Super Bowl Ad Focused on Safety

The NFL is sponsoring a commercial to highlight player safety. For the first time, the NFL will be using 60 of their 150 seconds of advertising time to spread awareness about player safety. Lately, a big hot button issue around the NFL (and football in general) is the serious danger of concussions and head injuries incurred during play.

The NFL hopes to raise awareness with the commercial and accompanying Web site nfl.com/evolution, which will go live on Sunday. Mark Waller, the Chief Marketing Officer of the N.F.L. said, "It is your biggest stage, you’ve got a massive audience, a massive casual audience, and this topic is probably one of most important topics for casual fans, particularly mothers..." he also said "And so the possibility that we could actually address the issue in a constructive, engaging way with that audience makes it definitely worth the challenge. It’s a risk, without a doubt."

The commercial will air during the final commercial break of the third quarter. Ref. nytimes.com

The Value of Innovation

French tennis equipment company, Babolat, aims to bring more data to tennis. Eric Babolat, President & CEO of Babolat, recently announced the “Play & Connect” racquet. This racquet is equipped with sensors to record and track data throughout play. Details of this technology are under wraps and it appears it will remain that way until it is shown at Roland Garros this May. The first 100 prototypes will be tested around the world starting in September 2012 and the launch won’t be until 2013.

However perhaps the most interesting aspect about this new racquet is what Eric Babolat said about its launch.

"Innovation is only valuable if it advances the game of tennis to the benefit of the greatest number of people.

In 1875, Babolat invented the first strings for tennis racquets. More than 135 years of innovation and progress later, I am proud to present today our vision of the tennis of tomorrow, brought by our 'Play & Connect' racquet."

The first half of Babolat’s quote is incredibly provocative to me. It makes perfect sense from a corporate manufacturer perspective. Naturally he would like the highest number of people to benefit from his product, ipso facto more sales. However don’t the majority of sports innovations actually stem from the pursuit of giving an advantage to the earliest adopters? Isn’t that advantage the very reason the innovation is viewed as valuable? By the very nature of the Nike Academy and pretty much the entire athletic department at the University of Oregon, most innovation is bred out of the desire to give certain athletes an edge over the competition? I think the innate desire for athletes to be the best dictates how innovators first approach a problem. Once tested and proven as beneficial, then a clever businessperson figures out how it ‘advances the game’ for all and advances the bottom line for a company.

I challenge that Mr. Babolat misspoke; it's not that innovation is not valuable unless it benefits many, but instead it's just not profitable until it does. Ref. prnewswire.com, sportstechreview.com

Bandwidth for the London Games

As London prepares for the 2012 Games, they are anticipating the patrons expected needs, including wireless bandwidth. UK’s independent communication regulator, Ofcom “has announced it will borrow wireless spectrum from other public agencies in the summer, including the Ministry of Defence [sic]” to help meet the expected need for the upcoming games, according to sportstechy. Fans and media alike rely on mobile devices to communicate and share information. Everything from microphones, cameras and mobile phones will require wireless bandwidth, which if not properly allocated for could result in a connectivity breakdown.

During the Games, Ofcom will use approximately 20,000 wireless frequencies. They have gauged their expected need based on historical data from large events such as the Royal Wedding. This is another example of the technical planning and preparation that goes into this great event. Ref. SportsTechy Pic Ref. wikipedia.org

A Different Kind of Birdie Lands Gore a Tournament Invite

Jason Gore will be playing in the PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Open thanks to Twitter. The following tweets from Gore helped landed him a sponsor exception "Just signed up for the @ntrustopen qualifier, but you have NO IDEA how stoked I'd be to get a sponsors invitation!" and "#myhometown #mymajor." A fan saw the tweets, retweeted them and the message went viral.

In response, the Tournament officials announced (appropriately on Twitter and Facebook) the following, "NTRS Corp. awards seasoned @PGATour pro & local fan fav @JasonGore59 w/ @NTrustOpen Exemption." His fans have been dubbed ‘Gore’s Gallery,’ and the tournament’s executive team expect to see a strong Gore following at the Northern Trust Open February 16 through February 19. Ref. waggleroom.com Pic Ref. waggleroom.com

Emerging Sport - Beer Pong

Call it Beer Pong or Beirut, this game is considered by many (mostly college students) to be a sport, and like all sports, it now has a technical twist. The National Beer Pong League (NBPL)has a new ranking system to help determine which ‘athlete’ is the top beer pong player. The ranking system ranks the top players by their performance in every game they play in officially-sanctioned BPONG events.

The statistics are not merely wins or losses, but a semi-complicated Elo ranking derivative (the method for calculating relative skill levels of chess players) specifically created for beer pong. The computation takes into account the type of event, the skill level of each opponent, whether a person won or lost and the margin (# of cups) of the win/loss. These ranking are available to the public on the NBPL website and smart phone app for Android. Additionally on the app, users can find tournament locations, affiliate their schools or greek organizations with the NBPL, read official rules etc.

Whether or not beer pong is a sport may be questionable. However there is no question that the NBPL is a business in its own right. Between the merchandise and sponsored events, the NBPL is working hard to add a little structure to this renowned drinking game. Ref. beerpong.com, wikipedia.org, wired.com Pic Ref. wired.com

A Little Birdie Told Me…a Buckeye Lie

Rumor had it (on Twitter) that the Ohio State football team was going to be banned from Tweeting. Supposedly one of Urban Meyer’s first moves as an official Buckeyes coach was to ban players from posting on the social network.

This rumor was fueled by tight end Reid Fragel:
New staff new rules. No more twitter, not a big deal and probably for the better. Love our fans, love this place. Go Bucks #2012

And seemingly confirmed by tight end Jake Stoneburner:
Twitter=Done. Me=back for senior year, leading this team, and shocking the world!! #gobucks #12-0

However later Fragel refuted his original post:
Just now finding out the whole twitter thing wasn't exactly true. #hearsay

-and-

Haha sorry for the confusion, sometimes people decide to put words in others mouths... That's all I have to say about that

And cornerback Bradley Roby also posted:

Lol this twitter stuff is funny. He never told us we can't have twitter.

Lesson from all this, just as quickly as news travels on Twitter, so do rumors. Ref. usatoday.com

Rose Bowl Uniform Tech

Today many college football fans are enjoying the Rose Bowl between the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin. This year, Nike is outfitting Oregon in state-of-the-art uniforms, a possible advantage on the field.

According to nikeinc.com, the Oregon uniforms will be sporting the following features:

• Eleven different materials in the Nike Pro Combat uniform (jersey and pant), and 16 different materials in the complete system of dress – each to address the specific needs of the athlete in game situations


• Nike Chain Maille Mesh material incorporated into the back and under the arms in the jersey, as well as down the sides of the pant for exceptional ventilation without sacrificing durability. The new Nike Chain Maille Mesh integration also emphasizes improved thermoregulation, including the Nike Pro Combat Deflex padding layer, which is constructed with fabric selected for its ability to help keep the body cool and wick away sweat – making the uniform, and player, lighter and dryer.


• Increased air flow with large open-hole woven construction for more ventilation


• A redesigned base layer that facilitates the uniform’s overall innovation, delivering the ultimate in lightweight protection for maximum speed. The base layer in the pant also features customizable protection that incorporates a thin, incredibly strong carbon fiber plate that can be placed on the thigh padding where needed.


• Strategically placed seams, pads and cooling zones that help minimize distraction and optimize protective coverage. Robust padding, without the bulk, has also been added to offer optimal low-profile impact protection specifically throughout the crucial “hit zone” between the knees and shoulders.


• Nike Pro Combat Deflex padding integrated in the hip and knee areas of the pant for crucial impact protection that stays in place


• A Flywire collar eliminating two layers of fabric for improved breathability, providing a more stable anchor to keep the jersey in place

With an even score at halftime, we will soon find out if the deluxe uniforms make the difference for the Ducks. Ref. nikeinc.com Pic Ref. nikeinc.com