By James White, VP Sales & Business Development
On my recent trip to Manila for Max Entertainment’s production of the Globetrotters in Manila, I was surprised to see that the team had not been to Manila in over 20 years! To me, it was something that was long overdue. Max parntered with Solar Entertainment locally–which provided a great combination of ticket sales leveraging alongside event managment. The result was encouraging wtih the Globetrotters leaving town very happy and asking when to come back while fans and sponsors were also laughing on the way out wondering when they could bring the rest of their family/friends to the next tour!
The show itself was very cool. Whether you’re a basketball expert (and appreciate the technical wizardry) or simply like to laugh (and enjoy the frequent stops in action for comedy), there is something for everybody. I watched 3 shows in 2 days and thought I would get board (I also ran a Globetrotters tour of Indonesia in 1996). But not only were there new plays, jokes, shots, etc. since 1996, but each of the 3 performances were different from each other! This proves that the team itself is aware that each show must be unique in order to keep people coming back.
We will need to get creative as to any further activities with the Globetrotters in the Philippines so that we keep it fresh in any one city (probably take them also to non-Manila destinations in the future), and come back periodically so that we develop the brand while maintainting interest over time. I was involved in the “badminton glut” in the Philippines where we were successful in developing the sport through a single international event supplmeneted by local activiites. However, when everybody and their brother wanted into the sport, we saw the overkill take place and today people have seen too much of it. Basketball may not suffer this fate since there is more basketball availble in the Philippines than there is football in England! However, we need to be smart about how to develop logical and manageable interest in the Globetrotters here.
Let’s see what the future brings. It is always ideal to have 10 – 12 markets to choose 6 – 8 games from with the Globetrotters in SEA. So will we see interest from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam or others moving forward? Only time will tell…
About TSA
Total Sports Asia (TSA) is Asia’s leading independent sports marketing agency with a dedicated team of over 80 sports marketing experts and six offices in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Mumbai and Delhi. Its main business is media rights, sponsorship, events management and consulting.
TSA works with leading federations and rights holders from around the world including the media rights for the US Open tennis, BWF (Badminton World Federation) and FIFA World Champion Italy and UEFA EURO Champion Spain for the FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualification.
Total Sports TV is TSA’s online platform (www.totalsports.tv) that enables rightsholders to fully commercialize all unsold internet rights by offering the content directly to sports fans