The Celtics & Lakers may very well meet in this year’s NBA finals, but don’t wait for the conference championships to finish before you watch HBO’s Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals, now on The Movie Network in Canada. If you’re my age (45) or thereabouts, you’ll remember the days of Dr. J and Kareem playing in less than full arenas and to minimal TV crowds. But then along came Magic & Bird, fresh off their NCAA title clash. Their skill, magnetism, and charisma took the league to places it could never have imagined. With respect to D. Stern, his golden tenure was truly cast by these two players. Rivals is a beautiful retrospective on Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and their on-court and off-court relationship. I of course was a Magic fan back in the day, with little enthusiasm for Bird. But watching this show, I have a new found respect for Bird. I wont spoil it, but you have to watch it to see how much his hometown, his teammates, his mother, and Magic really meant to him.
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I was at the CFL Sponsorship Summit last week in Collingwood. Another sign that life is back to economic normality… properties are rekindling their sponsor summits! In addition to the mandatory booze up which can only be described as best in class… the summit delivered some powerful insights and sponsor best practices. The theme of the summit was all about the league’s commitment to their fans and how this has paid off for them in terms of ticketing, TV viewership, and sponsor activation. It sounds simple but its brilliant. A dedicated focus on the “client” (as the CFL is a ticket league first and foremost) across all marketing functions is paying off.
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Speaking of fans, how come Torontonians (myself included) aren’t giving the Blue Jays a fair shake these days? They have a competitive team that beats the crap out of the ball. Forget Doc Halladay, this year’s birds are on their way to MLB records for runs, hits, and homers. Can Vernon Wells keep up his newfound steadiness? They won 12-4 yesterday, seems like a team we should be supporting. Hey I’m guilty, my kids find baseball boring (sorry AB!), and I haven’t taken them down once this year. But seriously these guys deserve our support.
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Speaking of the CFL, seems like a building boom has hit. May have to rename the league, the Cohon Facilities Lesson as the commish seems to be batting a thousand at convincing owners and government to invest in capital infrastructure. A groundbreaking in Winnipeg last week, refurbishment underway in BC for 2011, new seats in Montreal to be ready for June. Plus plans on the blocks for new venues in Ottawa and Regina. Could Moncton be far behind? One place that could use Cohon’s deft touch is this mess in Hamilton. Time for everyone to get along before the money disappears.
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Credit Marketing Magazine for their first Sports Marketing conference and integrating with corporate assets the Rogers Centre. Holding the conference in the stands/on the field was a great idea. Surprisingly the A/V worked quite well.
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Interesting article in the May 17th issue of Marketing Magazine. Leger Marketing unveils its most admired companies in Canada list and also shows who won and lost based on their Olympic sponsorships. Hbc for all its success with the red mitts and awesome clothing may have sold a ton of gear. But they did nothing to burnish their image unlike when Roots had the sponsorship. Interesting lesson here for the oldest company in Canada (now owned by Americans). They did a great job at recovering from the Beijing design fiasco. It will be interesting to see if they can figure out how to generate brand love utilizing the Olympics heading into 2012.
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The best place I have ever been for a sporting event was old Chicago Stadium. If they could raise it from the dust for the Stanley Cup finals, I don’t know if Philly or Montreal wouldn’t be better off forfeiting. The fans in the old Stadium were loud, proud, and downright ugly. In a good way! Today’s Hawkey Nation seems to feature a different crowd.