My career focuses on the NBA. My sports passion is the NFL. But nothing gets me fired up more than opening day at Dodger Stadium.

It’s been a long time since the Dodgers were really good, since they were as good as us lifelong Angelenos expect them to be. 25 years to be exact. Having grown up in the days of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Cey, Yeager, Smith and Baker, I’m just programmed to expect the Dodgers to face the Yankees in the World Series each fall. Like Charlie Brown and the football, every opening day feels like THIS will be the year it will all click again. THIS will be the roster that comes together as a mighty unit. THIS will be the Dodgers year.

So I say this with a word of caution: I fully recognize that I’m a sucker for opening day.

That said, yesterday somehow did feel different. Stadium is polished up. Roster is stacked with guys who seem legit. Stability in the manager’s spot and in the front office. More importantly, the Dodgers are finally fully embracing their heritage. I thought it was great when Magic was about to throw the first pitch, but when Mattingly waived him off to bring in Sandy Koufax (with Vinny making the call), I almost lost it. It felt like years of wishing the Dodgers got back to their old ways were finally over. A bow to the past, and a bright future ahead.

(Good thing opening day wasn’t a day earlier. Sunday was Passover, and we know Sandy would have politely declined.)

And what a sight it was to see Sandy, Orel and Clayton all standing together! Koufax and Hershiser passed the baton right in front of us all, as if to say “alright kid, you are next in line. You better be ready.”  Kershaw responded with a home run and a complete game shut out. The kid is ready.

The kid in me is ready too. Nothing ignites the kid in me like opening day. Memories of my childhood, going to games with my dad, my step-dad, my friends all come rushing back. The beauty of the mountains in the outfield, the crispness of the grass on the field, the taste of a Dodger dog. The hope that this is gonna be THEIR YEAR. I’m a kid again.

Who knows how it will all come together. One thing’s for sure. Today, the Dodgers are undefeated and in first place. The team looks very solid. The owners seem committed to winning. Vinny is in the booth. And the stadium is beautiful. It’s time for Dodger baseball.

On November 16^th, BDA’s very own Bill Sanders spoke at the Ivy Sports Symposium at Columbia University in New York. The annual Symposium, touted as one of the premiere Sports Business conferences in the world, featured many different topics and panel discussions throughout the day. Bill joined fellow agents and athlete representatives to discuss Athlete Marketing and Representation. Bill shared his thoughts to an audience of aspiring sports leaders and young professionals in the industry. The topics in the panel discussion included building a players brand, managing their expectations, and the growing emergence of social media to connect with fans.

BDA Sports Management’s Marketing division is the only agency in the industry dedicated exclusively to player marketing. Here are a few notable excerpts from the panel discussion, which was moderated by ESPN’s Business Analyst Andrew Brandt.

On Penetrating the market for clients:

“As marketers, we’re ultimately judged by our success of generating revenue for our clients off the court.  But to me, that’s the end of the process, that’s the fruit of your labor. The first step is to help build the athlete’s brand, tell their story through social media, traditional media, community work, and by working with their team and league.

We live in the age of authenticity and transparency. As an athlete, you have to be who you really are. We’ve seen so many athletes fall from Mt. Olympus. Over the last ten years, as sports fans we have seen athletes who we thought we could look up to and to revere. Then you find out their not who they said they are.

In basketball, you start with a client who’s 19 years old and making millions of dollars. Often times that player is surrounded by friends who are telling them that they should be on a Wheaties box or have a deal with McDonalds. We try to slow them down and explain that brand building takes time. The more time you’re willing to invest in this process, the more patient you are, and the more you follow our lead in terms of building a good reputation in the community, the better you’ll be. By doing media training so and having your personality shine, brands can feel that you’re charismatic, charming, and have integrity. The more time and effort you’re willing to put into that, the more benefit you’re going to see down the road n terms of long term sponsorship.

In basketball and other team sports, revenue for the player comes mostly from their contract. So a small percentage of their revenue is going to be marketing dollars. The deals are generally short term, for the household names the deals will be longer with brands such as Nike, but the average deals are for a 2-3 year term. They turn over relatively quickly. But to make that steady and long term, you need to build a solid brand that’s authentic, that people can trust, and where you’re not too worried about some fall from grace.”

Controlling Clients Expectations

“As the marketing person, I rely on the agents a tremendous amount. The agent has the closest relationship with the player. I have relationships with these guys and I work with them on brand building, but the agent has that close relationship. As for handling a player’s expectation, we’ve had some success in telling our clients the following: Your marketing will always follow a step behind your progress on the court. So when you get to the place where you think you’re at your peak as a player, the marketing is going to follow right behind that. But if you’re not in the starting lineup, or if you’re not making the all star game and your stats aren’t great, then you shouldn’t be worrying too much about marketing yet.

We tend to have the best luck with clients who are willing to trust our input and follow our lead.

We recently had something work really well with Rajon Rondo. He’s really into fashion.  Not many people know that, but he wanted people to know that. So we suggested that he do an internship at GQ. At first, he was reluctant. But he trusted us on it and it went really well. He told us afterwards that he enjoyed it and was a great experience. That’s how one would go about building trust with their clients.”

Challenges in the Player Marketing Industry

Friends Being in Control of a Players Business Responsibilities

“One of the biggest threats is that a few high profile athletes are entrusting their friends with their marketing. That’s a dangerous precedence, because whatever expertise the athlete is need of, whether legal advice, marketing advice, or contract advice, to put yourself in the hands of someone who doesn’t have experience, bad things can happen and have happened. In basketball, this is almost now becoming the norm. I think there’s going to have to be more high profile setbacks before athletes to limit the amount of influence their friends can have on some of these areas.”

Image Control: Contracts and Social Media

“Using social media is an opportunity to tell your story to your fans in an authentic way. Over time, athletes realize it’s a critical branding tool. It’s a challenge for them to tell their story to the fans and to present it to potential brands and partners. But when they understand how to do it, then it really can shine.

The way in which we connect with athletes has evolved. In the old days, you could send a check for ten dollars to the Pittsburg Steelers, and then in return receive a fake autograph from Terry Bradshaw. That was it, but at the time you really felt connected to him. Now, our athletes are responding to questions from fans and encouraging fans to upload content of their own, it’s a more robust connection now. The biggest reason why we do sports marketing is because brands want to borrow that fan loyalty. Being a life long Steelers fan is generational. Your children will be lifelong Steelers fans too, meaning that there is a lifelong loyalty to teams. Brands want to borrow that fan loyalty, and social media gives us the ability to lend that to them. This makes for a much more rewarding relationship between the brand and the athlete.

Thinking through the benefits of a partnership are important as well. We love working with Red Bull for example. They won’t just want to re-tweet something, but they’ll offer ideas for a promotion. They suggested a “ball drop” with Rondo, where we were going to put a signed basketball of his in various landmarks throughout Boston. Fans would tweet hints about where it would be, and the first fans to find it would get to keep the signed ball. Fans enjoy things like that, and they certainly don’t mind some sponsor engagement and social media channels. But it has to be authentic.”

**Spencer is the founder of Ball Abroad, a company that provides resources and insight on the global basketball markets. After graduating from the George Washington University in 2009, Spencer was based in London, Prague, and parts of Spain. While abroad, he joined the staff of various teams where he helped with marketing and sales, as well as scouting talent, and produced video profiles for players. Spencer continues to write for basketball websites and consult for players and agencies.

Clearly Nike remains the sneaker superpower, and this doesn’t really change much for them. Nike remains the market share 800-pound gorilla, and they still can boast the greatest roster of superstars on the planet. They remain the standard bearer.

But this signing is more than an anomaly. It signals two key issues worth taking note of:

1. China is for real. Superstar athletes generally rely on their sneaker company to help build their brands, especially in the US. Nike helped create the iconic brands of MJ, Tiger Woods, LeBron and most athlete icons we’ve seen emerge over the past 20 years. Yes, these guys all had additional sponsors to help create their brands, but Nike was always the cornerstone.

I think Wade’s decision says as much about the growing importance of the Chinese market as it does about his brand preference. Wade realizes that while the US remains critical to his branding, China is just as important. Not coincidentally, this news comes at the same time that T-Mac announced that he is going to play in China next year. Players who are loved in China can earn a tremendous amount of additional revenue, and add years to their revenue producing lifespan. Chinese fans are savvy, and players who pay attention to China are rewarded with fan loyalty and new revenue streams.

2. Li-Ning is for real. In 2008, BDA was involved is a groundbreaking (and foreshadowing) deal between Baron Davis and Li-Ning. That deal was a signal that Li-Ning was a real option for NBA players seeking alternatives to US shoe brands. Other deals quickly followed, and suddenly Chinese sneaker companies like Anta, 361, Peak and Luyou were signing players (especially Rockets-thanks due to Yao Ming) as well.

Just a few years back, many Chinese shoe companies would sign NBA stars and hope for the best. Perhaps they would shoot a TVC and buy some media time. But they were still figuring things out. Li-Ning’s signing of D-Wade signals a quantum leap in their commitment to, and understanding of, the power of aligning with an NBA superstar.

Without having talked to Wade’s people, I’m certain they entered the deal with confidence in Li-Ning’s activation plan. This wasn’t about the money. This was about Wade’s commitment to China, and to helping a new partner move the needle. Li-Ning wouldn’t have landed Wade without a fully developed, strategic marketing program to activate the partnership. This deal is a game changer. Let’s keep an eye on how things develop, but doubters who wrote off all of the Chinese shoe companies may have spoken too soon.

Lance Armstrong’s withdrawal from the fight to clear his name against implications of steroids is a very sad moment in sports history. Armstrong’s accomplishments on a bicycle place him light years ahead of any other professional cyclist. His defeat of cancer has inspired millions of people diagnosed with the brutal disease. He is a hero to millions, both as an athlete and as an individual. Which is why the news is so enormous. It rocks the world of professional cycling, and robs many of their inspiration.

Of course there will be many that will stand beside Lance no matter what. And I would never argue with them. As a cancer survivor, and someone who achieved so much after his diagnosis, he has made a tremendous impact on the world. His Livestrong Foundation remains a stellar organization that will do good work for many years to come. So no one can deny the fact that Lance Armstrong did wonderful things in the face of cancer. For that, unless you’ve walked in his shoes, you should applaud him.

What is troubling is that we may never know exactly HOW he did those wonderful things. In fighting cancer, anything goes. There are no rules. If you fight cancer (or AIDS-see “Magic Johnson”), you do whatever it takes. And if you beat it, you are spectacular in your strength and determination. But in sports, no one likes a cheater. If Lance took “performance enhancers”, even as part of his cancer battle, then whatever work he did as an individual gets in large part negated by the fact that he may have “cheated” his way to his numerous Tour De France victories.

If that’s the case, and we may never know, then at some point Lance (or someone around him) perhaps should have put a stop to his racing career. As we have seen with Tiger Woods and LeBron James, the other two icons of the Mount Rushmore of Sports who have fallen, we all want greatness from our heroes, but we also want integrity and honesty.

When I was a kid, sports hero troubles were limited to excessive drinking, womanizing and the occasional locker room brawl. Yes, back then the media shielded bad behavior in order to remain drinking buddies with the icons they covered. But the problems were much more simple. And fans knew the guys were imperfect. Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Magic Johnson, Terry Bradshaw and all the rest were “regular guys”. Athletes today get themselves in trouble when they try to portray themselves as perfect, and then fall from grace. And their issues (steroids, drinking and driving, association with bad dudes) are much more complicated. Fans seem to expect more while athletes deliver less.

I always advise my clients to be authentic. I really think that’s all fans want. We paint our heroes, and they paint themselves, as something they cannot life up to. We reward them for super-human achievements, and don’t want to believe that they aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Ultimately, their true essence is revealed and we are heartbroken. When you are revered by millions, and make millions for being so exceptional, it must be pretty easy to believe the hype. Ego gets in the way, and athletes themselves can lose track of the difference between who they really are and what the public perception of them is. We may want to believe our heroes are perfect, but the minute they start seeing themselves that way, they are vulnerable to a severe fall from grace.

Somewhere along the way, it seems to me Lance must have lost perspective. No one is bigger than the system. And those of us who love music know that when you meet the devil at the crossroads, the deal he offers you isn’t worth it. We live in the age of transparency. The truth ultimately is revealed. Whether your ego blinds you from the pain you may cause in Cleveland, or you are addicted to sex with women other than your wife, or you take steroids that make you ride faster than anyone, the truth shall be revealed. It’s tragic to see so may icons fall from grace, but that’s the age we live in. And we will always believe in the “next” one. Come on Mike Trout, Andrew Luck and Kevin Durant. Don’t let us down.

The first night was brutal. He was assigned to a tent with a friend, but the tent was more of a shelter than an actual tent. No walls, just a roof. The camp is notoriously infested with red foxes who rummage through the tents at night looking for random Kit Kat and Snicker bars. Dads and other adults sleep in a different camp. The boys are on their own.

My son was really anxious as bedtime approached. My words of comfort did little good. After several attempts to calm him, I tried something different. I brought up our favorite team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. I asked him how Big Ben and Troy Polomalu might feel on the first day of training camp. He said he thought they might be stressed, knowing the coming week would be really tough. I asked him about all of the time Ben and Troy had put in all of their lives leading up to that moment. About all of the pain, tears, injuries, sacrifices. He started to think about all of the challenges that his heroes had faced in their journeys. He began to feel better and made it through that rough first night.

So as much as I would love to be his role model, that will have to wait until he is older. For now, his role models are Big Ben and Troy P. He worships them. They inspire him. Whether they know it or not, they do the same for thousands of kids all over the country. They are his role models, and I’m grateful that he has them to inspire him.

We are now more than half way through the week on the island. Things are going great. He is having the time of his life, and doing things I never thought I would see him do. Thanks Ben and Troy. I owe you one.

Last year’s NBA and NFL lockouts focused on the issue. New revenue sharing arrangements were supposed to help small markets play on more equal footing, allowing them to spend equivalent money on player salaries in spite of lower revenues. In the NBA, the new arrangement did nothing to prevent superstar players from bolting out of small markets as soon as they could. Seemed like nothing, not even CBA rules directly addressing the issue, could prevent big market teams from having a huge advantage.

But if you ignore the sensationalist stories about CP3, Melo, Lebron and Amare all bolting for the bright lights of the big city, you find something completely surprising. Look at the standings in the NBA today. On Feb 2, 2012, the teams playing above .500 include: Oklahoma, San Antonio, Houston, Denver, Portland, Utah, Memphis and Indiana. In the meantime, the star studded New York Knicks are 8-13. The NFL is no different. This year, two big city teams (NY and NE) square off in the Super Bowl. But last year, it was PIT and GB. In Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals are the current World Series Champs. Market size seems much less relevant that we might think.

Far more interesting to me is the fact that organizations that win tend to do so perennially. The Spurs (NBA), Cardinals (MLB) and Steelers (NFL) are always good. The Denver Nuggets appeared to be doomed when Melo left. But today they are just 3 games out of first place in their division. When this year’s NFL playoffs began, 8 of the 10 teams that qualified had previously won at least 1 Super Bowl. By conference championship weekend, each of the remaining 4 teams had previously won the big one at least once, with three of the 4 having won multiple Lombardi’s.

Yes, superstars win championships. Few teams that win it all do so without at least one legitimate superstar. But superstars come and go. Montana, Bradshaw, Favre, Staubach, Magic and Bird all retired, yet their organizations went on to win championships without them.

It’s not about market size. It’s not about superstars. It’s about the organization. Winning organizations find a way to win regardless of roster or market. They win because of outstanding decisions, responsible salary cap management, great coaching, front office consistency and dedication to a team philosophy that doesn’t change. Check out what is happening in Denver, Portland and Utah this year in the NBA. Each team has lost superstars recently, but they continue winning. Small market teams: stop whining. Focus instead on the organization. Look in the mirror. Great management and great corporate environment matters more than things like market size. Winning is in your hands. Market size is beyond your control, but it is not critical to success.

Only it didn’t turn out that way. Of course our experience would have been better had the Steelers won (or even put up a fight). But with Big Ben on one wheel and playing on the road, I prepared my son for a likely loss. What made the experience so brutal wasn’t the Steelers performance on the field. It was the fan experience at the stadium.

Although broadcast and sponsor revenue are critical to all major pro leagues, stadium revenue is arguably most important. A full stadium drives ticket sales as well as revenue from parking, concessions and merchandise. And a packed house gives the home team critical home field/court advantage. Here’s the thing: happy fans spend more money. Happy fans make more noise. Happy fans become repeat customers.

Which is what really blew me away about our Candlestick experience. It seemed that Candlestick really doesn’t care a lick about fan experience.

We planned to arrive at the game in plenty of time to check out tailgating, grab some food, watch pre-game warmups. Remembering the old days when my dad and I used to go to LA Raider games, I decided to leave plenty of time to get into the parking lot.

Getting to the game was brutal. The last 3 miles took us over an hour. Bottlenecked traffic, SUV’s turning right from the left lane, and left from the right lane. Three lanes total leading into crammed parking lots. Sadly, getting into a stadium hasn’t changed much since the 80′s.

Then there was the will call line, which took another 30 minutes. Finally tickets in hand, we waited another half hour to get through security and into the stadium. Every single fan was patted down by slow moving, unmotivated part-time security guys. Fans grew impatient and irate. That’s no way to welcome customers into your building. If it weren’t for the now famous power outage, no way would we have made kickoff.

Inside the stadium was no better. Food lines were ridiculous. Choices were very limited. My son had fries and a large Sprite for dinner. I waited in line 20 minutes for a cold burger served on a frozen bun. And as we waited in line, a nasty fight broke out between obviously hammered 49er and Steeler fans. My son was shocked and frightened. I had to shield him and then calm him down. The fight lasted at least 5 minutes, and security never showed up.

We left the game with 5:00 left, hoping to beat the crowd. 45 minutes later, we were still fighting our way back to the freeway. On the way out, countless drunk fans spotted our Steeler gear. We were cursed at, had beer thrown at us, and got flipped off several times. I expect some of this, but as the father of a 10 year old, I guess I’m getting conservative. I felt like I had put my son in a situation that he wasn’t ready for.

I can’t comprehend why the NFL allows this kind of experience to happen. Shouldn’t franchises be held to certain standards? Every Starbucks in the world has customer experience standards. Why don’t sports teams? I know Candlestick is a dump waiting for the demolition ball, but things like crowd control, efficient security and decent food don’t require a new stadium. Teams that neglect fan experience not only hurt their own bottom line, but they damage the reputation of the entire league.

The NFL is the most popular and successful professional league on the planet. It’s absurd that the live experience for some fans still leaves so much to be desired.

Which is why I’m so intrigued by MJ 2011. It isn’t always easy to transition away from the big stage, but Michael had it pretty good. Jordan Brand is iconic, and arguably the best athlete/sponsor partnership in sports history. But enjoying the success of the Jordan Brand and playing golf probably gets a bit boring after a while, so MJ stays active in the business of basketball.

I scratch my head each time I see a Hanes commercial. I don’t see the brand fit, at least not from his perspective. I can’t help but feel that pitching underwear is beneath His Airness. Now, amidst the brutally ugly NBA lockout, MJ has taken a stand. But it isn’t the stand that many people expected. As one of the highest paid professional athletes in NBA history, as a guy who was paid $30 million PER YEAR the last two season of his career, you would imagine that he would understand where the players were coming from. During his playing days, there’s no way MJ would have stood for a reduction to 50% of basketball related income for the players. Yet now, as an owner, MJ has positioned himself as an NBA hardliner. Funny how true the old saying is: “where you stand depends on where you sit”. As a player, MJ earned as much as he could, and arguably much less than he was really worth. As an owner, MJ wants to limit player salaries as much as possible.

Jordan is completely entitled to take this position. He is an owner, and he should make decisions that are in the best interest of his team. However the fallout, which does not appear on a balance sheet, is how players of the present and future generation will feel about him. They will likely always respect his game, but they are also likely to feel betrayed by him. Today Stephon Marbury, not exactly one to manage his own image all that well, called MJ a “sell out”. Rough words about the guy who once walked on water in the eyes of just about every hoop junkie on the planet.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. As with most issues impacted by the lockout, the fallout is likely to be worse than many participants anticipate. We’ll see. What’s your take?

I really like Manny Pacquiao. He seems to be an athlete who understands how to use his platform (boxing) to launch a brand that will last well beyond his athletic career. You’ve got to give credit to a boxer who establishes himself as a household name in a foreign country (the US) and in a sport that’s way past its prime. Not only has Manny made a name for himself, but he has conveyed a message that he is a likable and charming guy. His spot for the HP Touchpad  is one of the best examples of athlete marketing that I’ve seen in a long time.

Rumor on the street is that Manny has a very disjointed management team. He’s one of those athletes who are often rumored to be “in play” among athlete marketing people. That always scares me, especially when I hear it about an athlete who seems to have had his/her share of decent deals. Athletes who fire good marketing people usually don’t have a good sense of their own marketability.

What really blew me away was Manny’s ad for San Miguel Casino. The ad is terrible. To me it screams of “they paid me to do this”. There is no clear connection between Manny and this casino, and the ad is really cheesy. The ad is enormous, and hangs right above the exit in Terminal One (Southwest) at LAX. I’m 100% certain that this is not the only location where this ad is on display. A recent LA Times article stated that almost 60 million passengers a year travel through LAX. Terminal One has got to be their busiest terminal, so you’ve got to figure that at least 15 million people pass through that terminal in a year. That’s a ton of impressions for a single ad. You can do a lot of damage to a brand with a single billboard in a single location.

I do not believe that “there is no such thing as bad exposure”. Ads make enormous contributions to athlete brands. They either build athlete brands (as does the HP ad) or they cheapen them (the San Miguel Casino ad). Athletes and their representatives need to be very selective in choosing endorsement partners. I’m reminded of Tiger Woods and Buick, or Michael Jordan and Hoffy Hot Dogs. Zero connection between an athlete and the brand he represents only tells consumers that the athlete did it for the money. Athletes and representatives who take any deal they can get end up costing themselves big in the long run. Come on Manny, you can do better.