Countdown to NBA Free Agency 2011

With the NBA lockout finally coming to an end, and the NBA 2011 - 2012 season officially to start on Christmas Day one wonders what great NBA free agents will be available? The NBA free agency officially begins on December 9^th where we might see some top players go to different teams hopefully contributing to the overall team’s success. The unique scenario about this year’s free agency market is the abundance of big men available. I have compiled my top 3 best players that can make a difference for any team and make a push deep into the playoffs.

1. MARC GASOL  Center, 26 years old, 7'1 2011 stats: 11.7 points, 7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks in 32 minutes per game

The younger brother of Lakers star Paul Gasol isn't a big scorer -- his career-high for points in a game is 30. He's also not the incredible rebounder you'd think he'd be, given his size: he's an average rebounder at center, and a bit above average at power forward. On offense, he sets brilliant screens, can pass well and has a decent mid-range jumper. His overall value is on defense, which he is great at shot blocking and does not foul too much. He would be a great addition to any team especially needing a center coming off the bench.

2. TYSON CHANDLER  Center, 29 years old, 7'1  2011 stats: 10.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks in 28 minutes per game

Chandler is the best defender at center in the league next to Dwight Howard. He is a huge reason why the Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA Championship. He is offense is strictly near the basket and does not really create his own shots. He is really good around the basket and can finish with ease. He might score a lot if you do not create for him but his defense makes up for it. Giving the circumstance somebody you definitely want to pick up.

3. NENE  Center, 29 years old, 6'11 2011 stats: 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks in 30 minutes per game

Overall Nene is solid on both sides of the ball he averages enough points to be a threat and does an efficient job at being a center. His defense one-on-one is phenomenal and any team would be lucky to have him. Don’t be surprise if you seem him in a Miami Heat’s jersey come start of the season as they try to fill their final piece to win a championship.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the dust settles and where many NBA free agents end up. Like anything adding a new player to a team can help or hinder a team. I’m just excited as any fan for the NBA season to start as we had one of the best years the past 2010-11 season.

References:

www.nba.com

www.espn.com

30 November, 2011 // // 0 comments //

Does Having a Press Card Mean to be Unethical in the Sports World?

With the advancement of technology and living in a world that needs their information instantly, bloggers are now becoming 21^st century journalists. The days of applying to the New York Time or the San Francisco Chronicle to be a writer has passed with new innovative ways to break into this field. Recently three bloggers had sued New York City due to the fact the Police Department denied them of press credentials because they had worked for online or nontraditional news outlets were ultimately issued credentials for the sporting events. Each blogger had varied experience in the journalism all owing their own website that did some form of publication to various countries, audiences, and sports enthusiasts.

A press card simply carries two kinds of credentials: working press cards, for a “full-time employee of a news-gathering organization covering spot or breaking news on a regular basis,” and press identification cards, for journalists who are “employed by a legitimate news organization” but who do “not normally cover spot or breaking news events.”

Strike force, which is a subsidiary of MMA, has also had problems with denying reporters access and coverage for major fights. President Dana White has been refusing access to all UFC events in recent years after the writers published stories that White didn’t consider worthy of his companies PR clip file. Besides bloggers, Dana White banned ESPN and CBS sports from gaining access into the event. This in a large part of certain information that is not censored or review before being released, this ultimately can damage the publicity of the athlete or organization. It simple seems on who covers the team and how that can determine access and opportunity in the locker rooms.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban feels that sports writers have become the equivalent of paparazzi rather than reporters. Mark Cuban also stated “The last few years have brought about a lot of change in how people publish and receive information.” Having reporters or journalists in the locker room asking questions that are not relevant to the game can be annoying for anybody. I feel by laying specific ground rules on what can or cannot be said can be a roadmap of what ethics these reporters must go by. If not the ramifications for this can be in a form of losing their press card for an extended period of time, or worse losing access to that organization completely.

References:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/bloggers-get-press-credentials-after-police-relent/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jeff_wagenheim/04/13/credentials/index.html

http://blogmaverick.com/2011/04/04/whats-the-role-of-media-for-sports-teams/

15 November, 2011 // // 1 comments //

Day 134 of NBA Lockout

As we now approach day 134 of the NBA lockout representatives for the NBA and player’s union met this past Thursday in an effort to salvage what remains of an already-shortened season. After meeting for 11 hours on Thursday and 16 hours on Wednesday both sides still were unable to produce a fair collective bargaining agreement that both would agree on. Although the NBA presented a proposal to the players of an offer they feel is fair and if approved by next week, a 72-game season would start on December 15^th.

NBA Commissioner David Stern stated, “There comes a time when you have to be through negotiating and we are.” The National Basketball Players Association are still upset about being unable to narrow the gap on salary cap and luxury tax system issues that have put negotiations in a standstill, with either side willing to budge. With Derek Fisher and Billy Hunter representing the players they will go back to their collective side and present the latest offer to the union and come back with an answer come early Monday or Tuesday next week. The owners are firm on create a favorable system over the revenue split, which would allow smaller market teams to compete for a championship.

There has been threats that if the players do not take this deal, the owner’s next offer will be to drop the players’ split to only 47% from 50%, and include a NHL-style flex-cap on the table. Which the players union would not go for and might consider decertification as their only option, this would ultimately wipe out the 2011-12 season and possible if it goes to court the process could effect the following season as well. Decertification of a union means that the union would be giving up a lot of benefits and the power to collectively bargain on behalf of its members. Which this situation will then be upheld in court, which can be drawn out over a long time due to court proceedings.

I feel this is unfortunate for the fans, arena employees, businesses, and NBA players, due to the fact that collectively everyone wants a season. There is a lot of red tape that still needs to be address with the owners being difficult to deal with. I hope for everybody this gets resolved and we can enjoy professional basketball sooner than the latter.

References:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nba-lockout-talks-players-receive-revised-deal-article-1.975999?localLinksEnabled=false

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/nba-players-continue-negotiations-on-thursday/2011/11/10/gIQAbA629M_story.html

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7214672/nba-lockout-nba-owners-players-wrap-12-hours-talks-major-progress

11 November, 2011 // // 0 comments //

Copyright Infringement involving Live Streaming of Sports

I wanted to discuss today about various live-streaming websites that have been seized for copyright

infringement of sporting events. In the past year there have been numerous sites that offer a live stream

to Internet users wanting to watch their favorite sports team. For someone that wishes not to pay for

cable this is definitely a great way to watch sports or even your favorite t.v. show or movie. The

problem is the legality involved with this, due to the fact that this method of viewing is considered

pirated and illegal viewing of sporting events.

This past year prior to the Super Bowl ten popular video streaming websites were shutdown due to

over the Internet financially hurts leagues and broadcasters who then must increase tickets prices and

pay-per-view events to compensate for their losses. I see where law enforcement partners are coming

from to protect copyrighted material but speaking from personal experience using these various sites; I

still think it is not fair. The sports industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and they are worried about

fans watching a free stream of their favorite sports team. I feel by letting fans watch the event this can

drive up revenue in other areas such as apparel, beer/alcohol, and increase popularity for that specific

team.

The government has actively been shutting down these streams during NFL Sunday, which I too have

experienced. You would be lucky nowadays to even get 5 minutes of a game before the site is shut

down, as they have been getting stricter on live streams of sporting events. Another tactic the

government is employing is asking domain names to be forfeited and users are being re-directed to a

banner stating the sites have been seized due to copyright infringement. It seems that the only option is

to either get cable or watch the game at a friend’s house or bar. Eventually a person will give in and end

up getting cable, which is directly tied to sports franchises, which ultimately will increase revenue for

these leagues.

References:

http://www.livestream.com/zero_tolerance_on_piracy

http://www.big3news.net/blog/2011/02/03/super-bowl-seizure-ten-live-streaming-websites-seized-for-copyright-infringement-of-sporting-events/

http://torrentfreak.com/streaming-and-bittorrent-sports-links-site-declared-legal-090724/

28 October, 2011 // // 0 comments //

Social Media Presentation on Tom Brady

I recently had to put together a Social Media Presentation on Tom Brady's use of social platforms. Enclosed are my thoughts, recommendations, and overall impact of implementing these new ideas. Hope you enjoy, just click on the youtube link for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcYKqocHIg4

Anthony Reeser

16 October, 2011 // // 0 comments //

Interview with Kelli Masters Sports Agent

Interview with Kelli Masters

I was fortunate enough to interview owner/ceo Kelli Masters with Kmm sports. She is a partner at her law firm practicing business litigation and runs her own sports agency as a separate entity. Growing up she was one of the top baton twirlers where she had traveled the world to compete, which gave her a sense of athletic competition. After working in the legal field since 2000, Kelli branched out and in 2004, she registered to become a sports agent where she first represented Olympians, then eventually expanded out to baseball and the NFL. Currently Kelli’s NFL client roster consists of 3^rd round draft pick of the 2010 Gerald McCoy who plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She also has other notable clients that play for the Dallas Cowboys, and Indianapolis Colts.

I spoke to Kelli on October 14th2011, as she was wrapping up duties with her law firm.

I was curious to see how Kelli first got started in the industry and she had stated at first she never intended to become a sports agent, but knew she wanted to practice law. She had represented Olympian Guard Young where she had met through college and was able to secure endorsement deals and various public speaking appearances for him. She stated, “ I really enjoyed the inner-workings of the business aspects of sports and wanted to expand in other sports arenas”. I notice you have signed Gerald McCoy which was a top 5 draft pick in this past draft, how did you recruit him? Kelli actually met Gerald McCoy about 5 years ago at a high school church function where he was the guest speaker. Kelli had a chance to meet with the parents and gave her business card to them stating if he ever needs representation down the road call me. Gerald ended up going to Oklahoma Kelli’s alma mater where eventually Gerald’s parents gave her a call. Kelli stated it was highly competitive to sign him because she had to compete with a lot of other agencies trying to sign him. In the end it was between another firm and Kelli so to make things work, Kelli and the other sports agency partnered up to help Gerald in the draft.

Kelli went on to describe the draft as one of the most exciting and nerve racking experiences because of the anticipation, but really enjoyed seeing Gerald’s family proud of their son being picked so early in the draft. What is the NFLPA process for someone that wants to be certified to become an agent? Kelli stated you have to go to the www.nflplayers.com website where you have to register and pay the fee for the exam which is offered once a year in Washington D.C. The deadline runs from January 1^st to January 31^st the fee runs around $1300, once you pass the exam you have to take out liability insurance which varies from state to state in price, and pay another additional fee to represent athletes in a particular state. Kelli really stressed that starting out especially on your own can get really expensive. A perfect example of this would be when you sign a player they need additional training before entering the NFL combine which can cost upwards from $15,000 to $20,000 and hopefully if they make an active roster you might break even.

Kelli it seems like the business can be very tough and challenging to break in especially if you do not have the financial means or support, knowing what you know now, what advice can you give someone looking to get into this field? Your best bet would simply be getting an internship with a team, union, or a sports agency. That way you can see first hand behind the scenes what really takes place as a business point of view, ideally if you can get hired by a sports agency which will back you in recruiting players even better.

After speaking with Kelli I found out invaluable information about the sports industry world where sometimes you have to partner up with another firm just for a deal to work. More importantly the challenges one must face when going into this line of work. Kelli told me that this is not an overnight business endeavor, but takes years of hard-work, patience, and consistent dedication in order for it to work. For Kelli she stressed that in the end it was well worth it because of her passion in the field and how far her company has come. Having this opportunity to speak with Kelli was an eye-opener on what kind of financing, challenges, and paperwork you must do in order to licensed by the NFLPA. More importantly being strategic about starting off in the field. Kelli brought up a good point on being able to identify talent because you do not want to waste money on a client that never gets drafted or signed onto a team. It can be a very expensive lesson which especially starting out you have to be extra careful. I’m glad I’m doing extensive research into this field because I now have a basis of the costs, roadblocks, and challenges I have to face just getting started in the field.

14 October, 2011 // // 0 comments //

Ideas In Increase Attendance at Stadiums and Arenas

After reading the following article “Sports Still Draw Fans Despite Recession” I was not surprised especially in the South that despite a bad economy fans were still attending games of their favorite college or professional team and still doing well financially. Bigger well know colleges such as LSU, Alabama, and Florida have a huge following from always being in the hunt for a national championship. Over the years they have created fan loyalty that despite tough times, fans make it a priority to attend or watch games. A major sporting event for many people is a release from everyday life and a way to bond with friends and loved ones. Being able to have a beer, yell at a your favorite team, hi-five your buddy during the game is a definite stress reliever for most.

Unfortunately for the not as popular teams or teams that struggle to win across the spectrum of sports, are struggling to generate revenue in many different ways. Thus resulting in poor attendance at games, job layoffs, and in some cases shutting down of the whole league, such as the Arena Football League. Even Nascar and Major League Baseball have felt the effects of the economy and have to figure out creative ways to keep the fans coming back. Being an owner or investor of a team can be a headache due to the large overhead to pay for the stadium, players, concessions, etc. But by strategically thinking outside of the box even unknown losing teams can sustain the recession and bring fans to watch the game.

One concept teams can incorporate would be the use of specialty discount websites such as Group on. Consumers are cutting back more than ever and are conservative on what and how they spend their money. By create a partnership with these vendors, fans can still get tickets for a discounted price which in result they will feel they are getting a deal to attend the event. Most of the time it is getting the fans inside the stadium where they end-up spending more money on memorabilia and concessions. By strategically offering this limited deal will drive business to arenas and stadium thus resulting in additional revenue.

Another concept would be to offer additional extra curricular activities outside of the sporting event. Maybe build a mini entertainment center in the arena where people can go to eat at a restaurant, watch a movie, or even go dancing. This will generate more revenue and put in the consumers mind, hey we cannot also watch a sporting event here but also catch a movie and some dinner. By marketing subconsciously to the consumer that this specific arena or stadium is a place to go for all our entertainment needs will not also spread the word but make it a regular destination.

Lastly another option is seek additional help in advertising and marketing by hiring a new consulting agency. Sometimes fresh, innovative ideas can kick start revenue streams, due to the fact that fans have not seen that type of promotion, sponsorship, or event. Arena Advertising expresses there is never an idea too old or that has not been tried before, sometimes it comes down to understand the market and thinking out of the box. Which with the economy nowadays, one must be strategic in order to fill the seats in the stadiums and arenas. According to NCAA.org you have to convince the public that the product being promoted is a commodity that they either want or need. One must be able to understand key trends, interest of the audience, and opportunities to bring back fans, alums, and students.

Even though the economy is not as good as it has been in the past decade, people our passionate about sports and dedicated to their favorite teams whether college or the pros. It is getting them to come back on a consistent basis even though the team is not doing as well is the hard-part. But by offering various incentives, deals, and specials will entice even the hardest critiques. Ultimately it is creating that special experience for that person in attendance that will want to come back for more.

*You can watch a video on Youtube about this article*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKOEZ1LlSlo

Resources:

www.arenaadv.com

www.frbatlanta.org

www.ncaa.org

08 October, 2011 // // 0 comments //