tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-81246959348324107 2010-06-17T15:53:10-04:00 News and Commentary on Sports Business and Whatever Else Comes To Mind TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133f160b92c970b 2010-06-17T15:53:10-04:00 2010-06-17T15:53:10-04:00

Who is the basketball equivalent of Mark Lemke? Find me an NBA player who was totally obscure, a bench guy who had done little of note in his career, who inexplicably carried a team in the postseason. Find me the NBA equivalent of Carlos Ruiz from the 2008 World Series. Or Scott Podsednik from 2005. Or Scott Brosius from 1998. Good luck searching. The fact is, no such players exist in the NBA. The NBA is not a league that allows for rags-to-riches, where-the-heck-did-this-come-from performances. Occasionally, you may have a guy play well above his level for a few games....

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133f145b670970b 2010-06-15T21:44:33-04:00 2010-06-15T21:44:33-04:00

Soccer is a tough sport for advertisers. With few commercial breaks during games, companies don't have a lot of chances to get their marketing message out. I'll admit to not being the biggest soccer fan in the world. But I have tuned in to most of the games played in South Africa this week. And here's all that I've learned: -Budweiser is the official beer of the World Cup and produced a mildly entertaining online show on YouTube. -Adidas is the official sporting goods manufacturer, but I only know that because players complained about the ball. (Otherwise, I might have...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133f0d328f6970b 2010-06-11T16:03:21-04:00 2010-06-11T16:03:21-04:00

Wow. So Boise State's going to the Mountain West. Colorado's to the PAC-10. Nebraska's to the Big Ten. And there may be more changes coming. It's no secret all of this movement is because of money. Conferences benefit from size, particularly if they can add competitive, high profile teams. But it will be very interesting how this all will play out from a marketing/branding standpoint. Let's assume that there are no more changes and that the Big 12 is left with 10 teams. Well, they can't exactly call themselves the Big 12 anymore, can they? But calling themselves the Big...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133f07bc74d970b 2010-06-09T16:57:19-04:00 2010-06-09T16:57:19-04:00

It was the last day of the baseball season in 1998. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were making history. The Yankees were finishing up one of the best regular seasons ever. The Cubs were looking for one more win to reach the playoffs. It was an exciting day. My buddy John and I, both students at Maryland, headed to downtown College Park to watch the action. We had no cable on campus at the time, so we figured we would be able to catch some of the baseball on TVs at places like Ratsies, Cornerstone, Santa Fe or Bentley. But...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133f0683c00970b 2010-06-08T17:28:38-04:00 2010-06-08T18:00:03-04:00

The Nationals credentialed more than 200 people for tonight's debut of Stephen Strasburg. I am among the fortunate ones to be at the ballpark for this historic night. There's a lot of buzz. Here are a few shots of the media contingent. The first two show the crowd around Nationals manager Jim Riggleman. And here's Scott Boras, Strasburg's agent, who talked to the media for a long stretch.

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133efc1cdab970b 2010-06-03T13:56:01-04:00 2010-06-03T13:59:23-04:00

I've decided to spend part of the day out at the University of Maryland to watch some of the best players on golf's Nationwide Tour. It seems like there is more buzz about the tournament this year, now that it's been moved to College Park from nearby Woodmont, C.C. Woodmont is a beautiful course, but this year the tournament has been able to leverage the relationship with the University and get some big names to promote it. Maryland basketball head coach Gary Williams, a noted golf fan, has been shuffling back and forth from his campus office. Under Armour CEO...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133ef5b2abb970b 2010-05-31T12:40:25-04:00 2010-05-31T12:40:25-04:00

Many players in soccer's World Cup are crying foul over the new ball being used for the games in South Africa. The so-called "Jabulani" balls manufactured by Adidas have been called "weird," a "disaster, "difficult to control," and "appalling." The hi-tech ball, was described by the London Telegraph as having "eight thermally-bonded, three dimensional panels which are spherically-moulded from fromethylene-vinyl acetat." Whatever. According to Adidas, it's the most advanced ball ever and will fly straight and true. Many players, on the other hand, say they don't like the way it flies and that it can be unpredictable. One could argue...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133ee9d9588970b 2010-05-26T12:10:23-04:00 2010-05-26T12:10:23-04:00

The NFL broke away from decades of precedent in deciding to hold the 2014 Super Bowl in New York, away from the balmy temperatures of the south or the climate-controlled comfort of a dome. Barring some funky February weather, this will be a cold-weather Super Bowl. I personally feel this is a great move, simply because it could add an element of excitement to a game that is often lacking in energy. I've always said the most exciting games in football are the divisional playoff and championship games, because there's a greater sense of desperation, greater enthusiasm by the crowd...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0133ee75031b970b 2010-05-25T14:39:44-04:00 2010-05-25T14:39:44-04:00

Hat tip to Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel for finding this. Secondary ticket pricing aggregator Seatgeek.com has published a series of charts analyzing the best days and times to find cheaper tickets in for Major League Baseball games. Here are some of the key conclusions. -The cheapest day to go is Wednesday, when tickets average $50.81 -The most expensive day is Saturday, when tickets average $73.58. -Saturday sales represent 25 percent of the sales for the entire week, and sales volume on Saturday is double the daily average. -Not surprisingly, night games during the week are more in demand...

Tim Lemke tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83518099853ef0134818fe12f970c 2010-05-24T17:36:26-04:00 2010-05-24T17:36:26-04:00

So, the NFL doesn't get an antitrust exemption. The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled against the league in the case of American Needle v NFL, arguing that the NFL is not a single entity when it comes to negotiating licensing contracts. I will point you to some excellent analysis by Marc Edelman at the Above the Law blog, to the always helpful Sports Law Blog and to Michael McCann's column at SI.com. The court's basic ruling was that each of the teams in the NFL was a "substantial, independently owned and independently operated business," and that while the teams do...

Tim Lemke