newjerseynewsroom.com

Upstate New York locations prevent access by local following

BY JOE FAVORITO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING

As professional football training camps open this week, it is interesting to note that the two football teams that call New Jersey home, the Jets and the Giants, will both bolt to upstate New York, SUNY Cortland and the University of Albany, for two-a-days.

The Giants' new facility, one with a corporate sponsor (Timex) and the Jets' still-gleaming new Florham Park facility will be empty at a time of year that football fans usually get the best access to players, a la baseball's spring training.

For years one of the Jets' best connections to the Long Island community was through their two-a-days and open practices at Hofstra University. Fans could get close to their stars and see young talent develop, while picking up an autograph or two. In the final Hofstra years, the team brought in some nice corporate sponsors and built a fan fest around the open practices, which created a nice revenue source and more opportunities to build their brand.

But with the move to New Jersey for their full-time site, and some restrictions placed on the new facility, the limitations for fans to see open practices arose, and the team's access to fans is now limited.

Now the Jets do a very good job of creating fan experience events in the area, especially with their sponsors and media partners. However, off in Cortland, some of that opportunity to get added coverage and a connection with the fans is missing.

Similarly, the Giants will continue to have their open practices at Albany, a move which their fans are more used to, although one which could also be a missed branding opportunity ... especially with the new practices facility titled by Timex.

While the Giants' connection to their fans is probably more solid than the Jets, in these challenged times where fans and sponsors still are looking for more and more direct access, keeping the openness a little closer to home would benefit the brand.

Ironically, the team that trains closest to New Jersey now is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles, at Lehigh University, give their fans the opportunity to watch and connect much easier than the two teams that call the Garden State home on a full-time basis now.

Is the need to get away for football purposes necessary? It's not for me to say and obviously the football operations people know best. But from a branding and fan connection standpoint, as well as from a financial standpoint, those few weeks of access can pay nice dividends, especially in an area where football, on the pro side, goes hand-in-glove with baseball and competes for fan interest, dollars and coverage year round.

Joe Favorito has over 23 years of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. Visit him at JoeFavorito.com