The subject of the panel was "The Economy's Effect on Sports Business." For more information on the annual conference, which is only one of three organized by MBA students, click here.
I was joined on the panel by the esteemed Jay Blunk from the Chicago Blackhawks, Andrew Miller from the Cleveland Indians and Ryan Luckey, who heads up sports and entertainment marketing at MillerCoors.
We tackled a number of subjects. I began by looking back at the events of approximately two years ago, when a group of Congressmen sent a letter to Northern Trust criticizing the company's support of the Northern Trust Open golf tournament. This came on the heels of the Citizens Against Government Waste attacking Bank of America for hosting hospitality at the Super Bowl.
The events had a chilling effect on the sponsorship industry, and in particular the financial services and automotive categories, which had received federal bailouts.
For many of us, it was a signal that although many had previously deemed the sports marketing and sponsorship industry "recession-proof," that would not be the case this time around.
During the discussion we also had the chance to talk about ways in which many in the industry have become more creative during the economic downturn, how co-marketing and cross-promotions have increased over the past two years and the increased level of scrutiny on measurement and effectiveness of sponsorship programs.
A former colleague of mine, the great Jonathan Norman from GMR Marketing, also did a nice write-up on the conference for his agency's blog. Click here to view Jonathan's post.
