ONE LOVE

Chicago Stand Up

There are many players in the sports industry that genuinely care about not only the community they come from but also the community of others. Players such as Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah both seem to reflect on what it was like growing up in a large city where there were various acts of crime and violence. Derrick Rose who is a Chicago native and happens to also be from the same neighborhood I am from. Murray park also known as Murder park is where I watched him play and interact with our peers in the park.  I'm sure he has also heard the numerous gun shots that I heard on nights when were supposed to be sleeping so that we can get ready to head to school the next morning.  Derrick was the star player at Simeon, he went on to college and decided to go pro and he became a Chicago Bull. Joakim Noah on the other hand is from New York City which like Chicago is a large city with some rough neighborhoods. Joakim went on from high school to play college basketball at the University of Florida before coming to Chicago and joining the Bulls. There have been various acts of crime and gun violence in the city of Chicago. Derrick Rose allegeldyl paid for the funeral of slain Chicago rapper Lil Jojo who was shot to death and also a 6 month baby girl that was shot and killed as she sat on her fathers lap. Joakim Noah partnered with community activist father Pfeleger who is also the priest and social activist at St Sabina Church on the city's southside. Each year around september they both host the One city peace tournament where the city comes together to promote peace and also play a game of basketball.  Each year the teams are coached by NBA superstar such as Derrick Rose and Patrick Beverly. I noticed that both of these Chicago Bulls players do a lot in the communities in Chicago. I appreciate how they give back to the city.

Mayweather's Inspiration

Floyd Mayweather is one of the highest paid athletes in the world. Floyd is the undefeated champion in boxing history. Although I was not given the opportunity to interview Floyd Mayweather, I did have the honor of speaking to one of his acquaintances. His name is Delano Willis he’s a thirty  year old Boxing instructor and Muay Thai trainer currently training in Illinois, that had the opportunity to train under the Mayweather’s. Delano is from the South side of Chicago like me. He was born August 10, 1984, in the Englewood neighborhood just like me. When he was younger he always got picked on and teased because he skinny and darker skinned. “About four years ago some friends and I decided to go to Las Vegas.  While there we heard about the Mayweather gym and we found out where it was located and we got there and we were approached by Floyd’s uncle Roger who still until this day along with his father Floyd senior still trains Floyd Jr..Roger asked us how could he help us and I asked him could we do some drills. Roger said sure. I asked Roger could he do some drills with me and he agreed.” I was interested in knowing what he learned from Roger and what was his experience like being in the Mayweather gym.” It was life changing it made me want to really work hard seeing how Floyd built this gym along with his family from their love of boxing.” Roger taught me some drills that I have never seen before, he challenged me a lot and I appreciate him for showing me different combos and drills and how to work the ring.” I asked him has he ever met Floyd. “ I have once and he was very humble and down to earth. I never had the opportunity to do any drills with him like I want to. I get the opportunity to hang out with the Mayweather’s during some of the fights if I ever go back to Vegas. I asked him when was the last time he was in Vegas. “ I was there last September when he fought Maidana, I'm going back for the big fight this September. I will be there with the family probably sharpening up on my skills at the gym and spending time with them after Floyd’s fight. Although I'm not able to go to train with Delano like I would due to a change in my schedule I still manage to get me some jabs and uppercuts in from time to time.  I really enjoyed getting to know my trainer and learning more about his training, his skills and his background.  He is amazing and Im so honored to say I train under this strong and amazing talent.
   

Body of ESPN

ESPN is the biggest sports network in the World. They have various programs that fans can watch 24/7.  ESPN then created a magazine that seems to fly off the shelves. They then created a series of issues of magazines that they coined as " The body" issue. The magazine features fans favorite athletes imitating some of their signature moves but... only in nude.  Im sure fans as well as myslef noticed that the sales for the magazine has increased since women first saw Colin Kaepernick laying on top of what looked like a electric tattoo chair. Then now there is the body issue with a fresh new face whose one handed catch landed him on the cover of Madden 16. I honestly think that along with the Colin Kaepernick issue this is going to go flying off of the shelves and now the magazine can be purchased on iphone. I could only imagine how many lock screens and home screens these images are on.  I think that this is also one of the best selling magazines I honestly think that sports fan prefer the ESPN magazine over Sports illustrated considering more women have gotten into sport. 

Legal Issues In sports

The  sports industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It is the industry that has produced some of the most successful athletes and roles models in the world. Tom Brady and the Patriots are the team that won the Super Bowl this year defeating the Seahawks. But there is one issue did the Patriots and Tom Brady cheat? Were the balls deflated? Should they bey disqualify and should the Seahawks get the trophy by default? Did Tom Brady know the balls were deflated? There are hundreds of questions that the world can ask. The NFL has decided to suspend Tom Brady for four games, the team forfeited the number 1 draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft and the team was fined $1million dollars. An appeal was filed on behalf of Tom Brady and his four game suspension. The NFL does not want to honor this appeal they wish to punish this team.  I honestly think that the whole deflate gate controversy is just not a good thing.  I honestly think that if the patriots and Tom Brady were found guilty that they should be stripped of the title and the title should be given to the Seahawks who was their opponent for the Superbowl. I think that that is how they were able to get the Super Bowl trophy due to the deflate gate scandal. I think that if the game was fair and square the Seattle Seahawks would have been 2 times champions.

The Washington Redskins have had some issues as well. The issues that they had are with their trademark. The trademark case involved the teams name to defend the constitutionality of the Lanham Act, which bars disparaging trademarks. An appeal board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six of the team's trademark registrations last year, ruling that the term "Redskins" was disparaging to a substantial composite of Native Americans at the time the registrations were granted from 1967 to 1990.

The NFL are also dealing with the settlement between players. The concussion case was very important there were players saying they have suffered concussions and they brought up a claim saying that they wanted to be compensated for the concussions that they suffered throguhout their careers. 

There are many claims and cases that have been arising in the industry of sports. The NFL seems to be having the most issues when it comes to their players and either their, contracts, the teams or their personal lives. I think that the league needs to take advantage, I feel that the league should find a better way to protect their names, logos, teams and players. I feel like the league should be represented better. I feel like if the league protected their players personal lives a little bit better everything will be better for not only the players but also the league.

Loyalty

Fan loyalty is the loyalty expressed by a fan towards the object of a fans fanaticism.  Fan loyalty particularly with respect to team sports is different from brand loyalty. Fan loyalties continues even if the team that the fan supports continues to perform poorly year after. Fan loyalty and engagement is so important to sports organizations because fans want to be involved throughout the year. Fans will purchase merchandise, season tickets and attend events hosted by their favorite teams. For example the Chicago Bears were not so great last season but fans still attended events such as football 101 ladies night , the Chicago Bears bowling charity event. I think it is the fans engagement that helps increase the revenue for the team as well as the leagues. In this case the revenue can increase by fans being involved and attending games and events. The revenue can decrease by fans not being active and attending games and events. The organization and teams are currently using social media sites to increase fan loyalty. The teams and organizations have trivia questions they post on sites such as twitter which leads to fans responding in order to win a pair of tickets or autographed items. Using the team social media site helps draw a lot of attention with capturing pictures of the experiences. Freebies are another way, free raffles that allows fans a chance to win tickets and meet and greets.


http://opendorse.com/blog/how-stadiums-are-changing-the-fan-experience/

http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-fan-loyalty-2/

Podcast blog

During my Negotiating and deal making course. I learned so many techniques that are required when negotiating and making deals in the entertainment, sports and just an industry period. I watched 3 podcasts that deals with 3 different industries. The first podcasts that I watched was a podcasts that Stan Christensen who is a partner at Arbor Advisors a banking firm where he negotiates on behalf of mid market technology companies.  In the video he uses some of the students as an example of keeping the people from the problem. Although his lecture was based on the art of negotiation and how to negotiate when it comes to management and problem solving, he included two students who were present at the time in the lecture. The second video that I watched was negotiations on and off the field featuring former NFL quarter fro the 49ers Steve Young. In the video he discusses the negotiation process when you are an athlete. Young spoke about how there are all types of elements, agents, management and the contract. He spoke about negotiating with his agent who really didn't seem to want the money but more so wanted the attention and fame and then he speaks about how he wanted to his team to help him get to the goal line and he wanted to do the same for them. He talked about his agent wanting to be in the mix and how he had to get the team going. From watching the video I concluded that there was a sort of mutual benefit between the quarterback, his agent and the team. The third video that I watched was a podcast that Cynthia Conley who is a social worker did. In this interview she talks about negotiation and how you can start negotiating when  you are first offered the job. She also speaks about how you should do your research, research the company and the agency when offered the job then you began to negotiate. She mentioned that is best that you know what skills the employer requires, what are the mutual needs and desires on both sides which is you and your potential employers, she said its best to know so it can be a win win situation the notion of objective criteria applies to this video. When watching all three of these videos I could immediately see how each related to the three concepts from my textbook for this course.