Saturday, January 31, 2015

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

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

How important is sports to the overall importance of the culture and economy of any American city? Well, all of the websites that promote economic development and tourism, have had record traffic this past week in Seattle. I guess it answers the question.

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

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 29th, 2015

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

Yesterday, Reebok kicked off their largest marketing campaingn ever, with the slogan, "Be More Human." Aimed at consumers to reach their full potential. Footwear and Apparel companies always are striving for a bigger share of the market through different and out of the box marketing campaigns. We will keep you posted where this goes.

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

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 27th, 2015

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

NOTE: We will have a question each Tuesday, for you great readers of Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds. Love all your answers.

With all the off field and on field events in the NFL this year, what are your thoughts on Roger Goodell. Along with that, do you really care who is the Commissioner of the National Football League?

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

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 5 minutes, 59 Seconds, For January 25th, 2015

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

Note: Every Sunday, we expand Monday-Saturday Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, to Crawford's Sports Biz 5 minutes, 59 seconds, guaranteed to read in those times.

Under Armour---- It was a huge year for Under Armour in United State sales, as they surpassed Adidas as the number two in sales of footwear and apparel in the U.S. market.  Under Armour recorded sales of $2.6 billion, compared to Adidas 1.6 billion for the 11 months ending December 31st of 2014.

Of course, it is a long way to catch number one Nike, with U.S. sales of $11.8 billion, which excludes $2.7 billion of sales from Jordan Brand.

U. C. Board Of Regents---- The U. of California board of regents this past week voted to table their rules that would have required coaches within the system to have their contract bonus money tied to academic performance.

The reason for tabling the vote, of the 120 varsity teams that compete within the system, it would have meant little change, as the rule adoption by the time of the vote had become so watered down, it would have made almost zero difference.

Ernie Banks--- Best idea I have heard since the passing this past week of the iconic Ernie Banks, was that in 2015, all major league baseball teams play a doubleheader to honor Banks, who was always famous for saying, "Let's play 2."

Adidas--- Speaking of Adidas, this past week they renewed their agreement with the U of Louisville, though the 2017-18 sports season, with an option for both parties through the 2018-19 season.

Total amount of the agreement is $39 million. Louisville head men's basketball coach Rick Pitino has often taken some jabs at Nike over the years. sometimes becoming almost angry.

Boston Red Sox---- Boston has probably made the most off-season moves of any baseball team in Major League Baseball. It has helped in tickets sales, as currently the average Red Sox ticket on the secondary market is $154.06, up 49 percent from 2014.

Super Bowl--- Oh yes, what would we do without a Super Bowl segment in Crawford's Sports Biz. Many ex-NFL players will descend of Phoenix this week, not to see the game, but to pick up a little extra cash coming from appearance fees.

The two players that command the biggest fee. Phil Simms and Joe Montana, who both will get $60,000 per appearance.

Quarterbacks always win out, right?

more of Gregory's blogs---- http://gregcrawfordbasketball.blogspot.com (written everyday, except Monday)


Saturday, January 24, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 24th, 2015

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

This weekend is college basketball's annual, Coaches vs. cancer, where coaches wear sneakers to draw attention to help fight the cause with this dreaded disease.

Two years, past, I started a movement to get everyone to stop capitalizing cancer, it sends message. So to all my friends in sports business, readers and beyond, please never, ever again capitalize cancer. Thank you.

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

Friday, January 23, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 23rd, 2015

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

One major sporting event in town is enough to raise hotel rates in any city, but when you have two going on, you are going to pay heavy duty. Such is the case next week, when not only will the city of Phoenix host the Super Bowl, it will also be host to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, of the PGA Tour, which Tiger Woods will be playing.

Many hotel rates are going for over $1,000 per night, but in some cases to get even that rate you must spend a minimum on food at the same hotel. By the way, on Saturday and Sunday at the Phoenix Open, crowds both days are expected to exceed 200,000 spectators.

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

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 22nd, 2015

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

My suggestions on how the NFL should handle deflategate, if it indeed happened as it appears.

Some of the suggestions. 1) If Patriots win the Super Bowl, no trophy, just give them a signed football, Roger Goodell.  2) Takeaway the Patriots first round draft choice for next 3 years. 3) Fine the team, $10 million 4) Make the Patriots play the first half of the Super Bowl with only 9 players on defense 5) Make the Patriots  buy the NFL game balls for the next 25 years 6) Wipe the Patriots first offensive touchdown off the board in the opening 3 games of the 2015 NFL season 7) Make Belichick clean the balls during the Super Bowl 8) No punting in the first half for the Patriots of the Super Bowl, must go for it on fourth down 9) For first time ever in any sporting event controversy, get lawyers involved.

Of course I actually could care less, as the Patriots will win the Super Bowl by at least 2 touchdowns.

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

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 21st, 2015

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

Without question this year, the NBA's most consistent team has been the Golden State Warriors. So how are they doing on the business side. Crawford's Sports Biz puts the current value of the Warriors at $1.2 billion. It should also be noted, that in the Bay Area, the Warriors in 2013-14 held fifth place overall for all TV viewers, a great coup for any sports team. At present, the Warriors plan to open a new arena, very close to the San Francisco Giants stadium, in 2018.

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

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 20th, 2015

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

As of today, on the secondary market, Super Bowl tickets for the match up between Seattle and New England are going for just over $4,000.00. That price is expected to increase dramatically, as U of Phoenix stadium, site of this year's event is the lowest capacity stadium for a Super Bowl in six years and 10,000 seats less than last year's game.

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


Sunday, January 18, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 5 minutes, 59 seconds, for January 18th, 2015

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

Note: Today marks the debut of Crawford's Sports Biz 5 minutes, 59 seconds, which will come out each Sunday and is guaranteed to read for everyone under 6 minutes. Of course Monday-Saturday, you can read Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, guaranteed to read in 59 seconds or less. We also each day will write a separate golf blog right here, so thanks for reading, it is greatly appreciated.

Football Playoff Championship----It took a long time, but no doubt the Playoff Football Championship game was a huge success and great for college football.  Not only was the game the most watched program ever on ESPN with 33 million viewers, but the game's TV audience was up 33 percent from the BCS championship game of last year.

So why not, why not go to 8 teams right now and stop with that for several years to come. The NCAA basketball tournament has been watered down considerably by going to 68 teams, as live audience and TV ratings show, but football obviously would succeed greatly with 8 teams and move it right now, no one is getting younger.

Even more important, under the BCS system, both Ohio State and Oregon would not have played for the championship.

Rice---- When you think of collegiate athletics, respectfully Rice's name does not enter your brain. But just to show how much their is a facilities race in college sports, Rice announced last week plans to build immediately a $31.5 million, 60,000 square foot athletic performance center, right next to their football stadium. It will house medical care, meeting rooms and weight rooms for all student/athletes.

Portland State---- Tomorrow, Monday, January 20th a new beginning will take place at Portland State University in my hometown of Portland, Oregon as Mark Rountree begins his tenure as the Vikings new athletic director.

Although nothing official has been announced, it would appear that the David Hersh experiment at Portland State is over. Hersh and part of his staff have not been seen at any Portland State basketball games in the last two weeks, important since he was very prominent in the Stott Center for a year plus.

There will be for sure some piling on, but credit does need to go to Hersh for trying to move the needle at Portland State with his zany, but sometimes entertaining promotions and his free food for all in attendance in the Stott Center.

In fairness, he did not put more butts in the seats, which really needs to happen at Portland State for all their paid athletic events.

Personally, I have been around the basketball side for  a long time at Portland State. I have met Mr. Rountree once, a brief conversation, but he is an impressive guy, who no question cares about moving the needle forward at Portland State and will work his tail off to do that.

What I do not want him to do is totally take a look at wins/losses at Portland State, but instead hire good people and manage to keep the good people who are there in place, of which Portland State has many. It was my pleasure last night to meet the new football coach Bruce Barnum, who is beloved on campus by everyone and you can see why.

It is not an easy fix at Portland State for any sport, but a good start would be average 10,000 fans for every football game and to sellout the Stott Center each night for both men's and women's basketball (a 1,500 seat arena should be sold out every single game, end of story.)

I might also add, the Vikings need to take a look at ticket prices and their marketing budget. Some ticket prices are way too high, I never advocate giving the tickets away, but having a solid price point will do wonders. As well, marketing budgets in general are woefully under funded in collegiate sports.

Cuts--- Speaking of cuts or non-cuts, it certainly appears there is a growing trend in college sports to cut out the sports that do not make money, or fail to have a revenue stream.

Best example lately was Alambama-Birmingham cutting out football, the first upper tier football program to be eliminated in college athletics in 20 years. Other schools are cutting cross country, golf, tennis and some like North Carolina-Wilmington cutting ttack and field for both men and women.

This trend is bound to continue, but on the bright side it probably will help D-3 and NAIA sports programs, which many schools seem to be adding sports, rather than detracting.

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

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 17th, 2015

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

The powerful appeal of Peyton Manning still exists. Per figures just released, Manning ranked number one in NFL merchandise sales, for the period of September 1st to November 30th. Manning finished first just ahead of Russell Wilson.

NOTE---- Starting January 18th, every Sunday, Crawford's Sports Biz 59 seconds, will expand to Crawford's Sports Biz 5 minutes 59 seconds, guaranteed to read in that time, but an expanded edition of the daily blog, with short sports business stories.

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

Friday, January 16, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 16th, 2015

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

It is an interesting dynamic as to what is going on with the St, Louis Rams. Per several sources I have talked with, the NFL has made it clear to the Rams', get a new stadium or we can't support you staying in St. Louis.

Of course ownership is threatening, or actually wanting to move to Los Angeles, but many NFL owners really do want a team in Los Angeles, as per past histories and lack of support.

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

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 15th, 2015

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

Adidas North American president Richard King recently stated publicly, his company wants to sign close to 250 athletes as endorsers from Major League Baseball and the National Football League in the next 3 years. Presently Adidas last less than 40 athletes in these two sports signed as endorsers.

It will be fun to watch, as for sure these athletes will either have to leave other companies or be up and comers, not super stars in the present.

more of Gregory's blogs---- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (sports biz and golf)

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 11th, 2015

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

Final 2 coaches compensation in just completed 2014 regular season.

Urban Meyer, guaranteed money, $4.588 million, plus already a $250,000 bonus for getting in the championship game.

Mark Helfrich, guaranteed money $1.8 million, plus already a $100,000 bonus for winning the Pac-12 title and if he wins national title, $250,000 bonus.

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

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 10th, 2015

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

One of the arguments used by the side that thinks student-athletes should be compensated is that the average D-1 football player spends 43.3 hours a week on participating and/or practicing the sport. The average worker in the United States spends 43.1 hours per week, working their job. You make the call.

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

Friday, January 9, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 9th, 2014

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

The figures still seem mind boggling, even for sports, but since 2004, networks have collected just over  $ 2 billion from advertisers on Super Bowl telecasts, which include 134 companies.

more of Gregory's blogs--- gregcrawfordbasketball.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 8th, 2014

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

The NBA's Atlanta Hawks are for sale, what should they sell for and should the team move out of Atlanta. You can make the call on the latter, the as for their price, it probably will be around $800 million.

At present the Hawks have the best record in the Eastern Conference, but still rank 24th in NBA attendance. Since moving to Atlanta in 1968 from St. Louis, NBA basketball never has been that popular in Atlanta, as the team frequently ranks toward the bottom of NBA attendance.

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

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 7th, 2015

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

Could the Rams return to Los Angeles, as it is been 19 years since they have been gone. Better question, do people in LA want the NFL. In the Ram's final season, 1994, the teams averaged only 50,000 fans per game, in the 91,000 seat Memorial Coliseum. Even after the Rams played in the 1984 Super Bowl, the following season they averaged only 61,000 fans per game.

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

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 6th, 2015

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

Urban Meyer and many people in the Ohio State athletic administration, want an NCAA rule changed. He would like to see the NCAA and/or schools be able to help pay for the costs of families of players who are playing in the College Football Playoff to attend the game. At present the rules prevent schools from assisting families.

As the NCAA always moves slowly and this would be a major rule change for them, it might take awhile, as the first order of business might be what constitutes family?

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

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 4th, 2014

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

At Michigan, the Jim Harbaugh excitement is even carrying over to basketball. On Tuesday night, Big Ten play starts for the Wolverines against Illinois. Ticket prices are skyrocketing, with the average price on the secondary market now at $275.00. The reason? Harbaugh is expected to attend the game and every Michigan football fan wants to be there for his first public appearance on campus after his press conference.

In yesterday's post, we documented the bonus money Harbaugh can receive at Michigan.

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

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 3rd, 2015

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

Here are the bonuses in Jim Harbaugh's new contract with Michigan.

$125,000 for reaching the Big Ten Championship Game
$250,000 for winning the Big Ten Championship Game
$300,000 for getting to the College Football Playoff
$500,000 for winning the National Championship

Jim Harbaugh is going to make lots of money at Michigan, perhaps much more than he ever could have made as a coach in the NFL.

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

Friday, January 2, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 2nd, 2015

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

After the completion of the national championship game on January 12th, it will end a run of 39 bowl games. Those 39 games, have brought in $8 billion combined to the locales in which the game have been played. As well, the 39 bowl games create just over 64,000 full time jobs.

Who says sports are not an important part to any area's economy.

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

email Gregory at crawssportsbiz@gmail.com

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz 59 Seconds, For January 1st, 2015

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

The Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl will bring an estimated $350 million economic impact into Los Angeles County in 14-15. At the same time, the two events are estimated to have created 3,200 full time jobs.

While many times the economic impact of sports to a local economy can be inflated there also at the same time is no disputing the fact that sports have a large positive impact on the economy of any area they are located.

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

email Gregory at crawfordssportsbiz@gmail.com