Online Sports Marketing Guy Blog

  2.

    Can You Beat My Quarter’s March Madness Picks?

    Posted by
    / March 15, 2012
    March Madness is back! It’s that time of year when the so-called experts add to their growing library of evidence that proves they don’t know much more than we do. A time when office bracketology guy loses the office pool to women that have never watched an entire game of basketball in their lives.

    While perhaps the least effective way of determining the best team in the sport, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship tournament sure is fun. To prove the randomness of the competition, last year we flipped a quarter to determine how a coin would fare picking games after round one. Last year, the quarter tied me and was in the 93rd percentile of brackets nationwide.

    This year, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and actually entered a bracket picked by one of my quarters - a 1990-issued quarter to be exact; the same year the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels defeated Duke for the title. Here’s how it worked....
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  3.

    Google+ Releases NBA Commentators Hangout Commercial

    Posted by
    / December 28, 2011
    Looking to capitalize on their growing momentum as a fledgling social network, Google+ has released a series of new commercials, one of which features NBA commentators Bill Walton, Jon Barry, Steve Kerr, Spero Dedes, and Kenny Smith. The video depicts the five of them using Google+'s hangout feature to breakdown a YouTube video of a backyard one on one game during the NBA lockout.

    I love the 60-second spot from Google for several reasons:
    * The commercial demonstrates the power and ease of use of Google+ hangouts, the feature most are touting as Google's biggest competitive advantage over Facebook. Hangouts allow up to 10 friends to video chat seamlessly in one place; even brand pages can host hangouts.
    * The commercial cross-sells Google's YouTube video service. The Google+ integration with YouTube will drive video views, and thus, incremental advertising revenue for Google.
    * The timing is great with the NBA returning in full force on Christmas Day. The condensed schedule, which requires cramming 66 games into a four month season, will mean that the NBA will constantly be on during that span.

    I also love the NBA - Google relationship. The NBA has always been at the forefront of social media use among North American sports leagues. We noted earlier this month that the NBA is the only North American league with a team in the top five among Facebook fans. It is good to see the NBA getting out in front with the newest social network contender, as it is obvious that Google+ is investing in this product for the long-term. With 1,695 current Google+ followers, the NBA has a long way to go if it wants to catch up with their 10,910,745 Facebook fans, but this video should help give them the early lead among sports leagues on Google+.

    Check out the video and meet me over at Google+....
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  4.

    142 Million Reasons The NBA Is Not Fixed

    Posted by
    / June 12, 2011
    The NBA has gained a reputation in recent years as being the closest thing we have in the United States to a fixed league. The accusations actually date back to 1985, when many argued that the first NBA Lottery was fixed in favor of the New York Knicks getting to draft Patrick Ewing out of Georgetown. If you watched Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals between the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, you know that the NBA has fixed games in the past. Claims from Tim Donaghy that the NBA regularly fixes high profile games, including the aforementioned between the Kings and Lakers, were substantiated by an FBI investigation.

    Earlier this year, we argued right here at Online Sports Marketing Guy that the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Competition was fixed so that Blake Griffin could film his Kia Optima commercial in the final round. I stand by that position, and it is a constant reminder that even if they never do, the NBA does have the ability, and the willingness, to fix contests.

    However, today I am here to offer 142 million reasons the NBA is not fixed....
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  5.

    NBA Conference Finals Star Power Breakdown

    Posted by
    / May 17, 2011
    A couple of months ago, I discussed how the NBA is devolving into MLB. Now that we have reached the NBA’s version of the “Final Four”, I thought it would be interesting to breakdown the star power of the team’s playing in the NBA Conference Finals. This data can be used to support or dispute my fear that competitive balance is slipping in the NBA.

    Everybody compares the newly formed Miami Heat to the New York Yankees as basketball’s version of a traveling all-star team. Could there possibly be a team left in the playoffs with as much star power as a team with Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh?
    Read full story.

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