First of all, I hope that everyone had a happy and healthy holiday season and that you are as excited about 2010 as I am. With 2009 in the rear view mirror, I have my hopes set that 2010 will be a big year both as a professional in the industry and as a fan. It is safe to assume that all of you reading this and visiting this site share these hopes with me; to advance your career in sports, and to be reminded every day why you wanted to be in sports in the first place by being a fan and following the roller coaster that is professional sports. I personally have held a variety of internships in my professional life while I have followed the UFC and the NFL in my personal life, and have had much to be thankful for in 2009, but also have much to be desired in the future.

On a personal level, I have really come to understand what it is like to be an aspiring member of the sports industry. 2009 marked the moment for me when the light bulb went off that I needed to be setting myself apart from the rest of the pack and that I needed to get creative with my professional image while developing my craft. I may have been late to the party, but I discovered websites such as Twitter and LinkedIn in 2009, sites that I would refer to more as modern day tools then just calling them websites. These sites have been very useful in my career development and I look forward to utilizing them in new ways in 2010 like I believe everyone else should do. It is also my hope for everyone that the job climate of the sports industry grows, allowing more opportunities for qualified individuals. 2009 saw great economic turmoil, and as a result, companies were forced to cut back and in some cases, downsize. These circumstances have been hard on everyone, but there is reason to be optimistic in 2010 because it is a new year with new opportunity. I believe that the road to success is kind of like sailing around the world; you may make great progress, but you can always keep going, you just need to want to. 2010 is when I would like to see all of us aspiring to make our mark in sports reach our destination.

As a fan, 2009 certainly had its ups and downs. It has been exciting for me to watch the UFC grow and many of the blogs I have written for this site are focused on how the entity will continue to expand in the future. Global expansion, major corporate sponsorships, and mainstream acceptance are a few of the things I am looking for in 2010 for the UFC and I am confident my expectations will be surpassed. As a fan of the NFL, I have been as equally disappointed in my Giants as I have been with the NFL’s stance on social media, the absence of the NFL Network in New York, and the lack of putting a new CBA into place. 2010 for the NFL means a Pro Bowl played in Florida, going abroad to Europe and the possibility of an uncapped year, none of which excites me. Still, the NFL provides story-lines and entertainment for all of us, and being an optimistic person, I hope that things will get worked out in time, because as a fan, I’m not going anywhere.

My resolution for 2010 is to make my mark on this industry. All of us, established or not, should be working as hard as we can to be our best and to stay passionate about our craft, and this site is a prime example of people who care about what they do and have set a good example for me in my professional life. So, all the best to everyone in 2010, lets make it a great year.

Please continue to post your comments and follow me on twitter @ZachLipari

I am extremely honored to be amongst the highly intelligent and motivated contributors to Jason Peck’s 2010 Sports and Social Media Predictions, and I really wanted to publish a post about it earlier in the week when the predictions first came out, but I also wanted to thoroughly read through the entire docket before writing about it, and I could not do that until now.  I was very quiet about it, but this week were Final Exams, and in law school, studying and taking those exams consumes quite a bit of time.  Anyway, the tests are beyond me, and I can now return to focusing on my business and the business of sports.

So about Peck’s compilation of sports and social media predictions (an embedded downloadable copy may be found at the bottom of this post)…first of all, I love the cover page.  It is creative and aesthetically pleasing.  A few notes based on my readings are below:

• Brian Gainor mentions that 2010 will be defined by the rise of online video and photo sharing.  I personally believe that online video is going to expand tremendously.  From video calls on your phone, to video conferences on the computer, and especially the eventual ease of recording a video and instantly uploading it to social services.  He mentions Flip Video cameras.  I am actually about to unwrap one that I just received in order to do a special Holiday Product Review of it on the blog.  I have a feeling I am going to get good usage out of that little “toy”.
• Dan Beeman says that teams and leagues will attempt to build their own online communities.  I think they need to tread this water carefully.  If they do create unique communities, they will need to be heavily integrated with the big boys (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube).  The key is not trying to defeat them, but instead, how to work with them.
• I won’t comment on my own piece.  Instead, I ask that you leave your comments on this post.
• The Blogs With Balls guys see a consolidation of independent voices in the blogosphere.  I sure hope not.  This site has never become a part of a larger entity, even though there have been some pretty lucrative offers on the table.  Independent voices are needed…isn’t that the main reason why blogs started and became popular in the first place?
• I just really like this passage from Espree Devora: “Surf brand means you’re a surfer right? No, not necessarily. You must establish your brand to stand for something. A cause. Something bigger and selflLESS than selling a pair of board shorts.”
• Joe Favorito sees a shift to localization from the shotgun approach being applied today.  Perhaps that is the route for the lesser known public figures, but not the case for a LeBron James.
• J.W. Cannon sees more red tape coming in the future.  Athletes will be limited to what they can say and do by regulations and PR entities.  How does that affect what I said in my piece?
• Lewis Howes makes a good point: sports entities do not only need to be involved in social media in 2010, they need to find new, creative ways to be involved.
• Pat Coyle says there will be more buying and selling of inventory on social media by teams in 2010, but no crazy boy band money just yet.
• I like Peter Robert Casey’s note that social media will be integrated into athletes’ marketing and sponsorship campaigns.  We are already seeing it done with entities like Danica Patrick.  I think it will only expand in the next year.
• Rob Katz makes a great reference to Geoffrey Moore’s argument in Crossing the Chasm.  The mainstream adopters have joined the early adopters on these social media networks.  Now it’s time to figure out how to make it a successful venture for all involved.
• Russell Scibetti notes that social media engagement is time consuming.  Thus, measurement is necessary to make sure that there is value behind that engagement.
• Ryan Stephens is brilliant when he says that strategies must include more than just slapping a sponsor’s logo on a Twitter page.  It’s all about creativity and integration.  What does the brand specifically like about the athlete it wants to sponsor?  How can that athlete use that particular “likeness” to benefit the brand?  Another good point – it’s not only about the number of Twitter followers you have.
• Steve Cobb discusses the power of contests.  Here is a good way to make an athlete sponsorship more fun than just slapping that logo on his page.  And the athletes can then promote the contest to their followings as well.  I disagree about Ustream’s growth among athletes, though.  This is one area where I think sports agents will wise up and tell their clients to stay away.  It takes a very particular athlete to be able to handle live streaming effectively.  Most athletes aren’t suited for it.
• Trevor Turnbull turns the discussion away from ROI and talks about people, relationships, and trust.  Maybe social media is not how you make the money, it’s how you develop the relationships that will make you money.
• Ty Ahman-Taylor talks about how tweets fall short of capturing the full experience of a game, but at least those updates are better than nothing (if you are not at the game or in front of a TV).

Octagon Hockey has taken the lead in this department.  Allan Walsh (@walsha) is the Director of Octagon Hockey while Ben Hankinson (@benhankinson) is the company’s USA Director of Player Representation.  Hankinson has a little over 1,000 followers; Walsh has three times as much.  Both are active Tweeters and regularly post information about their clients.  Sometimes those tweets are controversial.  In early November, Walsh received some negative publicity for tweeting about the shortcomings of players who are not his clients, and who are competing with his clients for playing time.  Overall, though, their strategy seems to be working well for the duo.  They are doing whatever they can to put their clients names on the minds of those who care enough to follow hockey.

It helps that Walsh and Hankinson have the backing of an entire Digital Division.  On April 9, 2009, I posted an interview with Jim DeLorenzo, VP of Octagon Digital.  Here is a brief portion of that interview, which includes DeLorenzo’s response to a question.

Jim DeLorenzo: Well I think what you are seeing, more and more is that people are consuming their sports content online.  Every athlete, every league, and every team are looking for ways to connect with their fans online and are shifting to different online platforms.  For Octagon, one of my responsibilities is to help the agents find the right opportunities for their athletes in a digital medium.  An example would be, if you go to NBA.com, they have videos running of Chris Paul.  They have behind the scene videos chronicling what it is like to be a young, NBA super-star.  Having NBA.com as a platform, to push those videos has a lot of benefits for Chris (Paul).  That is one of the things I am doing out of the digital sector.

Basically, I am trying to find digital marketing opportunities for our athletes online and helping to provide both the athletes and the agents more of a consistent digital strategy.

DeLorenzo hooked Walsh and Hankinson up with a good understanding of Twitter before he let the agents out into the open seas, where it is tough (actually impossible) to retract statements after they are published.  The agents also have the backing of the NHL.  The league employs its own Director of Social Media, who’s name is Michael DiLorenzo (not to be confused with Octagon’s DeLorenzo).  Under DiLorenzo’s watch, bloggers have gained access to press boxes.

The NHL seems to be quite accepting of its players using social media to connect with fans.  Octagon Hockey is an example of a company willing to take advantage of the opportunity to get their agents and clients names out there in order to gain relevance in a sport that surely needs something to talk about.

Once again, I have to believe that the UFC is ahead of the curve on this front. Fighters, in addition to working for the UFC, are their own brand and websites such as Twitter can help the fighter to directly grow their own personal iamge and receive more exposure. There are different, creative ways for a fighter to use Twitter and other social networking sites to actually make money for themselves. A fighter can tweet about their sponsor or hold sponsored contests through their Twitter account as an incentive for people to follow them and to pay attention, leading to increased value for the fans, the fighter, and the sponsoring company. UFC hall of famer and former champion, Chuck Liddell has even taken the next step and has developed MMAJacked.com a site specifically designed to connect Mixed Martial Arts fighters to their fans on a more personal level. Dana White frequently participates in “Twitter Tag,” an idea that was developed for Shaquille O’Neal by Digital Royalty that allows fans to find you in a public place such as a mall, or restaurant based on your tweets, usually for a prize, or in Dana White’s case, tickets to a UFC event. Georges St. Pierre’s Twitter account isn’t personally run by him, but his handlers had the idea to have fans e-mail Georges during his training by clicking a link that required you to sign up for his fan site before sending the e-mail, which ultimately attracted thousands of new fans.

The UFC is now more accessible than any other sports organization on a personal level. Everyone from the ring girls, to the announcers, to the fighters, to ownership all have highly personal Twitter accounts that are more than just company fluff and that actually give you insight into their lives and opinions which helps us, as fans, relate to them. As social media technology grows I am confident that the UFC will always be at the forefront and it will be interesting to see different business plans develop around these websites.

Please continue to post your comments and follow me on Twitter @zachlipari.

On Monday, I talked with Michael Fertik, CEO of ReputationDefender and the genius behind a brand new creation: NameGrab.  Michael is an entrepreneur, so we clicked right away.  He started creating businesses straight out of law school, and has been very successful in his previous pursuits (when you get an endorsement from Dr. Phil, you’ve officially “made it”).  He founded ReputationDefender in 2006, but only recently started marketing it after putting countless time and energy into its development.  Today, there is roughly ninety people in his company with customers in spanning forty countries.  His existing products allow a person to monitor his/her reputation on deep web contente that is not even visible through Google searches, remove unwanted contact information from websites, and publish information that one wants to come up through Google searches.

But what is NameGrab all about?  Interestingly, it puts into motion an idea that I had been discussing with a colleague of mine a couple of weeks ago.  As Monasterio stated in his excellent post,

The main point is to acquire these online properties, even if you don’t use them at first. It’s far better to have nothing on a Web page than to have cyber-squatters fill the page with advertisements.

The problem is that athletes and their agents do not want to spent the 10-30 minutes it takes to sign up for the hundreds of websites.  And new social networking sites sprout up from the ground every day.  How do you know which one will be the next Twitter?  The safest bet is to at least reserve a piece of property on each one of them.  The only property you can own is a user name.

Fertik, through NameGrab, has automated that system.  For $100, he promises that an athlete or agent will be able to reserve three user names.  Those user names will be confirmed by NameGrab and then the athlete/agent will have the opportunity to claim the email addresses associated with those names, if he/she so chooses.  NameGrab has plans to include the purchasing of domain names with those user names and also may feature deals for sports agents who have more than three clients that they want to reserve names for.

It seems like a really cheap option that could save athletes and their agents a lot of drama and money in the future.  Cybersquatting is becoming a big issue.  Even college freshmen and first year medical students are finding their names taken by the time they want to register for many social networking sites.

I am currently giving NameGrab a test with the user names DarrenHeitner, Kyle McPherson (a baseball client of mine), and sportsagent.  I will report back on my findings.

Sports Business

• “Take the opportunity to meet as many people as you can.” [Sports leaders explain the key to success]
• A sign that lacrosse is growing in the U.S.? [MLL, NLL lacrosse star John Glynn signs with agent Matthew Norfolk]

Baseball

• Even if they don’t make it in baseball, they may make some good money off of the rights fees [Story Of Indian Pitchers Bought By Sony].
• All because of a misunderstanding [Sports Law Blog's Joe Rosen Signs Red Sox Reliever Hideki Okajima as Client].
• That Vernon Wells contract… [Bad Contract Swap Meet].
• A great read for players, parents, scouts, and advisors [Showcases Have Turned Baseball Into A Year-Round Sport].

Football

• Keep your mouth shut and your tweeting at bay [The Cost of Larry Johnson’s Gay Slur on Twitter: $213,000].
• The UFL vs. CFL portion is a good read [Sports Agent Corner: UFL vs CFL, “Runners”, and the Stay-or-Go Debate].

Also, one last note.  Buffalo Wild Wings is hosting a cool contest.  Register to win a roster spot to play in an exclusive football game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, this spring.  You can register at any Buffalo Wild Wings location through November 8 (no purchase is required). The winners will be selected November 18 and will receive round-trip airfare and hotel accommodation for the February 13 game, among other prizes. The winners will be split into two teams and given celebrity coaches (ESPN’s Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg) and captains (Jerome “The Bus” Bettis and Marshall Faulk).

They also want me to share a coupon with you, which is good until November 1 (yeah, not much time to use it).  You can print this page (there is a button to do that on the top of this post), to use the coupon.

It wasn’t until after a year of establishing his first business, 5M Studios, that creative director and CEO Joey Kirk decided to spin off a second company, 5M Sports.

“We wanted to make 5M Sports because it covers a very niche portion of design services,” Kirk says. “We want to tailor our services to athletes and sports organizations because, like our tagline says, we like sports.”

They don’t just like sports though; they love them. Working alongside marketing director Caleb Mezzy, a recent grad of Temple University, 5M Sports has worked with several high profile athletes in the development of Twitter backgrounds, web sites, logos, camp brochures and recruiting packets.

Here are a couple of examples:

• Website for Jesse Witten (tennis player)
• Twitter background for Duane Brown (LT for Houston Texans)

“We started with one client. And with some effort and a lot of emails, we’ve managed to grow significantly just since the launch of business back in August,” Kirk says.

Now, 5M Sports is working with several sport agencies and other organizations in building web sites for professional athletes as well as developing t-shirt designs, brand identity and other marketing materials.

“We have lots and lots of competition,” Kirk says. “Anyone that builds web sites want to develop them for athletes. They think they are cash cows.  But for us, that’s not the case. We love working with athletes. We’re not after their money.”

While there are a few design companies dedicated to working with athletes, 5M Sports stands out among its competition. With high-quality professional design and solid customer service, Kirk and 5M Sports work with almost any budget and are always on time with deliverables.

“We pride ourselves in making sure the client is always happy,” Kirk says. “We’ve never lost a client (nor has 5M Studios), and we don’t plan to start.”

Over the past week, I have received many calls and messages from friends, colleagues, family, and clients, asking me who Jay Hairston (on the left, wearing the cap) is and why he was sending them “friend requests” on Facebook.  Originally, I thought it was just a coincidence that I was the only “mutual friend” on these peoples friend lists.  After the fifth call/message, I started to get curious.

On Monday evening, I decided to finally do something about it.  I did a search for “Jay Hairston” on Facebook and was greeted with a profile picture displaying Athletes Premier International’s logo.  I also noticed that we had over 150 friends in common, yet Jay never friended me on Facebook.  Did we just know a lot of the same people and had never met?  Again, his friends included former roommates, fraternity brothers, and family of mine (who have less than 50 friends total on Facebook).  Most concerning was that this guy I had never met nor heard of was sending friend requests to all of my clients.

Since I was not friends with Jay Hairston, I could not read his profile.  I went to API’s website, and found that his name was completely omitted.  This is where I started to get really concerned.  I sent a few tweets to API’s twitter account, asking for an explanation.  The only response I received was Jay Hairston changing his Facebook privacy settings to restrict me from finding him in a Facebook search results page.

I had one of my friends who had accepted Jay’s friendship request pull up his profile, and that friend let me know that Jay lists himself as the Vice President of Player Relations and Recruiting.  At this point, I knew something very shady was going on.  What business does a rival agency have in reaching out to my entire network?  There is nothing illegal about making friend requests to people you have never met, but it sure does make you and your company look very shady.

This is an interesting and silly tactic for a brand new agency.  Athletes Premier International has one baseball client, and it is a big one: Aroldis Chapman.  First of all, I have given the agency no reason to solicit my friends, family, or clients.  Second of all, the company has received good press thus far in its shopping of Chapman to various MLB teams, does it need to now resort to dirty tactics to grow further?  Third, why is Jay Hairston not listed on the company’s website?  And of all employees, I have most concern about a VP of Player Relations and Recruiting contacting my clients.

I reached out to Jay and he was nice enough to respond in a timely manner.  Additionally, he was pleasant in his responses, but I think I was more upset that he was lying to my face than anything else.  I would have been happier if he was blatantly honest and told me to go screw myself.  Here is what he said to me in our conversation thread.  Let me know if you think he is being genuine.

Mr Heitner.  By no means am I attempting to do anything shady as you put it.  I am simply networking!  I do appologize if I offended you in anyway.  This was not my intentions.

My response:

You are telling me the truth that you friended former roommates and fraternity brothers of mine in an effort to network?  What value do they bring to the table?

What networking did you hope to do by friending my clients that I have listed on my agency’s website?

I am not out to hurt your company or anyone elses company.  I am more than happy with representing the clients I currently have and using those gentlemen to provide solid referrals.  I truly hope that you have no cruel intentions.  I believe that most men are honest, and I will take you at your word, even though your actions (including preventing me from pulling your name up on a search) should lead me to believe otherwise.

I have documented everything thus far and encourage you to stay away from my friends and clients.  You guys just picked up a superstar; I firmly believe that continuing to “network” with my friends and clients will not be worth your while.

I accept your apology and hope that we can put this entire matter behind us.

His last response was very nice, but I believe that it was entirely mocking the situation at hand.

Mr Heitner, as for friending former roommates and fraternity brothers of yours, yes it is random!  I am NOT in the practice of stealing or attempting to steal anyones clients!  Its not who I am as a person or who API is as a company.  I am simply trying to get our name out there!  That is all!  In my expierience the more people that know who you are and what it is you do. The better off a business will be.  As you know, people do talk.  So whether that’s the gas attendant at your local gas station or an athlete at a university.  You never know who will be the link to that next big client!  Once again I do appologize for the simple misunderstanding!

You are simply trying to get your company’s name out to my friends, family, and clients?  Create a blog, send out tweets, contact athletes that are not already represented, but solicit my friends list on Facebook?  I doubt my step-father is going to be the link to your next big client.  There is no misunderstanding about what transpired.

And as for Jay Hairston’s Facebook status as of yesterday, it read: “we must be doing something right…”  I agree, if that something is “getting your name out there” in an unethical manner.

My colleague Douglas Sanders with The Sports Link introduced me to the new service, which strives to make it easier for athletes to connect with their fans by providing “text only once, but update fans everywhere” convenience.  If an athlete sends a text message to MogoTXT, MogoTXT can automatically forward that message to the athlete’s fans on MogoTXT, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all other websites.

Terrell Owens, Shane Battier, Chris “Beanie” Wells, Santonio Holmes, Jordan Farmar, and even Mr. Holdout, Michael Crabtree, are on board, along with many more athletes and rising journalists.  Some entities use the service more than others.  T.O. is updating the world on his life almost every second of the day…Beanie Wells, not so much.

In addition to providing ease and convenience to athletes, MogoTXT is able to aggregate the fans of an athlete that are located on several different websites into a single large audience to enable the athlete to achieve critical mass much faster for purposes of fan relations, marketing, advertising, etc.  The theory is that the service will empower athletes and their agents to strike better endorsement deals by enhancing athletes’ reach and providing marketing data.

MogoTXT can also facilitate revenue generation for athletes and their selected charities by working with athletes and their agents to feature desirable ads and clickable links to additional content and ads at the bottom of the athletes’ text messages before these messages are displayed on MogoTXT and also distributed to fans on all of the major social networks.

And for the Yao Mings and Kobe Bryants with huge international appeal, MogoTXT can also translate the messages into foreign languages on a near real-time basis.

Best of all, the service is free for its clients and their fans.

Texas Tech has come out of the NCAA gates softer than expected this season, as they have a record of 2-2 at this point. Last season the team compiled 11 wins and produced star wide out Michael Crabtree, who has yet to officially begin his NFL career after being a hot commodity in the previous draft when the 49ers attempted to sign him. Crabtree and a couple of his former teammates have been glimmering in the spotlight, but not for the right reasons.

The 2-2 Texas Tech squad expected to re-live the glorious season they had last year, but after being defeated by Houston in their last game, players have demonstrated signs of frustration through their Twitter accounts. Marlon Williams posted his reaction on his account after losing the game against Houston and it goes as follows: “WTF I can’t believe what happened man my senior season isn’t goin anything like what I busted my azz for …. New week now F$&@.” Also, Brandon Carter, a senior offensive lineman, had similar comments on his twitter account that have been deleted after fueling some interesting stories. All in all, the frustrations and use of Twitter to exemplify those feelings have resulted in Brandon Carter, a Texas Tech leader, losing his captaincy and also the ability to play next week against New Mexico. Coach Mike Leach has decided that the suspension is appropriate and has banned the team from using Twitter in the future. Leach was noted earlier in July making statements about the detrimental use of Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook and concluded with the statement that he really doesn’t even send emails. A bit ironic for a school with the word TECH in it’s title.