A New Sport for Many Americans

Everyone needs to admit it; we all love YouTube (unless, like some of my readers, you live in an area that is still left in the ancient world of dial-up Internet). However, I at least would love to see more sports broadcasted on this extremely popular and addictive medium. Attention sports fans, this is about to change! In an article I read on mediabistro.com, it was reported that the Indian Premier League has struck a deal to broadcast all of the third season matches on YouTube! When I first read this name, soccer immediately came to my mind given the popularity of the Premier League in England. However, I was surprised to see that this league actually plays cricket! I don't even know the rules of cricket, so this is of immediate appeal to me. I love to learn about popular games that I just don't happen to know about yet. When I heard that an acquaintance of mine went to college and took up cricket, I thought it was really cool, but I had no idea how to play this game other than the fact that it is somewhat like baseball.

I think that in the same way that I want to learn about cricket, many other people would enjoy learning about a popular sport in the rest of the world. Using YouTube is also very smart for the simple fact that it is free. In order to build an audience, free views go a long way. Many people like myself also would have a hard time paying to see something with such low familiarity. I'm sure that cricket is a great game, but since I do not know this for sure, I would have a hard time spending my money on a whim. Therefore, YouTube appeals to me, and maybe if this deal completes itself, I could indeed become a cricket fan. Then, I would be more willing to pay a price for this service. Even though free media outlets do not generate as much profit as they could make through some system of either pay-per-view or pay-per-season, it will be more important to introduce cricket as a popular sport if it's easier for fans to access this material.

Please comment on this if you know much about cricket because I would love to learn more!

A New Fantasy

Casual hobbies rarely develop into two billion-dollar potential industries. However, when this growth takes place over just 25 years and relies on many free services, it is even more remarkable. What on earth could I be talking about? This industry that has influenced and on occasion messed up the lives of many, many individuals is the industry of fantasy sports. I know I've written about my obsession with fantasy baseball prior to this, but an article I read on CNN International brought this issue to my mind once again. (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/football/01/06/fantasy.football.moneyball.sabermetrics/)

This article states that 26,000,000 Americans play some form of fantasy sports in one year. According to the U.S. Census, there are just over 304,000,000 people in the United States. Therefore, by crunching these numbers, almost 9% of Americans of all ages play some fantasy sport. This article highlights the fact that this industry is going to attempt to branch into the world market through utilizing the international passion for soccer. I think this is a great idea; I wish this had been done earlier. I think that if this trend can catch on and prove to be profitable, it will perhaps encourage American companies, such as ESPN, to attempt to sell international soccer to Americans. I don't mean to insult Major League Soccer, but I would like to be able to watch and be aware of the higher quality soccer that is around the globe. Given the intense observation that fantasy sports require, any Americans that would play fantasy soccer would demand greater coverage through American media outlets.

I hope this phenomenon extends to soccer, and I hope this extension occurs in America as well as around the world. Soccer is a great sport, but I feel that many highly skilled soccer players get their maximum media coverage in high school by the hometown newspaper simply because soccer has for some reason not grabbed the prominent position it has in the rest of the world.

I Love Nostalgia!

I was so excited yesterday when I saw the Coke Zero commercial featuring Troy Polamalu during last year's Super Bowl. It is a remake of one of my favorite commercials of all time featuring "Mean" Joe Greene coming off the field and receiving a Coke from a little boy played by Tommy Okon. However, in this commercial, the little boy is about to hand Troy a Coke Zero when the Coke guys swing in claiming not only taste infringement, but now also commercial infringement. I believe that this is an amazing marketing tool. First, the original commercial was one of the most popular commercials of its era. However, it has a new and ridiculous twist. It almost reminds me of the ending of Monty Python And the Holy Grail when they are about to storm the castle. This is going to be the defining moment of the entire movie in the similar sense to which Polamalu receiving the Coke Zero from the boy will be the defining moment of the commercial. However, these "epic" moments are interrupted by people who seemingly have no place in this scene with newspaper reporters interrupting the movie and Coke brand managers invading the commercial. This commercial made me also think about the time when this commercial was first developed. In 1979, although I wasn't there, I've heard that the world was a much different place. In today's world, people seem to want to return to their childhood and to escape the admittedly trying times the world is in right now. Nostalgia is a powerful advertising tool as many people who had been famous in old TV shows are back to advertise new products. Their fans will follow their previous favorites and buy products. It is amazing how powerful these images from the past can be.

I hope I don't sound like an advertisement for Coca-Cola, but I believe that this is ingenious advertising. Prior fame can be drawn upon again in the right circumstances. When something has become synonymous with a brand, it must be executed until it is no longer useful. Assuming this commercial is as popular with many others, I think that this image will not prove by any means to be too old.

This is a link to the newer commercial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjII6F-nJBQ
Here is a link to the classic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffOCZYX6F8

My Answer

As I stated yesterday, today I will present my defense of AAU basketball. Now at the beginning I want to state that there are teams that do AAU correctly in Vermont, but I've also seen things that don't make me feel too excited about my proposed solution. First, I think the key to a good AAU program that would produce solid players from Vermont is indeed to be competitive. Ouch, we live in an era where we want everyone to win, and no one to lose. However, I think Vermont basketball would improve if the best AAU players were concentrated on a lower number of teams. The reason I believe this is simply because players improve when there are good players around them. If some AAU team was able to concentrate the most talented players from one area onto one team rather than be dispersed among the many teams they have right now, all of these players would be better off. I know this idea would be unpopular as some players would be lost without a team. However, there are a few reasons why this might not be such a terrible thing. First, if the cut player really loves basketball and wants to play, he or she will work really hard over the summer and fall in hopes to improve and make the team next year. Therefore, his or her ability will rise and therefore raise the quality of competition in Vermont

The other result is that this athlete might realize that there is another sport that he or she is better at. To use an example from my life: anybody who knows me knows that I'm not an artist. I do not try to hide that fact, but I do not waste needless time trying to develop that talent. While artists need to be developed and taught throughout their lives, some people have a knack for art at the beginning. I, needless to say, do not. If I had been told my whole life that I was a great artist, I might not have invested time in other things that I really am good at and have a natural ability for because I would have been trying to develop the talent I don't have. I am more content because I know I'm good at what I do, and I might be able to help somebody with the new talents I discovered. Nobody loses when I find something I'm really good at, so helping people realize the talents they do possess is valuable for everyone.

I bet you're wondering who these few Vermont teams will play because there will only be a few. My answer is that these teams need to travel. I'm not saying cross-country road trips or month-long barnstorming tours, but I am trying to emphasize the need to be aware of a higher level of competition. Having traveled the tournaments around New England with my sister's AAU team, I have seen how good and how much different the competition can be just three hours away in Lowell, Massachusetts. Her team was competitive in Vermont; they could beat most teams. However, after making the three-hour drive, the competition was notably different. Neither game they played on that Saturday turned out well, but it was definitely worth the trip. These girls were exposed to a whole different level of competition that made them better players. Many people argue that this cost of traveling would be way too high for many people given the current economy and other similar concerns. However, as I cited in my last post, people in Vermont love basketball. I believe that if a logical presentation was made to potential sponsors explaining how all of Vermont basketball would benefit through AAU basketball, sponsors would come to help lower costs simply because they love the game and want to see it at its highest level possible given the available number of athletes.

I bet there are at least a few of you out there who don't believe a word I said. Please comment below and argue with me; I appreciate it. My goal here is to present the many benefits of AAU basketball and demonstrate how the system will benefit Vermont basketball as a whole. I know that you have this goal at heart too, but your strategy might be different than mine. Therefore, tell me about it; I'm not ashamed to say someone's idea is better than mine if it is!

Competitive Advantage

As of right now, I am in basketball mode. I love going into the various gyms around Vermont and seeing the pride of the small towns as they come behind their local boys and girls because quite frankly there is nothing else to do in several of these small towns. There are no alternatives to basketball; therefore, basketball has found a special niche in the center of many Vermont communities. You would think that this form of dedication lead to higher quality players because if many children played basketball, one or more would break through into the land of NCAA Division I scholarships. This does happen, but it is major news when it does. When Varsity Magazine used to be in publication, the online message boards with full of skepticism as to where that year's top senior would be attending college and whether or not he or she would be playing ball there with or without a scholarship. I think that the real reason that this is such a rarity is because unfortunately there is a lack of quality competition. Even though every child may play basketball in one town, if only one of them is good, she will not receive the recognition she would deserve because of the fact that the rest of the team is not very good.

I do not mean to sound negative or complain about Vermont basketball in any sense. After all, if I did not like it, why would it occupy my life for about one quarter of the year? There still is this dilemma though of producing higher quality athletes who are able to compete with athletes from other states. I know my solution will be controversial simply because I have heard it in my own life. I believe the answer lies with AAU basketball. I will leave you for now with this answer. Think about it, ponder it, and comments are welcome as to your opinion. Tomorrow, I will post my defense of AAU basketball and why I believe it will be able to help Vermont basketball become more competitive in terms of NCAA scholarships and to not be overwhelmed upon meeting other states in competition.

Comparison Shopping

I was surprised to see the new marketing strategy unveiled by DirecTV. As I was watching Deal or No Deal while eating dinner tonight, I saw the new DirecTV commercial. It consisted of two identical flatscreen TVs set on a solid background. One TV was labeled DirecTV and the other was labeled Dish Network. The narrator proceeded to explain that despite the fact that Dish had been advertising a lower price for the same service, there were hidden costs to subscribing to Dish that you never need to worry about if you subscribed to DirecTV.

I really should not be surprised by this competitive strategy as Apple has been duking it out with PCs over whose product is really cheaper and more effective thereby having greater value. However, I thought of these two companies in a different light. Through very shallow research on both companies websites, I found that DirecTV offers cheaper coverage and more channels on every level of programming except for the "Family Package" which are of comparable size and are offered by Dish Network for $24.99 whereas DirecTV charges $29.99. The only feature I did not compare were the actual channels in each package. I compared the bulk number of channels offered, but admittedly I do not know how they compare.

The reason I mention all this is because it is very interesting that DirecTV has to advertise that Dish Network is more expensive because of added on fees. From all I can tell, DirecTV is cheaper, but Dish has become the brand that represents the value in satellite TV. DirecTV is forced to advertise this way because they have become a differentiated brand; therefore, it is very difficult for them to also appeal to consumers as a price leader. Dish has found a way to become a price leader in image without leading in price. That is good marketing and good use of cornering their opponents into one category of consumer perception.

If anyone wants to double check my information and tell me if I'm wrong, here are the sites I used to draw my pricing information from:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/packages/programming/default.aspx
https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp?footernavtype=-1

An Unexpected Discovery

Recently, I read The Art of War upon reading that it was tremendously applicable to many areas of life beyond its intended purpose of teaching military tactics. I had heard especially that this book can teach a business major more than many textbooks have in the past. Therefore, while on winter vacation and dying for an excuse to use my new Kindle as much as possible, I downloaded this classic for $.95 and was simply blown away.

Before we begin our tour of my top five favorite quotes from this book which is only approximately 50 pages long, I will give you a little background on Sun Tzu himself based on information I found on http://www.online-literature.com/suntzu/ and Wikipedia. Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who lived around 500 BC. His work only reached Europe around the French Revolution when they were translated by a Jesuit priest. Since then, the Western world has loved his rules of warfare and the conduct of warfare. So without further ado, my top five favorite quotes in no particular order:

1) "Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

This quote automatically drew me to an image of a half court trap in basketball. The team on defense will allow the offensive player to drive up the sideline unimpeded, hence the bait. However, once that player crosses the half-court line, he gets crushed by a double teaming half court trap. Although it might seem that the offensive player had a free drive down the sideline, this false disorder led the player to get crushed and ultimately turn over the ball.

This happened in business as well. I am reminded of a story about the original land acquisition to build Walt Disney World. Walt Disney had several different agents purchased the land in Lake Buena Vista that would eventually hold his amusement park. He did this because he knew that as soon as word got out that Walt Disney was going to build a theme park in Florida, the land prices would skyrocket. Therefore, all of this disorderly buying through a variety of agents allowed Walt Disney to then step in and crush all other amusement parks. The businessman cannot tip his hand too early, or his competitors will sweep in and eliminate any first move advantage that man had.

2) "Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force."

I realize this quote is not what people want to hear. Many people like to believe that through hard work, anything is possible. However, sometimes the fights cannot be won. If I decided to start a small soft drink business in my basement, I could not compete with the likes of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. While my product may be superior, which I guess is entirely a matter of taste, these companies' immense resources, brand recognition, and diverse offerings would never allow me to compete in the market on a large scale. In order to compete, I would need to become a large force. How does one become a large force you might ask? Namely, by acquiring more capital. A small independent soft drink company would never be able to output anywhere near the same volume of Coca-Cola. Therefore, I believe that this point emphasizes the need for small businesses to realize that they are small businesses. There is nothing wrong with a small business; it will just have a hard time competing blow for blow with an industry giant like Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, or any other company that has a large market share in their segment.

3) "One may know how to conquer without being able to do it."

This applies to many areas of life along with business. For example, if I am the CEO of a major company, I may know how to dominate the market. However, if my company does not have the means at that moment to allow me the flexibility to overrun that market, it will not happen. I might know how to create a new product, market it perfectly, and distribute it effectively, but I may not be able to do it due to cost, environment, or several other areas of red tape that seem to plague many businesses. This emphasizes again the need for a large amount of capital. There is nothing more frustrating than having a great idea but not being able to explore it because of financial hazards. As was said in my freshman business class, a company should have twice as much money as it needs when it starts up simply to make sure that this situation does not occur. Granted, funding is not easy to come by. Therefore, make sure before you set out to conquer a new project, market, or venture that you are able to do it or else frustration will ensue.

4) "To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself."

Many people fail to realize that no matter how good a business gets, the competition will always be there. Google has a large market share of Internet searches; however, Google could sit back and do nothing, content for the moment. However, eventually Google would defeat itself once new companies with fresh ideas and better technology would overcome it. Assuming Google is the enemy here, the only way Google can fall from its platform is by failing to innovate and advance with the market. Google has become a verb for crying out loud! Instead of saying, "Search for that on the Internet," we say, "Google it." That is market domination when even the use of a product in that market is known by a brand name. It truly is amazing how insurmountable Google's market share is. Therefore, the only one who can make Google fall is itself. Being a technology driven company, Google must maintain a higher standard and a higher quality product as it continues to attempt to secure itself against defeat.

5) "What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease."

I would like to end with this quote because it defined the need to give full effort to any project. The point here is that it is not enough to beat someone on a final exam when I got a 50 and my opponent got a 49. I did win, but I did not win well or easily. Great businesses become great because they pour endless energy and passion into their products. After reading the book First in Thirst, I discovered that if anyone is going to create a product, he or she better be willing to put in overtime that is most likely unpaid. In this book, the reader sees that the development of Gatorade was by no means simple. University of Florida doctors spent hours in the laboratory to develop a beverage that would lower the incredibly high fatality rate on southern football teams at all levels due to dehydration. They did not need to do this; it did not appear to be profitable at the time. However, they went the extra mile to turn this product into the industry giant that it is today even when it met head-to-head with Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the sports drink market. (Note: Pepsi eventually did buy Gatorade, but not before it tried to run its own line of sports drinks.)

So, I hope I have convinced you, regardless of the discipline you study, to go to your library or a local bookstore and get this book. I applied these principles to business because that is what I know; I would not even know how to begin to apply this book to music, art, or medicine. However, I bet those ties are in the book as there always can be ways to make yourself more competitive. By competitive, I don't always mean when you win; making a hospital more competitive would mean a higher recovery for example. I never thought military tactics could combine with business, but I was wrong. I said in my initial post that my topics would be diverse; I guess I'm living up to that so far.