Switching Places
Work from the stands, nameplates now on college jerseys, & NFL strikes UK TV Deal
On Today’s Agenda:
Seattle Mariners look to bring a unique activation to corporate fans
Whose jersey are you getting?
Steps to growing Football internationally
Out of Office and In the Ballpark
Seattle Mariners look to bring a unique activation to corporate fans
By Hiral Patel
Afternoon baseball. A concept loved by fans across the continent, but only on the weekends. The weekday afternoon baseball is a tough sell for ticket sales reps, and a tough buy for most blue- and white-collar workers. This past Wednesday, the Seattle Mariners partnered with Geekwire, a Seattle-based tech/business media website to try and find a happy medium.
The Mariners hosted “Work from the Ballpark Day”, aimed at bringing office and remote workers from the downtown Seattle area down to T-Mobile Park to enjoy the game while “working”. Fans (employees?) were able to purchase a $50 ticket in the Hit-it-Here Café (which is in the outfield) and not only got to take in the game but received WiFi access and a special 5-course lunch menu.
The Mariners Twitter account decided to have a little fun with the event, and created a mock “PowerPoint Presentation” about the event, following the trend of many TikToks where amateur-looking PowerPoints are used to explain something:
Overall, the event sold 150 tickets, and the Seattle Mariners staff was proud of being the first MLB team to have an activation like this. The Mariner’s SVP of Marketing, Gregg Greene, noted that the team is considering how work life has changed because of the COVID19 pandemic, and how the team must think differently to engage with fans. “The great thing about baseball is the different communities, the different neighbourhoods that you can create that fans create inside the ballpark, whether they do it themselves organically. They have to work. Everybody has to go to work. Why not do it at the ballpark?”, Greene mentioned in an interview.
Out-of-the-box thinking is what catches the eyes and attracts fans. The way we consume sports and live our lives has been transformed by technology, and it’s no secret that the pandemic helped to accelerate this in some respects. For the Mariners, who use tech to their advantage in the ballpark already, this should be a sign for more to come, and something to keep an eye on. Just remember to look up from your screen every so often in case a home run ball comes flying in.
Now Available: College Athletes Jerseys Through Fanatics
Whose jersey are you getting?
By Christopher Nascimento
On Thursday, another milestone was set in the NIL world. You are now able to purchase a college athlete's jersey through Fanatics. More than 40 schools and over 4,300 athletes are available via the new college football store.
Gone are the days of seeing the generic college jerseys - no nameplate, just the number. Fanatics and group licensing program, OneTeam Partners, announced this deal back in February but only now can athletes begin to profit off of jersey sales. This deal is one of the first of its kind in the NIL world as a group licensing deal of this scale, hadn’t been struck. Unlike professional sports leagues, collegiate athletes do not have a union that represents and negotiates on their behalf.
But this news proves that a deal of this magnitude, for group licensing, is in fact feasible and can benefit the athletes. The main component that needs to be remembered is the ability of an athlete to choose. For a college athlete’s NIL to be featured in their school's official merchandise, they will need to opt in. Once opted in, athletes can begin receiving a cut of jersey sales, similar to a professional athlete.
Food for thought…
You’re a college athlete BUT never opt-in to jersey sales. In the beginning, you set up your own Shopify shop and sell shirseys. Once demand rises after a breakout performance, partner with a sports apparel manufacturer and sell uniquely designed jerseys of your own.
Athletes who opt-in to jersey sales should leverage social media and create their own marketing campaigns. For example, create the classic college football hype video - centered around you and your highlights with some crazy bass. If only Tavon Austin jerseys were available back in the day…
Athletes could opt-in to jerseys and instantly create a passive income stream for themselves. From there, they can invest all the money for their future or use it to fund future business endeavours.
NFL Partners with ITV
Steps to growing Football internationally
By AJ Hewish
Since 2007 the NFL has played numerous league games in what came to be known as the international series, in various countries around the world including Mexico, Germany, and England. Most notably, the NFL has played 30 games in England since 2007, playing at England’s iconic Wembley Stadium, Twickenham, and the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London.
However, this is old news. For the NFL, these events have driven ridiculous attendance in a nation where football is actually a game loved by everyone, but we’re talking about the one played with your feet. Despite England’s favour for football (soccer), rugby, and cricket, the NFL’s international series attendance is breathtaking, with over 80,000 fans attending the games at Wembley, where their max capacity for most sporting events is only 90,000.
The NFL abroad has now taken a massive step in global popularity recently, with the official announcement of the NFL’s 3-year partnership with a major British broadcasting organization, ITV.
Now, the NFL has a “new free-to-air television home in the UK and Ireland with the announcement of a three-year partnership with ITV.” (nfl.com). In addition to the new coverage, the NFL and ITV are bringing a star-studded lineup of presenters including former DE Osi Umenyiora, Jason Bell, and Laura Woods to ITV’s NFL coverage.
According to ITV Director of Sport, Niall Sloane, “This deal will bring to ITV viewers the very best of the NFL each week in our highlights shows throughout the season as well as key live games. We’re delighted to be able to offer viewers, free to air, across our channels as well as ITV Hub, the unique spectacle and action the NFL brings.”
This is a major step in the future of the NFL on a global scale. With matches already taking place in Germany, Mexico, and England, the introduction of nearly full-season coverage in England will not only increase audience viewership but overall league interest across England.
During last year’s two NFL games in London, over 121,000 fans flooded to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and over 3.5 million watched along as TV ratings jumped 15%. Additionally, there were over 4.5 million video views over the two-game weeks. According to a Daily Mail statistic, over 14 million people in the UK consider themselves fans of the NFL, with 4 million describing themselves as avid fans.
Considering the wide viewership for only 2 live games in the UK, this new partnership is set to explode the number of NFL fans in the UK over the next few years. With new viewers come, new partners, with the NFL potentially agreeing to new deals for UK NFL fans, making the NFL reach its goal of becoming a global sports sensation.
