SportsBiz Madness 2021: Case Study Tournament Champions!

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Thanks to our judges!

An extra special thanks to Alex Dobson, an executive with DNA Seattle (a Seattle-based advertising agency), Dr. Jim Strode, Chair, Department of Sports Administration and Associate Professor at Ohio University, and Scott Soles from Nike (an avid volleyball coach, player and fan), for taking the time to review, evaluate and offer feedback for the championship round of this tournament.

The perspective from successful industry pros and an academic institution with the pedigree of Ohio University offers an invaluable educational experience for our students and our teachers. The feedback from all three provides fantastic context for not only the teams who advanced to the championship round of this year’s competition, but also the students and teachers following along in their own classrooms.

Thanks guys!

Championship Round Recap

After receiving nearly 100 entries for SCC’s 5th annual high school case study tournament, we finally crown a champion…

The case we distributed for the championship round presented students with the challenge of developing strategies to grow the popularity of a niche sport. The two finalists were tasked with creating a plan for boosting awareness of “footvolley” and finding ways to get sports fans excited about a sport many have never heard of. We were excited to see what our championship teams came up with and they did not disappoint!

Both groups had a lot of really creative ideas that we felt would definitely help elevate footvolley awareness and give the sport’s popularity a boost. The strategies were thoroughly developed with a solid plan for execution in place, and we were certainly impressed with the level of research that went into each submission. It is always tough to decide on a winner, and the finalists certainly made it difficult to determine this year’s champion.

Downers Grove North High School, Illinois

Overall, Downers Grove North students developed a very thorough strategy for building interest and boosting awareness for the sport. The plan was very comprehensive, and we appreciated the group recognizing the value a national sponsor could offer to attract new fans. DGN put forth an incredibly consistent performance throughout the competition, nailing each and every case study challenge they were presented with. Very, very impressive work.

Some feedback (and highlights) from our judges:

  • SOCIAL MEDIA 
    • Social media campaign on rules, ways to play, etc. could be effective depending on who and how that message is being delivered. There is a lot of really “average” content in the world, competing for everyone’s attention. How will this campaign capture consumers’ attention and imagination?
  • VIEWERSHIP 
    • Judges liked the easy (and “free,”) access for people to watch via live streams on YouTube, and the ability to reach a global audience. How will you promote so that people know to go watch?
  • PARTICIPATION 
    • One of the biggest challenges for footvolley is the sport’s insane degree of difficulty.  Developing a strategy to boost participation levels is a tall order, and while there were some good ideas from both teams, we didn’t quite feel like either group came up with a game-changing solution.
    • One idea, however, that felt like it might have some traction is your plan to seamlessly integrating avenues that would encourage participation at the youth level (in the schools!) and make it a part of their lives so they are familiar with the game.  In particular, the judges liked the concept of adapting to make Footvolley an indoor sport, allowing the game to be taught in physical education classes.  
  • SPONSORSHIP
    • While Hilton seems, on the surface, like a natural fit as a partner, are there beaches at every, or enough, Hilton Resorts across the country to create enough of a national footprint for Footvolley? 
    • More importantly, does this demo fit with Hilton’s core consumers?
    • That said, judges were intrigued by the idea of establishing an exclusive membership reward/incentive angle here for the sponsor. It provides them a potential benefit for their loyal guests and could potentially create some potential FOMO (fear of missing out) for consumers who don’t usually stay at a Hilton Resort.
    • What makes more sense, however, is pursuing more youthful brand alignments (Puma, Mikasa).  As a use of facilities, Hilton makes sense. However, as a sport that is targeting itself in youth, late night programming, this feels like a potential disconnect.
  • SOCIAL MEDIA
    • We felt like you missed the mark just a bit here with a social strategy.  Rather than hoping for a viral moment to help put the sport on the map, a more comprehensive social media plan would be far more practical and effective in the long-term.  Also, how will you build your followers?
    • We liked your Instagram examples, including the nickname idea to help make it easier for fans to recognize the athletes. Stars sell in sports and this could help to build a following.
    • Pretty cool to see your TikTok post – nice to see your athleticism on full display!
  • SEGMENTATION
    • The judges felt DGN students did a great job segmenting the market geographically by developing customized marketing messages for cold weather vs. warm weather consumer markets
    • However, we felt this group could have done a better job evaluating demographic data and offering a more robust segmentation strategy
    • While the geographic segmentation makes sense from an advertising perspective, why didn’t you apply the same strategy with the offering of footvolley clinics?  We would have liked to have seen that strategy developed just a bit further.
  • GRASSROOTS EFFORTS 
    • Olympic adoption would be a great way to raise broader awareness and we liked an approach that leverages a sponsorship to help drive more participation to help meet requirements for Olympic consideration. This would be a massive undertaking and investment on behalf of Footvolley and Hilton, though.
      • Grow The Game initiatives are important in almost all major sports to keep the pipeline of consumer interest. Other than the school curriculum integration, what other ways/avenues could you activate young kids to start playing this game?
  • ENDORSEMENT 
    • Perhaps the most glaring omission from your overall strategy was a lack of athlete or celebrity endorsers, or even social media influencers.  You recognized the footvolley is a cross between soccer (arguably the most globally recognized sport in the world) and volleyball (with a smaller, but no less loyal fan base). Why not tap into the popularity of both sports to help grow this one by enlisting the support of athletes, celebrities and other influencers?

Green Run High School, Virginia

We felt like this was a well-constructed plan from the “rookies” in this competition at Green Run High School. They also did a superb job aligning with the curriculum and course materials to develop a plan that will help grow the sport of footvolley. At the end of the day, this competition is designed to teach students key, fundamental sports business concepts. Green Run certainly demonstrated a high level of proficiency here. Great job!

Some feedback (and highlights) from our judges:

  • SWOT ANALYSIS
    • Remember, it is not necessary to use full sentences in these analyses, it is more efficient to use bullet points which allows for a more thorough assessment.  However, your attention to detail was appreciated by all the judges.  Also, remember that strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization while opportunities and threats are external.
  • AWARENESS, EDUCATION & GROWTH
    • We absolutely LOVED that you managed to connect with an actual footvolley athlete.  Your interview with Neil T Harrison was smart—it provided you with some quality information on the sport, allowing you to make informed decisions about how you will raise awareness and educate fans about the exciting world of footvolley.
    • One of the things that really stood out to the judges was your ability to plan for both short-term growth and develop long-term strategies.  Slowly adding new tour stops in beach markets makes sense as accelerating growth too quickly simply isn’t feasible given the limited resources.  
    • Establishing a presence at events like Pharrell’s Something in the Water beach festival, tailgates with sand and portable nets at Major League Soccer stadiums, and marketing around the 2026 World Cup in the USA makes a ton of sense.  We would have liked to have seen the inclusion of some volleyball events, however, and at least some focus on tapping into the international appeal of both sports to grow build awareness globally.
  • SOCIAL MEDIA 
    • How do you intend to be visible on social media platforms outside of the examples you provided?  You don’t want to limit your reach by narrowing your focus on just a few platforms.  For example, Pinterest could provide a great way to reach potential fans with the backdrop of beautiful beaches and amazing athleticism.  
    • We loved seeing a defined and measurable goal of increasing footvolley’s following by 50% in the metro areas of all Pro Footvolley Tour stops in 2021.  Not only will this allow you to create a more streamlined social media strategy, but also offers a powerful evaluation tool as you set your sights on both short and long-term growth for the sport.
    • Overall, we felt it was a good use of utilizing UGC to help tell the FV story and allow consumers to imagine (or actually see) themselves as part of the game.
      • We thought it was a fun idea to make a challenge video and send it to high schools in targeted areas to see who has the best footvolley skills.  Seems something like this could be a huge hit on TikTok!
  • POSITIONING
    • The judges felt this an important component to your marketing plan.  Carefully positioning the Footvolley brand as a “new, innovative, challenging and fun geared toward fun loving athletes.”  Fun speaks to consumers in ways that encourages participation and offers the intrigue necessary to capture the attention of sports fans who might be looking for a new sport to support and follow.
  • SPONSORSHIP
    • You did an excellent job seeking sponsors that fit your target audience.  It makes sense to align with companies that resonate with younger consumers (Hurley, Sun Bum, Yeti) while offering a natural extension of the footvolley brand with “beachy” products.  Lots of synergy there and everybody wins with partnerships like these, including the fans, the sport of footvolley and the sponsors.  
    • We really liked seeing an activation strategy that aligns with your marketing strategy as well.  Establishing leagues at breweries, amateur beach tournaments etc. will increase awareness, and the positioning strategy where watching is as fun as playing makes a lot of sense.
  • SEGMENTATION
    • We thought you did an excellent job doing the research on demographic data for the sports of volleyball and soccer.  That is a smart plan when determining your target market and will certainly pay dividends as you deploy your footvolley marketing strategy.
  • VIEWERSHIP 
    • As discussed in the Downers Grove North review, YouTube is obviously a fantastic way to broadcast footvolley to fans around the world.  However, is YouTube the only way you plan to broadcast the sport?  As a side note, the idea for this case study came from a footvolley broadcast…on ESPN.  Also, with so many streaming companies clamoring for content that will attract viewers (like DAZN, FloSports, FuboTV), seems you may have missed a big opportunity here.
  • PARTICIPATION 
    • As discussed earlier, one of the biggest challenges for footvolley is the sport’s insane degree of difficulty.  Developing a strategy to boost participation levels is a tall order, and while there were some good ideas from both teams, we didn’t quite feel like either group came up with a game-changing solution.
    • While we absolutely loved the local brew pub partnership (the commercial was awesome), how eager do you think novice fans will be to come out to the pub and try to play?  Will the novelty wear off too quickly?  Also, we would have liked to have seen a strategy for growing the game not just nationally, but internationally from a participation perspective.  Encouraging participation at a local pub isn’t going to move the needle much.
  • ENDORSEMENT 
    • You absolutely nailed it on this one.  Bringing the voice of iconic global soccer stars to the game of footvolley will most certainly boost interest. Nice job doing the research to learn that soccer players like Brazil legend Ronaldino believes footvolley will become an Olympic sport offers tons of credibility, and tapping into that positive affiliation/affinity for the game the game provides an excellent use of influence.

AND THE WINNER IS…

Congratulations Green Run High School!  You are the champions of our fifth annual SportsBiz Madness Case Study Tournament!

From the competition’s judges:

We were all very impressed with the overall approach taken by Green Run students to elevate the sport of footvolley. Setting up clear KPI’s at the beginning and a clear articulation of education strategy is what really separated your case study response from the competition in the final round. We also felt like this group was very consistent, thoughtful and accurate with their recommendation on who and what to align their brand with on many levels.  Last but certainly not least, it was evident these students went the extra mile in this competition.  Tracking down an actual footvolley athlete to interview for ideas and input was genius, and a collaboration with a local business was really cool to see.  

Congrats again to ALL of this year’s participating students. This tournament will go down as the biggest and most competitive in the five year history of SportsBiz Madness. Thank you for competing and we look forward to seeing your school again next spring!

SportsBiz Madness: 2021 Case Study Tournament (Championship Round)

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Thanks to our Judges!

An extra special thanks to Alex Dobson, an executive with DNA Seattle (a Seattle-based advertising agency), and Dr. Jim Strode, Chair, Department of Sports Administration and Associate Professor at Ohio University for helping to evaluate the Final Four round of case study competition entries.  Gaining perspective from seasoned industry professionals and an academic institution with the pedigree of Ohio University offers an invaluable educational experience for our students and our teachers.  The feedback from both (read the post below for more) provides fantastic context for not only the four teams who battled it out in the Final Four round of this year’s competition, but also the students and teachers following along in their own classrooms.

Great stuff. Thank you so much gentlemen!

The Championship round is set!

After receiving nearly 120 entries for Sports Career Consulting’s fifth annual “SportsBiz Madness” high school case study competition, we are left with just two teams.  

For the Final Four round of this competition, our competitors were tasked with the development of a sponsorship activation campaign for a brand recently acquired by Coca-Cola (Body Armor) surrounding the upcoming Summer Games in Tokyo to help the brand gain market share in the sports drink marketplace.  

To find out who advanced to the championship round in this year’s tournament, please read on…

Props to all our Final Four competitors!

Determining which students would advance to the final round of the competition was an extremely tough call. All competitors delivered strategic and insightful ideas, and showed an excellent grasp of sponsorship. As always with these kinds of “pitches,” you’re at the mercy of what the judges biases are or what they are most interested in–which is to say that if you aren’t moving on to the next round, it doesn’t mean your ideas were off target or wouldn’t be effective. The reality is, sometimes big brands get it wrong, or focus on the wrong things. So, just keep trusting your instincts, continue learning, push forward, and get ready for the next opportunity. You should all be proud of how far you have come in this tournament!

FINAL FOUR ROUND RECAP: 

As general feedback, one key critical observation (perhaps a little advanced but something to consider): While the recommendation of leveraging the new Coca-Cola/Body Armor relationship makes a ton of financial sense given Coca-Cola’s scale and budgets (and kudos to GRHS for being up on current beverage industry happenings), a brand like Body Armor will need to be extremely careful just how much they align their healthy and performance-driven product with a product that is considered far less healthy and doesn’t have the natural connection to athletic performance. More likely is that both brands could combine their Olympics budgets, while telling separate stories, to extract more promotional opportunities and added-value from Olympic organizers (i.e., LEVERAGE). Just some perspective on how an agency would likely approach a strategic activation tied to the Summer Games…

Pinelands Regional High School (New Jersey) vs. Green Run High School (Virginia)

The slipper still fits for students from Green Run HS, newcomers to this competition, as they knock out the defending champion Pinelands Regional High School from this year’s tournament! Congratulations to Kerri Sabo and her students at Green Run High, you are moving on to the final round…

Some feedback from our judges:

In addition to presenting a good grasp of the elements that make up a successful sponsorship, Green Run brought a ton of really fun ideas/executions to the table  and packaged those up in a visual presentation with actual content executions (2 videos!) that they went and produced/designed. Sponsorships like the Olympics are incredibly expensive, so exhausting as many activations as possible is important to squeeze the most value out of an Olympic sponsors large investment. 

Some highlights:

  • Local athletic community tie-in with YMCA across the country
  • VR activation and partnership with Oculus
  • Giveaway-Mask with purchase promotion
  • Retail “Olympic Podium,” activation in grocery stores
  • Virtual (and digital invite-only) torch lighting party (and the social media push behind the promo to enhance the activation)
  • Social media activations on both Twitter and Snapchat
  • Bonus points for actually shooting two pieces of video and designing billboards, appreciate seeing the extra effort!

Some opportunities for growth:

Tons of great ideas! A few things to consider, enhancing your proposal:

  • Be sure to proofread for errors, as well as edit so the document reads as if it were written by one voice…challenging given this is a group project, but you want reviewers to easily follow the train of thought, particularly with the challenge of squeezing this many ideas into two short pages
  • Your campaign should start with your target market (those living an active lifestyle), and all
    sponsorship and activation activities should keep this front of mind.
  • It was unclear what differentiates BODYARMOR from Gatorade. It is mentioned that the product is healthier—is this true, and how is this communicated to the consumer?
  • The Walmart partnership is interesting. On one hand, the domestic reach of Walmart is vast—their locations span both urban and rural locations. On the other hand, outside of using Walmart for distribution, a public partnership may pigeonhole BODYARMOUR with the same consumer feelings that are attributed to Walmart (i.e. cheap, discount, low quality, not known for healthy).
  • Expand on the YMCA partnership. Why did you choose them over, say, competitive athletic
    associations, race companies, etc.
  • While I know that Powerade is a soft drink option at fast food restaurants and convenience stores, do you see many people purchasing BODYARMOR to consume while watching a sporting event? Might benefit to share the rationale behind the decision if possible.
  • One thing all the judges noticed…If you’re attempting to activate BODYARMOR, why are you allowing consumers to choose between a free Coke or BODYARMOR?
  • Provide examples of the endorsement roster, and make sure it matches the target audience’s
    awareness space.

Great job Green Run High School students! Can’t wait to see what you come up with in the final round!

Kathy Bennett’s students at Pinelands Regional High School, as always, offered another impressive case study response. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t quite enough to get through to the next round.

Some feedback from the judges:

Tons of great ideas! A few things to consider, enhancing your proposal:

  • As suggested earlier, be sure to proofread for errors, as well as edit so the document reads as if it were written by one voice.
  • The example of The Weeknd performing at the SuperBowl is an example of promotion, specifically aimed at increasing awareness of the musician. The Nike partnership with the NFL is closer to a true sponsorship relationship.
  • Product positioning definition may be off. Emphasize how a brand differentiates itself from another, in this case, BODYARMOR versus Gatorade.
  • What connects the athletes who endorse this product with the interests of the target audience?
  • I like the idea of connecting BODYARMOR to the endorser’s social media pages.
  • I like the idea of connecting the flavors to the Olympic rings, assuming that Coca-Cola has the rights to use this intellectual property.
  • The giveaway promotion with the caps is a throwback idea—by making it easy with registering online, you’re also creating a sizable e-mail database for direct consumer contact (all that data offers a lot of value, can open the door to more effective future campaigns).
  • Sampling is great…however, how will you execute your sample plan in the US and Canada with all the limitations and challenges presented by the pandemic?
  • Loved the Tik Tok challenge and the “In Good Taste” social media ideas—very creative and certainly a strategy that will boost levels of fan engagement.

Really well done Pinelands Regional High School, no shame in a Final Four finish!

Downers Grove North High School (Illinois) vs. Grant High School (Oregon)

Downers Grove North: After several deep tournament runs in our SportsBiz Madness case study tournaments, Downers Grove North managed to hold off Grant High School and reach their first ever finals appearance. Congratulations to Drew Himes’ students at Downers Grove North, you are in the championship round.

Some feedback from our judges:

What really set DGNHS apart in this round was a very robust and holistic set of sponsorship activations that aligned nicely with the Body Armor brand, the Olympics, Olympic athletes, the local host-city, and current world events which positioned the brand as not only (but certainly first-and-foremost) a company rooted in superior performance, but also one that is trying to be thoughtful and connected to the larger world outside of their corporate walls.

  • Leveraging Olympic Athletes via a welcome package of Body Armor goodies
  • Use of robot vending machines in/around the Olympic community and the Tokyo market
  • Light-up bottles for spectators at the opening ceremonies was a brilliant and super creative idea, all the judges loved this one!
  • Bottle cap code promotion and giveaway
  • Use of QR codes-Influencer incentivization
  • “Mask-Up Armor-Up” social media execution
  • TikTok virtual silly-Olympics for the rest of the globe to have fun competing against other fans (could be even more fun if a few Olympic athletes actually participate as well!)
  • Really nice job explaining and defining the sponsorship components. It is clear you have a strong grasp on these concepts which is really the most important thing in these competitions
  • Great attention to detail in not only providing athletes with BODYARMOR gear, but also making sure the product is in many camera shots. Helps to get the most bang for the buck!
  • How do you encourage or enforce BODYARMOUR baths? Smart idea, as it is an ambush play on the Gatorade dump.
  • Are spectators from beyond Japan allowed to attend the games? Did you consider how this could impact your sweepstakes promotion for all-expense paid trips to Tokyo?
  • Sponsoring the media provider (NBC) is also an innovative idea—we’re seeing more of this, as pregame, halftime, and postgame shows have corporate partnerships.

Fantastic job Downers Grove North! Really looking forward to seeing more great ideas in the final round!

Grant High School: It has been an amazing year for Grant High School, “rookies” in our annual competitions who managed a Final Four appearance in the case study tournament this spring AND a runner-up finish in the fall fantasy football competition. What an impressive run and we can’t wait to see if Grant High School students can break through next year and nab that elusive championship trophy!

Some feedback from the judges:

  • Love the logo you presented—shows both unity and acceptance (assuming through diversity).
  • Remember that the audience at the Olympics will be limited, so emphasize how you will reach the consumer through traditional media or other activations outside of Japan.
  • All the judges raved about the idea of the voice controlled vending machines!
  • Why are you selling facemasks? This could be a very simple give-away premium to spectators. No sense running the risk in turning consumers off to the product!
  • Appreciate the focus on sustainability given your target audience including the idea of fully recyclable plastics and biodegradable materials. However, any research to indicate this is an actual possibility? And how might that impact your profitability given how much you will be investing in an Olympic Games partnership?
  • How will your social media campaign (Instagram) target consumers? Through paid promotion?
  • I like the QR code idea—it serves multiple purposes, as it gets consumers to activate with the athletes and you can collect tons of data (an emphasis for any brand)

Overall, really well done Grant HS students. Impressive work!

Congrats again to ALL our participants in this year’s tournament, including everyone who advanced the bracket round of the competition. We look forward to seeing you all again next year!

2021 SportsBiz Madness Case Study Tournament Bracket

SportsBiz Madness: 2021 Case Study Tournament (Final Four Edition)

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We continue to be very impressed with the work from our competing students for our fifth annual SportsBiz Madness case study tournament. 

In the “Elite Eight” round, students were asked to build a social media campaign in a ticket sales push for their favorite professional sports team. The effort all eight remaining teams put forth was evident, and selecting which schools would advance was very tough.

Unfortunately, just four teams will move on in the tournament for the chance to be crowned 2021 case study champs. Here is a recap of the elite eight round results and a look at who will be moving on to the Final Four!

HONORABLE MENTION:

Carle Place High School, New York

Students at Carle Place HS chose to create a social media ticket marketing strategy for the San Diego Padres. Some really cool ideas here from a content perspective. In particular, the utilizing the story feature on Instagram to host fan votes like what event will happen first in today’s game, a Tatis home run or a Snell strikeout. That’s a great way to keep fans engaged. “Favorite moments” in a bracket style fan vote is a fun idea as well, and perhaps there could even be some interesting opportunity to monetize some of those moments to help the club generate some revenue. Great job Carle Place High!

Flower Mound High School, Texas

Perhaps not surprisingly, Flower Mound students chose to develop a social sales plan for the Dallas Cowboys. One idea that really stood out was the inclusion of “experiences” with certain ticket packages. These experience packages would be promoted on Facebook and would command a higher price point. Featured experiences featured as part of Flower Mound’s “interactive” ticket packages would include things like access for fans to an exclusive tailgate outside the stadium, reservations at the iconic restaurant that the Cowboys players run through before games, and opportunities to watch pre-game on the sidelines for an up-close experience with the players. Excellent job by Flower Mound students as well from a research perspective, determining which social media platform would be most appropriate for the different types of ticket packages they plan to offer. Outstanding effort from FMHS!

Fruitport High School, Michigan

Fruitport High School students created a social sales plan for the Detroit Tigers. They did a nice job identifying which social platforms would be most effective in reaching their target audience, and building ticket promotions accordingly. Love the idea of tapping into the concept of fandom and creating a “superfan” promotion. From the Fruitport student report: “The Superfan Contest:  Like, Post, Share and Win!: Win a Superfan merchandise pack that includes  Detroit Tiger merchandise (t-shirt, drawstring bag, masks, water bottle, lanyard) and 20% off a Detroit Tigers baseball game ticket. Spectators will participate on social media and post their Superfan Selfies on Instagram with the hashtag “#TigerSuperfan.” Really nice job Fruitport High School!

Ellicottville Central, New York

Students at Ellicottville Central School chose to build a social media ticket sales plan for the Buffalo Bills. It was clear that these students did a lot of research re: covid protocols (which was one of the requirements for this case study), and determined a ticket sales strategy accordingly. Given the limitations with fewer fans being allowed to attend games, there were some great ideas here…it really shows how in tune Ellicottville students are with what teams have actually had to manage throughout this pandemic from a ticketing perspective. For example, providing tickets to healthcare workers was something a lot of teams did this year, including at the Super Bowl. Promoting everything through social media was well executed. Nice job Ellicottville Central!

THE FINAL FOUR:

Pinelands Regional High School, New Jersey

Two-time champion Pinelands Regional just continues to bring it in this competition. Some REALLY good ideas here from PRHS students to help boost ticket sales for the Tampa Bay Rays with a social media marketing campaign, along with a great plan for fan safety in addressing how the team will handle covid protocols.

Some highlights from PRHS fan safety plan:

  • Implementation of staggered seating pods on game days to ensure fans are social distancing
  • Fans and stadium workers will be required to wear face coverings to enter the stadium, and temperature checks for fans as they enter using special thermal cameras and sensors
  • Contactless stadium entry, cashless concessions & team shops
  • Customers will need to use credit or debit cards or cash apps (those patrons without access to those options will be directed to kiosks that allow cash to be converted into preloaded “RAYS PAYS” card)
  • QR codes be placed on the seat backs throughout the stadium so that fans can access concession menus and gift shop items, pay for their purchases at their seat and then have food runners bring the items to the patrons. This will help keep people socially distant and limit people gathering on lines and wandering around the concourse.

Some highlights from PRHS ticket marketing plan:

  • Via social media, offering live streams, behind the scenes looks and Q&A sessions with Rays players and staff with ticket sales promotions being offered during these sessions
  • “Inside Pitch” program exclusively for fans who buy a full or half season ticket package which includes monthly exclusive live stream Q&A sessions, with Rays’ General Manager
  • Ramping up a content strategy to feature one of the team’s most popular players, Ji-Man-Choi, and the team mascot to keep fans engaged and aware of game day promotions and “shoppable” opportunities to purchase tickets at a discount through social media platforms

Also, great idea to connect the promotions strategy to sponsors, recognizing the importance of generating revenue with fewer fans at the stadium during a pandemic year. Recognizing the impact the pandemic would have on ticket renewals was next-level thinking, appreciated seeing a plan in place for addressing that concern as well.

Once again, an amazing job by Pinelands Regional High School!

Green Run High School, Virginia

One of two “rookies” in this year’s competition to advance to the Final Four, Green Run HS students chose to develop a social sales plan for the Washington Nationals. Just as Major League Baseball officials navigate the pandemic and its impact on attendance, Green Run students were required to face the same challenge with this case study. GRHS stepped up with a masterful plan for creating the best possible experience at the park while maximizing revenue through ticket sales.

The key to the success of Green Run’s plan? Consistency. Regular posts featuring engaging content. A Snapchat post on every single game day featuring whatever promotion they were running. A TikTok challenge to start the season, starring one of the team’s best and most popular players. Game day tweets encouraging fans to post their favorite plays from the day’s action with offers for discounts on tickets to an upcoming game for the best tweets. All excellent ways to not only engage the fan base but also to increase ticket sales.

Some great promotion ideas here too! A few favorites:

  • THE VAC PACK: The Washington Nationals want to encourage all members of our community to get vaccinated against COVID 19. Season ticket holders : Show a vaccination card and receive 1 Free ticket for a friend to use at any home game this season.Though 1 is FREE, it encourages another game to come to and bringing more people.
  • The “You’re vOUTcher!” Meal Plan:This plan allows you to sit together with your family and all family members(up to 5) will receive a free meal “vOUTcher”.
  • Fans will have the opportunity for unique fan experiences and access to limited edition items. Fans who purchase season tickets, or  22,42, or 82 classic ticket plans and group sale tickets will get a VIP exclusive deal. They will be able to access a VIP area in the Clubhouse Team Store to shop and purchase exclusive souvenirs not sold anywhere else.
  • Mask giveaway: Team-branded masks will be given out to the first 2500 fans entering the game. Fans can follow us on twitter to view the mask for each home game.There will be daily tweets promoting the importance of public mask wearing, social distancing and regular handwashing. 
  • NATScination baseball card promotion involves our free vaccination pop up event at 1 designated game. Fans can show a vaccination card and get an exclusive signed baseball card. Fans can visit the NATScination tent up to 2 hours prior to game time. The first 3,000 fans showing their vaccination card will gain free entrance for the game. For all future games, fans who are NATScinated can use a special line for earlier entry into the games by showing their NATScination card along with their purchased ticket.

Fantastic job Green Run High School, really loved the creativity!

Grant High School, Oregon

The other “rookie” in this year’s competition is Grant High School who created a social ticket sales strategy for the Portland Trail Blazers. Grant High School students did an excellent job weaving promotions and ticket sales efforts with fan safety and covid protocols in a fun yet effective manner. Because the team is limited to just 25% of capacity at the stadium, GHS students built the entire campaign around that theme. A couple of highlights:

  • Playing off of the theme of 25% Capacity and 25% Off tickets, fans who buy tickets with a special social media link to purchase game tickets will be entered into a raffle with a chance to win a #25 classic Jerome Kersey jersey (one of the most popular players in franchise history).
  • The “social distancing special” campaign on the team’s Instagram and Twitter feeds promotes social distancing, but ties in with a ticket sales effort by asking fans to post a photo on their social feeds and tag the team anytime a Blazers play crosses up a defender. Fans who post and tag as part of the promotion are then eligible for a 25% discount on tickets.

Overall, great ideas from Grant High School. Really well done!

Downers Grove High School, Illinois

Students at Downers Grove High School chose the Chicago White Sox for this case study. Their social sales plan was LOADED with creative ideas and sound strategies for boosting sales, all while keeping fans safe during the ongoing pandemic.

One thing that really stood out in the DGNHS campaign was the team’s effort to market to a younger audience, something MLB teams have been struggling with in recent years. DGNHS students chose to embrace personality, promoting things like bat flips and on-field celebrations. The social media strategy aligns well with the target audience, as does the campaign slogans of “The Time Is Now” and “Change the Game.” Students chose to really push “The Time Is Now” narrative to encourage fans not to wait before purchasing their ticket packages for the year. Very smart! “The Time Is Now” will also serve the franchise well as a rallying cry for the team’s social justice plan with a social media campaign “The Time Is Now For Equality.”

Overall, fantastic job breaking down what content will be shared through each platform to maximize reach and fan engagement. Perhaps the most unique idea in this round of the competition, however, was the inclusion of Spotify as part of the campaign. Using Spotify to bring “Sounds of the Stadium” to the homes of fans is a really fun idea, and connecting the platform to game day walk-up music could be a great way to engage fans. Tying those in with game day ticket sales promotions could help to give sales a boost.

Loved the Twitter MEMES, TikToks and YouTube content as well. Stoking the flames in the Cubs’ rivalry will certainly boost levels of fan engagement. Pairing a ticket to the Cubs’ series with another game that would typically be harder to sell could be a strategy that pays off as well. Also, NEXT LEVEL stuff from DGNHS students to have actual, real-life posts for all your social platforms…clearly students put a lot of time and effort into this case study!

Overall, a very comprehensive plan…super impressive work from Downers Grove North High School!

UPDATED BRACKET:

SportsBiz Madness 2021: Case Study Tournament (Opening Round Results)

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OPENING ROUND RECAP

We were extremely impressed with the opening round results for our fifth annual SportsBiz Madness case study tournament.  Tasked with rebranding a Minor League Baseball franchise with a long history of sellouts and financial success (and fan support) but with a controversial team nickname.  Students put a lot of research into establishing a new brand that would connect with the community, generating support with an already loyal fan base.  Overall, this was the most competitive opening round field in the history of this tournament!

HONORABLE MENTION:

Selecting just eight groups from all of this year’s entries to advance to the bracket round of the competition was incredibly difficult.  Here are a few highlights from the “bubble” teams that were so close to advancing but didn’t quite get over the hump. 

Indianapolis Speedsters (Tappan Zee High School, New York)

What stood out with the Tappan Zee group’s “Speedsters” rebrand was the attention to detail in the branding effort itself.  Not only did they create a new brand identity for the franchise, but also offered a strategy for building brand awareness and maximizing opportunities to sell Speedsters branded merchandise.  Placing the new logo on a race car for the Indy 500 would most certainly attract some attention, and keeping a model of that car in front of the stadium would result in thousands of selfies on game day.  Also loved some of the promotions ideas to extend the branding.  Fantastic job Tappan Zee High School!

Indianapolis Woodrats (Grant High School, Oregon)

As they say, you learn something new every day! Thanks to the research done by Grant High School students, we know a species known as the “Allegheny Woodrats” are commonly found in the state of Indiana. Grant HS students rebranded as the ‘Woodrats’, in part, because the species is experiencing a decline in population, even facing extinction in some areas outside of Indianapolis, and the franchise would bring awareness to the threat. Pretty cool idea. Love the face mask idea (interesting to see at least HALF the entries in round one featured face masks as part of the merchandise collections), thought with the logo that there could be some really fun and and creative ways to design Woodrats branded face coverings that would be a hit with fans. Nice job Grant High School!

Indianapolis Slicers (Capital High School, Washington)

It is always interesting to see what students find when doing some research in our competitions. Case in point, a group of students from Capital HS in Washington who discovered that the first sliced bread company, Wonder Bread, was established in the city of Indianapolis.  Rebranding as the “Slicers” creates a connection to the city’s history and will no doubt offer some very fun and unique opportunities for creative brand extensions, including on the concessions menu at the ballpark and will no doubt help position the team as an innovative franchise.  As the Slicers’ reminded us in their case study response, “without sliced bread you can’t have things like sandwiches or toast.”  Nice job Capital High School!

Indianapolis Veterans (Green Run High School, Virginia)

Some good ideas here from students at Green Run, really liked the rebranding strategy paying tribute to veterans, and this group did an excellent job weaving together several themes that will create a connection with community. 

Perhaps best summed up by the explanation behind the new logo:  “The flags of Indianapolis and the U.S.A. for Veterans and for connection to winning and the checkered flag. Baseball bats and baseball for the sport in the shape of a V for Victory in wars and on the field. It also connects to Victory Stadium.”

Also, how great is this Corvette themed (aptly named “Vet”) mascot? Impressive work from Green Run High School!

Indianapolis Speed Demons (Superior High School, Wisconsin)

There were a lot of really great rebranding strategies tied to the theme of racing, understandably, given the area’s motor sports heritage.  We liked the way Superior HS students managed to incorporate the type of branding and imagery consistent with sports teams (like a “demon”) with a racing theme (like “speed”).  Clever name, cool logo and fun mascot.  Overall, really nice job by Superior High School!

Indianapolis Cardinals (Wichita East High School, Kansas)

Because both the state animal AND state bird is the Cardinal, students from Wichita East High School opted to rebrand the franchise as the Cardinals.  The franchise hopes to gain support of fans throughout the entire state rather than just the Indianapolis area, expanding the brand’s footprint. Traditionally, that can be a real challenge for a minor league franchise but appreciate seeing students “thinking big” in this competition.   

ADVANCING TO THE BRACKET ROUND OF THE COMPETITION:

Indianapolis Speedsters (Carle Place High School, New York)

Important to develop a brand that will resonate with your target audience, so it was great to see a family-friendly vibe with the Speedsters brand development strategy as a way to appeal to a minor league baseball fan base.  Fantastic promotion idea as well to maintain a loyal following by offering discounts on the NEW merchandise to any fans that have gear featuring the former team name. Nice job Carle Place HS students!

Indianapolis Baby Blues (Pinelands Regional High School, New Jersey)

Defending case study tournament champs Pinelands Regional is no stranger to this competition, and if the response to the first case study challenge is any indication, they are ready to bring it again this year!

By the looks of the description of the new nickname (Baby Blues), it would appear PRHS students did some serious research. The rebrand offers a nod to the history of the franchise, with a fresh new look.

Overall, lots of great branding ideas and we loved the uniforms too! Another brilliant effort from Pinelands Regional HS…

Indianapolis Gearheads (Green Run High School, Virginia)

Another newcomer to this year’s competition, another fantastic case study response. Impressive work from Green Run High School with the development of the rebranding effort and crafting a very unique new nickname.

REALLY loved seeing this group of students relying on data from some market research to help shape not only the rebranding strategy, but also the merchandising plan. After identifying 57 year-old-olds as the average age of fans, it makes sense to offer merchandise that would appeal to that demographic. Great idea to partner with a popular local vendor with Hubbard and Craven (nice job researching that!) to give sales of team-branded merchandise an added lifted, expanding your distribution beyond the ballpark and team store online. Great to see a focus on figuring out ways to increase revenue.

Overall, the attention to detail was very impressive, from the colorways and design scheme for the brand, the logo, the mascot and merchandise. Well done!

Indianapolis Bones (Grant High School, Oregon)

So much to love here. The research in determining a new nickname. The creativity behind some of the merchandise the franchise will offer its fans (LOVING the “T-Rex Teeth” face coverings and “Bone Bat” replicas that the mascot, Buddy, carries around at games), and the unique brand partnerships. Grant High School students rocked this first case study, very impressive!

Indianapolis Centurions (Flower Mound High School, Texas)

From a merchandising perspective, the Centurions branding strategy really stood out from the rest. LOVE the brand extensions throughout the stadium, no doubt helping to boost sales of everything from food and beverage to tickets and merchandise. Given the family friendly nature of minor league baseball, the creative branding around the stadium to give it a theme park feel will most certainly draw a crowd and make it easy to transition from the old team name to the Centurions. Great idea to offer a secondary logo as well. Lots of excellent ideas here from students at Flower Mound High School!

Indy Stretch (Downers Grove North, Illinois)

So we saved the most unique rebrands for last…beginning with the “Indy Stretch”, imagined by students from Downers Grove North in Illinois. The clever nickname is tied to the city’s roots in many ways, as described by Downers Grove North students: “The new nickname, the Indy Stretch, has multiple tie-ins to the history of Indianapolis, and nods to many things that Hoosiers are proud of.

  • Stretch pays homage to the legendary motor racing scene in Indianapolis, and was derived from the “Homestretch” of a racetrack
  • Stretch also honors Indianapolis native Albert von Tilzer, writer of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”, an American ballad most commonly associated with the seventh inning stretch of a baseball game
  • Stretch, in addition to the homestretch of a race track and the 7th inning stretch of a baseball game, also refers to the role that the state of Indiana played during the Underground Railroad, as it was the homestretch in the path to freedom for escaped slaves venturing north.“

The group also came up with a pretty cool way to raise brand awareness through cross promotion by partnering with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to play a weekend series, the “Crossroads Classic”, on the infield at the iconic motor sports venue, including specially checkered flag branded promotional uniforms. Awesome.

But what’s up with the Giraffe? According to the students, the mascot “Armstrong the Giraffe” was born in partnership with the Indianapolis City Zoo, as well as one with Hasbro, and the team will create custom “Stretch Armstrong” dolls modeled after Armstrong to boost merchandise sales with bobbleheads as game day giveaways to boost attendance. Such great ideas…congrats Downers Grove North, you’re moving on to the bracket round!

Indianapolis Tenderloins (Ellicottville Central School, New York)

One of the most popular marketing trends in Minor League Baseball in recent memory features teams rebranding with food themes.  One student from Ellicottville HS in New York tapped into that strategy and introduced a food-themed rebrand of their own, introducing the Indianapolis Tenderloins. Whacky as it may seem, we think this could really work.

One of the most iconic dishes that hails from Hoosier State is the pork tenderloin sandwich, a dishly that is uniquely representative of the area. Fun and whimsical, the branding will certain resonate with fans of all ages, and opportunities to extend the brand at the concessions stand could give food and beverage sales a nice boost. Nice job Ellicottville High School!

Indianapolis Walruses (Fruitport High School, Michigan)

The Walruses? According to Fruitport High School students, the new nickname is based on the important role the Indianapolis Zoo plays as a fabric of the Indianapolis community. At the Indianapolis Zoo, they take the time and consideration of protecting and rehabilitating walruses as well as many other animals.

Because minor league baseball is such a family oriented entertainment platform, the branding (including the colorways, logo and mascot, “Whilbert the Walrus”) will certainly create a connection with the community and attract area families to the ballpark.

SCC’S 2021 SPORTSBIZ MADNESS TOURNAMENT BRACKET

The eight teams advancing in the tournament will compete in a head to head style format for the opportunity to be crowned champs of the 2021 case study tournament. Teams were not seeded, the bracket pairings are drawn at random. Good luck to our participating students in the “Elite Eight” round!

Read Across America Day: SportsBiz Book Suggestions

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Looking for a good sports business book to add to your library?

In celebration of “Read Across America Day”, I thought I would share a few sports business book recommendations. I tried to limit the list to just ten, including some of my all-time favorite reads. Some of the books on this list are older, some are new. Some provide great sports business insight, others explore the industry’s history, while several offer some wisdom and inspiration.

1) Believe to Achieve

Written by friend and mentor, long-time Jordan Brand executive Howard “H” White, Believe to Achieve is packed with great advice to share with students, and the underlying message in his book is truly something we can all benefit from.

2) Ice to the Eskimos

One of the most creative and innovative sports marketers in history, Jon Spoelstra’s first book remains a classic. Jon is also recognized as an “industry pioneer” in our textbook, and Ice to the Eskimos is full of examples of his influence on the business of team sports.

3) Shoe Dog

Shoe Dog is the autobiography of Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. It features great insight into the creation of one of the biggest brands in the world.

4) The Elusive Fan 

The Elusive Fan is a fantastic sports business book that examines the challenges facing marketers as they work to attract the attention of fans in today’s cluttered marketplace. 

5) Sneaker Wars

Well before Phil Knight was selling sneakers from the back of his car, two brothers built a shoe company in Germany. Nearly twenty years after the company was founded, the Dassler brothers had a major falling out. One brother started a company called Adidas, the other brother started a company just across the river called Puma. The two brands remain rivals to this day.  

6) Let Me Tell You A Story

This is an older book that I borrowed from a friend (and die-hard Celtics fan) a few years ago written by legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach. Much of the book is about basketball, but what struck me was how innovative Coach Auerbach was when it came to finding creative ways to get fans to come out to the arena for a game. Lots of anecdotes with historical relevance in this book.

7) The Red Rubber Ball

The Red Rubber Ball isn’t necessarily a sports or sports business book, but it was written by a former Nike executive. Kevin Carroll essentially took the spirit of recess and turned it into an influential message that has inspired millions of people around the world. I would strongly recommend this quick read for both teachers and students.

8) Go for the Magic!

A good friend gave me his copy of basketball Hall-of-Famer Pat Williams’ book, Go for the Magic, when I began my career working in professional sports. I have since read dozens of books written by Mr. Williams (all are excellent), but this remains my favorite. 

9) Mamba Mentality

In Mamba Mentality, the late Kobe Bryant shares fascinating insight into the determined mindset that fueled his legendary work ethic, and ultimately helped him to find success both on and off the court.

10) ESPN: Those Guys Have all the Fun

I love to read books that explore the beginnings of game-changing brands like Nike, adidas, Gatorade etc. Years ago, I read Creating an Empire: ESPN by Stuart Evey, one ESPN’s original investors and it was great. James Andrew Miller’s ESPN: Those Guys Have all the Fun takes readers from the company’s roots to the present day (well, 2011), even exposing some of ESPN’s past shortcomings from a corporate culture perspective.

Bonus: Veeck as in Wreck

Bill Veeck, otherwise known as the Godfather of sports marketing, is an absolute legend in our industry. Credited with creating some of the most famous (and infamous) promotional stunts, Veeck literally wrote the playbook for how sports teams would eventually craft marketing plans dedicated to attracting fans to stadiums all over the world.

Enjoy!

Chris

Super Bowl LV Promotions Student Competition – Winning Entries!

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Before we announce the winners, we would like to give a big thank you to Alex Dobson of Audible Design, a long-time advertising industry exec, for sharing his marketing expertise and helping to judge our Super Bowl LV student competition. Thank you for your time and feedback Alex!

In conjunction with Super Bowl LV, Sports Career Consulting hosted a student competition with a focus on developing a fundamental understanding of the concept of promotion. Students were tasked with the development of a point of purchase display representing a consumer goods brand tied to Super Bowl LV. The contest drew over 100 entries and we saw a lot of impressive ideas. Overall, the effort students put into this competition was more than evident. Props to all those who participated!

OVERALL FEEDBACK:

Selecting our three winners proved to be quite a challenge, with so many students demonstrating an exception grasp on key competition elements like promotion, retail, store placement etc. and the creativity (many students made real-life models of point-of-purchase displays) was fantastic and fun to see. That said, we felt that three students managed to create a display and promotion concept that really stood out. The top three entries submitted ideas that were not only creative, but offered strategies that would most certainly lead to an increase in product sales.

WINNERS:

First Place: M. Wozniak (Tappan Zee High School, New York)

Congrats to Ms. Wozniak at Tappan Zee High School in New York for winning SCC’s Super Bowl LV Promotions Competition! Some highlights from her point-of-purchase display:

  • Super concept for a POP display, love seeing a different approach to building a display using product…typically, you’ll see a grocery display spelling out the words “Super Bowl” or the names of participating teams. Ms. Wozniak’s idea levels that concept up by building a locker room featuring product. We can imagine it being an awesome experiential display to walk through, and something that would most certainly attract the attention of shoppers leading up to the big game.
  • Of course, it isn’t just about the display… We really liked the product integration with soda boxes for columns, and chips integrated into the locker stalls. At the end of the day, the success of a promotion is measured by sales so it was great to see Ms. Wozniak keep her eye on the prize, so to speak.
  • Also thought it was a fantastic idea to include an “enter-to-win” element to elevate the level of consumer engagement by giving away the displayed jerseys
The winning entry in the Super Bowl LV promotions competition from a student at Tappan Zee High School in New York features a locker room, recreated using soda cans and bags of chips

Second Place: D. Vu (Justice High School, Virginia)

Congrats to Mr. Vu at Justice HS in Virginia for taking second place in SCC’s Super Bowl LV Promotions Competition! Some highlights from his point-of-purchase display:

  • Bringing coffee (and Starbucks) into the football conversation? Loved it. We appreciated the recognition that brands other than the obvious (snack foods, soda, TVs etc) can benefit from aligning a promotion with the big game.
  • We thought it was a really smart idea to include collector’s edition Starbucks football helmets as part of the promotion, certainly an aspect of the promotion that would garner consumer attention! The addition of an “enter-to-win” promotion would definitely boost levels of engagement as well.
  • Really nice job from Mr. Vu explaining the importance of where the promotion would be placed in the store, one of the key components of this competition.
  • Food for thought to take it over the top next time: Perhaps specially flavored/named drinks for the teams or players would add even more sizzle to the promotion? (The original Starbucks in Pike Place Market in Seattle sold a special Beast Mode coffee drink when he played with the Seahawks)
The competition runner-up approached things from a non-traditional angle, opting to create a promotion at a Starbucks location inside a grocery store rather than a chips, soda, TV or other popular Super Bowl product

Third Place: L. Miller (Hinsdale Central High School, Illinois)

Congrats to Ms. Miller at Hinsdale Central HS in Illinois for her third place finish in SCC’s Super Bowl LV Promotions Competition! Some highlights from her point-of-purchase display:

  • We loved the overall integration of a “concept” to Ms. Miller’s entire display, based off the storyline of the game Brady (“classic” old guy) vs. Mahomes (the “young” guy and future of the league) that had media outlets around the world talking…great way to tap into the added buzz to benefit the brand!
  • Aligning specific products to those players (Brady-Classic Doritos vs. Mahomes – Newest flavors) was a nice touch.
  • We absolutely loved the tagline: “Craving a taste for something new, or stick with what you love? We have both!”
  • As was the case with all three finalists, Ms. Miller demonstrated a solid understanding and explanation of the important role placement of the display within the store plays in boosting product sales
Third place in the competition went to a student who developed an “old vs. new” theme for her display, capitalizing on the hype surrounding the older QB vs. the new QB to launch a new flavored product

Congrats again to all three of our finalists! We have prizes coming your way!!!

HONORABLE MENTION (ALEX’S A.C.E. AWARDS: AWESOME CREATIVE EFFORT):

E. Tavares – Tappan Zee HS, New York

We really liked the potential of Mr. Tavares’ idea of bringing the iconic M&M’s characters to life in stores leading up to the Super Bowl. No doubt the promotion would turn some heads as customers enter the store. We would have loved to see you take things a step further…potentially outfitting the characters in Tampa or KC jerseys, maybe even partnering with a personality like Gronk to create a new character, even holograms of characters could be really cool! Either way, great concept, super creative. Well done Mr. Tavares.

Kent CTC students – Michigan

Props to students in Kent Helfrich’s class for taking the time to put together a YouTube video! We appreciate the effort that went into that and really like the idea of stop motion video to attract the attention of consumers. Also appreciate the recognition of the short attention span of shoppers, making a quick six second video clip to grab the attention makes a ton of sense. Really creative and very well done!

A. Payne – Tappan Zee HS, New York

Wknd chillin’ in his pool enjoying his moment on the big screen? Awesome. Definitely one of our favorites in this competition. Nice job Ms. Payne!

T. Wagner – Foster High School, Texas

Clearly Mr. Wagner put a lot of time into the project…check out his REAL display using Coke and Sprite products!! Super impressive.

Pine Island students – Minnesota

Students in Nicole Rusch’s class created one of the better visuals for a POP display in this competition, really appreciated the attention to detail…nice job incorporating the “LV” into the display…would have been cool to see something extra with the goal posts at a supermarket…maybe a chip brand that is part of PepsiCo portfolio etc. Nice work though!

T. Nordberg – Foster High School, Texas
T. Tobin and D. Handelman – Tappan Zee High School, New York

Two entries from different schools had the same brilliant idea by creating a life-size version of both Super Bowl QBs using bags of potato chips…so awesome. Great idea if you can pull it off!

A student from Foster High School in Texas recreated this iconic Patrick Mahomes pose using bags of Tostitos, salsa and chips
Students from Tappan Zee HS in NY planned to create life-size replicas of both Super Bowl QBs using bags of Doritos as the jerseys

Subway once recreated the likeness of former Heisman winners Robert Griffin III and Marcus Mariota using bread, cheese and cold cuts, so why not a Brady or Mahomes statue made of bags of chips?? Love the creativity.

Subway created a likeness of former Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Robert Griffin III using the restaurant’s bread, cheese, veggies and meats

SCC FFL Sports Marketing Challenge: 2020 CHAMPS!

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Without a doubt, this year’s competition produced some of the most impressive results, particularly given the circumstances facing our competing schools with virtual classrooms and distance learning protocols in place. We were so thrilled to see how well this year’s teachers and students stepped up to meet the challenge.

A standing ovation is in order for all of our competitors this year for an amazing season!

That said, we did have a few standouts, particularly with the final challenge (digital marketing).  Congratulations to Kim Radford’s class at Blacksburg High School in Virginia for winning our 6th annual fantasy football sports marketing competition!  This is the second time they have won the competition, making them the second two-time champions in league history. Way to go San Antonio Sentinels front office!

Blacksburg High School managed to hold off the Portland Pioneers front office (Matt Kabza’s sports marketing class at Grant High School in Oregon) in the last challenge to capture the championship, no easy task considering how well the first year participants performed throughout the competition. To celebrate the championship, the Sentinels will get another trophy to proudly display in class.  Congrats to both schools on a job very well done. This might have been the toughest call in the competition history.

Brandi King’s class at Lyman HS in Florida (Orlando Trash Pandas) also had a great season, taking third place (making a big leap from where they finished in last year’s standings) while John Smulowitz and his students at Dallas HS in Pennsylvania (Keystone Wolverines) landed in fourth.  Richele Falloon’s class from Montgomery County High School in Missouri (San Antonio Honey Badgers) managed to hold off a very impressive season from Rodger Hutley’s students at Little Elm HS in Texas (Orlando Owls) for fifth place. 

We also have a few individual school shout-outs for the response to the digital marketing challenge below…

CHALLENGE #6 (DIGITAL MARKETING) HIGHLIGHTS:

San Antonio Sentinels (Blacksburg HS / Virginia):

Once again, Blacksburg students put together a very comprehensive and thorough response to the challenge presented (digital marketing), including the development of actual mock social media platforms to promote the team and communicate information to Sentinels fans.

The team’s YouTube channel features a stadium tour and highlights of amenities for ticketholders while the Sentinels’ Instagram and Twitter feeds offered a preview of stadium amenities fans would enjoy in the team’s inaugural season. Students also created team-branded TikTok and Facebook pages to promote the franchise.

Another component of the Sentinels’ digital marketing strategy that was particularly impressive was the wide variety of features available to fans through the team’s app. Not only will the app enhance the game day experience by managing traffic flow both in and outside the stadium, but it also includes several features that will boost levels of fan engagement (one of the main requirements to be addressed for this challenge). One of the ideas we thought was really fun was a “you decide” feature at key moments during the game…we could definitely see fans taking advantage of that during games for opportunities to win some cool prizes. We also liked the trivia game to keep fans engaged during breaks in the action, offering a discount for correct answers will certainly help boost sales of concessions and merchandise on game days. Great idea!

Also thought it was great to see the Sentinels communicate all the team’s promotions, game day information, covid policies etc. via an email marketing campaign. Too often students overlook one of the most powerfull communications tools for a sports team to communicate with a large segment of their fan base and rely too much on social media. It was refreshing to see the Sentinels front office invest in an email campaign, particularly given the importance of communicating health and safety information to fans amid the pandemic. Including a spanish language email option was also a smart strategy, especially given the demographics of the team’s home city (excellent job on the market research!).

Last but not least, thought some of the AR/VR ideas were great, certainly a great strategy for engaging fans. Really liked the idea of featuring virtual reality photo booths at stadium entrances, allowing fans to virtually take a photo with their favorite players and then encouraging them to share those photos on social. The VR stadium and locker room feature is also a great idea, but what really stood out was making that an “unlockable” feature so that fans will be encouraged to boost engagement levels for the chance to virtually tour the locker room. Really next level stuff. Way to go Blacksburg High School, congratulations on the big win!

Keystone Wolverines (Dallas HS, Pennsylvania):

Without a doubt, the Wolverines’ front office offered some of the most creative digital marketing strategies in this competition. Gamification was the, well, name of the game for the fan engagement strategy from Dallas High School students in response to sports marketing challenge #6. Some highlights:

  • Field goal flick game – Players will have one minute to make field goals from varying distances by flicking the virtual football towards the goal. For interactivity, there will be a leaderboard that displays the fans names with the most field goals made. 
  • Football toss will be another electronic offering. Fans have to throw the virtual football into a moving basket and they get one minute. There will be baskets from short to long distances. Farther baskets are worth more points than closer ones. This game will also have a leaderboard.
  • The App will have a mobile game such that fans will be able to play as the Wolverines in games against other NFL teams.  One of the apps will be a Madden like game where you can play as the Wolverines against other teams and use your favorite players to simulate future games with your friends or just play for fun. The game will also include challenges such as field goal kicking and throwing challenges. 
  • There will be a bracket challenge for teens and adults. The bracket challenge will have fans fill out their guesses for scores and season record for prizes or even tickets to games. A game where you play as our star quarterback and are throwing balls into a wall with different sized holes in it like one of those carnival games. The smaller the hole, the more points you get for getting the ball through it. 
  • There will be other cool mini games like football throwing to see if you can get the right throw with certain wind speed and players closing you in. Another fun game might be field goal kicking with the same factors added to it. To get more people involved with the app by playing the games, every week we can have the top 3 users on top 3 players with the highest scores earn some merchandise or a free ticket to our next game. 
  • Photo generator on the app to allow people to easily edit players, coaches, and mascot into their photos Fantasy football like game on our website and through the app for families and friends to keep stats and play with our players 
  • A paper football virtual game in our app to keep kids and fans entertained, they will also be able to interact and play with friends. 
  • Another game where there is a virtual wolverine that you have as a pet and you have to feed it and take care of it every day or two or else it gets sad and leaves you. Like one of those Tamagotchi things from the 90’s.
  • A game where you play as a janitor in the stadium and your job is to make sure the stadium is clean by game day. You can have minigames where you mop the floors in a certain spot or one where you cut and paint the grass on the football field.

Dallas HS students earned a perfect score in response to sports marketing challenge #6 (digital marketing)…way to go Wolverines front office! Seriously impressed with all the fun ideas!

Portland Pioneers (Grant HS, Oregon):

Oh so close! Before highlighting some of the fantastic ideas presented by Grant HS students in this challenge, we should point out that this is the best finish we have seen from a newcomer in the competition. Brilliant work throughout, just fell a little short in the end…

Really cool to see the development of actual mock social media accounts across all the major platforms…some fun videos on the team’s YouTube channel as well. Thought the hype video was awesome and using a toothbrush as a microphone was a nice touch for the mock coach press conference lol!

LOVED the Pioneers’ website…really well designed and easy to navigate while offering tons of great content. Really thought it was savvy marketing to target a younger generation of fan with all the jam-packed features, insuring you will have a solid fan base for years to come.

Thought the Pioneers’ “cinema” and “audio” was a cool (and unique) way to offer fun content for fans. With cinema (behind-the-scenes and exclusive video content) and audio (“home for Pioneers’ podcasts and original music”), the franchise will most definitely maximize opportunities to engage the fan base.

It was great to see the Pioneers’ stick with a theme that has been consistent throughout the competition with a commitment to community as party of your digital marketing strategy: “Always supporting and connecting with the local community. The Pioneers have created a program that curates the best local products. This program is set up to promote local artists’ music and other works of art (including high school students). This strategy is used to enhance Fan Engagement and increase the sense of belonging amongst our fanbase.” Including ACTUAL audio samples (that’s one talented student btw) was a great touch.

All in all, another fantastic challenge response to wrap up an amazing “rookie” season in this competition. Grant High School has a lot to be proud of, you represented Portland well! Great job!

San Antonio Honey Badgers (Montgomery County HS, Missouri):

One thing we didn’t see a lot of from team’s this year is an emphasis on push notifcations to reach fans…this was one of the really next level concepts that we loved to see from students in this competition. The Honey Badgers’ front office plans to use both email and sms to push out special offers and deals to fans. Fantastic. Also loved the VR “stations” positioned around the stadium to create unique experiences for fans.

Really good stuff from Montgomery High School. Great job this year!

Wichita Matadors (Wichita East HS, Kansas):

Some great ideas from the Matadors front office on the team’s social media platforms. Also appreciate seeing Wichita East students recognize the importance of consistency, suggesting the team will post regularly to keep fans engaged, especially when they can’t attend games in person. The team plans to feature posts on Instagram and Facebook of the team getting ready for the game, during the game, and after. LOVE seeing the Matadors’ willingness to be cutting edge and experiment with Reels, that’s awesome. Featuring content like quizzes, trivia, 50/50 polls and Livestreams will provide a great way to engage fans, and, shockingly, the Matadors front office was one of the few to include Snapchat as part of the team’s digital marketing strategy.

Overall, great job from the Matadors’ front office. Another great season from Wichita East students!

*** SCC FFL 2020 FINAL STANDINGS ***

Important reminder for teachers:  No matter where you finished in the standings, please be sure to reiterate what a great job your students did this season.  You all made evaluating each challenge very difficult as the ideas were so creative and everyone demonstrated such a fantastic understanding of the business of sports throughout the competition. Again, this project goes above and beyond what most schools are doing in class and your students all deserve to be commended for a job well done. At the end of the day, all we really hope to accomplish with our fantasy football project is a fun way to teach sports marketing.  Hopefully we managed to do just that.  Congrats to you all, great work.

Hope to see you all again next season!

SchoolTeam NameStateTotal Points
Blacksburg HSSan Antonio SentinelsVA1493
Grant HSPortland PioneersOR1489
Lyman High SchoolOrlando Trash PandasFL1467
Dallas High SchoolKeystone WolverinesPA1459
Montgomery CountySan Antonio Honey BadgersMO1458
Little ElmOrlando OwlsTX1449
Wichita East HSWichita MatadorsKS1438
RandolphLouisville RidgerunnersWI1437
Richardson HSLittle Rock BadgersTX1436
Carl SandburgMexico City AztecsIL1435
KCTCSalt Lake PhenomsMI1226
Kellam High School Virginia Beach SharksVA953
Stafford HSMiami SharksVA475
Victor J AndrewChi-Town Chargers IL470
HCHS College & Career AcademyHonolulu StingraysGA463
KIHGrand Rapids RogueMI236

SCC FFL Sports Marketing Challenge #5 Scores & Review

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With just one sports marketing challenge remaining (digital marketing) before we crown a champion in our sixth annual sports marketing competition, the standings have been updated as we kick off the post Thanksgiving break week. 

One of our favorite things about this competition is seeing not only how well our students grasp fundamental sports business concepts, but the effort, enthusiasm and creativity that goes into each response to our sports marketing challenges.  One of the best challenges for demonstrating that creativity is the ticket sales, promotion and sponsorship challeng and this year’s competitors did not disappoint, incorporating elements from three different chapters of our textbook while demonstrating an understanding of the importance of the sales and service function in managing a professional sports franchise.  There were so many unique and fun ideas.  We also loved seeing the mock-ups of actual tickets that their franchise would be distributing to fans…several pretty cool designs this year!

Some highlights:

There were some great giveaway, sponsor and game day promotion ideas as well. Here were a few favorites:

  • Orlando Trash Pandas (Lyman HS, Florida): Lego Set Giveaway: First 150 fans will get an exclusive log set of Randy Roadkill
  • Keystone Wolverines (Dallas HS, Pennsylvania): First Responders Game- First responders eligible for half price tickets and a free post-game stadium tour experience
  • Portland Pioneers (Grant HS, Oregon): “Spooky Sunday” Halloween Promotion (Sponsored by Tillamook Creamery), a massive haunted house that wraps around the entire stadium while inside, fans can navigate a corn maze and scavenger hunt
  • Louisville Ridgerunners (Randolph HS, Wisconsin): Luxury Seat Giveaway – Text 67778 with your final score prediction by game time for a chance to win luxury seat tickets to an upcoming game
  • Little Rock Badgers (Richardson HS, Texas): Merry Christmas, Badger Family! First 3,000 Fans get a Football themed Santa Hat at a December home game

As we have seen throughout the competition, another fantastic job by all of our competing schools!

Here are a few highlights from the ticket sales, promotion and sponsorship challenge:

Louisville Ridgerunners (Randolph High School, Wisconsin)

As highlighted in the section above, the Ridgerunners offered a pretty cool digital marketing game day promo. Love the gamification concept and this looks like something fans would certainly enjoy, boosting levels of fan engagement. Here is the promo that stood out: “Luxury Seat Giveaway – Text 67778 with your final score prediction by game time for a chance to win luxury seat tickets to an upcoming game.” That said, the Louisville front office developed a fantastic promotions schedule, no doubt creating enough enthusiasm to fill the stands on game days. Well done Randolph High School!

Portland Pioneers (Grant High School, Oregon)

Another strong showing from the newcomers to this competition. Loved seeing the team find a sponsor for each home game, some really great ideas for engaging fans as well. Really cool to see the Pioneers’ introducing a live, functional website to showcase some of the team’s promotions as well. Really impressive work from Grant High School…well done!

San Antonio Sentinels (Blacksburg High School, Virginia)

Where to begin? Yet another incredibly thorough, comprehensive response to this year’s sports marketing challenges from the Sentinels’ front office. As cliche as it may sound, Blacksburg HS students checked all the boxes for what was required for this challenge and then some, including some strategies we felt were “next level” in terms of what we traditionally see in this competition. A few highlights:

  • Loved the explanation of how PSLs will benefit not only the franchise but also the benefits to your ticket holders…more than anything, we loved seeing how students had a firm grasp of the concept, really impressive!
  • From the sponsorship side, we loved seeing not only a breakdown of inventory but also a rate card and sample sponsorship package / proposal…not sure we have seen something that detailed in this competition before!
  • Our favorite sponsorship in this competition: Waffle House sponsoring player introductions with the tagline “Our Receivers are Open 24/7”
  • Some great game day promotions, loved seeing most of them attached to a sponsor

Overall, a fantastic ticket sales and sponsorship plan. Great job Sentinels’ front office!

Salt Lake Phenoms (Kent CTC, Michigan)

Credit the Phenoms’ front office for coming up with some of the most unique and creative ides in this challenge…they earned a perfect score as a result. Really liked seeing an out of the box approach once again from Kent CTC students. A few of our favorite ideas:

  • While logistically there would be some major challenges bypassing RSN rights and league broadcast deals to offer streaming service, but love the Phenoms’ “Stay Home Streaming Service”, not only by providing live game coverage, but the yearly VIP membership that offers premium insider content, practice sessions (another logistical hurdle but great concept) additional camera angles on game days, and a virtual tour of team facilities
  • Loved the on-brand sponsorship with local resort that allows for tons of co-branding and cross promotion, will certainly help bring in new fans and build loyalty with an emerging fan base as the team takes the field for its first season
  • Partnering with local colleges and universities for a think tank is an absolutely awesome idea…brilliant!

All in all, a super impressive response to the ticket sales and sponsorship challenge that keeps the Phantoms in the running for this year’s trophy. Great job Kent CTC students!

Orlando Owls (Little Elm High School, Texas)

We thought it was a really smart strategy to highlight the Owls’ biggest rivalry game and go all out promoting it to help build excitement in the team’s first season. Great idea from the Owls’ front office. Also, enjoyed seeing some consistency from Little Elm HS students throughout this competition with a focus on charitable work and cause marketing intiatives, culminating with a midseason charity event at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Nice work to continue the work with a team’s key corporate partner (Disney) with a continued community relations effort. Nice job Orlando Owls!

UPDATED STANDINGS:

SchoolTeam NameStateTotal Points
Blacksburg HSSan Antonio SentinelsVA1243
Grant HSPortland PioneersOR1241
Lyman High SchoolOrlando Trash PandasFL1228
KCTCSalt Lake PhenomsMI1226
Montgomery CountySan Antonio Honey BadgersMO1216
Dallas High SchoolKeystone WolverinesPA1209
Little ElmOrlando OwlsTX1207
Carl SandburgMexico City AztecsIL1200
Richardson HSLittle Rock BadgersTX1197
RandolphLouisville RidgerunnersWI1197
Wichita East HSWichita MatadorsKS1197
Kellam High School Virginia Beach SharksVA953
Stafford HSMiami SharksVA475
Victor J AndrewChi-Town Chargers IL470
HCHS College & Career AcademyHonolulu StingraysGA463
KIHGrand Rapids RogueMI236

SCC FFL Sports Marketing Challenge #4 Scores & Review

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Entries are in for the fourth sports marketing challenge in this year’s competition with just two to go!  Congrats to Blacksburg High School in Virginia for taking a slight lead in the 2020 SCC FFL Sports Marketing Challenge! Grant High School in Oregon is just two points behind with quite a few schools still in contention.

Every year, this is one of the most fun challenges to evaluate, in part because we see so much creativity with fan experience strategies, but also with the attention to detail that some of our competing teams go through in designing and creating their stadiums. Obviously this year there as an added wrinkle as team’s had to determine whether to allow fans at games, along with determining appropriate protocols for keeping fans, staff and players safe and healthy. As always, there were some great submissions this year.

Points have been distributed for each team’s response to the Fan Experience / Stadium Design component of thecompetition (sports marketing challenge #4). Updated standings are below as well as highlights featuring several particularly creative, unique and strategic stadium designs, amenities, and fan experience strategies.

San Antonio Sentinels (Blacksburg HS, Virginia)

The Sentinels’ front office absolutely knocked it out of the park with this challenge, dazzling us with really cool ideas for enhancing the fan experience at every turn.

One such idea was an elevated take on a popular feature many sports teams and venues include with team-branded apps by helping to direct the flow of foot traffic at stadiums and arenas. The Sentinels’ front office will provide specific results to help guide fans, including the number of people waiting in line for bathrooms and at each concessions / food area along with an estimated wait time. We can totally see how this feature would improve the game-day experience for fans.

In addition to the app feature, the “many” bathrooms were designed to include TVs so fans won’t miss a second of the action or any big plays, including monitors on the floor in bathroom stalls.

Blacksburg students also introduced some great strategies for utilizing technology as a way to influence the fan experience, including contactless ticketing and concessions, a social media board and interactive scoreboard that display fans tweets and pictures taken during the game using the hashtag #GuardTheFort, and a really cool Virtual Reality game day experience where fans can access an on field exclusive experience through VR from designated VR spots throughout the stadium.

The Sentinels’ front office was not shy about spending money to improve the experience either, announcing plans to sink $500 million into a stadium renovation project. Students created a 3D rendering video highlighting some of the features and amenities that fans would enjoy at home games during the team’s inaugural season. Well done Blacksburg High School!

Orlando Trash Pandas (Lyman HS, Florida)

Absolutely LOVED the stadium design model created by students at Lyman High School, just check out the attention to detail! It is clear the Trash Pandas’ front office put a lot of time and effort into this challenge. Really cool stadium!

We also thought there were some fun ideas here for building traditions on game days at that stadium which offer a great way to enhance the fan experience. Some highlights include:

  • Sounding a “semi truck horn” after every first down
  • Having the team’s mascot “Randy Roadkill” fly across on a zipline across the stadium
  • Great brand extension with the stadium design by creating the home team’s tunnel (where players run out of) in the shape of the team’s logo

Really nice job from the Trash Pandas front office in response to sports marketing challenge #4!

Keystone Wolverines (Dallas HS, PA)

Some pretty cool fan experience ideas from Dallas High School students in this challenge, including a unique spin on concessions ordering which will allow fans to order food for a specific time during the game and have items delivered to the seats. If the Wolverines’ front office could make that a reality (lots of logistical hurdles here), it could be a game changer in terms of how fans choose dining options during games.

Also, really liked some of the brand extensions in terms of food menu offerings, including:

  • Keystone Kettle Corn which comes in all the colors of the Wolverine team
  • The “Cascades Cookout” BBQ restaurant on-site that has ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, and brisket
  • “Curly Claws” (curly french fries)
  • Wolverine Bites (boneless chicken wings)
  • Wolverine Bones (bone-in chicken wings)
  • A sandwich named after the team’s mascot (“Wally the Wolverine) called the “Clawesome Club” sandwich

All in all a fantastic effort from Dallas HS students. Nice job!

Portland Pioneers (Grant HS, Oregon)

Once again, Grant High (newcomers to this competition) brought a sensational effort. The Pioneers’ front office submitted a very thorough response to the fan experience challenge.

One thing that really stood out is how well the franchise has been consistently positioned as an industry leader in everything they plan to do, and the team’s fan experience strategy was no different. For example, according to the team’s report, this is how the franchise intends to be environmental leaders: “With Portland located near the Cascadia Subduction Zone—an area prone to seismic activity—we will hire the world’s best architects and structural engineers to design the stadium to withstand earthquakes of any level. Since we are also situated on the Willamette River, we will take steps to avoid potential flooding at all costs. This will look like some type of barrier built next to the river to protect the stadium, and drains throughout the grounds in the case that the barrier is breached.” Incredibly forward thinking, very impressive!

Also, the concept of “location is everything” was not lost on the Pioneers’ front office. They recognized the importance of a convenient location that is accessible through mass transit, but also placing a venue in a location that offers ambiance and connects with the city. No doubt the team’s decision for an urban location for the stadium will have a significant impact on the overall fan experience on game days!

The VR features (each player’s helmet will be fitted with a built-in camera and mic, allowing fans to experience scores or highlight plays from a player perspective) was icing on the cake. Cool idea to have VR “pods” for viewing these experiences throughout the stadium, and great idea to extend some of those features to the team’s app to allow fans at home to enjoy some of the same experiences.

Fantastic job Grant High School students!

Salt Lake Phenoms (Kent CTC, Michigan)

Perhaps the best setting for a stadium in this year’s competition, along with coolest stadium amenity, goes to the Salt Lake Phenoms front office. The downtown location, surrounded by mountains, would definitely attract fans to the stadium on game days and even non-event days, especially with the awesome idea of adding a ski lift feature to the venue. No doubt that will be a popular attraction with fans!

We also appreciated the efforts to build the most high tech stadium in all of sports…an expensive endeavor no doubt, but one that should build loyalty with your fan base and encourage fans to pack the house every game and event day. Really great stuff from Kent CTC students!

The Salt Lake Phenoms new football stadium, surrounded by the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, will feature a ski lift amenity allowing fans to see games from a whole new perspective

Orlando Owls (Little Elm HS, Texas)

One of our favorite initiatives in this competition, not just in response to sports marketing challenge #4, but the ENTIRE competition to date, is the Owls’ focus on catering to a female audience. Not only is this long overdue in our industry, but it is also smart marketing. Here is how the team plans to connect build a loyal following with a female demographic as the team kicks off its inaugural season in Orlando: “Women’s Sports:  We will also be the first team to have a women’s professional football league “The Orlando Owl”. One of the major emerging trends in sports is the growth of women’s athletics and we believe the NFL needs to lead in this area.  We are determined to give female athletes the exposure they need and deserve. We will also be coming out with a women’s fashion line for both teams now women no longer need to wear that baggy jersey and can wear something a bit more comfortable and fitted. We have teamed up with Nike to make this happen and our fashion line next year.” Absolutely loved this idea!

Aerial view of the Orlando Owls’ new stadium, the “Disney Mouse House”

Another great idea from Little Elm students as part of their fan experience / stadium design plan was both on-brand an environmentally friendly as the franchise announced plans to build a solar power roof in the shape of one of the most recognizable brands in the world, Mickey Mouse. This partnership with Disney also helped the Owls’ front office to net the largest naming rights deal in league history at $1 billion for 20 years (according to the team’s report).  According to the Owls’ front office, “Fans will watch the Owls feast in the Disney Mouse House.” Love it.

Excellent job Little Elm High School students! Bravo!

Wichita Matadors (Wichita East HS, Kansas)

I think we will just let the stadium renderings designed with legos that Wichita East students created in response to sports marketing challenge #4 speak for themselves…love the creativity and attention to detail from the Matadors front office in response to stadium design. Totally unique and fun approach to this challenge, don’t think we have ever seen this before. Impressive work from Wichita East students!

Updated Stadings:

SchoolStateTeam NameTotal Points
Blacksburg HSVASan Antonio Sentinels993
Grant HSORPortland Pioneers991
Lyman High SchoolFLOrlando Trash Pandas983
KCTCMISalt Lake Phenoms976
Montgomery CountyMOSan Antonio Honey Badgers975
Little ElmTXOrlando Owls970
Dallas High SchoolPAKeystone Wolverines969
Carl SandburgILMexico City Aztecs959
Kellam High School VAVirginia Beach Sharks953
Richardson HSTXLittle Rock Badgers953
RandolphWILouisville Ridgerunners952
Wichita East HSKSWichita Matadors951
Stafford HSVAMiami Sharks475
Victor J AndrewILChi-Town Chargers 470
Richardson HSTXLittle Rock Badgers463
HCHS College & Career AcademyGAHonolulu Stingrays236
KIHMIGrand Rapids Rogue235

SCC FFL Sports Marketing Challenge #3 Scores & Review

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Halfway through our annual fantasy football sports marketing competition and we are still seeing quite a crowd at the top of the standings.

Congratulations to Matt Kazba’s class at Grant High School in Portland for (narrowly) holding on to the top spot in this year’s competition thus far. The Portland Pioneers front office lead Kim Radford’s students at Blacksburg HS in Virginia by just one point, and hold a seven point lead over Brandi King’s class at Lyman High School in Florida. The top ten schools are all within thirty points of one another. Needless to say, with three more sports marketing challenges to go, it looks like we are in a for a fantastic finish this season!

Overall, ALL of our participating schools have done a fantastic job with this project thus far. The responses to our sports marketing challenges have been incredibly impressive and the league office is looking forward to seeing what the students come up with for the remaining challenges! Follow along via our blog (or @sportsbized on Twitter) for updates as the season rolls along and be sure to encourage and support those schools in your local area!

Points have been distributed for each school’s response to the Public Relations / Community Relations component of this competition (sports marketing challenge #3). Updated standings are below as well as a few individual shout outs for particularly creative, unique and strategic franchise branding ideas, keep up the great work everyone!

San Antonio Sentinels (Blacksburg HS, Virginia)

Love to see not only a sound plan for addressing COVID-19 and the safety precautions necessary to make fans feel safe, but the communications plan for making sure the message is clearly conveyed to your fan base. This was, after all, the sports marketing challenge requiring a communications plan so very well executed by the Sentinels front office staff.

Loved seeing the mock press conference video with Sentinels’ star QB Lamar Jackson, nice job going way above and beyond what was required for a response to this sports marketing challenge…and the actual website that communicates all safety precautions and team policies relating to the pandemic was absolutely fantastic.

Fantastic response to the first challenge from Blacksburg High School! Well done.

Keystone Wolverines (Dallas HS, Pennsylvania)

One of the more creative ideas for generating publicity for a franchise came from the Wolverines front office with a mobile team-branded vehicle outfitted as an actual Wolverine (and the comparison to the dog car from Dumb and Dumber really helped to paint the picture for us lol). Also loved the idea of designating the area entertainment district (Wolverine Fan Plaza) as not only an area to sell team merchandise and fan experience opportunities like virtual reality experiences, but also as a centralized area to enage in community relations activities like meal distribution for the needy, meeting point for green-initiatives like tree-planting in the community etc.

Some really great ideas presented in response to the third sports marketing challenge from the Wolverines front office. Nice job Dallas HS students!

Portland Pioneers (Grant HS, Oregon)

A second community outreach strategy that we plan to have will be inspired by our crosstown neighbors, the Timbers. The annual “Stand Together week” that the Timbers put on is a week focused on players going out into the community and helping youth, the environment, and social equity. We plan to do  something similar, but to an even larger extent. We will have “The Extra Mile” weekend every month. Our players and coaches will go out in the community to plant trees, pick up trash, and “Go the Extra Mile” for our community. These activities will create a bond between the city and the team that will produce many lifelong fans.

Orlando Owls (Little Elm HS, Texas)

Really liked the “on-brand” community relations initiative of fundraising for burrowing owls, the team’s mascot and an animal on the verge of extinction, and partnering with Disney to host fundraising and awareness events at the popular “Animal Kingdom Oasis Exhibit” theme park attraction seems like a very natural fit that would most certainly capture the attention of your fan base. Making the fundraiser event a fun experience for fans (especially liked the scavenger hunt idea) along with including the team’s players to support the cause and take photos with fans will certainly help the cause as well.

Last but not least, appreciated the attention to detail in researching the local Orlando area news outlets and identifying the best channels for communicating all the team’s community relation efforts. Really nice job from the Owls’ front office. Keep up the good work Little Elm students!

Mexico City Aztecs (Sandburg HS, Illinois)

Nice job researching a worthy cause for the team to support by Sandburg HS students…from the Aztecs’ front office as part of their response to sports marketing challenge #3: “After the sudden Earthquake in Mexico City in 2017, thousands of Mexico City residents were left homeless and are still today due to the fact they don’t have enough money to rebuild a new home.

This fundraiser will give homeless people a place to live for as long as they need to and food to eat. The homeless people won’t need to worry about rent for 6 months, it will all be covered through this fundraiser that is supported by the Mexico City Aztecs. $100,000 will be donated to multiple shelters in the city to help the homeless out after an uncontrolled earthquake. This fundraiser will take place on the property of the Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. This is a well known park in Mexico City. It is right near the Chapultepec forest. Everyone will gather around the park at 9 am on Friday, October 16th and will continue a walk throughout the park to raise money for the homeless until 12 pm. Homeless people will be at this park during this time to enjoy the company of many friendly residents.”

Really nice job identifying a cause that will most certainly have a positive impact on the community, and determining a solution for creating real impact to address the homeless crisis in Mexico City following the catastrophic earthquake. Not only will your franchise donate necessary funds to support shelters, but also providing a place to stay and offering emotional support with a genuine human interaction will most certainly make a positive impact. These are kinds of community relations efforts that will definitely build a bond with your fans and will go a long way in building long-lasting brand loyalty for the Aztecs brand. Great job Sandburg HS students!

Wichita Matadors (Wichita East HS, Kansas)

One of the more creative community relations initiatives came from students at Wichita East High School with its “BOOTACULAR” event to benefit Alzheimer’s. With the platform available to professional sports teams, a franchise can make a profound impact on a cause in more ways than just monetary donations. In this case, the Matadors will help raise not only money, but awareness, for a fantastic cause.

With a family-friendly event like BOOTACULAR, fans of all ages can enjoy a fun team-branded experience, while generating necessary funding to support Alzheimer’s and raising awareness with young fans. Matadors’ fans would no doubt show up in droves to participate in this event. Well done Matadors front office!

SchoolTeam NameTotal Points
Grant HSPortland Pioneers743
Blacksburg HSSan Antonio Sentinels743
Lyman High SchoolOrlando Trash Pandas737
Montgomery CountySan Antonio Honey Badgers735
KCTCSalt Lake Phenoms726
Little ElmOrlando Owls725
Dallas High SchoolKeystone Wolverines724
Carl SandburgMexico City Aztecs718
RandolphLouisville Ridgerunners713
Kellam High School Virginia Beach Sharks710
Wichita East HSWichita Matadors705
Stafford HSMiami Sharks475
Victor J AndrewChi-Town Chargers 470
Richardson HSLittle Rock Badgers463
HCHS College & Career AcademyHonolulu Stingrays236
KIHGrand Rapids Rogue235