Stan Kroenke Reinforces Focus On Marketing, Exporting Rams Brand

[den-the-coach]

Stan Kroenke Reinforces Focus On Marketing, Exporting Rams Brand
By 3k

[www.turfshowtimes.com]

At the Variety-Sports Illustrated Entertainment Summit last week, the Rams owner spoke glowingly of being able to expand the brand of his franchise to new markets. A renewed emphasis on getting to the playoffs and reaching the Super Bowl? Not so much.

Last week at the Variety-Sports Illustrated Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles, a panel of Rams Owner Stan Kroenke, Chief Operating Officer Kevin Demoff and Head Coach Jeff Fisher took on a couple of questions largely revolving around relocating to the LA market this offseason.

For the most part, the remarks were relatively expected fodder from praising fans in the LA area to Fisher lauding his players’ readiness.

The more consequential takeaways revolve around Kroenke’s comments, as his media availability has been overwhelmingly thin since taking over as the owner of the franchise in 2010.

His comments reinforce the reality that his primary concern isn’t the quality of the product on the field but exporting that product worldwide:


Variety ✔ @Variety
.@RamsNFL Owner Stan Kroenke believes Los Angeles is the @NFL gateway to South America & Asia #SportsAndEnt
12:33 PM - 14 Jul 2016

Kroenke: My favorite course in grad school was international business. The problem was when I went to grad school there was only one course. And so, I always loved it. And so, this is an opportunity for me to get a little bit involved more internationally. We have some of our other businesses that are a little bit, but this is, the scale of this, Arsenal two years ago was the most popular, we call it football team in Europe, soccer team in China. We’ve been in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, all touring and playing the last few years. So that’s sort of that side. The television revenue growth in that particular sector for English Premier League’s the fastest growing area we have.

Panel Moderator and executive editor and senior writer at Sports Illustrated, Jon Wertheim: Let’s keep going with that. I mean, does this model, could we replicate this with the Rams in Asia?

Kroenke: Well, I mean, I think you know, Los Angeles is so important for the NFL, because it’s sort of, you can, some people call it the gateway to South America. Some people certainly call it the gateway to Asia. But it’s extremely important if growth is going to occur like most people see it occurring in the coming years. Yeah, I think LA is extremely important that way.

Demoff had some comments on the business model he’s overseeing as a content production company (hey, I know what that’s like!):

Variety ✔ @Variety
The @NFLRams new stadium in Inglewood is designed with Hollywood in mind, says COO Kevin Demoff. #SportsAndEnt
12:57 PM - 14 Jul 2016

I think you become sports and entertainment, you become one and the same. In this world now that we have content in any form is essentially, whether it’s sports, movie, a digital short, social media — content all blends together. And I look at our franchise now as a content production company. We do 16 Sundays a year. We do the draft. We do the offseason. We do training camp. We produce a lot of content, and I think our games are just an extension of that. They’re the most visible portion of our content, but I think it’s starting to seamlessly blend together.

Not surprisingly, Demoff failed to include any potential postseason games as part of that content.

Kroenke also had an interesting quote in that Variety piece on the actual output of his teams in terms of the win column:

We’ve been doing this real estate thing for a long time. I’ve always loved sports and you have to make it make sense financially. But you learn over the years that it’s no fun if you don’t win.

In the six season the Rams have played since Kroenke took over as owner, they have yet to post a single winning season with a 36-59-1 record.

 

[OldSchool]

Ah another stellar effort from 3k.

 

[Psycho_X]

Didn't see this was posted already. So deleted my thread and just copy and pasted what I said in that one. And yes 3k is generally negative but there is usually truth behind most of it unfortunately.

I know, this is an op-ed essentially with selected blurbs from these interviews. But I get sick of hearing about expanding the brand or marketing before putting a winning product on the field. Lets actually get to the playoffs again before you worry about how much money you can make. Lately I'm feeling like the NFL in general is getting too big for it's own good. That's about all I can say without getting overly negative towards SK and KD so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[OldSchool]

Ther are a lot of assumptions, half truths and omission of fact from 3k. He's always been that way, I think I'd rather read Bernie.

 

[Selassie I]

Please...

Stan can't say it any clearer - "It's no fun if you don't win".

I'm very thankful that we have a forward thinking owner who concentrates on the Business part of the team and let's the Football people handle the football.

 

[Psycho_X]

Please...

Stan can't say it any clearer - "It's no fun if you don't win".

I'm very thankful that we have a forward thinking owner who concentrates on the Business part of the team and let's the Football people handle the football.

Hopefully that pays off with actual wins finally.

 

[Angry Ram]

Didn't see this was posted already. So deleted my thread and just copy and pasted what I said in that one. And yes 3k is generally negative but there is usually truth behind most of it unfortunately.

I know, this is an op-ed essentially with selected blurbs from these interviews. But I get sick of hearing about expanding the brand or marketing before putting a winning product on the field. Lets actually get to the playoffs again before you worry about how much money you can make. Lately I'm feeling like the NFL in general is getting too big for it's own good. That's about all I can say without getting overly negative towards SK and KD so I'll just leave it at that.

I agree, and I would feel better if the Rams had an owner like Michael Bidwill, someone financially AND emotionally invested in his team. An owner that is hellbent on putting a winning team. I don't see that with SK and KD. The one positive, and it's a good one, is they at least don't meddle with the football ops like Jurrah. Which is odd considering they are besties.

 

[A55VA6]

Please...

Stan can't say it any clearer - "It's no fun if you don't win".

I'm very thankful that we have a forward thinking owner who concentrates on the Business part of the team and let's the Football people handle the football.

I agree. That's how it should be!

 

[LesBaker]

I've been going back and forth a bit on the Herd in a similar thread.

Kroenke isn't trying to build a brand, he will be dead and in the ground 30 years before the NFL has a foothold in China. This is about cashing checks just like the London and Mexico City games that he and other owners signed up for. It's the money, period. He's blowing smoke to justify taking the Rams over there.

His remark about how it's not fun unless you win is silly. Look at his other US franchises and how they have fared.

In order to be relevant the NFL is going to need players from other nations to get on the field and play well/be stars.

Otherwise this is going to take a lifetime.

That's what worked for the NBA and MLB. The NFL is arrogant (obviously) if they think all they have to do is play one game a year for a few years and China will suddenly embrace American football.

This is the NFL doing what it does best. Grab money.

 

[…..]

I dont care what they do as far as creating a foothold in the international market place and brand building. I fully expect nothing less than SK to be focused on this aspect of the business, especially given his business background, his expertise, and what he's learned through out the years by marketing the rest his sports portfolio.

I have no negative opinion whatsoever about this. Its his baby, let him grow it. If he wants to sell a few jerseys in Pakistan, wtf do I care? He's cashing checks no matter what. Since when in America is it suddenly unrealistic to find new ways to grow a business? As long as he's writing checks, who cares how many he cashes.

imo ....and speaking of writing checks, The winning product/playoff team part of this conversation is a completely different subject that needs its own seperate dialogue. Combining the two serves no purpose at all. As long as Stan writes checks to the right people, the rest will theoretically take care of itself.

 

[Merlin]

I think Stan's done a fine job in a short time as owner thus far. I know many here hate him and understand it, but he's already a good owner and if he maintains this approach his team is going to have a lot of success.

He ponied up the bucks to compete for and win Fish as the head coach. Now I know many are going to miss my point here and start talking about Fish's career .500 record and how this team still hasn't won, but what is important is that the Rams have an owner that can compete on the big stage with other owners who are willing to throw money around for the coaches they want. End result isn't what we all hoped for yet, but stability and organizational growth have definitely come.

He lets his football people run the show. He's not in there meddling, taking the reins as GM, aligning with certain players, etc. The dude is calm, keeps a long term vision, and empowers his people. If he lets Fish go after year 5 when his contract is up every coach worth his salt will covet working for Stan Kroenke.

He involved his seasoned head coach in the GM hire to ensure he'd have two guys who work well together. And Snead was a fine hire. The guy has rebuilt the Rams' scouting department and each draft seems to get better. If Fish walks I don't know what happens to Les, but I can say that he won't be out of a job for long. I hope that he's kept on even if they have to part ways with Fish. And I really like the overall feel of this front office with Demoff at the head of it too btw.

IMO if Fish doesn't win this year and a move is made, we don't have an owner and front office that will bring in a Rich Brooks type hire. He's going to be interviewing bigtime names like Shanahan Sr, Pete Carroll, etc., and they'll be hoping to land this gig. From where I'm sitting that is enormous organizational grown when you consider where they came from in the days of Georgia and her cronies.