Sports Marketing Club meeting on 02/21/13 – Evan Weiner

Evan Weiner is an American journalist who covers the business and politics of sports. He is the author of “The Business and Politics of Sports,” and he is a columnist for the New York Sun, “The Business of Sport.” He also is a contributor to msnbc.com and numerous newspapers and magazines around the United States.

“On a Sunday when you watch football are you watching a game or is it entertainment?”

Students gave their different opinions and Weiner told them a colleague of his, Sonny Werblin, convinced owners of the NFL that football was like a 3 hour commercial. The time slot a game is played is simply for marketing and advertising purposes. He said a league that utilizes this idea better than anyone is the NBA. They take advantage of a “star system” from the days of Larry bird, to Michael Jordan, to the current Lebron James and Kobe Bryant era. What they do, Weiner said, “They take these stars everyone is familiar with and use them to market their league for commercials, highlights, and simply being the faces of the league.”