FOX Sports Detroit Girls Create Bet to Make a Push on Social Media: A vs. L

After the FOX Sports Detroit Girls reached 28,000 likes on Facebook on August 28, FSD wanted to generate more momentum on all of the Girls social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). We encouraged Allison and Lauren to set up a bet on who could generate more followers on their day of hosting all three social media sites.

The Bet: Who Can Get More Social Media Followers in a Day?

If Lauren wins, she gets to post a picture of Allison with her retainer on.

If Allison wins, she gets have Lauren wear an earpiece and repeat everything Allison says at three different locations – all taped.

The Results

Lauren took over on September 4^th. Here was her top post and the results:

Top Post: 595 Likes, 35 Comments & 108 Shares

218 new total followers on Social Media

Facebook - +63

Interaction on Facebook: 15 posts: 3,370 Likes, 306 Comments & 138 Shares

Instagram - +81

4 posts, 1,087 likes & 131 comments

Twitter - +74

Tweeted 98 times, including a twitter chat during the game that night

Allison took over on September 5^th. Here was her top post and the results:

Top Post: 1,090 Likes, 83 Comments & 74 Shares

226 new total followers on Social Media

Facebook - +144

Interaction on Facebook: 12 posts, 3,802 Likes, 330 Comments & 223 Shares

Instagram - +16

6 posts, 771 likes & 26 comments

Twitter - +66

Tweeted 81 times, including a twitter chat

Allison wins this bet!

Overall, this initiative was a fun way to lead into the production shoot on September 6.

Next time, we will make sure the contests are set prior to the bet to help move the numbers. As well as determine what the FULL bet was as Lauren announced her side of the bet and Allison had not picked hers yet.

Following the bet, the Girls filmed three videos that were posted on Facebook this week:

Click here to watch video 1– 78 Likes, 22 Comments & 2 Shares

Click here to watch video 2 – 51 Likes, 16 Comments & 2 Shares

Click here to watch video 3 – 142 Likes, 27 Comments & 1 Share

Erin Andrews Will Be Sideline Reporter For "Battle On The Midway"

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

FSN will use Erin Andrews as a sideline reporter for its "Battle on the Midway" game Nov. 9. She joins play-by-play announcer Dick Enberg and analyst Steve Kerr in calling the matchup, which will be produced by FS San Diego and distributed nationally to FSN and its affiliates. The San Diego State-Syracuse contest will be played on the flight deck of the USS Midway Museum Aircraft Carrier, which is anchored in San Diego harbor.

The assignment marks Andrews' second sideline reporting role since joining Fox over the summer. Andrews became known as a sideline reporter for ESPN. This fall, her primary role is hosting a college football studio show for Fox.

Multiyear Rights Deal Places Big West Sports On Fox-Owned RSNs

By John Ourand, Staff Writer

FSN has signed a multiyear media rights deal with the Big West conference that makes Prime Ticket, FS West and FS San Diego the conference's exclusive regional TV partners.

A formal announcement is expected to come today.

Deal terms have the three RSNs carrying at least 20 events, including men's basketball, four men's basketball tournament quarterfinal games, the women's basketball tournament championship game, and championships in soccer and track & field. In the '13-14 season, when San Diego State joins the conference in all sports but football, that commitment will increase to 32 events, including at least 12 SDSU men's basketball games.

FSN will stream 800 live events per year on a soon-to-launch website, including all men's and women's basketball games and women's volleyball.

Rod Allen Soundboard on FOXSportsDetroit.com

FOX Sports Detroit created a soundboard for FOX Sports Detroit Tigers analyst Rod Allen, a former MLB player. The soundboard generated interest, getting over 8,124 page views with 886 likes on the page. It is the 11^th most viewed page on FOXSportsDetroit.com this month.

On Facebook, it was shared 31 times, with 42 likes and 22 comments.

On Twitter, the first post below was retweeted 13 times on Sept. 12:

What's your favorite Rod-ism? Watch the game tonight with @RodAllen12 & @mario_impemba. Here's a few of our favorites: http://bit.ly/RodAllenBoard 

On Sept. 13, our post was retweeted nine times: Have you found the hidden surprises in our Rod Allen Soundboard? Bit.ly/RodAllenBoard @tigers #Tigers

It was also mentioned in a popular blog: http://www.blessyouboys.com/2012/9/13/3324366/detroit-tigers-links-three-tigers-aces-the-rod-allen-soundboard

Here are some tweets about the Rod Allen Soundboard:

12 Sep Pat Spillane ‏@Pat_Spillane5

The Rod Allen sound board is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! #iseeyou #lookout #countrystrong

kingjt27 4:25pm via Twitter for Android

@FOXSportsDet @RodAllen12 @mario_impemba country-strong is my favorite.

TylerSGodfrey 4:39pm via Twitter for iPhone

@FOXSportsDet @RodAllen12 @mario_impemba "he gets out if bed hittin"

Show Conversation

myownbiggestfan 4:27pm via Twitter for Mac

@FOXSportsDet @mario_impemba @RodAllen12 They should have used "a piece of cheese right at the knees".

Show Conversation

BeckyLindberg 4:27pm via Web

@FOXSportsDet @RodAllen12 @mario_impemba The best Rod-ism is "I see you. I see you"

SharonDavid26 4:17pm via Mobile Web

@FOXSportsDet @RodAllen12 @mario_impemba "cheesing from ear to ear"

Show Conversation

KelsStoddard 4:14pm via Web

@FOXSportsDet @RodAllen12 @mario_impemba I also enjoy when Rod states the obvoius for us, "He is a Baseball Player." I love watching #Tigers

Show Conversation

SpartanDogJD 4:14pm via UberSocial for BlackBerry

RT @RodAllen12: RT @FOXSportsDet: What's your favorite Rod-ism? Watch the game tonight with @RodAllen12 & ... m.tmi.me/wPiB9

 

FOX Sports Ohio's "Ticket Office Takeover" Drives Reds Ticket Sales

FOX Sports Ohio’s “Ticket Office Takeover” Huge Success in Driving Cincinnati Reds Ticket Sales

Throughout the 2012 Reds regular season, FOX Sports Ohio helped the Cincinnati Reds increase ticket sales by “taking over the ticket office”. During six select Reds games, FOX Sports Ohio announced the “Ticket Office Takeover,” a Reds ticket offer exclusively for viewers. While watching the game, fans learned of the ticket offer and were given instructions on how to take advantage it. Fans had to act fast, because it was an opportunity only available during the game telecast. 

“The FOX Sports Ohio Ticket Takeover promotion has been a success with sales far exceeding our expectations, thanks in large to the high level of exposure FOX Sports Ohio provides through pre-promotion and during the sale," said Reds Vice President of Ticket Sales John Davis. “We look forward to seeing this program continue to grow  in future seasons.”

In just six Ticket Office Takeovers, the Reds sold over 5,000 tickets.

During the 2011 regular season, FOX Sports Ohio did a similar initiative, called “Ticket Tuesday”.

When comparing Ticket Office Takeover in 2012 to Ticket Tuesday in 2011, the Reds saw dramatic percentage increases in two primary ticket sales benchmarks:

·        “Tickets Sold” during promotional window – increased by 1,086% in 2012

·        “Ticket Revenue” during promotional window – increased by 791% in 2012

In addition to Reds on-field performance this season, FOX Sports Ohio’s Marketing Director Alex Slemc also attributes this promotion’s success to a more aggressive, “act now” approach.  With a more compelling promotion name, it helped communicate to fans that in taking over the Reds ticket office, the network was the one providing the free or heavily discounted ticket during that game only.

“The attractive offers and a stronger urgency to buy during the promotional window (pre-game show to the end of the game) were key,” stated Slemc.

The six Ticket Office Takeover dates and offers were:

·        April 17 – 2 lower level tickets for $40 for April 24 game vs. Giants plus two free Reds caps

·        May 15 – Buy one field box, mezzanine, or view level ticket to May 21, 22, or 23 game vs. Braves and get one free

·        May 29 – $20 field box seats for June 5-7 series v. Pirates ($14 savings per seat)

·        June 19 – Buy one field box or mezzanine ticket to June 26 game vs. Brewers and get same location free to July 15 game vs. Cardinals

·        July 24 – $20 field box seats to July 30-31 games vs. Padres ($14 savings per seat)

·        *August 21 – Buy one ticket to Sept. 3-5 game vs. Phillies and get one free

*This was the single most successful ticket promotional date in all FOX Sports Ohio’s team ticket promotions (including Cavs Box Office Buyouts), selling over 1,500 tickets in just over 3 hours.

RSNs have blueprint for dealing with autumn work stoppage

Published September 24, 2012

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Regional sports networks are preparing for an autumn without professional games because of a work stoppage.

Last year, it was the NBA. This year, it’s the NHL. But for RSN executives, the situation is identical.

“Exactly the same,” said Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic President Rebecca Schulte. “Everyone hopes the lockout gets resolved, but we are prepared to use the same plan we used last year.”

Executives at regional sports networks across the country are experiencing a sense of déjà vu as they scramble to fill in live games that will be lost if the league and its players can’t reach an agreement before Oct. 11, when the season is slated to start.

The fact that these networks have a blueprint from last year’s NBA lockout does not make the potential loss of NHL games any easier.

“Live local sports is the cornerstone of what we do,” said Jeff Krolik, executive vice president for Fox Sports Networks, which holds rights to 13 NHL teams. “When we lose live local sports, that’s not good for us. You can’t replace it.”

NHL game ratings typically are lower than ratings for MLB and NBA games but still are higher than almost anything else RSNs put on air. Pittsburgh Penguins games on Root Sports last season averaged a 7.89 rating, the highest mark for all U.S.-based teams, followed by the Buffalo Sabres, whose games on MSG Network averaged a 6.55 rating.

It’s virtually impossible to make up those ratings with replacement programming. 

Fox Sports Networks will rely on college football, soccer and UFC programming to fill in any programming void left by the NHL. 

Comcast’s RSNs will patch its NHL holes with similar programming, but it believes its RSN strategy of producing original news and studio programming will allow it to fill in programming holes more easily. CSN Mid-Atlantic produces 2 1/2 hours of studio programming each day, and some of its programming is working, as measured by ratings. The net has had its biggest success so far with Washington Redskins-related programming. Through two games this season, Redskins postgame programming has generated a 1.98 rating in D.C., 32 percent higher than the Washington Capitals’ 1.50 average game rating last season.

Most other programming, though, doesn’t match the ratings of live events, something that will become more of a problem once football season ends. 

“There’s no immediate concern on a programming front, at least in the short term,” Schulte said. “Come January or February, when there’s less programming, it will become more of an issue.”

January and February is when RSNs will start to feel real financial pain, too, according to industry sources.

With the cost of local sports rights skyrocketing — plus the fact that RSNs are some of the most expensive channels available — cable operators are more likely to enforce contract clauses called “product guarantee provisions.” These mandate that RSNs have to provide a certain number of games. If they don’t, they will have to give distributors some sort of rebate.

Different networks have different contracts, of course, but typically these clauses kick in once an RSN loses around 20 games, sources said. Rebates can be anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent of an RSN’s affiliate fee. The size of the rebate depends on several factors, like a team’s ratings and the total number of live games carried from all sports. If the NHL is the only winter sport on an RSN, the rebate would be higher.

These provisions did not kick in during last year’s NBA lockout because the league played a 66-game season, losing only 16 games per team.

RSNs also will be hit by the loss of advertising revenue. Because game ratings are so much higher than other programming, it’s difficult for RSNs to give advertisers make-goods for lost games. That’s lost revenue.

On the flip side, RSNs stand to get rights fees rebates from teams for games that aren’t played. RSNs also will save on production costs for lost games.

But potential pain is much greater than any reward. The longer the NHL lockout continues, the more RSNs stand to lose.

Chase Carey: Sports Business "Has Been Great for Us"

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in New York on Thursday, 9/20:

FOX Sports Florida Prep Zone a Sophomore Success

Late in the Florida high school football calendar last year, FOX Sports Florida launched Prep Zone via FOXSportsFlorida.com to modest numbers with a little more than a handful of streaming games available statewide.

Thanks in part to a full off-season of planning, an on-air-promotion campaign developed with Creative University- University of Florida students, leveraged PR relationships with FOX Sports Next (right) and a robust schedule featuring twice as many games, Prep Zone Florida is catching eyes and clicks throughout the sunshine state.

Special Olympics Wisconsin Boards Fan Express

All Aboard Special Olympics Wisconsin. Next stop…Miller Park!

Earlier this season, FOX Sports Wisconsin launched the Fan Express. The custom wrapped bus has delivered many excited fans to Miller Park for Brewers games. And recently, the bus picked up a very special group of people: our friends from Special Olympics Wisconsin.

Employees, athletes and supporters boarded the bus for a very special experience:

OU and OSU: Fighting fire with... Fox

Michael Peters - Tulsa World 

9/18/2012 3:43:25 PM

The long-awaited Sooner Sports TV was unveiled last week, and it seems like we'll have to wait a little longer for Oklahoma State to follow suit.

In between, both Texas Tech and TCU signed on with Fox Sports Net. The deals presumably aren't that valuable -- although OU is said to be taking in about $5 million extra per year. But at this point, money isn't the issue.

As Bob Stoops likes to say, "Texas has always had more money than everybody."

No, the $5 million isn't what's important. It is, as Eric Bailey pointed out in our story last week (you can read it here) this number OU, OSU, Tech and TCU should care about -- 9 million.

That's the approximate number of households that get Fox Sports Southwest in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico.

While the Longhorn Network has struggled to reach major cable systems -- only Verizon and AT&T carry the station nationally -- Fox Sports Southwest is available to just about every home with a pay television service in this part of the country.

The Fox Four can't match Texas in revenue, but now they more than match the Longhorns in reach. And that's the most important part.

At least for Texas' opponents, the Longhorn Network has always been about exposure and recruiting -- not money.

Bob Stoops says he only wants Texas to follow the same rules as everyone else when it comes to recruiting. But the Longhorns changed the game. Now OU, Texas Tech, TCU and soon Oklahoma State have fought back the best way they could.

Fox Sports has acknowledged its loss of Houston Astros and Houston Rockets broadcasts made these deals financially possible. Those losses could have another fringe benefit for the Fox Four -- more exposure in the extremely fertile Houston recruiting area.

Without Astros and Rockets games to broadcast, Fox Sports Houston will have thousands of available programming hours. It stands to reason these deals -- especially the live men's and women's basketball, baseball and other Olympic sports -- will help fill that void.

If that's the case, the deals with Fox Sports may give OU and OSU the kind of exposure money -- even ESPN/Longhorn Network money -- can't buy.

As I mentioned in a previous blog (you can read it here) the Longhorn Network isn't much of a TV network, but it's one heck of a recruiting tool.

Now OU -- and soon OSU -- will have an avenue of their own. Certainly a Big 12 Network would have been better for everyone.

But given the league's "everyone for itself" mentality, OU and OSU are doing the best they can.

Fox, Turner To Renew MLB Packages; MLB Net Could Get LDS Games

By John Ourand & Eric Fisher

Published September 19, 2012

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MLB is close to finalizing deals with Fox and Turner that would tie up the league’s media rights through '21. Contracts have not been signed yet, but the sides have agreed on the main points, sources said. Similar to MLB’s ESPN deal, which was signed late last month, Fox and Turner have agreed to eight-year deals worth more than double what the two media companies were paying previously. That means Fox will pay around $4B over eight years (close to $500M per year) and Turner will pay around $2.8B over eight years (more than $300M per year). Including the $700M per year ESPN agreed to pay, MLB’s total haul from media rights will average $1.55B per year over the next eight years, more than double its current take. A formal announcement is expected to come next week.

FOX Sports Southwest 9/11 Military Appreciation Night Raises over $219,000 for Wounded Warriors

FOX Sports Southwest and the Texas Rangers joined forces on September 11 to host Military Appreciation Night on the 11th anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, 2001. The event included a live auction during the game telecast to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

Through collaboration with production, marketing, public relations and web support the auction exceeded expectations and raised over $219,000 for the national organization that facilitates programs for injured soldiers of the United States Armed Forces.

FOX Sports Ohio Treats BTN & College Partners to Fan Express Experience

As the Cincinnati Reds make a push to the playoffs, and fans flock to Great American Ball Park to watch them play, FOX Sports Ohio’s Fan Express to Reds Country has been the coveted ride to get them there. Not only have groups of Reds fans from all over Cincinnati and Dayton enjoyed trips to the ballpark on the luxury coach, but FOX Sports Ohio has treated college and BTN partners to the Fan Express experience.

On Tuesday, Sept. 4, members from The Ohio State University, including President E. Gordon Gee, attended the Reds game in style. President Gee heard about FOX Sports Ohio's "Bowtie Tuesday" Reds telecats, where analyst Chris Welsh wears a bowtie during the game. Being an avid bowtie wearer himself, he wanted to attend a Tuesday game and participate in "Bowtie Tuesday". The Fan Express brought in the group from OSU’s Columbus campus, and Gee enjoyed a booth visit and was featured during the telecast.

"The Fan Express helped create the perfect “night at the ballpark” for Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee and 35 Ohio State students who wanted to break away from their studies to enjoy the spirit of Great American Ball Park.  After enjoying door-to-door service, popcorn, hotdogs and crackerjacks, it’s not surprising that we received wonderful feedback from those students who participated in the event. After returning to campus, students felt like Hollywood stars after their classmates saw them repeatedly on Fox Sports Ohio."

-Jim Lynch, Senior Director of Media Relations, Office of The Ohio State University Communications

Ohio State President Gee and FOX Sports Ohio Analyst

Welsh, both sporting their bowties on Bowtie Tuesday.



The group from Ohio State in front of the Fan Express





Earlier last month, members from college partners Xavier University and the University of Cincinnati also took in a Reds game via the Fan Express courtesy of FOX Sports Ohio.


 

Xavier Musketeers got to experience
the Fan Express to a Reds game.
Even the Blue Blob came along for the stylish ride.





 





University of Cincinnati Bearcats posed in front of the Fan Express
before heading into GABP for the Reds game.

"FOX Sports Ohio was kind enough to offer the Cincinnati Bearcats Department of Athletics the chance to experience the Fan Express. We were able to take that opportunity to thank our staff who work so hard behind the scenes and treat them to an incredible night. Many thanks go out to FOX Sports Ohio for the wonderful experience."

 -Brad Wurthman, University of Cincinnati Associate Athletics Director, Marketing/Strategic Communications

ESPN Makes Progress on SEC Network

By Michael Smith & John Ourand, Staff Writers

Published September 17, 2012, Page 1

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The SEC’s negotiations with ESPN about a new channel are nearing their final stages, and a glimpse inside the talks reveals that three issues are close to being resolved before the channel’s expected launch in August 2014.