The Home Stretch

Stellar leadership has not been limited to the exploits of players, coaches, administrators, or team owners. It has become increasingly apparent in all areas of sports business, enabling executives to lead their employees and organizations, while navigating the business tenets described throughout this book. In some cases, it has been a lack of leadership or vision that has provided important business lessons.

Passion Matters When Building a Business

It is important never to forget the value in doing the little things that may, at first blush, seem mundane or "beneath" you. Just because companies succeed in growing and evolving to become global brands like NASCAR, it doesn't mean that they should shy away from doing the little things that helped them secure their lofty position in the first place. Brett Yormark, vice president of corporate marketing for NASCAR, knows that doing so can pay big dividends.

Yormark walks the floors at trade shows searching for new corporate sponsors and since he's one of the only sports executives that does, it pays off.

NASCAR has signed at least six new sponsors over the last several years as a result of this press-the-flesh strategy: Nikon, Arctic Cat, Just Born, M/I Homes, and numerous Sara Lee brands, including Ballpark Franks. This highly personalized and one-on-one approach to relationship building is all too rare among companies the size of NASCAR.

It must be noted that Yormark doesn't simply wander aimlessly from trade show to trade show picking up goodie bags while weaving from booth to booth. Rather, he and NASCAR choose the shows based on numerous criteria, including sponsor categories it seeks to fill, extend, or better service. Beyond these criteria, NASCAR culls through exhibitor lists for specific companies whose customer demographic matches that of NASCAR's.

It is precisely this attitude and approach that has enabled NASCAR to grow from a small, family-owned business into a big-league operation while enjoying an industrywide leadership position in the process. When it's all said and done, those that continue to lead NASCAR, including Yormark, are passionate about their business and its purpose.

Rely on Intuition When Segmenting Markets

Even inadvertently and without any expectation of return on investment, companies must remember that although coveted markets can be easily identified and accessed, exploiting them might still carry a high price, especially in an era of skepticism.

Consider the ShopRite of Brooklawn Gymnasium. That's right, an elementary school gym planned for the small New Jersey town has sold the naming rights to the facility to a corporate sponsor. The owner of the local supermarket, part of a major New Jersey-based chain, pledged $100,000 over 20 years for the naming rights. Suddenly, Alice Costello Elementary School, with 230 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, has gone "big league."

Sports Illustrated cited the deal in is segment entitled, "This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse." ESPN Radio held a call-in debate about whether nothing is sacred. A sports radio talk show host in Philadelphia suggested calling the gym by its acronym, the SOB Gymnasium, and asked if there were plans for a Bud Light Library.

ShopRite owner Jeffrey Brown could not understand all the media attention. As a prominent local benefactor, Brown has helped out a transportation business assisting senior citizens and paid for repairs at a local skating rink. He said he made the $5,000-a-year pledge before the mayor told him he would name the gym ShopRite. Brown conceded that he wasn't likely to see a big increase in business from having the ShopRite name on a gym at a school with 230 students; in fact, this was not among his primary considerations. Due to his track record of philanthropy and community support, he didn't believe such a deal would be the beginning of a new trend in naming rights as critics feared.

Nonetheless, and because many believed Brown's well-intentioned maneuver was a sign of corporate excess, ShopRite's good name was tarnished by those not familiar enough with the situation to see that the payment had more to do with charity than market segmentation. Had Brown exercised a bit more intuition along the way the sort that enabled him to build ShopRite into a household name some of the highly public debate might have been muted.

Many of business and industry's great leaders might have the instincts to successfully run their own organizations, but they often lose that advantage when attempting to apply the same type of business acumen, including intuition, to the world of sports.

Listen Intently When Dealing with Customer Service Issues

Organizations would do well to remember that they are built one customer at a time and that providing them a compelling "takeaway" from their interaction with your business will differentiate it from the competition. Further, knowing your customers wants and needs whether those customers are other corporations or the end user has gained unparalleled importance in today's business world.

Throughout professional sports, marketing has focused as much on stemming potential erosions in the corporate and everyday fan bases as it has on developing the next generation of customers.

The Dodgers not only understand the need to replenish customers; they are unceremoniously perfecting it by embracing the changing face of Southern California. Recently released census figures revealed that the Latino population grew 35 percent during the 1990s, resulting in one-third of the nation's Latinos calling California home. The same Census Bureau report indicated that unincorporated East Los Angeles, Santa Ana, El Monte, and Oxnard were among the nation's 10 largest Latino hubs. All totaled, 46.5 percent of Angelenos are Latino.

This extraordinary increase in the Latino population and, by extension, its spending power, has not been lost on the Dodgers or its corporate partners. For the 17th year, the team drew more than 3 million fans to Chavez Ravine, nearly one-third of whom were Latino.

Building and maintaining a loyal Latino fan base is critical, as research shows these fans to be the Dodgers most avid supporters, a fact not lost on either the team or its sponsors; each of which seeks to build a better relationship with this important demographic group. To ensure that this occurs, the Dodgers, in addition to having numerous Latino players on their roster, undertake several marketing initiatives designed to both service and increase this fan base.

For example, the team's "Dia de los Niños" promotion was an event that celebrated the Mexican tradition and combined family entertainment with a special ticket offer, autograph sessions, and interactive games. The Dodgers were able to reinforce their appreciation of, and connection to, Latino fans while attracting 12,000 additional fans.

The Dodgers followed this event by hosting their annual "Viva Los Dodgers" event. Featuring concerts, player appearances, and exhibitors, this event was strongly supported by major team sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Toyota. These corporate partners eagerly participate in these promotions as they too recognize the importance of embracing the Latino community and its growing economic clout.

Working together, the team and its sponsors seek to continually reinforce and communicate their commitment to the next generation of Dodger fans. By listening, the team has endeared itself to both fans and sponsors, simultaneously demonstrating and reinforcing its leadership position in professional sports.

Integrity Matters When Establishing, Maintaining, and Extending a Personal Brand

Business people would be wise to take seriously what so many athletes seem to brush off that their personal brand needs to be managed and extended daily, particularly for those occupying high-profile positions. A failure to micromanage this part of one's career can be detrimental in the long run.

During the 2001 French Open, Serena Williams, admitting she had bought everything from flowers to handbags online, was concerned about her rapidly emerging spending habits. In an apparent effort to save energy and time, and to avoid crowds, Williams feared that she had become a "shopaholic," addicted to making online purchases. Once the situation became public, the matter gained importance and, along with it, broad media attention and dialog about the compulsion.

Had Williams and her management team not confronted the problem it could have led potential sponsors to wonder whether she had other, potentially more destructive compulsions. By demonstrating the ability to make just the right decisions, and by doing so courageously and truthfully, this shopping addiction has had little impact on her ability to establish and extend her personal brand.

Today, there's plenty of extending to do. Serena, who for so long played second fiddle to her sister, Venus, both on the court and in endorsement appeal, first took over the number one ranking in July 2002. In 2002, she won three out of the four grand slams the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open beating her sister in the championship match in all three.

Be caring when issues of employee relations arise

Both employers and employees must prepare themselves to deal with change, while acting in the best interests of both parties when addressing "hot-button" issues.

Over nearly a four-year period between 1997 and 2001, these employee relations dynamics were on full display between the PGA Tour and golfer Casey Martin. Martin filed a lawsuit in federal court in November of 1997 against the PGA Tour in an attempt to earn the right to use a cart during competition. Martin, who suffers from a disorder in his right leg called Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, has a condition that not only prevents him from walking long distances, but may even eventually force his leg to be amputated.

Following years of various court rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Martin's favor in May 2001. Throughout the process PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem held the belief that allowing Martin to use a cart afforded him an unfair competitive advantage.

This position was echoed by many of the sport's icons, including Jack Nicklaus, who emphatically believes that walking the golf course is part of the sport. Nicklaus suggested that the members of the Supreme Court who voted in favor of the use of carts should be taken out to play a round of golf and, in doing so, they would no doubt recognize that walking the course is fundamental to the sport.

Once the final ruling was handed down, Finchem was quick to acknowledge Martin's victory by crediting how well Martin had handled the situation. Finchem even went so far as to say that Martin is the kind of young man Finchem wants playing on his tour.

Although it can be debated whether Martin's circumstances were rooted in medicine, law, or in a sympathetic figure's ability to overcome adversity, what cannot be denied is that a strong undercurrent of employee relations was present throughout the ordeal.

Had Finchem not handled this employee issue with care by measuring his response to both Martin's claim and the ensuing Supreme Court decision, major constituents, including the sport's TV partners, sponsors, equipment manufacturers, and even players, would have jeopardized the emerging success of the PGA Tour brought about by Martin's college roommate at Stanford, Tiger Woods. Although Martin ultimately didn't have an enormous impact on the links (he made just 6 of his first 20 cuts in the Buy.com now called the Nationwide Tour tournaments after the ruling), the PGA Tour's approach to reconciling such a hotly debated matter was applauded.

Think Strategically When Contemplating the Merits of an Alliance

It is critical to remember that the value of an alliance lies in its ability to create opportunities for positioning a company and its allies in a stronger position to conduct business. By joining forces and know-how, the organizations can leverage their core strengths, allowing the whole to be greater than the individual parts.

Such was the thinking behind AOL and the NBA when they announced a strategic marketing alliance to promote NBA.com and WNBA.com, as well as AOL's Internet service and Web sites.

By partnering a global sports brand like the NBA with AOL's 22 million members, both entities find themselves uniquely positioned to extend their reach to coveted target markets. In the deal AOL receives extensive promotion on TNT cable TV channels during their coverage of NBA games. Further, AOL was granted access to NBA trademarks, player names, and logos for use on its site and throughout its fantasy basketball section.

For its part, the NBA exploited the marketing alliance by promoting its content through AOL's Internet properties, including AOL's main Web site, CompuServe, and Netscape. Additionally, information, highlights, and stats from the NBA and WNBA will be directly integrated into the various AOL channels that cover basketball, such as "AOL Sport" and "Kids Only."

This alliance, which seems to be a match made in heaven for Web-surfing hoops fans, should help increase the asset value of both the NBA and AOL, a development not lost on either partner. Those responsible for crafting this alliance were both imaginative and strategic, which enabled each to capitalize on important and emerging business opportunities.

Develop Trust When Dealing with Crises

Organizations must be prepared to confront the challenge head on, and do so at a time of heightened media attention.

When Danny Almonte threw a no-hitter for the "Baby Bombers" of the Rolando Paulino Little League in the Bronx, New York, on national TV, it enabled the team to make it to the Little League World Series (LLWS). Almonte then followed this amazing feat by throwing the first no-hitter in 44 years in his team's opening game at the LLWS against a team from Apopka, Florida.

As it turned out, after the Baby Bombers finished third in the LLWS, the primary reason for Almonte's dominance was that he was much older than the other kids too old, in fact, to be a member of the team. During the LLWS, Almonte, along with his manager, Alberto Gonzalez and league founder, Rolando Paulino, repeatedly denied that Almonte was too old to play in the tournament, which only allows players who are 12 or younger. When the three were questioned, they produced documents, including a birth certificate and a passport, that indicated Almonte was indeed 12.

However, the day after the Bronx team placed third in the LLWS, a reporter for Sports Illustrated in the Dominican Republic found another birth certificate showing that Almonte was 14 years old, and its authenticity was verified by the Dominican government. Making matters worse, further investigation showed Almonte had not been in the United States until shortly before the international tournament began, meaning that he could not have met Little League's residency requirements. For the short time Almonte was in the country, another piece of news broke: He had never attended school.

Yes, the Baby Bombers were stripped of their third-place finish. Yes, Almonte's remarkable performances were expunged from the record. Yes, Paulino and Almonte's father, Felipe de Jesus Almonte, were banned for life from Little League. And yes, Stephen D. Keener, President and CEO of Little League Baseball Inc., announced changes in the way Little League verifies player eligibility.

However, none of this mattered to the media or many of the other stakeholders in this crisis including LLWS sponsors, who were dismayed that such a breach in integrity could have happened to such an American institution. The media found this story too good to pass up, covering impromptu news conferences on live TV and stating that this instance signaled the end of integrity in sports as we knew it.

Because a significant lack of trust emerged between and among the leaders in this crisis, and by not finding a way to nip this crisis in the bud, the Almonte story became one of the leading sports stories in 2001.

Know When to Take Chances When Attempting to Penetrate a New Market

You must remember to carefully navigate the cultural and political differences, as well as differences in consumer tastes and preferences.

Over the last couple of seasons, officials of the Montreal Expos have flirted with the notion of relocating to Washington, D.C. The franchise's desire to leave Canada for the U.S stemmed from, among other issues, the team's poor fan base and comparably weak Canadian dollar. On the one hand, the team, which is now controlled by MLB following a series of league changes, finds itself in a more favorable position to penetrate this market given the collective influence of the league instead of a single, individual owner. However, the league's attempt to enter the nation's capitol also poses major challenges dealing with potential customers, political forces, and litigation.

Not only does no one live in this commuter town, but Washington, D.C. is known for its pork, whether attached to political bills or the NFL's Redskins, whose notorious fans, the "hogs," are among the most ravenous in sports. Whenever a sports franchise threatens to move, local politicians routinely weigh in on the issue, hoping to demonstrate to voters their keen understanding of sports' proper place in the community. It's one thing when such an occurrence happens in Peoria, and quite another when it happens in the political capitol of the world. Although MLB might want to move the Expos to avoid further monetary losses and to make money by selling the team to a Washington, D.C.-based group, MLB might find relocating to Washington D.C. at a time when baseball's antitrust exemption is a hot political potato as challenging a circumstance to overcome as an uncertain fan base.

The market for professional sports entertainment differs greatly between Montreal and Washington, D.C. The Redskins, along with the NBA's Wizards and the NHL's Capitals, contribute mightily to the competition for the entertainment dollar. Moreover, the Expos would lack the long-standing connection to the region enjoyed by the Redskins and their loyal fans.

In short, penetrating a "foreign" market, such as Washington, D.C. might be a tough task. At the very least, it requires MLB to closely scrutinize market conditions before attempting to change addresses. If it chooses to take this chance, it will be required to measure the impact doing so will have on the organization and its people.

Keep Learning When Setting Out to Build a Corporate Brand

Organizations must retain a brand management visionary who not only identifies internal and external opportunities for, and influences on, the brand, but also commits to providing stellar customer service.

The great world-spanning Harlem Globetrotters, whose rich heritage has included all-time greats Wilt Chamberlain and Meadowlark Lemon, were going bankrupt in the early 1990s when former Globetrotter turned successful businessman Mannie Jackson bought them for $5.5 million with the intention of returning the team to prominence.

Jackson was perfect to lead the renaissance because as a former Globetrotter he knew what the brand was all about and what made it great in its heyday. Jackson paid his players very well, more than any basketball league in the U.S., with the exception of the NBA. He made sure they understood what the brand stood for and made sure the team once again became synonymous with good, clean, affordable family fun. Once accomplished, he went to sponsors and raised more than $50 million.

To gain respect among hard-core basketball fans, Jackson arranged for the Globetrotters to play collegiate teams, doing so in 1997 for the first time in 35 years. By 2000, the team was beating the likes of University of Iowa, St. John's, and Minnesota, and received great accolades for having the guts to take on the defending national champs, the Michigan State Spartans, despite the fact that their loss meant an end to their well-chronicled 1,270-game winning streak.

Fan surveys conducted in 2001 indicated that 71 percent of the audience in attendance to see the kings of comedy on the court and listen to Sweet Georgia Brown was with a family member. With the median ticket price of $12.50 and the team's attendance increasing every year, average annual revenue growth has been about 17 percent since 1993. The Globetrotters 2002 schedule had two teams playing in 300 cities worldwide with 100 games overseas in 25 countries.

Per-capita spending on souvenirs from Globetrotters events is now among the highest of any professional sports team. This is a testament to the fact that Jackson has revived the Globetrotters brand to a point where it is once again sought after, even though their greatest fans, unlike those of any other professional sports franchise, likely only see the team play once a year.

By constantly learning more about his customers and their likes, dislikes, and spending habits, Jackson was able to rescue a great American sports brand.

In September 2002, the Globetrotters were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in the same class as Lakers great Magic Johnson.

Seek balance when it comes time to turning a business around

Organizations must, among other things, redouble their efforts to secure visionary leadership, recognize the critical role of savvy media and pubic relations, and invest in and protect their brand.

This is precisely what occurred at the University of Notre Dame, when the school after the O'Leary bio debacle selected Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham to lead its football program. The Fighting Irish hired Willingham as their first African-American head coach in any sport in the school's history after he proved he could win at an institution with high academic standards, even higher than those of Notre Dame's. Willingham's Stanford teams reached four bowl games in seven years, including the 1999 Rose Bowl.

Not only was it anticipated that Willingham would turn Notre Dame around in its first season, 2002, but it was all but expected by legions of Irish faithful. There was little room for error at the only university boasting its own contract with a television network NBC will reportedly pay Notre Dame $9.2 million a year through 2005 to air at least five Fighting Irish games per season. Even despite its recent foibles, Notre Dame remains the most popular football team in the country in terms of avid fan base.

And Willingham didn't disappoint. He communicated to his team and to the media that he would make no excuses from day one, and accepted that any learning curve had to be abbreviated if it were to exist at all. The day he was named coach, a media member asked Willingham what he thought of the tough schedule against Maryland, Purdue, and Michigan. Instead of being vague, as many coaches are inclined to be in such circumstances, Willingham set the bar high, saying that Notre Dame must prevail, it must win, it must go out and get the job done. With a roster containing many of the players that led the team to a woeful 5-6 record in 2001, Willingham's team opened the season strong. By winning its first eight games, including victories over nationally ranked Maryland, Michigan, and Florida State, the team was consistently ranked in the top 10.

With his trademark index finger near his mouth or his arms sternly crossed on the sidelines, Willingham's nonverbal communication skills exude intensity and confidence to his players, the school, and, perhaps even more importantly, to opposing teams. His demeanor, presence, and well-spoken ways off the field have enabled Willingham to become quickly one of college football's most revered leaders.

Businesses that seek to revitalize themselves must have a leader like Willingham who can quickly and easily garner consensus about not only senior management's ability and vision, but do so while masterfully handling important stakeholders, including (prospective) employees (i.e., recruits), board members (university trustees), shareholders (alumni), and the media.

Because Willingham has constantly delivered an acceptable balance to his constituents, especially his players, he has been better able than most to establish and extend a winning atmosphere.

By now it should be abundantly clear that the sports business has become an extremely involved industry that includes the same elements and applies the same business principles seen throughout the rest of big business.

On the Ball has chronicled many of the sports industry's most important, if not outrageous developments, hoping to provide specific lessons that can be learned from the actions and, in all too many cases, inaction, of industry leaders.

There is much that can be applied to "regular businesses" from the teachings of sports business leaders, many of whom have done well as others have stumbled, damaging both their organization's brand and their own. On the Ball has attempted to provide relevant and important takeaways courtesy of those running (ruining?) sports that readers can immediately and readily apply to their own business environment.