I know you’ve all seen the games on ESPN and ESPN2 with two less than household teams vying for their conference’ s automatic bid. They’re playing in arenas fractions of the sizes where most major conference tournament games are contested.  You’ve also probably noticed there is a lot of passion in these games. This is a chance for players to play in front of a national audience for probably the first time in their careers and they are forty minutes away from realizing their dream of making the NCAA tournament.  My favorite scene is at the end of the game where the players are locked arm-in-arm as the seconds count down, and they rush the court when the horn blows.  Mind you, there aren’t thousands of fans joining them ala the Cameron Crazies at Duke, but these players just earned a spot in the “Big Dance” and now have a chance to put on Cinderella’s slipper by beating a team from a power conference in the first round of the NCAA tournament.    

I must explain my bias at this point, I went to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and I am a HUGE supporter of the Lumberjacks to this day.  Last year SFA won the Southland Conference tournament earning their first ever NCAA tournament appearance in school history.  I vicariously shared in the players excitement after they beat UT-San Antonio and was equally thrilled to see Stephen F. Austin come up as the thirteen seed to play Syracuse in Miami, Florida during the selection show on CBS.  Most people didn’t give SFA a chance to beat Syracuse (they eventually lost to Syracuse 59-44), but as a fan and alum winning the Southland Conference Tournament was equivalent to winning the National Championship. 

Over the next two weeks take some time to watch one of these games, not only will it help you fill out your brackets but it will also give you another reason to love college basketball.

Obviously, we have our storied programs whose fan retention is jaw-dropping. And, we have the teams that maintain their fan bases because they’re just that good – always. But where, when and how does the bandwagon affect take place?

With the NCAA Tournament approaching, what fans will come out of the woodwork to support their supposed beloved? More importantly, can we translate any of this into revenue?

I’ll take K-State and Missouri, for example. The brimming excitement and constant buzz surrounding these teams’ tournament potential is undeniable. Plus, the winning records are here to stay. Each team has talented youth, touted coaches and tenacious energy. They’ll be good next year.  

People are paying more and more attention, which means so are your prospects.

Let’s start recruiting. Let’s start recruiting post season billing and annual deals beginning with the 2010-11 athletic season.

A Conference, NCAA or NIT Tournament gives new sponsors a chance to be part of the broadcast. Finally, they can tap into the hype and be the backdrop for something big.   

A post season package also offers the opportunity for your station to demonstrate how radio – sports radio – can achieve marketing goals for clients. Especially in first rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Recall, many games are played during the day while people are at work. Often, entire games aren’t even televised in particular regions. So for fans, loyal or bandwagon, radio is required.

Likely, these four, five, six or more games will give Mr. Sponsor a sweet taste of your station and his future role as a Network sponsor. Now, do you have room in local avails next season? Can you make some? Did your price just go up? The process has only begun.  

Want a post-season one-sheeter to hit the streets with? Ask me. bheck@learfieldsports.com

So let me get down to the motivation of the post.  As you may or may not know we introduced a new affiliate web-site at the start of the 2009 football season.  We’ve taken a lot of pride in this site trying to create optimum communication with our affiliates to ensure that you have all the necessary tools to air a quality broadcast.  Along with going to a paperless system for logs and affidavits we also input several audio pieces and news items to allow our affiliates to be fully engaged with our product. 

Even though we are in the midst of a great college basketball and hockey season and still have plenty of athletic broadcasts yet to be aired we want to know what your thoughts are on our affiliate site.  What items do you use the most?  What would you like to see added for the 2010-2011 athletic season?  What could we change on our affiliate web-site to make it easier for you to carry our programming?

Now that you’ve had a chance to poke and prod our affiliate web-site, how can we manage the affiliate web-site in the future to serve you better?  Email me at kkowalski@learfield.com.

Every year I think our affiliate reps could write a book with stories concerning their trips.  My most vivid memory from last year has to be the time I spent on a beautiful highway in western North Carolina/Eastern Tennessee.  After finishing my meeting in Bryson City I was well on my way to the Asheville area for my last meeting of the day.  I had been on the road before and wanted to take a different and more scenic route to Asheville.  I knew that my next meeting was two hours away and that my GPS device was screaming at me to stay on the same path.  However, there was a sign pointing to a route going through the mountains that beckoned me saying that Asheville was only 90 some miles away.  I listened to my inner Robert Frost and took the road less traveled.  What a mistake, I ended up getting extremely lost on a very narrow two lane highway that was reminiscent of a roller coaster.  By this time it was me and a ton of joy riding motor-cyclists.  I had no cell phone or GPS service and because the road had so many twists and turns I couldn’t find a spot to turn around. 

I was mad!  I had an important affiliate visit to get to and I was kicking myself for trying to be adventurous.  For literally twenty minutes I kept going and going without finding a single spot to turn around and grew furious because I couldn’t call the GM at my next meeting to let them know I couldn’t make it.  Finally, at some point I just said to heck with it.  I knew I was going to miss the meeting and I was smack dab in the Smoky Mountains.  My attitude changed immediately.  I turned the windows down, threw in a CCR CD and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day in North Carolina (or maybe it was Tennessee at the moment).  Once I finally made it back to the road I was supposed to be on my cell phone coverage and GPS system came back and I called my next appointment in Asheville asking if I could re-schedule.  I’m glad I finally took advantage of this unplanned excursion and the road I was on will go down as one of my most favorite I have ever been on. 

Below are just a few of my other favorites that I’ve had over the years:

Favorite city:  Enterprise, OR – This quaint town with a population of just under two thousand is located in a beautiful area of north-eastern Oregon.  Felt like I could touch the mountains when I was there and the people I met were incredibly friendly. 

Favorite affiliate visit:  Elizabeth City, NC – Went sailing on the Atlantic Ocean with the General Manager in 2002.  Neat story here, the GM signed up with the Tar Heel Sports Network the year before and she did so well selling the local spots that she used her commissions to buy the sail boat we took out.  If any of my affiliates want to top this experience during one of our meetings this spring/summer, please feel free to do so.   

Favorite car accessory:  GPS device – Not sure how business travelers ever went around the country without this device.  I used Map-quest print outs when I first started traveling and can’t believe I never got into an accident trying to figure out exactly where I was.

Favorite restaurant:  Subway – It’s pretty easy to pack on a few pounds when you’re on the road.  We normally don’t get to our hotels until after 8 p.m. and most of the time it is just easier to go by a fast food place.

As we begin our travels, I look forward to finding some new favorites along the way only this time I’ll listen to my GPS device.

In the Learfield Sports affiliate relations world we hear and repeat too many unoriginal phrases. It comes from broadcasters, general sales managers and Universities alike. We spew the stuff right back out infecting the entire office. Symptoms sound like, “at the end of the day”…“as a good-guy”…“doing our due-diligence.” Can I be quarantined?

Likely, station sales managers and their staffs suffer in the same way. Some of the buzzwords and phrases they share just make me hungry. (McDonald’s, medium rare and citrus all at the same time).

“Sales is a numbers game”

“Value-add”

“Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle sizzle and steak”

“Low hanging fruit”

“It’s about relationships”

I’m thinking a new tactic, approach or way of saying it would have more clout. A creative concept, hot package, or good articulation is more likely to bring on a new partner than the repetition of clichés that mean nothing.

We’re lucky. Learfield Sports offers its sales folks cutting edge training. And cutting edge is exactly what we strive for; honing in on hot consumer trends and targeting untapped business categories. Of course, we’re holding on to the core of what works. I’ve committed myself to asking for referrals when prospects aren’t a fit. I also find Greg Bennett’s mini steps useful and even amusing.

The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame have selected their state-wide winners of the Sportscaster of the Year.  Ten of those selections are gentlemen that are play by play announcers for Learfield Sports.   They will be listed at the end of this article, but I just want to congratulate each and every one of them publicly.

Learfield Sports, as you know, is in Jefferson City, Missouri.  My wife and I were standing in line at a Wal-Mart store and a retired couple in front of us noticed a North Carolina jacket I had on.  They were a couple from Carolina and were driving the country visiting state capitols in their RV.  They wondered if I was from North Carolina (a usual question whenever I am wearing something with the school’s logo).   I replied that no, I wasn’t from Carolina, but did work with the radio crew of the Tar Heels.  Their response was, “do you know Woody?”  A similar type of question has come from many people I’ve encountered in my 20 years at Learfield.

The fans want to know what our announcers are like.  They are just like you and me.  The only difference is their job takes them all over the country and they describe the action to you.  Sometimes we take that for granted, but it was a letter from a fan of the Missouri Tigers, who was blind,  that told me how much he appreciated the job our Missouri crew does as he listens to each and every Tiger game.  He said he always knows what’s going on in the game.  This story is repeated time and time again with all of Learfield Sports properties.

Over the years, many of our announcers have won the NSSA State award and some of the names listed below are multiple winners and some will have won for the first time….I’ve also included three others that I have worked with in the past that were also award winners this year.  Again, congratulations to all and I am proud to work with each and every one of them.

Chris Stewart-Alabama—pregame/postgame show host for Alabama Crimson Tide football, play by play announcer for men’s basketball and baseball

Don Fischer-Indiana—play by play announcer for Indiana Hoosiers football and men’s basketball

Dave Nitz-Louisiana—play by play announcer for LA Tech football and men’s basketball

Rich Kimball-Maine—play by play announcer for Maine Black Bears football

Dave Lee-Minnesota—play by play announcer for Minnesota Golden Gopher football

Mike Grimm-Minnesota—pregame/postgame host for Minnesota Golden Gopher football and play by play announcer for men’s basketball

Mick Holien-Montana—play by play announcer for Montana Grizzly football and men’s basketball

Woody Durham, North Carolina—play by play announcer for Carolina Tar Heels  football and men’s basketball

Matt Lepay, Wisconsin—play by play announcer for Wisconsin Badgers football and men’s basketball

Reece Monaco, Wyoming—play by play announcer for Wyoming Cowboys women’s basketball, pregame contributor for Wyoming football.

Larry Morgan, Iowa—20 years ago, he was color commentator for Learfield’s Iowa Hawkeye football and men’s basketball network

Bob Davis, Kansas—also a past Learfield acquaintance as play by play announcer for Kansas football and men’s basketball

Mick Mixon, North Carolina—was the commentator for Carolina football and men’s basketball and now is the voice of the Carolina Panthers

What are these guys like?  A great group of professionals who are at the top of their game….

Keith Sampson

My interest started with teams’ intro videos. These are the loud, adrenaline pumping pieces played on arena video boards for screaming fans anticipating tip or kick.

This one, for Bama, gives me goose bumps.

Although Nebraska is Mizzou’s nemesis, I like its video too.

Additional awesome videos include: Mizzou Oregon State Memphis Marquette

I love the connection to the athletic program, the athletes and the game-day experience these things offer me. Any additional access I, or any other loyal fan, can have to a team is always a thrill.

Our radio affiliates nationwide tap into this theory already. Plugging in extra interviews, daily shows, or highlight montages on-air, they give listeners as much additional content as they can. Some affiliates implement the same techniques on their websites. I’ve seen the content served up as an “All-Access” or “Insider” page managed by the team’s official radio home.

Wisconsin Badger affiliates saw a web post from me yesterday with links on the Culvers Camp Randall Hockey Classic. Right now, a Webcam is recording the rink installation inside Camp Randall. There’s a sweet commercial, out there promoting the double-header hockey event too.

YouTube and Flip Video, live Webcams, Flickr photos and more make for entertaining and accrediting website material. Our affiliate website recently welcomed new team video posts and photos to each Network page. We’ve also began to post weekly Flip Video updates of who we are and what’s going on in Learfield Sports Operations.

Now, picture yourself at the same party and you meet someone for the first time and you find that the person is engaging you with a lot of questions just trying to get to know you.  They want to know what your interests are, what you do for a living, a little about your family.  Whatever it is, you find yourself talking to the person for thirty minutes because they have an interest in who you are and what you enjoy.  Towards the end of the conversation you find yourself searching for your phone so you can get their number so maybe you can meet them up for lunch sometime or maybe play a round of golf because you in turn want to get to know more about them since they obviously showed an interest in you.

It truly amazes me how much farther you can get in developing relationships (personal or professional) when you shun the mindset and the old Toby Keith song “ I Wanna Talk About Me!”  The motivation for this post stems from a recent blog entry titled “Listening” from our Chairman, Clyde Lear, about his time with Wal-Mart founder, Sam Walton.

Asking questions and listening in the business world is imperative.  I can’t tell you how many times I hear from a sales person and all they want to do is tell me about their product and how it could help me.  Hold on big fella, maybe you should ask some questions about me before you indicate just how much I need this product.  When I go on affiliate visits I readily admit I am so excited to tell the station about our programming, but I’ve always found that if I learn more about the station and the programming that they currently air I have a much better idea of how I should position my product so I in turn am more successful in meeting their needs.

So I ask you this question, are you asking enough questions?

Now I know many people, close friends and family who do have true tragedies happening in their life even as we speak….but, this puts everything in my life in perspective. I am working hard to try to find the “blessing in everything”. That is not to say that when I have a bad day I don’t feel a little sorry for myself, but, I just remember the chorus of this fantastic song and I suck it up!

Growing up, not much got in the way of Packer or Badger game day. So, of course, I take after my family members. In early November, watching a Milwaukee Bucks vs. Memphis Grizzlies game, Mom called to say “Junkyard Dog” looks impressive as an NBA rookie and has got Mizzou plenty of mentions. Now that’s a sports fan.  

For me, it has to do with the warm and fuzzy and the cold and harsh. The heartwarming and gut wrenching emotions produced in just five or ten minutes of a game hooks me.

In turn, it helps hook folks within the radio networks me and my counterparts handle. So often we’re told by affiliates the most successful sales guy is the station’s biggest sports fan.

We believe it.  

But it doesn’t have to be just the “sports guy” that boasts the best commissions off these hours of programming. He’s just as passionate and engaging as the next quality sales person the station employs. Perhaps he simply emphasizes a few points on the anticipation and emotion sports radio induces in listeners.  

The fact that college sports is about appointment listening, a connection to the local voice and fan community has provided a good place start for me.

For example, the play-by-play guy endears us to our team. We expect this voice to be the team member we can count on most. It’s Matt Lepay and the Badgers around which I coordinate my eight hour drive from Wisconsin to Missouri. I’m lucky I get TMJ all the way down to Springfield during the day.  http://www.620wtmj.com.

As loyal fans, we’re always discouraged by the idiosyncratic, biased and ill-informed network television crew. Turn TV down and radio up? Yes please. I’ll bear with the delay even though I pay through the nose for my satellite provider’s all-sports, high definition package. (note to self, take care of that annoyance prior to the tournament http://www.sportsyncradio.com/)   

I’m addicted to nonsense talk radio for the same reasons and with the same convictions as sports. It started with WGN’s Kathy and Judy when I was an adolescent growing up in the Milwaukee suburbs. Beginning at age 11, I made dates with 720 AM throughout the summers. I loved the girlfriends shameless celebrity style reviews after red carpet events. I laughed at the honest confessions of listeners to remain nameless under the pseudonyms, Rhonda and Vince. I looked forward to the topics of “Sex Thursday.” Since moving to Missouri, then Indiana, not to mention Kathy and Judy getting canned after 20 years on-air, I’ve branched out.

In Indianapolis, Kravitz and Eddie on http://www.1070thefan.com/ kept me company during my commute. Lately, the Steve & Craig Show provides some nostalgia, nonsense and news in sports. http://www.espnmadison.com/ I like Lori & Julia too in Minneapolis – St. Paul. http://www.fm1071.com/. I didn’t mention Dave Ramsey yet. That show’s on my afternoon schedule.

This stuff connects me to my hometown, communities I love and lifestyles I dream about. It can put me in the same invigorating and enthralling la-la-land sports can. Incorporating these emotions in sales meetings is only going to make us more successful. I’m always trying to keep that in mind. Prospects need to know the college sports broadcast is about appointment listening and loyalty to the play-by-play guys. It’s about love for the local – a connection to the fan community.