Arena Football Team Looks to Bottle Fan Spirit

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The Los Angeles Avengers play a high-energy brand of football on an indoor 50-yard field. Now, the company is hoping to bring that energy to its fans through a sponsorship agreement with Verve, a new entry on the energy drink market.

As with other partnerships the drink company has formed, the goal is to get fans to recommend the product to their friends.

“They want to showcase their product, but also get people involved in their business plan,” said Matt Wikstrom, Avengers executive vice president.

Verve energy drink manufacturer Vemma Nutrition Co. set up a Web site where Avengers fans can get product information, purchase the energy drink and even earn cash by promoting the drink to their friends. The goal is to turn customers into spokespeople for the product.

“We promote ourselves through viral marketing,” said B.K. Boreyko, Vemma president. “We’ve had about 14,000 people a month join since launching the product six months ago.”

Forming partnerships with sports teams allows the company to promote itself to a highly responsive audience. Vemma also has partnerships with the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association and Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Most Verve sales are online as the company does not have wide retail distribution. Sales are at about $2 million per month.

At $3 per can, it is more expensive than similar products. But executives believe that can compete because it is not a sugary, caffeinated soda; the drink has vitamin supplements and anti-oxidants.

“People do not want to take pills, but still want the supplements,” said Boreyko. “They think that we are a deal because they don’t have to take their pills anymore.”


Dunking Diva

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant may be the league MVP this year, but he might not claim the title of the most marketable basketball player in Los Angeles. That title may belong to the Los Angeles Sparks’ Candace Parker, the team’s No. 1 draft pick this year and the first overall player taken in the WNBA draft.

During the week after the draft, the Sparks increased season ticket sales sevenfold compared with the same week during 2007. Individual game ticket sales were up 272 percent for the period and other teams reported selling triple their average number of game tickets for contests versus the Sparks.

Parker’s player page on WNBA.com received 70,000 views during the week, trailing only hits on NBA.com for Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul, the popular New Orleans Hornets’ point guard.

Parker made a strong debut in her first game, with 34 points to break the rookie record for scoring in a debut game.


High Jump

Fans of Olympic events and lifestyle sports such as skiing and volleyball can turn to Los Angeles-based World Championship Sports Network for 2,000 hours of live programming a year through the company’s Web site and television station.

In an effort to upgrade the tools available on its Web site, the company formed an alliance with Toronto-based JumpTV.

“As we got more sophisticated internally by hiring Web developers, engineers and editorial staff, we wanted to have more personalization around the site itself,” said Claude Ruibal, WCSN chief executive.

Several years ago, the company made a deal to host its platform with MLB Advanced Media LP, the Internet arm of Major League Baseball. That was when the company was just getting started and had five employees. Now it has grown to a staff of 40 and needed a platform that would allow it to be more sophisticated, offering “widgets” such as polls and other standard Web 2.0 features.

“We’ve evolved away from the core things that MLB Advanced Media offers,” Ruibal said.

WCSN will still use services provided by MLB Advanced Media for streaming multiple feeds and programs simultaneously.


Wheel Deal

Los Angeles-based Herbalife Ltd. announced an agreement last week to be the nutritional sponsor of IndyCar Series racer Townsend Bell for the 2008 Indy Car Series. Additionally, Herbalife is sponsoring Bell’s team, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Herbalife’s logo will appear on Bell’s car and uniform for the rest of the season.

Apart from the sponsorship agreement, the nutritional supplement manufacturer will conduct a case study on the racing team. It will provide team members with nutrition products and education programs on the role that nutrition plays on the overall performance of the team.

Bell has been driving in the Indy Car Series since 2004. He recorded his best finish in the April race in Japan when he placed 10th.


Staff reporter David Nusbaum can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 236.

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