NEWS - November 2018
Howie Long's Family Stars In New Ad For Facebook Portal
By Terry Lefton: Sports Business Journal
11/29/18
Much of Howie Long’s family will be seen in a two-minute ad for Facebook’s Portal “smart communications device” on tonight’s Saints-Cowboys game. The ad, a Fox/Facebook production, includes Howie Long Sr. and Jr., along with both if their wives; Eagles DE Chris Long and Chris’ son, Waylon. There’s also a cameo appearance by Fox’ Terry Bradshaw. The ad, “Empty Nesters,” will be seen at the first half two-minute warning. As with much of the marketing around the new device, the ad centers on families staying connected by using the Portal. 16W Marketing is the longtime agency for Howie and all the other Longs in the ad. Shorter versions are expected to be used for social and digital messaging.
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Published on Nov 8, 2018
From Giving Up Game Checks to Hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro: How Chris Long Impacts his Community
Philadelphia Eagles defensive end, Chris Long, explains how he impacts his community and why it is so important to him.
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Chris Long Makes Community Impact With Educational Equity Programs
Philadelphia Eagles Chris Long donated 100% of his 2017 salary to educational equity programs. See how his donation is making an impact.
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Kordell Stewart headlines CU athletics Hall of Fame induction
Eleven Buffs celebrate Thursday night, including Daniel Graham
By Brian Howel
BuffZone.com
POSTED: 11/08/2018 08:46:55 PM MST
As Kordell Stewart bounced around in the pocket and the clock hit all zeros, Colorado's hopes of victory rested on his right arm.
One of the most talented quarterbacks in CU history, he cocked his arm and let the ball fly, launching it more than 70 yards into the Ann Arbor, Mich., sky and, eventually, into the arms of Michael Westbrook.
The Miracle in Michigan was the most iconic moment of Stewart's time at CU, but certainly not the only highlight of his brilliant career.
On Thursday night, Stewart was one of 11 legends that made up the 14th class inducted into the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.
"It's beyond me," Stewart said of the honor. "You never thought that the work you put in and the things that you do because you love it so much, you never even really care so much about getting to a hall of fame, but more or less trying to win a championship with the guys around you."
Stewart brought the crowd to its feet as a player and did it again Thursday as he led them in the fight song to cap his speech.
Stewart headlined a class that included four other football greats: Pete Brock, Daniel Graham, Ron Scott and Steve Sidwell. Also in the class was three-sport star Hatfield Chilson; men's basketball players Charlie Gardner and Chuck Williams; baseball player Jay Howell; women's track and field sprinter Donna Waller; and women's skier Lucie Zikova.
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What The Jets' Partnership With MGM Means To Fans And The Team
The New York Jets’ new gaming partnership with MGM Resorts, the first of its kind for an NFL franchise, potentially could be a financial coup for the team. That’s the word from two sports marketing experts who spoke to Forbes.com.
The partnership is the first in the NFL that involves more than a casino sponsorship, and it features a game on the Jets app titled, “I Called It,” in which fans can win prizes for predicting things that will happen during a Jets’ game. They cannot win money because the NFL’s rules on such partnerships don’t allow teams to have tie-ins that specifically involve sports betting.
Still, it’s the kind of feature that should help drive online traffic (and customers) to MGM Resorts, as well as to the Jets’ own app.
“Good for (Jets president) Neil Glat, he’s a real businessperson,” said Ray Katz, chief operating officer of Collegiate Sports Marketing group and an adjunct professor of sports management at Columbia University. “I applaud the Jets for the depth and breadth of this sponsorship, but at the end of the day it’s all about driving gambling, both on NFL games through MGM and their properties and their apps and whatever else.”
MGM Resorts’ Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City was the first one to offer sports betting once the state of New Jersey allowed sportsbooks to open, and the Borgata also has a mobile sports betting app for residents of New Jersey.
“But to the Jets’ credit,” Katz added, “they’ve decorated it with a lot of other nice little in-game incentives that count as fan engagement. … This is dipping the toe in the water a little bit in terms of casino sponsorship. To me (the lack of direct sports gambling), is a technicality. To me, the NFL is serving up their fan bases for these casinos to drive them to their online gambling apps.
“No matter how you cut it,” Katz said, “no matter how (NFL commissioner) Roger (Goodell) tries to spin it, that’s what it is.”
“I think you’re going to see a lot more of this,” said Frank Vuono, co-founder and partner of 16W Marketing. “The Jets sticking their toe in the water is something for the league office to digest,” he added, “and they haven’t gone as far as the other relationships with MGM have gone.”
MGM has entered into sports betting partnerships with both the NBA and NHL, but its partnership with the Jets is only for gaming, not sports gambling.
The New Jersey Devils just entered into a partnership with Caesars.
Vuono said that MGM is a “very sophisticated data-driven hospitality company. And if they do (this partnership) right there will be multiple points of intersection and integration, because there will be all sorts of rewards for the sports gambler that will have hospitality attached to it.”
Indeed, Jets’ season-ticker holders and team rewards members will have the opportunity to get free hotel rooms from MGM via their participation, according to espn.com.
“And likewise the Jets are opening themselves up to the worldwide resorts that MGM offers,” Vuono said. “It’s a great play. There’s incredible crossover between the avid football fan and gambling, there’s no doubt about it.”
Katz said, “Rather than making money on the spread and on gambling by being the vehicle, they’re going to let other people do the business and essentially these people become licensees that are royalty-free and (MGM is) essentially paying (the Jets) a giant licensing fee for the right to do this. That’s the way I see it.”
Katz noted that unlike TV contracts, which are negotiated by the NFL and shared by the clubs, it likely will be up to individual franchises to make their own deals, such as the Jets have made.
“There’s a lot more money to be made in individual team deals,” he said. “There will be a lot more sponsors. It’s going to be very competitive. And the teams have the assets for this. That makes a difference. No one’s a fan of the NFL. They’re fans of NFL teams.”
“This is just a way for the teams and the leagues to get a piece of the revenue,” Vuono said, adding that he commends the idea of the in-game contests for fans.
“All of the leagues want their games to become more interactive and want their fans to continue to buy tickets,” he said. “All of these deals enable people who are on their mobile phones and so on to play along with the game as they go.
"You might not necessarily be able to gamble on that, but you’ll be able to play along,” Vuono added, “and anything the leagues and teams can do to engage their fans more is good. They’re going to be looking at their cellphones and iPads anyway, they might as well be engaged in the game while they’re doing that. … It’s a smart move” by the Jets.
Katz believes this deal is merely the tip of the gaming and gambling iceberg in relation to pro teams and leagues.
“This (concept) is going to drive an entire massive sponsorship category,” he said, “and I believe that this whole arena of gambling-slash-casinos within two years is absolutely going to be a top five (revenue) category as far as professional sports is concerned.
“I give the Jets great credit,” he added, “for doing an integrated sponsorship around this that comes off as fan engagement as much as anything else. It’s a truly integrated partnership. They’re not just giving (the casino) carte blanche to their fan base.”
“It’s really been the unlocked treasure for years,” Vuono said of sports gambling, “that all the leagues were hesitant (to tap) because they want to protect the integrity of the game. Well, the cat’s out of the bag on that. They’re going to have to find other ways to protect the integrity of the game. This is a huge treasure that they’re all going to want to partake of. … This is just a way for the teams and the leagues to get a piece of the (gambling) revenue.
“I think there’s a lot of story that’s yet to be told,” Vuono said, “and it’s going to unfold over the next year or so.”
And the Jets are writing the first chapter in the NFL.