Sebastian's Corner

This post was originally published at The Hockey Writers. I am covering the Florida Panthers there this season.

Historically, the Florida Panthers have drawn poorly at their home in Sunrise, Florida. Over the last three seasons, the organization ranks 23rd out of 30 teams in average attendance per game. Predictably, that comes in three seasons in which the Panthers have missed the playoffs and have seen their points decrease in each season.  Thus, the team’s brass has taken drastic measures to bring fans to the BankAtlantic Center for the upcoming campaign, its nineteenth in South Florida.

Visit the Florida Panthers homepage, and you are immediately greeted by a bright red landing page in theme with the team’s 2011-2012 marketing campaign, “We See Red.” The page announces the “One Day Special” on Wednesday, October 5 when season ticket packages will be half price. Thanks to PartyCity, one of the Panthers “pillar partners,” Panthers fans are told “You Pay Half. PartyCity Pays Half.” This is a comprehensive campaign including seats in the lower level, the Lexus Club, and the upper bowl for full season, half season, or mini package plans.

A season ticket discount of this magnitude seems shocking, but it is nothing new for the Panthers. It is a timely move by an organization that received heat earlier in the summer for raising the price of season tickets, and it will have more upside than downside. To begin with the latter, the downsides seem to be the possible unhappiness of fans that have already bought season tickets as well as the perception that the team is selling itself cheaply. Still, it is a struggling team looking to build a fan base, so this is a generally positive move.

For one, the Panthers will surely bring more fans into the arena. The team has invested heavily in new players and a new coaching staff. Drafts have gone well, and the organization is moving in the right direction. If the Panthers can fulfill their promise to improve, fans may be surprised with winning hockey and an exciting game day experience. Happy fans will lead to increased attendance, more money spent on merchandise and concessions, and an increase in the team’s payroll which also ranks towards the bottom of the NHL. A home ice advantage for the players would also be a welcome addition to a sometimes quiet gameday experience.

The deal also grabs attention in a very fickle South Florida sports market where even the NBA’s Miami Heat struggle to get fans into their seats by tip off. The Panthers are experts at creating campaigns that turn heads, which is a positive thing in a region of palm trees and sun rather than icy ponds and snow. Last summer when the Heat’s LeBron James brought his talents to South Beach, the Panthers ran a promotion with the tag “Seats Fit For A King” and sold season tickets for $23 per game in the lower bowl and $6 per game in the upper bowl. Of course, James wore the number 23 for the Cleveland Cavaliers and changed to number 6 when he came to the Heat, so it was a clever campaign by a marketing team that is constantly hustling. The front office knows that creativity and good bargains are a recipe for grabbing the eyes of potential customers.

With radio advertisements in full swing and a healthy buzz about the promotion, it will be interesting to see the results. One thing is for certain, the Panthers will continue spinning their wheels and coming up with ways to attract fans.

- Jason

By now, you have most likely seen the video of a United States soldier disguised as a catcher catch his wife’s first pitch at a Mississippi Braves Minor League Baseball game. The soldier surprised his wife who thought that she was picked at random to throw the first pitch. Here’s the video, some interviews, and a news story from 16 WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi if you haven’t seen it or want to see it again.

The Mississippi Braves helped create the surprise when the organization learned that the family members were fans of the team. Minor league and independent league baseball teams always seem to be doing something fun. Their marketing efforts and community outreach is frequently creative and fun, so I was intrigued to do some YouTube searching to find fun marketing promotions that go on at these games. Here are some of the gems to give you a laugh going into the weekend. 

“Build A Burger” at a Vermont Lake Monsters game. 

Dizzy Bat Race at a Danville Braves game.

Sumo Wrestling at a South Georgia Peanuts game.

Hamster Ball Race at a Aiken Foxhounds game.

None of these are the tear jerkers that the Mississippi Braves created, but they do fall in line with the creative, flexible marketing and community outreach efforts that we have come to love from minor league and independent league baseball.

- Jason

Michael Vick has enjoyed a resurgence in endorsement opportunities of late. Our very own Michael Rubenstein spoke about Vick’s new opportunities in a previous post about the quarterback’s deal with Unequal Technologies. Last week saw Vick with more success only to be followed by some confusion and disappointment. 

On July 20, two newswires were released announcing Vick’s new deals with MusclePharm Corporation and Fuse Science, Inc, a company owned by Double Eagle Holdings. MusclePharm signed Vick to a three year $1.55 million deal which could pay Vick more depending on his on-field performance. Fuse Science, Inc. signed Vick to a five year deal and made him an equity partner. Additionally, Fuse Science’s release stated that the deal was an “exclusive agreement for Vick in the sports nutrition and energy categories.” The press release can be found by clicking on the links below:

MusclePharm’s Press Release and Fuse Science’s Press Release

So, what went wrong? This week, Fuse Science ended their deal with Vick claiming that he had violated his exclusivity provision:

“Subsequent to our entering into and announcing the exclusive agreement, we learned that on or about July 20, 2011, Mr. Vick entered into an endorsement agreement with another company engaged in the same product categories, notwithstanding the exclusivity provisions of our agreement,” Aventura, Florida-based Double Eagle said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “This created an unacceptable conflict and, accordingly, on July 25, 2011, we terminated the agreement with Mr. Vick.”

Quote from Bloomberg.com’s article regarding the termination of the agreement. 

Confusion had obviously started earlier than the termination as indicated by a press release by MusclePharm on July 22:

“We want to clarify that MusclePharm is the exclusive sports nutrition company of Mike Vick which is made clear by the executed agreement and current report Form 8-k filed today with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission that discloses the contract terms between Mike Vick and MusclePharm,” said MusclePharm Chief Executive Officer Brad Pyatt.

Quote from MuslcePharm’s press release of July 22.

Exclusivity provisions are carefully drafted in many contracts from endorsement deals to retail leases in order to protect investments. For example, a Mexican restaurant leasing space in a shopping center may negotiate an exclusivity provision in their lease with the landlord providing that the landlord does not allow another Mexican restaurant into the shopping complex. The trick is knowing when the exclusivity provision is violated, and this determination is made based on the definition of the parties involved.

In Vick’s case, MusclePharm and Fuse Science carefully drafted language describing their company and their products in the respective endorsement contracts. Based on these descriptions, the companies, in their respective deals, most likely included language claiming that Vick would not be able to sign an endorsement with a company in a similar space. If we turn back to our Mexican restaurant and create a very simply example, the restaurant may describe itself as an establishment that sells tacos, burritos, nachos, and margaritas. If the landlord leases space to a company selling the same items, there would be a penalty. 

We don’t know the exact language that was in Vick’s contracts, but we can look to the press releases to see how MusclePharm and Fuse Science describe themselves to the public:

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, MusclePharm is a healthy life-style company that develops and manufactures a full line of National Science Foundation approved nutritional supplements that are 100% free of banned substances.  Based on years of research, MusclePharm products are created through an advanced six-stage research protocol involving the expertise of top nutritional scientists and field tested by more than one hundred elite professional athletes from various professional sports leagues including the National Football League, Mixed Martial Arts, and Major League Baseball.  The Company’s products address all categories of an active lifestyle, including muscle building, weight loss and maintaining general fitness through a daily nutritional supplement regimen. MusclePharm is sold in over 120 countries and available in over 5,000 U.S. retail outlets, including GNC and Vitamin Shoppe.  MusclePharm products are also sold in over 100 online stores, including bodybuilding.com, Amazon.com and Vitacost.com.  For more information, please visit www.musclepharm.com.

MusclePharm’s description from the July 20 press release.

Double Eagle Holdings (OTCQB: DEGH) is an innovative consumer products holding company and the parent company of Fuse Science, Inc. Based in Aventura, Florida, Fuse Science is the developer of patent-pending conveyance technologies poised to redefine how consumers receive energy, medicines, vitamins and minerals, delivering their benefits faster and more effectively than ever before. Information about Fuse Science is available online at www.fusescience.com or by calling 305-503-FUSE (3873).

Fuse Science’s description from the July 20 press release.

The contractual language is most likely different with more specific descriptions of the products made by the companies. Still, it’s easy to see that there is an overlap between the two businesses, and thus, Fuse Science ended their relationship with Vick. Their exclusivity provision most likely allowed them to do this.

As a final note about endorsement contracts for athletes, David Schwab of Octagon First Call had an interesting observation when he heard about the news:

- Jason

“Bryan Stow family suing Los Angeles Dodgers”

The family of Bryan Stow, the San Francisco Giants fan brutally attacked on Opening Day, is suing the Los Angeles Dodgers. The family is seeking damages for future medical costs and economic damage to Stow and his two children. The family’s attorney will have to prove that the lack of security led to the attack.

“Players union files claim against owners”

Here we go again. The NBA players filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board today. The players union is claiming that the owners are bargaining in bad faith by proposing salary cuts and other elements to a new CBA that the players will surely reject. 

- Jason