SMB.

As I wrote on my last post, sports fans are a great mobile target and they are a far more engaged customers.

The NBA´s Salt Lake City based team, Utah Jazz, is offering fans a new kind of interaction called myJazzMobile, an interactive platform with mobile news, information and offers.

The main objective is to provide fans with a targeted and relevant mobile content. The team used a comprehensive solution for all types of content to improve the fans experience. The fans will be able to sign up for myJazz on the official team Web site.
All members will gain access to free real-time information, such as game alerts, stats, scores, team and player news. Yet they will get special offers such as discounted merchandise. This program will roll out as a text-messaging, with full mobile Web functionality.
During home games, Jazz fans will also be able to participate in a variety of contests and promotions. Also fans will be able to respond via text to trivia questions from arena video monitors.

Additional features, including in-game seat upgrades, special events and other promotions will be unveiled continually throughout the season.

A new study from Commercial Alert, a public-interest group, has highly criticised the marketing and adverting of junk foods, sodas, fast-foods chains and alcoholic beverages at the Olympic games. They study says that IOC policies must be re-examined.
‘The Commercial Games’ report states that such products conflict with the stated purpose of the Olympics, which they say is to "celebrate healthful living." Promoting such products in the widely watched Olympics, the study says, is "unhealthful," and particularly inappropriate "for an event with enormous appeal to children."
The study also criticises the IOC for what the groups believe is its lack of concern that some companies with marketing ties to the Games rely on so-called "sweatshops" that offer substandard wages and working conditions to produce goods. It specifically cited Nike and Adidas as companies that haven't taken effective steps to eliminate sweatshop conditions within their supply chains. In addition, study also criticises the IOC for awarding "monopolies" to sponsors such as Visa and Coke that limit spectator choices at the Games themselves. Only non-alcoholic beverages marketed by Coca-Cola are available at the Olympics, and Visa is the only credit card accepted there.

According to Sport Business Journal, the National Basketball Association (NBA) has announce a a plan to stream live games to local markets on the internet.
Under the plans, the NBA will negotiate contracts for its member teams so they can stream live games to targeted local online audiences this autumn. In theory, Los Angeles residents would be able to watch games directly from LA Lakers web site. NBA will use geo-targeting to improve market segmentation.
It is still unclear whether the games will be streamed for free, with advertisements, or even on which sites they would be shown. The NBA is also dealing with rights issues and potential pushback from regional sports networks.

Pepsi created a new campaign to engage soccer fans. They´ve asked fans from all over the world "How do you imagine a commercial with the best players in the world?".
CLM/BBDO is the ad agency that created this open source campaing, which the by the time consumers describe their ideias the scenes are created on the screen and the result is a hilarious commercial.

Nike sent a letter to swimmers allowing them to wear the Speedo LZR Racer Suit during the Olympics. The statement tells that wearing the Speedo brand during the competition will not be seen as a compromise to their contract with the world's biggest shoe and apparel company.
The main reason behind this decision it´s due to technologic advantage that those suits offer, before been aproved by FINA (The international swimming governing body) it was considered technological doping.
Many national teams changed their swimmers sponsors because of LZR superiority, but Adidas is insisting that its home country Germany, which it has a $6.2 million contract with through 2009, wear their swimsuit despite outspoken comments from the team and their desire to go Speedo.
After LZR suit, Speedo sales are up to 9.3 percent and Nike´s are down 7 percent.

The NBC notified the details of its digital coverage for the Olympics in Beijing, which will include even a mobile site.
You can access through the portal http://mobile.nbcolympics.com via browser or by SMS with the text "OLYMPICS" for 5151. The user will receive the latest news, highlights, videos, galleries of photos.
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Chelsea intend to became the world´s biggest club brand and to do so is teaming up with the world´s leading entertainment company, The Walt Disney Co.
Chelsea is committed to assisting and promoting all levels of soccer in the United States and youth soccer is a massive part of that. Disney is at the forefront of that movement in the US.on various levels.
Under the terms of the four-year agreement, Chelsea becomes the Official Professional Soccer Club of Disney’s Wide World of Sports and presenting sponsor of the Disney Soccer Showcase Series. As a result, Chelsea will be associated with the top youth soccer event destination, Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex, and the number one youth soccer event in the United States, Disney’s Soccer Showcase.
The announcement is the first stage in a possible broader partnership between the two companies. Further talks are planned to see how Chelsea can work with the various entertainment and media brands within Disney.
Read the full article here
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Darren Rovel´s wrote about a product called Pure Power Edge, I´ve found it really interesting because it says that this mouth guard improve the bite and even increase athlete performance, do you believe that?

A Canadian dentist who invented the device, says that´s importat because strength and balance are weakened when a misaligned bite causes neck and muscle jaws to tighten.
Read the full post here

Nike will drop three Hyperdunk ads from its basketball campaign that critics said it's homophobic. These ads evoke a 1992 rap song ("Punks jump up") with anti-gay lyrics.

Nike states that is "strongly opposed to discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting athletes regardless of their sexual orientation. The advertisement in question is based purely upon a common insight from within the game of basketball - the athletic feat of dunking on the opposition, and is not intended to be offensive.

However, after listening to concerns expressed around specific executions, we have decided to drop them from the campaign to underline our ongoing commitment to supporting diversity in sport and the workplace.

Nike has a strong record of support for diversity and is proud to have been honored with a 100 percent score over several consecutive years in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation¹s Corporate Equality Index."

Well, I think there's a little misunderstanding here, because Nike (a Giant in this biz) wouldn't waste money with homophobic ads, what do you think?