SBJ Unpacks: The Rays’ winning formula

Tonight in Unpacks: Relying on a mix of data and feedback, the Rays have been defying the odds off and on the field for years, with winning teams at the major and minor league levels and innovations in marketing. In this week’s cover story, SBJ goes behind the scenes to learn about this winning formula.

Other headlines:

• Forum: Life, loss and resilience at AXS DRIVE
• Stewart-Haas Racing evokes 'Talladega Nights' with Old Spice, Wonder Bread activations
• Launch of Madden NFL 24 marks game’s 24th straight August sales win
• Range Sports acquires Stoked Management Group
• North Carolina changes sports betting structure at last minute
• Op-ed: Sports show that generational diversity can be an asset
• Lenovo creates stir around 'kiss-activated' F1 trophy

In this morning's Buzzcast, SBJ's Abe Madkour readies listeners for the final week of September:

• Digital media experience a key to Rick Cordella’s promotion at NBC Sports
• New Senators owner Michael Andlauer hits all the right notes in his vision for club 
• Bloomberg report values Warriors at an eye-popping $7 billion
• NHL pleased with success of visit to Australia
• NFL looking at playing games in Brazil and Spain
• GQ’s Eddy Cue profile lays out Apple’s vision for sports media

Rays victoriously defy odds, on and off the field

Since 2008, only the Yankees and Dodgers have won more games than the Rays, thanks to an aggressive application of data collection and analysis. Under just a handful of general managers and two field managers, the Rays have used data to challenge conventional wisdom in every aspect of baseball, from player development to occasionally using starting pitchers for only a single inning. They needed to, in order to be competitive. And it worked.

It shouldn’t be surprising that the same willingness to “break windows,” as owner Stuart Sternberg puts it, extends throughout the organization. But while the success on the baseball side plays out in the standings and on TV, it’s hard to notice innovation in marketing, ticketing and hospitality -- especially when there’s nearly nobody in the stands.

And when MLB regulations limit what they can do, the Rays volunteer to be guinea pigs. In this week's cover story, SBJ correspondent Bruce Schoenfeld reports on how some of those experiments have propelled the Rays into being one of the top front offices in MLB with a thriving minor league system -- and helped them finally land a deal for a new ballpark. 

Forum: Life, loss and resilience at AXS DRIVE

In this week’s Forum, SBJ Executive Editor and Publisher Abe Madkour writes about two people that stood out at the AXS DRIVE conference in St. Louis.

FleishmanHillard CEO John Saunders’ advice on handling crisis communications: “There are going to be crises for us all, but it’s about being prepared, and it’s about role-playing the kind of scenarios that you might find yourself in and how are you going to behave in those types of situations. The more you’re prepared, and the more you’re surrounded by people who know how to handle these types of situations, the better you’ll be. The way in which crises are breaking nowadays is dramatically different to what it might’ve been 20 years ago. It’s so fast.”

Blues President and CEO/Business Operations Chris Zimmerman on communication after the loss of his wife: “The fundamentals of how we communicate, how we deal with hard messaging, how we deal with real messaging -- those things have become so much clearer to me. It’s become clearer what my responsibility is to my team, to our partners and to myself and my family.”

Stewart-Haas Racing evokes 'Talladega Nights' with Old Spice, Wonder Bread deals

In what will be a real-life reenactment of the 2006 film "Talladega Nights," Stewart-Haas Racing has signed Old Spice and Wonder Bread as primary sponsors of two of its cars for this weekend’s NASCAR action at Talladega, reports SBJ's Adam Stern.

Wonder Bread will sponsor Ryan Preece’s No. 41 Ford, while Old Spice will sponsor Chase Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford during the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500. Activations will include the paint schemes, merchandise sold online and at the track, show cars at the track, digital and social content across SHR’s channels and website and 2,000 Wonder Bread retail displays at grocery stores in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Launch of Madden NFL 24 marks game’s 24th straight August sales win

Madden NFL 24 was the best-selling video game for August, per data from tracking firm Circana, and it was also the 24th straight year that the series led its debut month -- the longest such streak in 28 years of data tracking, Circana Executive Director/Video Games Mat Piscatella told SBJ’s Jason Wilson.

What’s remarkable about Madden NFL 24, which debuted Aug. 18, is that dollar sales “grew by a double-digit percentage when compared to Madden NFL 23 a year ago,” Piscatella wrote in the report. This does not include spending on in-game transactions, such as Madden Ultimate team packs.

MLB: The Show 23 was the other sports game in the top 10 of sales for August, coming in eighth after finishing 10th in July. FIFA 23 came in 15th, but this could be the final month FIFA ranks in the top 20 as EA’s next soccer game -- EA Sports FC 24 -- launches Friday and will no longer have the FIFA license.

Range Sports acquires Stoked Management Group

Continuing to build its athlete-rep capabilities, Range Sports acquired Lowell Taub’s Stoked Management Group, a three-year-old rep firm largely centered on Olympic-sport athletes, reports SBJ's Terry Lefton. Under the deal, Taub becomes CRO at Range Sports, where he’ll also head athlete marketing. Stoked has five employees, including Taub, and the acquisition will swell Range Sports' total headcount to over 20.

This week's early edition of the SBJ Marketing newsletter also covers:

• Miller Lite brings back athlete endorsers with Hamm, Ortiz, Watt
• Longtime A-B exec Bob Lachky doesn't see Bud Light reclaiming domestic sales throne
• TurnkeyZRG heads to Europe; Big Ten brings on its first CMO

North Carolina changes sports betting structure at last minute

A draft of the North Carolina state budget last week revealed foundational changes to the structure of the sports betting framework signed into law by the governor three months ago. Gone was any reference to the previously mentioned 12 licenses, replaced by a definition that identified 11 teams, sports facilities and tours that each would control access to a license -- requiring sportsbooks to secure a “written designation agreement” with one of them in order to qualify. That makes North Carolina the first state to tether all its online licenses to sports interests, reports SBJ's Bill King. 

The latest SBJ Betting newsletter also covers:

• New N.C. bill clarifies a number of things, but unknowns remain
• Team execs talk newly legalized states, renewal cycles with sportsbook sponsors
• Football on the brain has August betting handles on the rise

Op-ed: Sports show that generational diversity can be an asset

Tonight's op-ed comes from Miami University management professor Megan Gerhardt on the need for teams to face generational divides.

"Leaders can start the conversation about why they put such value on team camaraderie and express how important it is for the success of the organization. Then, rather than waxing nostalgic for the days when we kept our heads out of phones, ask teammates (of all ages) how they want to build that connection. A simple, 'We know this matters for the success of our team, so how would you do it?' can start an essential conversation."

• AI-powered coaching company Asensei partnered with Centr, the digital fitness content brand founded by actor Chris Hemsworth, writes SBJ's Joe Lemire.

• The Rip Curl WSL Finals set a record for the most-watched day of pro surfing in its history and grew 29% over last year's finals, reports SBJ's Rachel Axon.