Speedskating Capitalism; Speedskating Anarchy: Dex Knows What Sponsors Really Want
Just a few days ago, it was announced that the Norwegian federation found two new sponsors. How long did they go without a sponsor? No more than about two weeks. Now that they found these new sponsors, they will be getting $4.8 million dollars more than they had with their previous sponsor. Not only that, they were so deluged by offers of sponsorships that they had to turn sponsors away and only pick the best! Peter Mueller even sold a spot on his own coaching warmup suit for $80,000!
This made me think. Here in America, who is out there in the trenches working for us? Who is looking for sponsors for our team? Why is it so hard? Consider the caliber of the athletes and the depth of the team that we have going into this Olympic season. These are the skaters that USS has been woefully unable to promote.
It's always easy to hide behind the excuse that speedskating isn't marketable in this country. If so, then why was a certain marketing director named Mike Cofrin so successful at finding USS some great sponsors a few years ago? In fact, Mr. Cofrin was so good at what he did that people began to get offended that he was making so much money! Though I don't know the exact circumstances under which Mr. Cofrin left USS, I know that this was one of the reasons why people started to turn against him. (Hey, he was only making a percentage of what he found for USS. Where's the problem?)
Then, for a while, we had another marketing guy who didn't last long because USS stifled his ideas, finding them "too radical." I hope he found a place where his talents will be appreciated.
Have you ever thought about why Chad and Shani actually wear their DSB logos, or why Jen, KC, and Derek actually wear their TimeOut Sport logos? Maybe it is because these companies gave the athletes what they wanted. On the other hand, Qwest got burned because they signed with a federation that couldn't guarantee the cooperation of its best athletes. Maybe it's time to consider the potential advantages of dealing with the athletes directly.
Let's say you are running a company that is interested in becoming a sponsor of American speedskaters, because you want your name associated with them, and you want to help them perform well at the Olympics. Like any good business person, you do some background research on the organization you plan to support, which is US Speedskating.
Does the atmosphere of open hostility and distrust between the federation and the athletes bother you? Are you worried by the fact that so many Allround skaters train with alternative programs? (Oh, yeah. Probably the Norwegians stole them.) Maybe you don't want to support a coach whose reasons for failing with some of his athletes are intellectually and ethically appalling.
When you look at the coaches' reports from the annual board meeting, do you see a unified philosophy of coaching and a concrete plan for athlete development? Can you see a reluctance to seek out the help of the only people who can get them out of the rut in which they find themselves? When you consider the medal count of which they brag, do you notice a reliance on the inline champions for whose development they can take no credit?
And, finally, have the experiences of the past season shown that signing a deal with USS does not guarantee that the best speedskaters will wear your logo?
Considering all of these disadvantages (now that I've written them all down and have them right here in front of me), I guess it is no wonder that it is so difficult for us to find sponsorship for US speedskaters.
This made me think. Maybe there are ways that a company can get involved in sponsoring speedskaters without getting involved with US Speedskating! In fact, I have come up with several possibilities for potential sponsoring companies:
Sponsor an Olympic hopeful from your hometown, or the best few athletes from your home state. Pick an athlete who fits your company's image, and go with that person. Sponsor a small team: Buy them training and/or racing suits, and put your logo on them. If you have the money, you can help the skaters out by paying for their ice and/or coaching fees. Have a picture taken of your athlete or team in their suit, and put it on your company's web site. Have the local newspaper or TV news do a story on you and your new team, and how you are going to help people train for the Olympics. This year - an Olympic year - would definitely be the time to do it.
For the companies who would like to sponsor a team, several great options exist. Former skater Dave Tamburrino coaches a group that trains at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. Also in Milwaukee, Shani's coach Bob Fenn has a small but very strong group of up-and-coming juniors, and Nancy Swider-Peltz has been working with a couple of Junior World Team members. Here in Salt Lake City, there is the Oval's own FAST Program, and the new High 5 team. Out in Southern California, Wilma Boomstra runs an excellent short track program that has produced several World Team members and Olympic medalist Rusty Smith. Another possibility would be to gather a group of inline skaters and sponsor them as they convert to ice.
Of all these teams, the one I believe has always had the most to offer to a sponsor is the Utah Olympic Oval's FAST Program. Not only is this the official high-performance team of the USA's premiere speedskating facility, but it also includes champion skaters Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra, as well as several strong junior skaters.
At the time when I was training with FAST, I really believed and hoped that this team would find a professional sponsor. Not only did I try to push the administration to look for sponsorship, I also asked one of the team's "stars" if he and his agent would put in a good word for us. His response? "That's not our job."
I think it was very short-sighted of the Oval not to aggressively pursue sponsorship for its high performance team, especially considering the UAF subsidies that are needed to keep the program alive. Also, if the team were sponsored, then it would have been much easier to attract high-caliber foreign skaters that would have been good training partners for the best skaters on FAST.
However, I digress from the main topic, which is a discussion of alternate ways for companies to get involved in sponsoring speedskating. I can see several advantages to sponsoring an individual skater or an alternate team directly. First of all, there are more team options to choose from, so it becomes easier for a company to pick a coach and an athlete or group that they like. Second, the sponsor has more direct control over the distribution of money. Less money is wasted, and the athletes are happier and more cooperative because they are more likely to get what they need.
The only disadvantage to sponsoring an individual or other team instead of US Speedskating is in not having the company's name associated with the recognized, official governing body of speedskating in America. But, considering the dissatisfaction of the constituency, it may be worth thinking of other options.
I'd like to see speedskating go pro some day - kind of like cycling did. Although many people believe that money is a corrupting influence, most former "garage sports" that went pro actually ended up being more accountable and less corrupt. This usually happens when sponsors gain control over their teams and begin running the team like a business. The team, in turn, becomes less favoritism-oriented and more results-oriented, which is what a business needs in order to survive.
There has to be a better way to fund speedskaters in this country. We are not doing well enough.
I began this post with a story about the Norwegian federation, and now let's end with one about the Russians. Most of the Russian skaters and coaches were dissatisfied with the leadership of their speedskating federation, but rather than trying to change what they felt they couldn't change, they recently banded together to form a new governing body for their sport. Soon, Putin's Minister of Sport, Slava Fetisov (yes, the former Detroit Red Wings player) became aware of the problems faced by the athletes and coaches. Rather than disbanding the old federation, Fetisov simply decided to channel all of the money slated for speedskating through the new federation, in order to serve the best interests of the athletes.
Ponder that, Protocol fans.
Just a few days ago, it was announced that the Norwegian federation found two new sponsors. How long did they go without a sponsor? No more than about two weeks. Now that they found these new sponsors, they will be getting $4.8 million dollars more than they had with their previous sponsor. Not only that, they were so deluged by offers of sponsorships that they had to turn sponsors away and only pick the best! Peter Mueller even sold a spot on his own coaching warmup suit for $80,000!
This made me think. Here in America, who is out there in the trenches working for us? Who is looking for sponsors for our team? Why is it so hard? Consider the caliber of the athletes and the depth of the team that we have going into this Olympic season. These are the skaters that USS has been woefully unable to promote.
It's always easy to hide behind the excuse that speedskating isn't marketable in this country. If so, then why was a certain marketing director named Mike Cofrin so successful at finding USS some great sponsors a few years ago? In fact, Mr. Cofrin was so good at what he did that people began to get offended that he was making so much money! Though I don't know the exact circumstances under which Mr. Cofrin left USS, I know that this was one of the reasons why people started to turn against him. (Hey, he was only making a percentage of what he found for USS. Where's the problem?)
Then, for a while, we had another marketing guy who didn't last long because USS stifled his ideas, finding them "too radical." I hope he found a place where his talents will be appreciated.
Have you ever thought about why Chad and Shani actually wear their DSB logos, or why Jen, KC, and Derek actually wear their TimeOut Sport logos? Maybe it is because these companies gave the athletes what they wanted. On the other hand, Qwest got burned because they signed with a federation that couldn't guarantee the cooperation of its best athletes. Maybe it's time to consider the potential advantages of dealing with the athletes directly.
Let's say you are running a company that is interested in becoming a sponsor of American speedskaters, because you want your name associated with them, and you want to help them perform well at the Olympics. Like any good business person, you do some background research on the organization you plan to support, which is US Speedskating.
Does the atmosphere of open hostility and distrust between the federation and the athletes bother you? Are you worried by the fact that so many Allround skaters train with alternative programs? (Oh, yeah. Probably the Norwegians stole them.) Maybe you don't want to support a coach whose reasons for failing with some of his athletes are intellectually and ethically appalling.
When you look at the coaches' reports from the annual board meeting, do you see a unified philosophy of coaching and a concrete plan for athlete development? Can you see a reluctance to seek out the help of the only people who can get them out of the rut in which they find themselves? When you consider the medal count of which they brag, do you notice a reliance on the inline champions for whose development they can take no credit?
And, finally, have the experiences of the past season shown that signing a deal with USS does not guarantee that the best speedskaters will wear your logo?
Considering all of these disadvantages (now that I've written them all down and have them right here in front of me), I guess it is no wonder that it is so difficult for us to find sponsorship for US speedskaters.
This made me think. Maybe there are ways that a company can get involved in sponsoring speedskaters without getting involved with US Speedskating! In fact, I have come up with several possibilities for potential sponsoring companies:
Sponsor an Olympic hopeful from your hometown, or the best few athletes from your home state. Pick an athlete who fits your company's image, and go with that person. Sponsor a small team: Buy them training and/or racing suits, and put your logo on them. If you have the money, you can help the skaters out by paying for their ice and/or coaching fees. Have a picture taken of your athlete or team in their suit, and put it on your company's web site. Have the local newspaper or TV news do a story on you and your new team, and how you are going to help people train for the Olympics. This year - an Olympic year - would definitely be the time to do it.
For the companies who would like to sponsor a team, several great options exist. Former skater Dave Tamburrino coaches a group that trains at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee. Also in Milwaukee, Shani's coach Bob Fenn has a small but very strong group of up-and-coming juniors, and Nancy Swider-Peltz has been working with a couple of Junior World Team members. Here in Salt Lake City, there is the Oval's own FAST Program, and the new High 5 team. Out in Southern California, Wilma Boomstra runs an excellent short track program that has produced several World Team members and Olympic medalist Rusty Smith. Another possibility would be to gather a group of inline skaters and sponsor them as they convert to ice.
Of all these teams, the one I believe has always had the most to offer to a sponsor is the Utah Olympic Oval's FAST Program. Not only is this the official high-performance team of the USA's premiere speedskating facility, but it also includes champion skaters Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra, as well as several strong junior skaters.
At the time when I was training with FAST, I really believed and hoped that this team would find a professional sponsor. Not only did I try to push the administration to look for sponsorship, I also asked one of the team's "stars" if he and his agent would put in a good word for us. His response? "That's not our job."
I think it was very short-sighted of the Oval not to aggressively pursue sponsorship for its high performance team, especially considering the UAF subsidies that are needed to keep the program alive. Also, if the team were sponsored, then it would have been much easier to attract high-caliber foreign skaters that would have been good training partners for the best skaters on FAST.
However, I digress from the main topic, which is a discussion of alternate ways for companies to get involved in sponsoring speedskating. I can see several advantages to sponsoring an individual skater or an alternate team directly. First of all, there are more team options to choose from, so it becomes easier for a company to pick a coach and an athlete or group that they like. Second, the sponsor has more direct control over the distribution of money. Less money is wasted, and the athletes are happier and more cooperative because they are more likely to get what they need.
The only disadvantage to sponsoring an individual or other team instead of US Speedskating is in not having the company's name associated with the recognized, official governing body of speedskating in America. But, considering the dissatisfaction of the constituency, it may be worth thinking of other options.
I'd like to see speedskating go pro some day - kind of like cycling did. Although many people believe that money is a corrupting influence, most former "garage sports" that went pro actually ended up being more accountable and less corrupt. This usually happens when sponsors gain control over their teams and begin running the team like a business. The team, in turn, becomes less favoritism-oriented and more results-oriented, which is what a business needs in order to survive.
There has to be a better way to fund speedskaters in this country. We are not doing well enough.
I began this post with a story about the Norwegian federation, and now let's end with one about the Russians. Most of the Russian skaters and coaches were dissatisfied with the leadership of their speedskating federation, but rather than trying to change what they felt they couldn't change, they recently banded together to form a new governing body for their sport. Soon, Putin's Minister of Sport, Slava Fetisov (yes, the former Detroit Red Wings player) became aware of the problems faced by the athletes and coaches. Rather than disbanding the old federation, Fetisov simply decided to channel all of the money slated for speedskating through the new federation, in order to serve the best interests of the athletes.
Ponder that, Protocol fans.
posted by Eva at 5:44 PM
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