PREVIEW EDITION

PULLED FROM THE HEADLINES!

Competitive Edge is a weekly current events news service that highlights unique and relevant sports and entertainment marketing initiatives throughout the school year. Designed to supplement our Business of Sports & Entertainment curriculum, the included recommendations for student discussion helps connect current news to topics from our textbook while encouraging critical thinking. 

Your Competitive Edge subscription also includes access to SCC’s student competitions, “bonus content” and lesson plan guides updated to help you bring the hottest sports and entertainment events from the year into your classroom.

DISCUSSIONS: WEEK OF MARCH 11, 2024

• Why The LA Clippers Decided It Was Time For A Massive Rebrand
• Jake Paul to Fight Mike Tyson in Live Netflix Boxing Event
• ‘Dune: Part Two’ Ignites to $97 Million at International Box Office for Huge $178 Million Global Start
• Interest in college sports is on the rise, report says
• Wendy’s “Squares Up” for NCAA March Madness with Another Year of Winning Deals

STORIES FROM AROUND THE WEB:

• Come On Barbie Let’s Play Hockey, PWHL Teams Up With Barbie
• How Marriott Boosts Awareness Among NFL, F1 and Soccer Fans
• Athletics unveil renderings of Las Vegas ballpark featuring climate-friendly design; “Like a spherical armadillo”
• Dartmouth men’s basketball team votes to unionize, shaking up college sports
• Why Caitlin Clark could make more money staying in college than going to the WNBA

Why The LA Clippers Decided It Was Time For A Massive Rebrand

Chris Lindauer
March 2, 2024

TOPICS:

• Lesson 4.6 – Market Research
• Lesson 6.1 – Branding
• Lesson 6.2 – Brand Building

https://youtu.be/-lH8rYOjKeA

Only a few months after Steve Ballmer purchased the LA Clippers in 2014, he and his staff began reconsidering everything about the franchise: where it should play, what its logo should look like, what colors it should use, even the name “Clippers” itself.

Read the story at espn.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is a brand?
2. Is the NBA a brand? Are the LA Clippers a brand?
3. When you think of the LA Clippers, what do you think of? How might that help to describe the Clippers’ brand?
4. What is rebranding?
5. Why would a sports team want to rebrand?
6. What types of things do you think a team considers about whether to rebrand?
7. What might it consider once it does decide a rebrand is in the best interest of the franchise (colors, images, names, trademarks, etc)?
8. Why is timing important when considering a rebrand?
9. Why do you think the Clippers chose this time to rebrand the franchise?
10. What is market research?
11. What are the two primary types of market research?
12. What is a focus group?
13. Why do marketers use focus groups?
14. What information did the Clippers learn from focus groups?
15. How did that information help the franchise to make decisions about the team’s rebranding effort?

NHL Renders All-Star Game In 3D On Roblox

Chris Lindauer
February 18, 2024

TOPICS

• • • • Lesson 2.6 – Technology in Sports & Entertainment
      • Lesson 2.8 – Fan Engagement
      • Lesson 4.8 – Digital & Social Media Marketing

https://youtu.be/WWw0S2FY2jY

With this update to NHL Blast, including the new 3D visualization of its All-Star game, the league is looking build on its efforts to drum up interest in the sports league with younger consumers.

Read the story at finance.yahoo.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is the metaverse?
2. Why would a sports league like the NHL be interested in establishing a presence in the metaverse?
3. Have you ever had an interaction with a brand in the metaverse?
4. Do you think young sports fans spend time in the metaverse? Why or why not?
5. Based on what you learned in this story, describe what the NHL is doing on Roblox.
6. What is “NHL Blast” and how might the league benefit from the program?
7. What is fan engagement?
8. How do you think marketers can measure engagement?
9. Why do you think measuring engagement is important?
10. According to this news story, how many people have visited NHL Blast on Roblox? How many hours have been played? How might that data help provide an indication of engagement?

‘Dune: Part Two’ Ignites To $97 Million At International Box Office For Huge $178 Million Global Start

Chris Lindauer
March 10, 2024

TOPICS

• • • • Lesson 11.2 – Publicity
      • Lesson 2.2 – Marketing in Sports & Entertainment
      • Lesson 3.3 – Entertainment Biz Fundamentals
      • Lesson 5.4 – Financing

“Dune: Part Two” is turbocharging the international box office.

Director Denis Villeneuve’s otherworldly sequel has generated $97 million from 71 overseas markets, bringing its global tally to a promising $178.5 million. 

Read the story at variety.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between marketing of entertainment and marketing through entertainment?
2. Which best describes Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s promotion of the “Dune: Part Two” film?
3. What is a profit?
4. What is a budget?
5. Why do studios create a budget when making a movie?
6. According to this news story, how much did this film cost to make?
7. How much did they spend on marketing?
8. Based on those two figures alone, and assuming (unrealistically) there were no other expenses, how much does the studio need to generate in revenue to make a profit?
9. What is publicity?
10. How might the positive word-of-mouth about the film help to sell more tickets at the box office?

Interest In College Sports Is On The Rise, Report Says

Chris Lindauer
March 10, 2024

TOPICS

• Lesson 1.2 – Industry Growth
• Lesson 1.3 – Fandom
• Lesson 11.6 – Social Issues in SEM
• Lesson 8.3 – Sponsorship Decisions

College athletes and the sports they play are getting even more popular.

Read the story at marketingbrew.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is fandom?
2. How would you describe the fandom around college sports?
3. How would you describe the fandom around Caitlin Clark?
4. How has that fandom helped to increase the interest in college sports?
5. Why do you think the interest in college sports is increasing?
6. How might the NCAA benefit from the increased interest?
7. How might individual athletes potentially benefit?
8. How might sponsors and advertisers benefit?
9. According to this story, do college sports fans care about which companies sponsor NCAA football?
10. Why is that important?

Wendy’s “Squares Up” For NCAA March Madness With Another Year Of Winning Deals

Chris Lindauer
March 10, 2024

TOPICS

• • • • • • Lesson 7.6 – Promotion and Sales
          • Lesson 8.1 – Sponsorship
          • Lesson 8.3 – Sponsorship Decisions

This March Madness® it’s all about basketball, brackets, and square BEEF. As the Official Hamburger of March Madness and Official Breakfast of March Madness, Wendy’s® has built another championship-winning roster of deals on the Wendy’s app. 

Read the story at wendys.com

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is March Madness?
2. What is sponsorship?
3. How do you think brands determine which sports and entertainment properties to sponsor?
4. Wendy’s is an official NCAA sponsor. If they weren’t, would they be able to use “March Madness” in their marketing? Why or why not?
5. Why do you think Wendy’s invests in a NCAA sponsorship?
6. What is sponsorship activation?
7. Why is activation important?
8. What is Wendy’s doing to activate their NCAA sponsorship around March Madness this year?
9. What is promotion?
10. What is sales promotion?
11. How might this Wendy’s activation provide an example of sales promotion?