The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales

The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts is a tutorial in narrative form that provides practical step-by-step instruction on how to develop new sports sponsors and advertisers. There's guidance covering the gamut from getting organized, identifying prospects, preparing for the first conversation; commanding the room when presenting a proposal and closing business. PricewaterhouseCooper is forecasting that sports media rights and sponsorship revenue will grow to $37 billion annually by 2018. Sales are the backbone of support for both. In view of this, there will be an accelerated need to find best-in-class sports sellers. The book includes interviews with important sponsorship heads who share their views on a variety of subjects; how new sports sponsorship opportunities are best presented to them and what they consider to be helpful and annoying behavior by sellers. Whether it's the chief marketing officer of Wal-Mart or the sponsorship head of MasterCard, the guidance they share is precious. The book provides counseling to help sellers maintain their emotional equanimity through the crucibles they face regularly. As such, there are chapters on what sellers can learn from great leaders and many tips and tricks to get through gatekeepers and other obstacles. Cold calling is not only the soul and fiber of effective selling; it’s the lifeblood of sales success.

The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts is a tutorial in narrative form that provides practical step-by-step instruction on how to develop new sports sponsors and advertisers. There's guidance covering the gamut from getting organized, identifying prospects, preparing for the first conversation, commanding the room when presenting a proposal and closing a piece of business. PricewaterhouseCooper forecasts media rights and sponsorship will grow to $37 billion annually by 2018. In 2009, sponsorship and sports media rights produced just north of $20 billion. In today's general environment of restrained growth, sports revenue continues to outpace the expansion of many mainstream industries. Sales are the backbone of support for both these revenue sources. Because of these projections, there will be an accelerated need to find and train best-in-class sports sellers. But sports sellers don't have it easy. There are enough emotional challenges to weaken the resolve of even the best salespeople. As such, the text is chock-full of motivational suggestions and stimulating success stories. The book provides counseling to help sellers maintain their emotional equanimity through the crucibles that they tackle regularly. There are chapters on what sellers can learn from great leaders and many tips and tricks to get through gatekeepers and other obstacles. There are also interviews with some major marketing and advertising executives who share their views on a variety of subjects including how new sports sponsorship opportunities are best presented to them and what they consider to be both helpful and annoying behavior by sellers. Whether it's the chief marketing officer of Wal-Mart or the sponsorship head of MasterCard, the guidance they share is precious. The last chapter covers inspiring cold call successes including the three greatest in sports history; the sale of the naming rights to Barclays for the arena in Brooklyn, the NASCAR sale to Nextel for the naming rights to its cup series and most recently, the multi-million dollar sale by a relative newcomer to the business to Moda Health, covering the naming rights to the Rose Garden in Portland. As a result of this achievement, the seller, Uzma Rawn, was selected to Forbes' top 30 under 30 in the sports space.

David J. Halberstam has a long career in sports media sales and management. He spent ten years at Westwood One where he was promoted to EVP, Sports. Westwood One is among the top three national radio networks in America. The company has rights to the NFL, the NCAA Tournament and Masters. Previously, he was Director of Corporate Sales for the Miami Heat. In recent years, he's run Halby Group, a consultancy where he's worked with DirecTV, MLB Network, ESPN Radio and other media entities to develop sponsorship business. The Fundamentals of Sports Media and Sponsorship Sales: Developing New Accounts is his second book. The first, Sports on New York Radio: A Play-by-Play History, was published in 1999 (McGraw Hill/Masters Press). It was reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Crain's New York, New York Daily News and noted by the New York Times. It has also been frequently referenced by authors, newspapers and radio talk show hosts. The author has also written articles and columns on sales, sports broadcasting and sports history for publications like USA Today, LA Times, Yahoo Sports, SportsIllustrated.com, Bleacher Report, New York Daily News, Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel and SportsBusiness Journal. He has also been a play-by-play basketball radio announcer for many years; Miami Heat of the NBA, St. John's University Basketball on WCBS and WFAN, New York and Westwood One Radio Network nationally.