Sunday, May 31, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For May 31st, 2015

By Gregory Crawford----COO of Kiyokawa Sports Management---- on twitter @kesportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz @wchoops

During this past winter, UAB, Univeristiy of Alabama--Birmingham dropped football, bowling and rifle from its athletic programs. Many were outraged and the event took on a life of its own. Now, it appears those three sports will be back at UAB, as the school will easily exceed the fundraising goal of $22.5 million to bring them back. Interesting to say the least.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For May 30th, 2015

By Gregory Crawford---- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management--- on twitter @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz @wchoops

At the recent SEC spring meetings, each SEC athletic director was given a check for $31.2 million from the league office. In 2014, that check was $20.9 million. The obvious jump in league revenue can only be attributed to one thing, the SEC TV Network which went on the air August 12th, 2014.  It is a certainty, all SEC teams will be upgrading their facilities in many ways, with the enormous amount of revenue they receive.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For May 26th, 2015

By Gregory Crawford--- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management--- on twitter @kcsportsmgmt @wchoops @crawssportsbiz

Interesting stats here. The New York Yankees account for 2.5 percent of all wages paid out in the Bronx. The average wage in the Bronx is $47,000 per year and the famous New York City Borough has 252,000 workers who receive a salary each month. In comparison to Bronx, the average wage in Manhattan is $102,000.


Monday, May 25, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For May 25th, 2014

Good news and thanks for all the comments. As of today, Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds is back, 7 days a week and we offer only one guarantee, you can read it in 59 seconds or less. In addition, after a long hiatus, well not that long, little over a month, Crawford's Sports Biz and Golf Combo, is back, which will be published every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Enjoy please.

The majority owner of the Golden State Warriors, bought the team for $450 million in 2010. Today, the Warriors are worth $810 million, that will go even higher with an NBA title, which just might happen in June.

Gregory Crawford is the editor of Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds and Crawfords Sports Biz and Golf Combo. He is also the COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz and Golf Combo

By Gregory Crawford----COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management---- on twitter @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz @wchoops

The Big 9 Influencers----For the last month, @crawssportsbiz has worked to develop the a list of the Top 9  influential people or groups in Oregon sports. Please excuse a little provincialism here, as Oregon is my home state and where I live. The list is powerful and unique. I would love comments, criticism and your own list.

9. Steve Brandon--- Not many people know Steve, but you should. He is the original sports editor of the Portland Tribune, which produced its first edition in February of 2001. I heard many people at the time say this paper would never last, but guess what it has and it has a great sports section which is led by Brandon.

8. Danny Miles----Miles is into his 45th year as the head men's basketball coach at Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls, Oregon. One of three college basketball coaches in the country that has won over 1,000 games. But what you never hear much of, people seek out Miles all the time, not only for advice on basketball, but on life. As one colleague said recently, " A no-brainer to make the Naismith basketball hall of fame very soon.

7. Jon Spoelstra----Jon has had tremendous success running sports franchises, also an accomplished author, with most like his most successful book, "Marketing Outrageously, Redux." Despite working around the world, since the 1980s Jon has never left Portland. His advice to this day on sports biz is sought after by some sports' most powerful people and will continue to be. His latest venture, www.theultimatetoolkit.com

6. Vin Lananna--- The title of associate athletic director at University of Oregon does not do him justice. He has brought so many track and field events to Oregon, it is tough to keep track, including the  Olympic Trials. Without question Lananna is one of the most powerful people in track and field and is not only influential in the state of Oregon, but around the world.

5. Dwight Jaynes----- Even after over 30 years in sports writing, when Jaynes writes something, it moves the needle. He has sustained his ability to stir the emotions of sports fans, while being with the Oregon Journal, the Oregonian and Comcast SportsNet. Jaynes has parlayed his writing talents to TV, where he brings a history of Oregon sports that is unmatched to the picture.

4. Timbers' Army----In my opinion, the Timbers' Army is not only the most powerful sports group ever in this state, but perhaps the most powerful organized group ever. The get things done, they have the ear of people and they give back to the community. All of soccer, that means around the world knows about the Timbers' Army.

3. Paul Allen----The Portland Trail Blazers probably would not be here if were not for Paul Allen. He owns a team that is beloved in the community and say what you want, but he cares about basketball and beyond. The only flaw here, people would love to hear more from him, as he is always a great interview, but he gives them sparingly.

2. Phil Knight----Founding partner of Nike is all you need to say. Nike dominates the world market in the apparel industry and footwear business and will for many years to come. A true Oregonian, whose roots have never left here after he graduated from Cleveland High School in SE Portland.

1. Mike Keiser----You never see Keiser on too many sports lists, but the man who brought us Bandon Dunes is a sports business genius. Bandon Dunes is without question the number one golf resort in the world and it is as such because of the creative genius of Keiser. Bandon Dunes also does so much for the economy of Oregon, as people come from all over the world everyday to play its many and awesome golf courses.

more of Gregory's blogs--- http://gregcrawfordbasketball.blogspot.com

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz and Golf Combo, For April 18th, 2015

By Gregory Crawford--- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management--- on twitter @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz @wchoops

Jordan Spieth---- A little wrap up on one of the most dominating performances in the history of golf, the win by Jordan Spieth at the Masters.

We all know Spieth can putt, but hitting 39 of 56 fairways at Augusta over the four days was pretty terrific. Spieth was the first wire to wire winner of the Masters since Raymond Floyd did it in 1976. When you break it down, 28 birdies over four days is equally special, averaging 7 birdies per round, who does that on any golf course let alone in one of golf's majors.

With the win by Spieth, he moved to number 2 in the world golf rankings, behind Rory and it is the first time ever both 1 and 2 have been under the age of 25.

No one talked about this, but Spieth's win also gave a big shot in the arm to the Masters. Yes, always popular, but not nearly as popular in the past few years with the demise of Tiger, Spieth gave Augusta a  huge boost.

CBS---- Interesting to note that this was the first year in memory, that there virtually were no stories about Gary McCord not being on the CBS coverage at the Masters. Of course McCord was banished from the braodcasts at Augusta when he made the some comments that the powers that be did not think were appropriate. Watch for McCord to be back someday, perhaps in the next 3 years.

Under Armour----In January of this year, Under Armour tore up the contract of Jordan Spieth and gave him a new deal which runs until 2025. Wall Street estimates are that UA's golf business in the next 2 years is expected to double from $200 million to $400 million. At present, Under Armour's golf business only exists in the apparel side, unlike other golf companies in the equipment business.

The other golf big name that represents Under Armour is Hunter Mahan. Biggest Under Armour athlete  endorser at present is Tom Brady and its biggest college team is Notre Dame.

NBA----Speaking of Under Armour, they were in a minor battle with Nike to win the new deal with the NBA for apparel rights. Nike has won and starting in 2017-18 season, they will take over for Adidas who had an 11 year run of being in the position for the owning the apparel rights..

Nike is a natural fit for the NBA, as they dominate the United State athletic shoe business with a 90 perecent market share and the fact 75 percent of NBA players wear Nike shoes.

NFL---- The battle to put a team  or teams in the Los Angeles market is heating up. At present two different proposals have come forward. The Chargers and Raiders want to build a shared $1.7 billion stadium in Carson, if new stadium deals in their respective cities of Oakland and San Diego do not come to fruition.

Stan Kroenke, owner of the St. Louis Rams wants to build an 80,000 seat stadium on a former landfill and move his team to Los Angeles.

While the prospects here are interesting, it is not that easy to relocate a team in the NFL as it might seem. The next time any team can file for relocation is January of 2016 and to relocate, 24 of 32 teams need to approve a move.

The last time the NFL was in Los Angeles was 1994 and obviously the league has done really well over that time period to present, even without a team in the L.A market.

Basketball Courts---The Oregon Ducks started it all in 2010, by creating a basketball court that is not your normal looking court. Now Oakland University is getting into the act with their new asphalt looking court, which is getting rave reviews. Good looking or not, you make the call, but you can't argue with the fact doing something unique with your basketball court does get you plenty of publicity. Most people have never heard of Oakland University, despite the fact they are a D-1 basketball team.

Urban Meyer--- The rewards of winning a national championship are plentiful for a college football coach.

Urban Meyer has a new $6.5 million contract which runs through 2020. His previous deal at Ohio State paid him $4.5 million. The big news here is Meyer's contract gets him into the top 5 of highest paid football coaches, something Gene Smith, Ohio State AD said needed to happen and also more important to many in Ohio, it moves him ahead of Michigan's new coach Jim Harbaugh on the pay scale, as Harbaugh is at $5 million.

All this for a guy who five years past left Florida, hinting he might not coach again and was hinting big time burnout with some health issues.

more of Gregory's blogs--- http://gregcrawfordbasketball.blogspot.com

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Crawford's Golf and Sports Biz Combo, For April 12th, 2015

By Gregory Crawford--- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management--- on twitter @crawssportsbiz @kcsportsmgmt @wchoops

Future Of Golf---- There is no question that Jordan Spieth is a great Masters champion, humble, but golf next big super star. He played great to win and deserved to win.

As Jim Nantz and Nick Faldo went on and on, about how great the future of golf is with Spieth and other young stars, I had to jump out of my chair.

Jordan Spieth, Rory, Patrick Reed, Kevin Na, Billy Horschel and all the young stars are certainly great for golf on TV. But are they really good for the game of golf? Will they bring more players to the game, which is sorely needed.

Quick history tells us as great as Tiger was for TV golf, bringing many viewers who never played the game before and many who only would watch becasue Tiger was playing, he never in reality brought more players to the great game.

If Spieth can bring more players, more power to him, but what it takes is less expensive golf and clubs, more places to learn the game and much better marketing plans for the game.

Masters---- The people at Augusta National Golf Club hold their cards pretty close to the vest. So we watch every year and enjoy, but just how much do we know about the economics of the greatest golf tournament there ever has been and will be.

Some pretty good sources we have tell me a few things about the economics. The revenue for the 2014 tournament, 2015 still to be determined, was right around $115 million. That amounted to a profit of $28 million. Revenue included merchandise $48 million, ticket revenue $34 million, International TV rights $25 million and concessions $ 8 million.

Just think how much the Masters would really make if they sold the United States TV rights, which they do not. This years was the 60th consecutive year of telecasting by CBS, on a one year contract, in which neither they or Augusta National make any money off of. In 2013, Fox Sports signed a 15 year deal with the USGA, which starts this year and gives the USGA $93 million per year, for  Fox's rights to televise 6 USGA events per year.

Baseball--- As new commissioner of baseball, one of the agenda items for Rob Manfred was to hopefully speed up the game. Last year, the average time for a major leage baseball game was 3  hrs 2 minutes. It is way early, but so far this year's average time has been reduced by 10 minutes.

Golf Earnings----Jordan Spieth took home $1.62 million for winning this year's Masters. In 2014 Arnold Palmer never made a dime on any Tour, but his off course dealings brought "The King" $40 million. Same for Jack Nicklaus, no Tour checks, but off course endorsements, $22 million.

Over his 20 year career, Tiger on the course has won $156 mllion in prize money, off course earnings amount over that period add up to $1.2 billion.

One great exception in 2014, was Fed-EX Cup champion Bill Horschel, who won $15.2 miilion in prize money and earned $2.2 million from endorsements.