Event Recap: Team Side Innovation

On March 25, 2014, the Cornell ILR Sports Business Society presented “Team Side Innovation”, a digital panel featuring alumni sports executives Tim McDermott ’95, Eric Kussin ’01, and Jason Pearl ’91. The video of the event can be found below as well as on YouTube.

McDermott, Chief Marketing Innovation Officer for the Philadelphia 76ers, emphasized three major areas in his field— brand, fans and revenue. Kussin, Vice President of Ticket Sales for the New Jersey Devils, oversees the service staff along with working to increase ticket sales. As Managing Vice President, Sponsorship and New Business Development for the San Francisco Giants, Pearl is committed to solidifying a passionate fan base regardless of wins and losses.
 

Tim McDermott '95:

McDermott highlighted the importance of building a deep emotional brand.

“The best brands create a brand that is independent of wins and losses and is independent to a certain degree of players,” McDermott described. “That’s sometimes hard to do but players come and go. My perspective is to not necessarily build brands that are just about players.”

McDermott also touched on the growing use of digital platforms in the marketing field. According to McDermott, it is not about your digital strategy. It is about how you are marketing in a digital world.

For example, in the 1990’s companies created an online version of their business, putting an “e” in front of the company name. But it shouldn’t be like this, McDermott points out. “It’s about a new way of doing business in a digital paradigm,” he explains.

McDermott made clear that core business objectives must be maintained. Reshaping the brand simply because you are using a different means to market the brand is not the correct way to handle a situation.

Eric Kussin '01:
 

Kussin works to build a brand that will keep fans committed for the long run as well. Despite being successful on ice, the Devils have had consistent trouble selling out. Kussin is dedicated to rebuilding the brand and forming a new fan base by getting the word out about how passionate the new coaching staff is.

According to Kussin, fans want to know that even tough the team is at a difficult time selling, there are people within the organization who are committed to the long haul. In his perspective of the growing digital world, he stresses that social media should be used to collect information about fans.

“There is a certain piece of social media where fans want to feel like they are getting special content, but they do not want to be hounded about ticket sales,” said Kussin.

Ticket sales must be done with outside of social media. However, social media can be used as an effective tool for collecting information on the types of people that are a part of the fan base. A unique way to learn more about the fans is to create contests so that the winners can be put in direct contact with the marketing department.

Jason Pearl '91:

Pearl has a similar take on the matter in that building a fan base should not only be about wins and losses.

According to Pearl, there is no doubt that numbers speak for themselves. However, it is imperative that fans leave the stadium feeling like they had a good time regardless of the score. Pearl works to build a partnership to leverage technology, sustainability, and philanthropy.

With this, Pearl is working on building a sustainable and edible garden in a sports facility. The garden will be less of a means to feed the fans, but more of a place fans can gather and where sponsors can “elevate their platform when it comes to wellness, ” claimed Pearl.

Letter to 49er Fans

Dear Niner Nation,

After a couple weeks since the NFC Championship Game it's time to take a deep breath and hold our heads once again. The past three seasons have been arguably the most heartbreaking stretch experienced by any fan base in North American professional sports.

Only but a few comparable stretches of heartbreak have plagued teams during the past few decades. In baseball, you have the Braves teams that won 14 straight division crowns, but won only one World Series. In basketball, you have Detroit who reached six consecutive Eastern Conference Finals, yet again only one ring. 

You also have the Spurs teams of the past three seasons who got upset by an eight seed, lost four straight in the conference finals and we all saw what happened in those two games down in South Beach last year. The NFL has had the Bills teams that lost four consecutive Super Bowls.  Then there's the Patriots, who in the last three seasons combined to reach the exact same rounds of the playoffs as San Francisco.
 
What separates the heartbreak felt in San Francisco from those previously mentioned is just how close the deciding games were, and how long it's been since they've won the ultimate prize. If merely three plays went differently the 49ers could just as easily be three-peat Super Bowl champions. But they didn't, and the Bay Area must once again look toward next season. 

During Buffalo's run of Super Bowl appearances only one game was actually close. The other teams listed above either won it all during their span of heartbreak, or won one within a decade before their stretch.
 
The 49ers haven't won a Super Bowl since January 1995, a time when most people reading this were still in diapers. The post-Jeff Garcia and pre-Jim Harbaugh teams that I grew up watching gave the Niner Faithful all but zero to root for. Heck that goes for all Bay Area teams for that matter. 

From the time JT was thrown out at the plate in 2003, until the turn the decade and this, the five Bay Area franchises in three biggest sports combined for two playoff appearances. Somehow one of those was the Warriors. I highly commend the natives of the Bay who stood by their teams. With special admiration for my fellow 90's babies whose rooting interests were formed during this time frame. But I digress, back to the Niners.
 
Just think back a few years to the completion of the 2010 season that included a coaching change midway through the year. This marked the eighth straight season without a winning record. A ring was nowhere near the realm of possibility for most Niners fans. Flash forward to today, three consecutive NFC Championship Games reached, that's no small feat. 

Instead of sulking over the recent excruciating losses, Niners fans should rejoice over the success this unit has had. Because I know no one wishes to go back to how things were during most of the 00s. Plus think about it, for the first time in many seasons San Francisco has had consecutive years of genuine hope for the upcoming season. This spring and summer will be no different. SF returns the majority of their core, and resigning or finding comparable replacements for Boldin, Goodwin, and Whitner will place them right back at the elite level they've been at for the past few years.
 
Don't get me wrong, losing to that cheater Pete Caroll led, adderall and streroid abusing, "articulate" Stanford "graduate" smack talking, popcorn throwing fan condoning organization up north should sting. I'll openly admit that I almost cried after the game. 

The only thing that kept tears from flowing was the fact that I watched the game with two fellow San Franciscans whom I had just met and I wished to avoid becoming known in certain circles as "The Guy who Cried After the Niner Game." Nothing would make me happier than seeing Peyton Manning and that Bronco offense blow Seattle out of the water. Absolute worst-case scenario, the Hawks end up with 1/5 the number of Lombardi trophies currently held by the red and gold.
 
So fear not, things aren't as bleak as they seem. At the very least, just remember that most of the faithful are fortunate enough to live in The Bay, where winter isn't even a thing. As someone who recently moved to upstate New York, I can assure you that this is something to be truly grateful for. Once the offseason officially starts on Febraury 3rd and someone asks "Whose Got it Better?" you can bet your bottom dollar i'll give them the correct answer. I hope you'll do the same.

The Impact of the Long-Term Contract in Major League Baseball

Buster Posey didn't need free agency to land his big deal.

With the recent contract extensions awarded to Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander ($180M/7 yrs) and Giants’ MVP Buster Posey ($167M/9 yrs), it’s hard to ignore what has become a powerful trend in Major League Baseball. Teams are locking up their young talent as we rapidly approach what Grantland’s Jonah Keri calls “the death of free agency.” The list of homegrown stars that have recently signed long-term extensions with their clubs is vast, highlighted by names such as Joey Votto, Felix Hernandez, and Evan Longoria.

Changes to the recent CBA, coupled with a new TV contract for MLB, have fueled this trend on both the supply and demand sides of baseball’s labor market. New luxury tax incentives to reduce payroll, as well as a revamped free agent compensation system that raises the implicit costs of signing a player, have created new risks for players entering free agency Rather than test this tenuous market, players are wise to ink lucrative deals as soon as they become available. Further, small-market teams, anticipating their equal share in MLB’s forthcoming massive TV contract with FOX and Turner Sports, are more willing than ever to pay a hefty price to keep their young talent.

So the stage is set for an era of parity in baseball. It’s no coincidence that this upcoming season is so difficult to predict, as the times of buying one’s way to a championship is essentially over. Instead, teams will need to direct funds toward talent development within their systems if they wish to compete.

But will the effect on competitive balance truly be positive? The answer is yes, but a very qualified yes. See why after the jump.

In the short run, there is no doubt this trend will help improve on-field parity. Teams evidently no longer feel compelled to trade their stars prior to their entering free agency, and similarly, big market teams simply won’t be able to buy up talent on the free agent market. But in the long run, the answer is not so clear-cut. The ultimate irony of free agency is that it has incidentally served as a great equalizer between small and large market teams. And the pattern of securing young players early in their careers threatens the balancing function of free agency.

Because players are not eligible for free agency until they have amassed at least six years of service, players generally do not reach the open market until their late 20s. At this point, most them have reached or passed their primes, rendering long-term contracts to free agents generally unfavorable for teams, particularly at the tail end of a deal. When you think long-term free agent contract, it’s much easier to come up with a bad one (Alex Rodriguez, Vernon Wells, Alfonso Soriano) than a good one (I can’t think of any). Free agency, therefore, has offered an easy out for small-market teams. They can let their soon-to-be-aging-stars walk, while saving face to their fans by blaming the rich. Then, they can funnel the cash that they would have wasted years down the road toward retooling their farm systems. Now, however, small market teams will remain on the hook for their star players even once they have passed their primes. Undoubtedly, Buster Posey is an excellent player. But $18.5 million for a 35-year old catcher in 2022? Probably not ideal. The Giants, of course, are a relatively large-market team and can probably absorb that cost. If Posey can go on and consistently perform at the level he is clearly capable, and wins the Giants a few more World Series on the way, no one in San Francisco will complain. But consider the Joey Votto deal ($251.5m/12years), in which the small-market Reds will owe him $21 million in 2023, when he is 40 years old. Sounds like an impending disaster.

Small market teams are trying to beat the free agent system that has stolen their talent since its inception. But this process has largely been a blessing in disguise, and these teams are now killing the very game that has allowed them to compete in recent years.