June 16th, 2005
Sports, Entertainment Are Double-Teaming Fans
By Michael McCarthy
USA Today
Warner Bros. has put the name of a movie on Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup race, called the Batman Begins 400. It is the first time a Hollywood film has taken title sponsorship of a race in NASCAR’s top series. NASCAR vice president of broadcasting Dick Glover expects more tracks to sell races to studios pushing film or DVD releases. “We add value to them; they add value to us.”
But the growing teamwork between sports and Hollywood can backfire. After an outcry from fans and Congress, Major League Baseball retreated from its plan to slap Spiderman 2 logos on bases and on-deck circles last season. But MLB got a fee and exposure in this year’s Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore.
Critics charge the deals are examples of ad creep. The NASCAR/Batman deal “sounds like a whole lot of ads — with a little bit of racing in between,” says Gary Ruskin of the watchdog group Commercial Alert. “This is a race to the bottom.”
In other recent convergences:
•The NBA got paid by 20th Century Fox to cross-promote Fantastic Four with the NBA Finals, says league spokesman Matt Bourne. Former NBA star Magic Johnson appears with Jessica Alba and other stars in promotional spots.
•ESPN and NASCAR are ready for their close-up in Walt Disney’s Herbie: Fully Loaded, opening June 22. Lindsay Lohan plays an ESPN production assistant turned NASCAR driver who runs over Tony Stewart’s car in a race, then hooks on to Dale Jarrett’s bumper.
In September, for the fourth consecutive year, the NFL will open its season with an hour-long, prime-time entertainment special. The difference in 2005 will be the location: Hollywood. The league is planning to hold a concert on Hollywood Boulevard on Sept. 8 along with one in Gillette Stadium, site of that night’s Oakland Raiders-New England Patriots game.
The NFL also is pushing to put a giant NFL football alongside the famed “Hollywood” sign overlooking Los Angeles, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says.
So goes the growing convergence between sports and entertainment, aka, brand integration. On the surface, the industries might be seen as enemies competing for the same pool of fans. In reality, they’re working more closely than ever. Hollywood directors want the authenticity of real sports brands. Sports leagues want access to entertainment audiences. So sports executives are poring through scripts like Hollywood agents and would-be Hollywood moguls are taking meetings with their sports counterparts.
The NFL, for example, is in talks with movie studios about participating in three flicks, McCarthy says. The NFL has collected fees for working on films such as Jerry Maguire, Brian’s Song and Black Sunday. But the league turns down many of the 30 or so scripts it gets every year. It rejected the recent remake of The Longest Yard and 1999’s Any Given Sunday.
“They were not in line with how we want our sport and players to be portrayed,” McCarthy says. “As the country’s premier sports and entertainment brand, we have the ability to select projects that enhance the league and reach a diverse audience.”
The NBA also is making a major push in entertainment. By the end of the 2004-05 season, the league will have tied in with nine feature films with a projected box office of over $1 billion, league spokesman Matt Bourne says. The last, Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, will sponsor ESPN’s telecast of the NBA draft June 28.
Sometimes leagues and teams get paid for participating; sometimes they pay Hollywood. NASCAR has thrown so many production resources into Walt Disney’s Herbie: Fully Loaded that it will have two production credits when the film opens June 22, says Dick Glover, NASCAR’s vice president of broadcasting.
Tracks, which get to sell title sponsorships of races they pay NASCAR to host, even offer revolving deals that movie studios can use on a one-time basis. Sunday’s Batman Begins 400 at Michigan International Speedway was called the DHL 400 last year. The 2006 race could be named for another movie — or a DVD release, says Glover, who heads NASCAR’s first Los Angeles office, which works closely with Hollywood. “Entertainment is a great way to build value for our drivers, teams and tracks,” he says.
The right script can open locker room doors. Major League Baseball is rolling out the red carpet to Universal for the making of its romantic comedy, The Break Up, in return for a nominal fee. “We’re more than happy to accommodate a movie with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston,” says Kathleen Fineout of MLB.
NASCAR is working with Sony on a comedy for 2006. The film was green-lighted with virtually a six-word pitch, Glover says: “Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver.”