Saturday, March 14, 2015

Crawford's Sports Biz and Golf Combo, For March 14th, 2015

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

NOTE: My apologies for not writing for a few days, but we had to straighten out some technical difficulties, which are now totally solved and this column will be out everyday from now on except, Thursdays. Once again a combo of sports business and golf.

L.A. Dodgers--- I will never forget in 2012, standing next to sports marketing icon Jon Spoelstra and we heard that the Dodgers had been sold for $2 billion and Jon saying, "they probably got in cheap".

Of course shortly after it was announced that the Dodgers had signed a regional TV deal with Time Warner of $8.4 billion over 25 years.

Now today we have learned that a South Korean investment group is attempting to purchase 20 percent of the team and the present total valuation of the Dodgers is just over $3 billion. Yes, they did "get in cheap".

Golf---- So many people want to write about the demise of golf, put in in the grave, dance on the grave and glad it is gone.

Well, I have news for those people. If it is just me alone, I will never let the great game of golf die. It means too much to me, it has been one of the biggest parts of my life since 8 years old and at least 70 percent of my friends have been formed through golf.

Golf will make a major comeback and in just a few years it will be the popular sports it once was and the decline will stop. More and more brilliant people are getting involved in the marketing of the game, which is great and will pay big dividends in the end.

Speaking of golf, there is not a better month for TV golf than March. with the Florida swing on the PGA Tour. Different type golf courses, great weather and so many talented players competing each week.

WrestleMania----The WWE's biggest event of the year is shaping up to be its greatest business wise. The event will take place at Levi's Stadium, home of the 49ers and a sellout crowd of 75.000 is expected.

Ticket prices on the secondary market are also going for the highest amount ever, at $429.00 average. Professional wrestling is not dead by any means.

Final Four----Tickets prices for the Final Four in Indianapolis, are averaging just under $1,400 and for all the NCAA tournament games across the country the average price on the secondary market is $344.00.

Under Armour--- Under Armour continues to be a player in the college sports market. This week, they signed a five year deal with Old Dominion, to be their attire supplier for all sports teams for $400,000 per year.

Significant part of this deal is that it replaces the old deal, Old Dominion had with Nike at $61.000 per year. The deal can be cancelled immediately if either men's or women's basketball programs go on probation, or if anyone associated with the athletic department is caught making dispariging remarks about Under Armour.

Nike is still the huge leader in this area, but Under Armour has shown strides of growth, with their leading school being Notre Dame and being able to spend some big bucks with other schools.

Big Dance---March Madness is here, even though the name needs to change, cause the Final Four is now played each year in April. One thing that never changes is the interest the public has in March Madness in the United States. It is estimated there will be over 70 million brackets filled out and $9 billion will be bet on the games. Ouch.

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

emails---- crawfordssportsbiz@gmail.com and gregcrawfordbasketball@gmail.com

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