The 1996 National Sports Forum is taking place this week in
Colorado Springs, CO. Yesterday's keynote speakers included
Jeffrey Pollack, publisher of The Sports Business Daily; Tony
Tavares, President of Disney Sports Enterprises; and Steve
Saunders, Marketing Manager, Coors Brewing Company. Excerpts
from the speeches follow:
TAVARES: On the key to Mighty Ducks' success: "We broke
down a lot of traditional entertainment barriers without being
invasive to the game." Tavares also announced that next year
there will be an animated Mighty Ducks series on TV. By night,
the characters will be hockey players, by day a stealth crime
fighting force with an elaborate lab under the ice. It will air
Saturday mornings on ABC.
SAUNDERS: He focused on dealing with corporate sponsors
under the theme, "How you can treat sponsors better." His tips:
"Become marketers, not sellers. ... Sponsors should get a year-
end wrap up with a proposal for a brighter future. ... Be a
partner, not a salesman."
POLLACK: He talked about the story behind The Sports
Business Daily: Its editorial mission; its marketing strategy;
the "morphing of sports" into an entertainment industry; the
impact of Fortune 500 companies on sports; and the broad
economic connections converging to create a digital sports world
where the bottom line is bytes or content and info for TV, video,
and the Web (THE DAILY).
