won by our women. In Salt Lake 2002, it was 10 of 17 (with one shared in pairs figure skating by Jamie Sale and David Pelletier).
The new millennium -- with Salt Lake 2002, Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 adding up to women figuring in 38 of 56 Winter Games medals or 68 per cent -- underlines a new level of dominance by Canada's female athletes. But it's important to note that it only extends a female tradition of Canadian winter sport excellence that's more than 50 years in the making.
Canadian women have now been involved in 57 of 92 -- or 62 per cent -- of Winter Games medals won since St. Moritz 1948.
This all speaks to Canada's status as one of the world's most progressive societies when it comes to female sport, one that has picked up steam each decade since skier Nancy Greene Raine won two medals at Grenoble 1968 and when pioneers such as the late Carol Anne Letheren and Vancouver's own Marion Lay helped shape Canadian sport culture and pushed the country's sport system to become more accessible to women in sport.
Letheren and Lay were among those who leveraged Greene Raine's success in the 1970s to create opportunities for Canadian women at all levels; in competition, coaching, officiating and administration. They built on the comparatively stronger political and economic clout held by women in Canada and, in turn, saw both the public and private sectors prepared to invest in women in sport well ahead of the pace of other countries, especially in traditionally male-dominated disciplines such as hockey.
Thanks to those efforts, Canada headed into the new millennium as the world leader in winter team sports such as ringette and women's hockey and it was arguably home to the world's most progressive system when it came to women in sport. It's a classic case of long-term leadership and continued attention to progress paying off big dividends.
Those dividends include among the world's highest per capita participation levels for girls and women in sport, many women among the country's highest-profile athletes and and a fourth consecutive berth in the Olympic women's hockey final at Vancouver 2010 against another beacon of women's sport, the United States.
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Sunday, February 21, 2010
VISA at top of Vancouver 2010 sponsor podium with advertising volume, tagline and content
On day 10 of Vancouver 2010, VISA should be acknowledged not only as one of the Olympic movement's top-10 sponsors in terms of financial investment, the San Francisco-based global corporation deserves kudos for the advertising campaign it has activated around the 21st Olympic Winter Games.
VISA is at the top of the podium of Olympic sponsors these Games on the strength of its Go World television campaign voiced by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman.
Freeman's personal brand -- both likable and respected -- is an ideal combination to bring to VISA's global brand-building efforts. His narrative is one of the major reasons the Go World campaign is a winner. It also doesn't hurt that his profile is heightened during these Games on the backs of Invictus -- the rugby movie in which he plays South African president Nelson Mandela -- and his most recent Oscar nomination for best actor in advance of the Academy Awards March 7th.
Go World is smart because of the simple tagline, easily adaptable to Go VISA and domestic applications such as Go Canada.
The television ads are well-written, well-produced and well-themed (the Norwegian connection to Canadian cross-country skier Sara Renner at Turin 2006 as one of the best examples).
Go World has been so effective because it was among the first out of the gates months before Vancouver 2010 and has sustained VISA's place in the minds of consumers on the volume of a heavy media buy -- in Canada, the U.S. and in many other winter sports countries.
Yet VISA is winning mostly because it has accomplished what is often difficult for Worldwide Olympic partners to do; and that is connect with the domestic audience of the host country. VISA did that by being the first Olympic sponsor -- domestic or otherwise -- to run a congratulatory television spot on the occasion of Canada's first-ever home Olympic gold (22 minutes after Alex Bilodeau won the men's moguls on the first Sunday of the Games). It is doing that by running congratulatory ads on every subsequent Canadian gold medal.
Only fellow IOC Worldwide Partners Coca-Cola (with its hockey-themed 30-second television spot) and McDonald's (with its tribute to Canada's gold medalists using Jamie Campbell's call on Bilodeau's freestyle ski win on CTV) are in the same league on their television execution around Vancouver 2010.
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Impact of Vancouver 2010 on U.S. television: Less watching TNT and FOX and more watching NBC
The NBA All-Star Game made the most of its venue opportunity and, with 108,713 at Cowboys Stadium last Sunday, set an all-time record for basketball game attendance.
The new $1.6 billion US stadium was as big a star in the proceedings as were Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. The buzz around the stadium and its capacity to set the attendance record heightened media coverage in the U.S. and sponsorship activation hype around the NBA's fan festival in Arlington, Texas.
Expect more of the Mark Cuban-inspired outdoor NBA All-Star games in 2013 and beyond at places like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Reliant Stadium in Houston and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Those are the positives. The downside for the 2010 NBA All-Star game was a 4.4 cable rating with 6.9 million viewers of the game on TNT in the U.S., a television audience decline of 15.4 percent from last year’s 5.2 rating and 7.6 million viewers.
Yet no one should look at that drop in ratings as a reflection of long-term concern for the NBA and its All-Star format. The equally-iconic Daytona 500 had an even larger drop of 16 per cent over last year on FOX.
TNT and FOX had less people watching their sports properties last weekend because NBC -- and its cable platforms -- had more. That's because NBC is carrying the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games in the U.S. and every four years, competing networks programming in February have to grin and bear the television magnet that is the Winter Olympics.
More than 152 million Americans have watched at least some part of Vancouver 2010 in the first week of the Games on NBC's networks; the most since the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan drama drew millions of non-sports fans to Lillehammer 1994. Last night's figure skating gold drew an average American audience of 24.8 million and a cumulative tally of 77 million viewers -- both well higher than Turin 2006.
The night before, NBC rode Shaun White's snowboarding gold to knock off American Idol, scoring 12 million more viewers than the FOX juggernaut, which typically rules Wednesday nights in the U.S. Last Friday's opening ceremonies kicked things off big time for NBC with an average audience of 32.6 million in the U.S.
NBC has done well and will continue to drive strong ratings around Vancouver 2010 because (a) they are happening in the North American time zone; (b) they are effectively cross-promoting their coverage across multiple platforms and on all three screens; (c) the economy is keeping more people at home in front of their televisions; (d) as is the cold winter weather throughout much of the U.S.; and, most important, (e) American athletes are hot, off to a great start and the U.S. team tops the medal podium at the midway mark of the Games.
Nothing drives interest and national television audiences -- especially for Americans -- like success.
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Three recommendations for Tiger Woods
He did it. The face of golf -- Tiger Woods -- actually faced the public today in what amounted to a televised statement; his first formal appearance since the bizarre November 27th, 2009 car accident and subsequent admissions of infidelity that rocked his world and created a media and public relations firestorm before Christmas.
Finally appearing live in public is a step forward for Woods in beginning the process of repatriating his personal and professional brands. He deserves kudos for doing that. Thumbs up to some of the scripted points of contrition in speech – particularly the admission that “I thought I was entitled” -- and the presence of his mom (although her folded arms were the body language of someone who found today’s session as tough if not tougher than Woods himself).
This all would have meant more if Woods had done what he did today a couple of months back. It would have shown more professional accountability and responsiveness to his key stakeholders – including the PGA Tour itself -- his corporate sponsors and the fans who make him such a marketable commodity. Think Magic Johnson on how he handled a very personal issue which had leaked into the public arena almost 20 years ago.
Thumbs down to the lag time of almost three months of silence that elapsed before he finally took the time today to address his public live. Also, thumbs down to his choice of such an overly-staged, highly-controlled format. It was nothing more than a televised scripted statement and, in my view, he’d be further on his way to repatriating his brand if he complemented a proper media conference with a personal television interview or some more human and interactive format. Think Alex Rodriguez and ESPN.
And too bad he wasn’t able to convince his wife Elin Nordegren to attend. It would have made for a much stronger televised statement and added credence to the prospects of his marriage surviving. Think Kobe Bryant.
Recommendation #1 for Tiger Woods going forward: take and heed more advice from the management team around him and his family and friends.
Recommendation #2: do what it takes to better understand the sizeable communications responsibilities of a business valued at $650 M US plus.
Recommendation #3: stop blaming tabloid media and protect the privacy of his personal and family life by being more accessible in his professional life.
Expect a follow-up relatively soon on the precise timing of when he returns to the PGA Tour. The business imperatives of playing the tour and resuming his pursuit of 18 and more majors will drive that sooner rather than later for Tiger Woods.
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Thursday, February 18, 2010
Media criticism valid, but harsh judgements on Vancouver 2010 premature
There is no denying that mistakes have been made at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Some big ones, too. Tragedy. Logistical problems. Breakdowns involving prototype ice resurfacing machines. Flawed -- and baffling -- planning around the outdoor Olympic cauldron.
Yet those visiting international media who waited only four days -- or less than a quarter of the 17-day event -- before slamming Vancouver 2010 with over-the-top hyperbole such as “Worst Games Ever” are either guilty of sticking their necks out way too far or irresponsible journalism.
Most professional journalists covering the business of sport editorialize in the right context and with proper background and comparative analysis. They don’t sensationalize.
Yet that's exactly what happened in the case of some foreign press headlines screaming about Vancouver 2010 -- after only the opening weekend -- in the most negative of terms.
The analogies are imperfect, but it’s akin to football reporters covering this year’s Super Bowl XLIV between New Orleans and Indianapolis using the first quarter results alone to declare the Saints performance the worst in Super Bowl history or those suggesting at the start of the second quarter of Super Bowl XXII that the Washington Redskins played a poor game against the Denver Broncos. History shows both the Saints and Redskins overcame 10-point deficits and were ultimately measured on the strength of their whole-game performance...as Super Bowl champions.
Even if some or even most of the international media criticism is valid, the hyperbole and "Worst Ever" tag is both unfair and inaccurate. But if the media criticism has been too harsh to be justified, the reaction of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee has been equally problematic -- especially on its handling of the outdoor cauldron issue, which has bordered on unfathomable.
VANOC would be doing itself a huge favour if only it acknowledged some of its mistakes and took the opportunity to remind everyone of its commitment to delivering a terrific Games for the athletes, paying customers and the international media and sponsors. It would likely gain more of the benefit of the doubt from the media if it did.
On the issue of the media reviews, the initial mistakes and disappointments can't be erased and their damage has been done...but let’s wait for the paint to dry on the canvas before fully judging the artwork.
Let American superstar snowboarder Shaun White and others do their extraordinary stuff. Let the natural environment of British Columbia speak for itself as a big plus of Vancouver as an Olympic host city. And let the biggest hockey tournament in our lifetimes -- played at the best hockey venue in the history of the Winter Games -- tell its story.
Those storylines should weigh in before any definitive judgements are applied to Vancouver 2010.
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Let's get the facts straight about Olympia-sized problems at Vancouver 2010
There's no denying the Olympia brand of ice resurfacing machines and Resurfice Corp, the family-run business which produces them, has taken a big hit from the debacle at the Richmond Oval.
It's one thing for something to break down or otherwise malfunction when nobody's looking. It's quite another when the problem occurs in front of a full house of paying customers, global television audiences, international media and the world wide web.
When mistakes happen at the world's largest winter sports event, they get attention. And on that note - this is a public relations disaster for Olympia, Resurfice and Vancouver 2010. That cannot be debated.
What needs some sorting out, however, are the facts surrounding the problems at the Richmond Oval, site of the Vancouver 2010 long-track speed skating competition.
Untruth #1: The Olympia is an American product. Correction: It is manufactured in Elmira, Ontario by a Canadian company, Resurfice Corp, owned and operated by the Schlupp family.
Untruth #2: The Olympia is made by General Motors. Correction: Resurfice Corp has a strategic relationship with General Motors, using GM parts in assembling the Olympia.
Untruth #3: The maker of Olympia -- and it's not GM -- is new to this. Correction: Founded in 1985, Resurfice Corp has been making inroads in the new ice resurfacing marketplace, especially since 1995 when it became the official supplier at General Motors Place in Vancouver, home of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. Olympia machines are working the other Vancouver 2010 ice venues, notably Canada Hockey Place (the clean designation required by the IOC), the Pacific Coliseum and UBC Thunderbird Arena.
It is true that Olympia was chosen largely on the strength of its corporate connections with General Motors, a domestic sponsor of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee. That was also the case 15 years ago when it earned the gig over Zamboni at General Motors Place, currently one of five NHL venues using the Olympia.
It is also true that the battery-powered Olympia Millennium Cellect machines in question were being showcased as part of VANOC's commitments and obligations around environmental sustainability.
Yet to hear newscasts referring to Olympia as American and U.S.-based Zamboni as Canadian and to read stories slamming General Motors as the makers of the Olympia means the problems at the Oval are being compounded by Olympia-sized errors in reporting.
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
NHL's uncertain status for Sochi 2014 an inexplicable question mark as Vancouver 2010 hockey tournament opens
It's here: the much-hyped Vancouver 2010 Olympic men's hockey tournament - the greatest showcase the sport has had in our lifetime.
It marks the fourth consecutive Olympic Winter Games featuring hockey's best players, beginning 12 years ago when Nagano 1998 represented the historic debut of the NHL and NHLPA as partners with the International Ice Hockey Federation on the Olympic stage.
Despite the disappointment of Canada's performance in Nagano, the impact of the NHL's involvement on the '98 hockey tournament in particular and on those Winter Games in general was unmistakable. The global television numbers for hockey at Salt Lake City 2002 -- including the record Canadian ratings driven by Canada's final win over the U.S. -- were terrific for the sport...and the NHL.
Turin 2006 was a seventh-place disaster for Canada and worse for the U.S. but produced a new Olympic champion in Sweden and was a big deal for hockey fans in Europe.
In Nagano, Salt Lake, Turin and now Vancouver, there can be no denying the NHL has been good for the Olympics. Yet four years after the last Games and five years since the last round of collective bargaining, it appears that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and his Board of Governors still need convincing that the Olympics are good for the world's premiere hockey league.
That's the conclusion one draws with the Olympic men's hockey tournament at Canada Hockey Place (General Motors Place) opening today without an agreement in place for the NHL's participation at Sochi 2014.
If it was a priority for the NHL, that deal would have been in place by now - even if it required a side-deal with the NHLPA and was contingent on resolving the contentious player transfer issue involving the Russian Hockey Federation. Whatever the complexities of the agreement, a strategic-thinking NHL would have made it happen before Vancouver 2010.
It would have been just one step towards making the most of the business opportunity for the NHL, which is ostensibly one of the league's larger concerns as it weighs whether it should stay or leave the Olympic tent.
The most progressive organizations in sport use one event to promote the next staging of that event, whether it's annual, bi-annual or every four years like the Winter Olympics. The best franchises start selling their season tickets for the next year before the current campaign ends. National governing bodies such as Tennis Canada sell tickets to the next year's Rogers Cup at each tournament.
Anytime now during Vancouver 2010 -- or ideally before these Games -- would have been the right time for the NHL to confirm its place alongside the IIHF at Sochi 2014.
Yet inexplicably, that deal is nowhere on the horizon. In fact, to date Bettman has been nothing but wishy-washy on the issue. His attitude and lack of leadership on the NHL's position with respect to Sochi 2014 make us long for the days of former NHLPA executive director Paul Kelly, who clearly articulated his support of the Olympics. Unlike Bettman, Kelly understood both the tangible and intangible benefits of the Olympics for the NHL brand and the business of hockey - and they far outweigh the costs and disadvantages of a two-week break in the NHL schedule once every four years.
Given the origins of the game, having the most important hockey tournament in history on Canadian ice is a natural. Yet Russia has its own tradition of global hockey excellence and is clearly the game's second leading country. It is only fitting that Russia and Sochi 2014 follow Canada and Vancouver 2010 with a hockey mash-up involving a fully-engaged NHL and featuring the world's best players.
There is no doubt the NHL's return would benefit the IOC, Sochi 2014 and the IIHF. Yet having the game's top players represent their countries, build their own reputations and create Olympic history is great story-telling and it's completely on strategy if the NHL truly wants to grow the game -- and its brand -- globally.
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Monday, February 15, 2010
Bilodeau's marketing upside fueled by history, media-friendlies and compelling story-telling
Smiling before more than 24,000 fans at the official victory ceremonies tonight at BC Place -- aptly dubbed "Quebec Night" -- new Canadian winter sports hero Alexandre Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. basked in the immediate afterglow of his historic Vancouver 2010 gold medal win in the men's moguls freestyle ski final Sunday at Cypress Mountain.
These past 24 hours have been life-changing for the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil.
Live North American TV coverage of his clutch winning run Sunday night -- in both languages on CTV and RDS in Canada and NBC in the U.S. -- and global television exposure in Europe and Asia, not to mention Australia, where sports fans watched as Bilodeau dethroned their reigning Olympic champion, transplanted Canadian Dale Begg-Smith...front-page newspaper headlines from coast-to-coast and top story billing on television and radio...and many more millions of media impressions throughout the day on the web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
It's only the beginning of the transformation of Bilodeau's career, lifestyle and economic clout.
Gold medal success carries financial rewards for most modern Olympians and Bilodeau will become one of Canada's have athletes on the strength of "des plus brilliants exploits" he recorded at Vancouver 2010.
Yet Bilodeau's commercial upside will be larger than usual. The lift he'll see through endorsements -- and new sponsorship opportunities for both himself and his sport -- will be buoyed in large part because of the sheer history of his moment. Firsts sell because firsts are remembered. Think Charles Lindbergh as the first to cross the Atlantic and ask yourself who was second. Think Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon and admit that, 41 years later, #2 Buzz Aldrin has nowhere near the same name recognition.
The moniker of "first Canadian to win Olympic gold at home" will be with him -- and his sport -- forever. That is irresistable for companies looking for positive association with athletes. So is the youthful demographic of freestyle skiing, which made its debut on the shoulders of Lillehammer 1994 men's mogul gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard and has been taken to the next level by Turin 2006 women's champion Jennifer Heil and now Bilodeau.
His marketing potential -- and career opportunities in broadcast and the media, which should resemble Brassard's -- are enhanced by his camera-friendly smile, personality and team player personna. Bilingualism is another feather in his cap.
Arguably the key to Bilodeau's terrific opportunity to market his gold medal, however, is the compelling story-telling around his career; including the inspiration he received as an eight-year-old watching Brassard win moguls gold in Lillehammer 16 years ago, his switch from hockey to freestyle skiing and his role as the "good guy" in the slaying of "the villain" Begg-Smith.
Even moreso, it is the story-telling around his personal life that makes Bilodeau such an attractive proposition as more than just a gold medal-winning Olympian. The story of his personal commitment and deeply-layered relationship with his brother Frederic, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, gives Bilodeau an authentic platform as a cause marketing champion.
Whether we're talking corporations and media companies drawn to the opportunity to raise the public awareness of Cerebral Palsy or those such as RBC, Subway and TSN looking to enhance their investment in the Special Olympics, Alex Bilodeau gives them all of that. And the best part is it's real.
That's why Bilodeau's marketing potential is greater than most.
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These past 24 hours have been life-changing for the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil.
Live North American TV coverage of his clutch winning run Sunday night -- in both languages on CTV and RDS in Canada and NBC in the U.S. -- and global television exposure in Europe and Asia, not to mention Australia, where sports fans watched as Bilodeau dethroned their reigning Olympic champion, transplanted Canadian Dale Begg-Smith...front-page newspaper headlines from coast-to-coast and top story billing on television and radio...and many more millions of media impressions throughout the day on the web, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
It's only the beginning of the transformation of Bilodeau's career, lifestyle and economic clout.
Gold medal success carries financial rewards for most modern Olympians and Bilodeau will become one of Canada's have athletes on the strength of "des plus brilliants exploits" he recorded at Vancouver 2010.
Yet Bilodeau's commercial upside will be larger than usual. The lift he'll see through endorsements -- and new sponsorship opportunities for both himself and his sport -- will be buoyed in large part because of the sheer history of his moment. Firsts sell because firsts are remembered. Think Charles Lindbergh as the first to cross the Atlantic and ask yourself who was second. Think Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the moon and admit that, 41 years later, #2 Buzz Aldrin has nowhere near the same name recognition.
The moniker of "first Canadian to win Olympic gold at home" will be with him -- and his sport -- forever. That is irresistable for companies looking for positive association with athletes. So is the youthful demographic of freestyle skiing, which made its debut on the shoulders of Lillehammer 1994 men's mogul gold medalist Jean-Luc Brassard and has been taken to the next level by Turin 2006 women's champion Jennifer Heil and now Bilodeau.
His marketing potential -- and career opportunities in broadcast and the media, which should resemble Brassard's -- are enhanced by his camera-friendly smile, personality and team player personna. Bilingualism is another feather in his cap.
Arguably the key to Bilodeau's terrific opportunity to market his gold medal, however, is the compelling story-telling around his career; including the inspiration he received as an eight-year-old watching Brassard win moguls gold in Lillehammer 16 years ago, his switch from hockey to freestyle skiing and his role as the "good guy" in the slaying of "the villain" Begg-Smith.
Even moreso, it is the story-telling around his personal life that makes Bilodeau such an attractive proposition as more than just a gold medal-winning Olympian. The story of his personal commitment and deeply-layered relationship with his brother Frederic, who lives with Cerebral Palsy, gives Bilodeau an authentic platform as a cause marketing champion.
Whether we're talking corporations and media companies drawn to the opportunity to raise the public awareness of Cerebral Palsy or those such as RBC, Subway and TSN looking to enhance their investment in the Special Olympics, Alex Bilodeau gives them all of that. And the best part is it's real.
That's why Bilodeau's marketing potential is greater than most.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Delicious Irony of Canada's First Home Olympic Gold Medal Victory
Canada's first Olympic gold medal won at home was fashioned tonight on the strength of a clutch men's moguls performance by freestyle skier Alex Bilodeau of Rosemere, Que. at 6:18 p.m. PT.
It ended a 33-year gold medal draught that began at Montreal 1976 and continued through Calgary 1988; ending the ignominy of Canada's status as the only country never to win gold as an Olympic host nation.
It underlined the impact that Canadian Jean-Luc Brassard's moguls gold at Lillehammer 1994 had on the sport in Canada, especially in Quebec where his success inspired and spawned the skiers who now dominate the national moguls team: Vancouver 2010 fourth-place finisher Vincent Marquis of Quebec City, No. 5 Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que. and No. 11 Maxime Gingras of St-Hippolyte, Que.
It became instant hall-of-fame Canadian broadcast material for CTV consortium commentators Jamie Campbell (of Rogers Sportsnet) and Veronica Brenner and Michel Fervac-Larose and Brassard himself, who called the French-language coverage for RDS.
It also gave Olympic worldwide partner VISA the cue to run the first congratulatory ad on the occasion of the historic gold, 23 minutes later on CTV in the second commercial break after Bilodeau's victory.
Yet more than anything, Canada's first home gold smacked with the sheer irony (some would say poetic justice) that it came at the expense of reigning Olympic men's moguls champion -- Canadian-born Dale Begg-Smith of Australia.
Bilodeau knocked the Turin 2006 gold medalist from his pedestal nine years after the now Internet spamware millionaire left the Canadian freestyle ski team to pursue his Olympic future in Aussie colours. The irony is deepened by the fact that the 25-year-old Begg-Smith grew up two kilometres from the Cypress Mountain venue where he had to settle for silver and where Bilodeau made history for Canada.
Begg-Smith broke ranks with the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association over the flexibility he wanted as an entrepreneurial teenager. Begg-Smith found that latitude with Australia and rewarded his adopted country with its first Winter Games gold less than three years after becoming an Australian citizen in 2004.
Yet the real irony is that Bilodeau may not have had the capacity or team infrastructure to win gold at Vancouver 2010 without the changes Begg-Smith's defection in 2001 caused in the national freestyle ski program. It led to a new, more flexible approach behind Freestyle Ski Canada, both in terms of training and coaching protocols for the national team.
By extension, it created a stronger, better, deeper freestyle roster for Turin 2006 -- where Begg-Smith's own gold for Australia was matched by Jennifer Heil's women's gold -- and especially for Vancouver 2010.
The irony is driven home not only by Bilodeau's golden moment but by the top-five performances of Marquis and Rousseau. Even without Begg-Smith, three Canadians in the top five should only generate even more attention for moguls in particular and freestyle skiing in general for Sochi 2014 and the Winter Games to follow.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Wayne Gretzky is the natural choice to light Canada's Games
Tonight's full dress rehearsal of the official opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games will demonstrate the great degree to which public and spectator participation will be part of the real deal Friday night at BC Place.
Third, the final torchbearer often sets the tone for the Games that follow. Placing the accent on hockey before the greatest hockeyfest the world has ever seen plays well for the tournament's single-biggest ticket seller and overwhelmingly-dominant television draw. That's true for the event, broadcast rightsholders such as CTV and NBC and for the corporate partners of Vancouver 2010.
Yet more than anything, the official opening ceremonies are the number one vehicle to convey the defining characteristics of a country such as Canada. The game of hockey is one of our signatures on the global stage. Vancouver 2010 could help create a winter sports culture in this country, but Gretzky epitomizes what Canada has: our hockey culture.
Gretzky does that on the strength of his childhood playing on an outdoor rink built by his father Walter. He does that as a multiple winner of the Stanley Cup, which is for Canadians the most prized trophy in sports. Yet he also does that as an Olympian, both as a player in a disappointing team performance in Nagano 1998 and as the team executive director in an inspiring, glorious and historic gold medal win in Salt Lake 2002.
Gretzky is the right choice because as hockey icon he will appeal to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. More important to the larger audience, he is the right choice because he will make sense to Americans, Europeans and many others as the Canadian picked to light the Olympic Cauldron at these Winter Games.
It will showcase a major aboriginal dance and music element. Video images telling the story of Canada and Canada's Games will be prominent. The rehearsal will showcase many of the acts and performers who will be featured Friday at 6 p.m. PT before a global television audience the likes and size of which has never had its collective eye on Vancouver, British Columbia or Canada at any time in our history.
The Olympic Cauldron, although it might not be fully "uncovered", will be ready to go in its central location in the middle of the 60,000-seat stadium.
Who lights the highly-symbolic cauldron for its 17-day burn in Vancouver will not, however, be revealed (or at least confirmed) until that very moment the well-known Canadian with Olympic credentials will actually pull the trigger in whatever technically-brilliant way it is done as the defining moment of the ceremonies Friday night.
That the actual lighting will be cleverly engineered is to be expected given the role of Bombardier of Canada as Vancouver 2010 official suppliers and designers of the Olympic Cauldron and the individual torches carried by the 12,000 Canadians and international guests who made up the 106-day Olympic Torch Relay presented by RBC and Coca-Cola (the longest domestic relay in both days spanned and kilometres traveled).
In fact, VANOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee will likely do everything they can to delay revealing the list of the special torchbearers slated to carry the Olympic flame from City Live Yaletown -- where it will rest in an official Olympic lantern for a few hours Friday afternoon -- into BC Place.
Canadians would be proud to have any one of a group of famous Olympians and other famous Canadians light the torch Friday night. Nancy Green Raine, Cindy Klassen, Catriona Lemay Doan and Gaetan Boucher are among the obvious high-profile, medal-winning Canadian Olympians, while Rick Hansen and Gordie Howe would not disappoint, nor would the memory of Terry Fox.
Yet there is only one obvious answer to the question of who is the best and natural choice to light the Olympic Cauldron Friday night. It's been stated elsewhere this week in print by columnist Gary Mason of the Globe and Mail and on air by Vancouver sports radio host David Pratt of TEAM 1040, among others, but the answer is Wayne Gretzky.
The selection of Gretzky makes sense at several levels, whether he does the final act solo or in concert with a high-profile female Olympian of medal-winning pedigree (keeping in mind that the Olympic Torch Relay began in Victoria October 30th under the auspices of male summer Olympian Simon Whitfield and female winter Olympian Lemay Doan, who were in turn followed by male summer Olympian Alexandre Despatie and female summer Olympian Silken Laumann).
From a sport business perspective, it is the right choice for a few reasons.
First, the official opening ceremonies are one of VANOC's two greatest opportunities -- with the closing ceremonies February 28th the other -- to tell the story of these Olympic Winter Games and sell the Vancouver 2010 brand to the country and the world. That story and brand is based on the vision of Vancouver 2010 as "Canada's Games". Born and bred in Brantford, Ont., a junior player in Toronto and Sault Ste-Marie and a treasure in Edmonton in four Stanley Cup wins for the Oilers of the 1980s, Gretzky fits that bill.
Second, the official opening ceremonies are the single greatest global branding opportunity that the host city, province and country will have ever had in our lifetimes. Neither Calgary 1988 or even the larger Montreal 1976 Summer Games -- which were both pre-digital and essentially single television platform events -- enjoyed anywhere near the international access that will be afforded Vancouver 2010 in this increasingly global Internet era.
The event will be produced across all three screens of television, computer and mobile platforms. The dynamic at play is Canada to the world, not Vancouver to Canada or even Vancouver to North America. Gretzky works in that respect as well as one of few Canadian athletes who transcends hockey to the point where he is recognized across our country, throughout the United States and in much of Europe. In other words, the red-blooded Canadian of eastern European ancestry has name recognition in virtually all of the winter sports countries serving as the core of the global audience for Vancouver 2010.
Third, the final torchbearer often sets the tone for the Games that follow. Placing the accent on hockey before the greatest hockeyfest the world has ever seen plays well for the tournament's single-biggest ticket seller and overwhelmingly-dominant television draw. That's true for the event, broadcast rightsholders such as CTV and NBC and for the corporate partners of Vancouver 2010.
Yet more than anything, the official opening ceremonies are the number one vehicle to convey the defining characteristics of a country such as Canada. The game of hockey is one of our signatures on the global stage. Vancouver 2010 could help create a winter sports culture in this country, but Gretzky epitomizes what Canada has: our hockey culture.
Gretzky does that on the strength of his childhood playing on an outdoor rink built by his father Walter. He does that as a multiple winner of the Stanley Cup, which is for Canadians the most prized trophy in sports. Yet he also does that as an Olympian, both as a player in a disappointing team performance in Nagano 1998 and as the team executive director in an inspiring, glorious and historic gold medal win in Salt Lake 2002.
Gretzky is the right choice because as hockey icon he will appeal to Canadians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. More important to the larger audience, he is the right choice because he will make sense to Americans, Europeans and many others as the Canadian picked to light the Olympic Cauldron at these Winter Games.
NFL and The Who cross-promote CSI for CBS
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend wrap their set at
the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show
Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami. (Photo: Bethie Curley)
When the National Football League began considering who should perform at this year's Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, The Who was suggested as a natural fit given the league's recent predisposition towards iconic rock acts for its halftime show.
Most would agree they'd belong in the conversation with Paul McCartney (Super Bowl XXXIX at Jacksonville, Fla. in 2005), the Rolling Stones (Super Bowl XL at Detroit in 2006), Prince (Super Bowl XLI at Miami in 2007), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Super Bowl XLII at Glendale, Arizona in 2008) and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen (Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa in 2009).
Along with Aerosmith (Super Bowl XXXV at Tampa in 2001) and U2 (in their moving 9/11 tribute during Super Bowl XXXVI at New Orleans in 2002), The Who is among the legendary bands of the 1970s and 1980s still rocking after all these years. That makes raspy lead vocals by Roger Daltrey and windmill guitar work by Pete Townshend resonate as a blast from the past with the boomer generation while still being relevant to the core Generation X NFL demographic and at least intriguing as historic rock'n'roll curiousities to the young adults in Generation Y and the young teens making up Generation Z.
Yet make no mistake: The Who earned the nod mainly because Super Bowl XLIV U.S. television rightsholder CBS loved the idea.
Giving The Who the high-profile gig made CBS Entertainment a happy camper because it would effectively cross-promote three of its most valuable television properties in one flick of the guitar pick: CSI and the Crime Scene Investigation trio. That's because The Who licensed their music to all three shows produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Paramount Television.
The original CSI (created in 2000 by Anthony E. Zuiker and still running strong Thursday nights at 9 p.m. PT on CBS in the U.S. and CTV in Canada) opens with about 40 seconds of Who are You?, the 1978 classic considered among the top-100 (#97) on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.
Its first spin-off CSI: Miami (launched in 2002 and running Mondays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) begins with Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who's 1971 anthem that ranks #133 on the Rolling Stone Top 500. CSI: New York(which made its debut as the third in the trio of crime dramas and airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) features Baba O'Reilly, another 1971 song (#340)by The Who.
We first raised The Who/CSI/CBS connection with Blake Price on The Blake Price Show on Vancouver sports radio TEAM 1040 on November 27th, the day after the NFL Network announced the selection of the 2010 halftime show headliners during a Thursday night showdown between the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.
So when Townshend leaked the Super Bowl set list in an interview with Billboard two weeks before the February 7th game on CBS and CTV, it should have surprised no one that Baba O'Riley, Who Are You? and Won't Get Fooled Again were part of the plans for Miami.
The Who followed Townshend's Billboard promises to a tee. Before a capacity crowd of 74,059 at Sun Life Stadium and a record North American television audience of 114 million on CBS and CTV, they opened the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show with Pinball Wizard and did a short segment from the close of Tommy. Yet it was nothing but CSI theme music the rest of the way.
Baba O'Riley was first up among the CSI themes. Then came Who Are You? and the quick "See Me, Feel Me" from Tommy. The ending was perfectly-scripted. As the theme song for CSI: Miami, The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again was the natural finale as an ode to the host city.
The 12-minute set was solid, arguably strong enough to knock off Diana Ross and comfortably rank among the top-10 Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. Performed on a wildly-impressive stage that starred in its own right and provided a modern light show extravaganza, the set served the event and its television audience well.
More than anything, though, it stoked host broadcaster CBS and its Bruckheimer-produced CSI franchise -- not to mention CTV as the Canadian rightsholder to both the Super Bowl and CSI -- in a brilliant medley of cross-promotion and co-branding.
It's much more likely he'll be owning a National Hockey League franchise in Las Vegas sometime soon, but it almost makes you wonder how long before Pete Townshend's guitar windmill from Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV re-starts the rumour windmill about Bruckheimer getting himself involved in the return of the NFL to Los Angeles later this decade.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
Most would agree they'd belong in the conversation with Paul McCartney (Super Bowl XXXIX at Jacksonville, Fla. in 2005), the Rolling Stones (Super Bowl XL at Detroit in 2006), Prince (Super Bowl XLI at Miami in 2007), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Super Bowl XLII at Glendale, Arizona in 2008) and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen (Super Bowl XLIII at Tampa in 2009).
Along with Aerosmith (Super Bowl XXXV at Tampa in 2001) and U2 (in their moving 9/11 tribute during Super Bowl XXXVI at New Orleans in 2002), The Who is among the legendary bands of the 1970s and 1980s still rocking after all these years. That makes raspy lead vocals by Roger Daltrey and windmill guitar work by Pete Townshend resonate as a blast from the past with the boomer generation while still being relevant to the core Generation X NFL demographic and at least intriguing as historic rock'n'roll curiousities to the young adults in Generation Y and the young teens making up Generation Z.
Yet make no mistake: The Who earned the nod mainly because Super Bowl XLIV U.S. television rightsholder CBS loved the idea.
Giving The Who the high-profile gig made CBS Entertainment a happy camper because it would effectively cross-promote three of its most valuable television properties in one flick of the guitar pick: CSI and the Crime Scene Investigation trio. That's because The Who licensed their music to all three shows produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Paramount Television.
The original CSI (created in 2000 by Anthony E. Zuiker and still running strong Thursday nights at 9 p.m. PT on CBS in the U.S. and CTV in Canada) opens with about 40 seconds of Who are You?, the 1978 classic considered among the top-100 (#97) on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time.
Its first spin-off CSI: Miami (launched in 2002 and running Mondays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) begins with Won't Get Fooled Again, The Who's 1971 anthem that ranks #133 on the Rolling Stone Top 500. CSI: New York(which made its debut as the third in the trio of crime dramas and airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. PT on CBS and CTV) features Baba O'Reilly, another 1971 song (#340)by The Who.
We first raised The Who/CSI/CBS connection with Blake Price on The Blake Price Show on Vancouver sports radio TEAM 1040 on November 27th, the day after the NFL Network announced the selection of the 2010 halftime show headliners during a Thursday night showdown between the Oakland Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys.
So when Townshend leaked the Super Bowl set list in an interview with Billboard two weeks before the February 7th game on CBS and CTV, it should have surprised no one that Baba O'Riley, Who Are You? and Won't Get Fooled Again were part of the plans for Miami.
The Who followed Townshend's Billboard promises to a tee. Before a capacity crowd of 74,059 at Sun Life Stadium and a record North American television audience of 114 million on CBS and CTV, they opened the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show with Pinball Wizard and did a short segment from the close of Tommy. Yet it was nothing but CSI theme music the rest of the way.
Baba O'Riley was first up among the CSI themes. Then came Who Are You? and the quick "See Me, Feel Me" from Tommy. The ending was perfectly-scripted. As the theme song for CSI: Miami, The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again was the natural finale as an ode to the host city.
The 12-minute set was solid, arguably strong enough to knock off Diana Ross and comfortably rank among the top-10 Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. Performed on a wildly-impressive stage that starred in its own right and provided a modern light show extravaganza, the set served the event and its television audience well.
More than anything, though, it stoked host broadcaster CBS and its Bruckheimer-produced CSI franchise -- not to mention CTV as the Canadian rightsholder to both the Super Bowl and CSI -- in a brilliant medley of cross-promotion and co-branding.
It's much more likely he'll be owning a National Hockey League franchise in Las Vegas sometime soon, but it almost makes you wonder how long before Pete Townshend's guitar windmill from Sunday's Super Bowl XLIV re-starts the rumour windmill about Bruckheimer getting himself involved in the return of the NFL to Los Angeles later this decade.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Super Bowl makes Sun Life Stadium best-ever naming launch
Can anyone remember a more impressive launch for a new stadium naming rights deal than the debut of Sun Life Stadium two weeks ago?
To say the timing of the deal was fortuitous is an understatement. Canada's Sun Life Financial announced the reported 10-year, $40 million US naming rights agreement -- in which the first five years and the first $20 million US are guaranteed -- on January 19th, just 12 days before the NFL's 2010 Pro Bowl and less than three weeks before Super Bowl XLIV, which goes this Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Lakes, Fla.
In sheer North American television exposure alone, the one-two punch of the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl in Miami give the Sun Life corporate moniker the strongest media launch in stadium naming history. The Pro Bowl itself was a significant prime time coming out party for the Sun Life Stadium name, with ESPN scoring an average of 12.3 million viewers in the U.S. (38 per cent more than the afternoon audience for last year's NFL all-star game in Honolulu).
Sun Life Stadium basked in the glow of the largest Pro Bowl television audience in 10 years, despite being up against the 52nd Grammy Awards on CBS.
The television spotlight will increase at least tenfold this Sunday, when a U.S. audience of more than 100 million will tune in to CBS to watch NFL MVP Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts square off in Miami against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. As the world's second largest single-day annual sports event behind only the UEFA Champions League European club soccer final, the Super Bowl should draw a global television audience of more than 160 million in 230 countries to the action at Sun Life Stadium.
More than 80 per cent of that will come from the U.S., Mexico and Canada where the Super Bowl is king of North American sports properties.
Nonetheless, the Super Bowl television blitz this weekend will only underline how much of a bargain Sun Life struck in naming the 23-year-old stadium. With 30-second commercials on CBS sold out at an average of about $2.7 million US a pop, Sun Life will get more than its money's worth in one fell swoop.
Depending on the number of times Sun Life is mentioned and its new stadium graphics shown during the Super Bowl telecast and lead-in programming on CBS, ESPN and NFL Network, the case can be made that the Toronto-based insurance company will receive media value that is at least equal to the first five years of its naming rights deal. That does not include valuation of the billions of media impressions that Sun Life Stadium will receive this week in print and on the internet, along with radio.
Rarely does a stadium naming provide the kind of immediate return on investment that this one does for Sun Life. Never before could one argue that a long-term naming rights deal will almost pay for itself in the first month, let alone the first year.
The Super Bowl timing is only one example of how this deal is a winner for Sun Life. The low cost of the sponsorship is the headliner here. Sun Life paid about one-fifth the $20 million US per year that Citi Financial has invested in Citi Field ($400 million US over 20 years) for the new home of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. It paid well less than the going rate for NFL stadiums, including the $7 million US per year that Bank of America did for the home of the Carolina Panthers.
For just more than half that, Sun Life locked up the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, the iconic Miami Hurricanes of college football and -- for at least another two seasons -- the Florida Marlins of MLB. The strong brand equity of the football teams playing at Sun Life Stadium is another positive, as is its annual role as host of the FedEx Orange Bowl in the BCS and the stadium's own history as the first of its kind in the NFL built entirely with private funds.
Another strength is the inclusion of a philanthropic component to the deal. Sun Life is donating $250,000 per year to the Miami Dolphins Foundation, a community investment play that gives the sponsorship deal more legs.
Yet perhaps the best part of this deal is the naming itself. Unlike awkward names such as Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, or unwieldy titles like the former Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland (now re-named McAfee Coliseum, home of baseball's Athletics), Sun Life is a smooth, two-syllable stadium title. Mostly though, it works because it's such a natural fit for sunny South Florida. It's actually appropriate for the market and that will go a long way with fans of the Dolphins and the Hurricanes and the NFL and college football.
Given the economics and the aesthetics, along with the 145-year history of the Toronto-based company, this one has the makings of a good long-term relationship (at least for the 10 years of this deal). That's good news for a venue that's had seven names -- Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Landshark Stadium and now Sun Life Stadium -- since 1987.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
To say the timing of the deal was fortuitous is an understatement. Canada's Sun Life Financial announced the reported 10-year, $40 million US naming rights agreement -- in which the first five years and the first $20 million US are guaranteed -- on January 19th, just 12 days before the NFL's 2010 Pro Bowl and less than three weeks before Super Bowl XLIV, which goes this Sunday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Lakes, Fla.
In sheer North American television exposure alone, the one-two punch of the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl in Miami give the Sun Life corporate moniker the strongest media launch in stadium naming history. The Pro Bowl itself was a significant prime time coming out party for the Sun Life Stadium name, with ESPN scoring an average of 12.3 million viewers in the U.S. (38 per cent more than the afternoon audience for last year's NFL all-star game in Honolulu).
Sun Life Stadium basked in the glow of the largest Pro Bowl television audience in 10 years, despite being up against the 52nd Grammy Awards on CBS.
The television spotlight will increase at least tenfold this Sunday, when a U.S. audience of more than 100 million will tune in to CBS to watch NFL MVP Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts square off in Miami against Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. As the world's second largest single-day annual sports event behind only the UEFA Champions League European club soccer final, the Super Bowl should draw a global television audience of more than 160 million in 230 countries to the action at Sun Life Stadium.
More than 80 per cent of that will come from the U.S., Mexico and Canada where the Super Bowl is king of North American sports properties.
Nonetheless, the Super Bowl television blitz this weekend will only underline how much of a bargain Sun Life struck in naming the 23-year-old stadium. With 30-second commercials on CBS sold out at an average of about $2.7 million US a pop, Sun Life will get more than its money's worth in one fell swoop.
Depending on the number of times Sun Life is mentioned and its new stadium graphics shown during the Super Bowl telecast and lead-in programming on CBS, ESPN and NFL Network, the case can be made that the Toronto-based insurance company will receive media value that is at least equal to the first five years of its naming rights deal. That does not include valuation of the billions of media impressions that Sun Life Stadium will receive this week in print and on the internet, along with radio.
Rarely does a stadium naming provide the kind of immediate return on investment that this one does for Sun Life. Never before could one argue that a long-term naming rights deal will almost pay for itself in the first month, let alone the first year.
The Super Bowl timing is only one example of how this deal is a winner for Sun Life. The low cost of the sponsorship is the headliner here. Sun Life paid about one-fifth the $20 million US per year that Citi Financial has invested in Citi Field ($400 million US over 20 years) for the new home of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball. It paid well less than the going rate for NFL stadiums, including the $7 million US per year that Bank of America did for the home of the Carolina Panthers.
For just more than half that, Sun Life locked up the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, the iconic Miami Hurricanes of college football and -- for at least another two seasons -- the Florida Marlins of MLB. The strong brand equity of the football teams playing at Sun Life Stadium is another positive, as is its annual role as host of the FedEx Orange Bowl in the BCS and the stadium's own history as the first of its kind in the NFL built entirely with private funds.
Another strength is the inclusion of a philanthropic component to the deal. Sun Life is donating $250,000 per year to the Miami Dolphins Foundation, a community investment play that gives the sponsorship deal more legs.
Yet perhaps the best part of this deal is the naming itself. Unlike awkward names such as Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, or unwieldy titles like the former Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland (now re-named McAfee Coliseum, home of baseball's Athletics), Sun Life is a smooth, two-syllable stadium title. Mostly though, it works because it's such a natural fit for sunny South Florida. It's actually appropriate for the market and that will go a long way with fans of the Dolphins and the Hurricanes and the NFL and college football.
Given the economics and the aesthetics, along with the 145-year history of the Toronto-based company, this one has the makings of a good long-term relationship (at least for the 10 years of this deal). That's good news for a venue that's had seven names -- Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Landshark Stadium and now Sun Life Stadium -- since 1987.
www.TheSportMarket.biz
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