issue of bloggers wanting press credentials for sporting events.

The least trusted sports media seem to be independent bloggers. When it comes to obtaining a press pass they are usually rejected. The most trust is earned by traditional media outlets such as local radio, newspapers, and TV stations and national sports newspapers and magazines. The following trusted media outlets normally gain press passes and access for their journalists and photographers. Bloggers associated with credible companies such as ESPN.com, Sport Blog, LA Times Sport blog and so on earn less trust as well, but gain more trust than the independent ones.  

Independent bloggers tend to be on the lower end of the scale when it comes to trust in media coverage, because sports organizers like to control what is published about their events. Since corporations tend to own stadiums and teams, they want to make sure that what is media said is up to par. They do not like to be seen in a negative light, and like to control the copyright aspect of the coverage. A lot of independent bloggers tend to seem to have added their bias opinions. According to Dereck Hacket, former Sports Media specialist as Southern University and A & M College, “Independent bloggers want advance their careers by gaining media access, and they tend to stop at nothing to do so. However, they are least trusted because they tend to be there for themselves and not the game. They tend to add an extra flair that isn’t necessary in sports coverage. A lot of them add bias opinions, when in sports you’re just supposed to be covering the facts. And even if a blogger is covering the facts, they are still not trusted, because sometimes the facts do not make the sports organizations or the players look good.”

As a formal college sports journalist during my undergrad, I was taught that sports journalist cover the facts. However, this was during a time when social media was not as popular. Now social media is a popular concept and shapes the way that the media is viewed. A lot of the new-age journalists tend to forget to analyze the game accurately, and leave out their opinions. However, in the world of blogging, opinions are open to write about. However, if an independent blogger want’s access to specific events, I believe that they should follow the traditional writing style of traditional media which is to cover the facts only. 

Hacket said, “If a Blogger wants to cover a sporting event and add their own opinion, then they need to buy a ticket and sit in the bleachers like everyone else. Most of them are just fans anyway who want free access into the game.” 

There is no way of accurately knowing why a blogger wants to gain a press pass into a sporting event. I am sure that a lot of them attend, just because they are fans who want an up and close view of the game. This is exactly why they are the least trusted and do not gain access.
I am guilty myself, of being a secret fan of certain teams, and sometimes desire a way to enter in a game free of charge. As a former active sports blogger, I would meet so many journalists that were covering sporting events just because they were fans. I personally believe whether or not they are a fan, journalists should be covering the events accurately whether than adding their extra opinions.
According to a blog that I recently read Bizofbaseball.com, “Many independent bloggers, such as MLBTradeRumors.com and Yahoo! Sports, have upward of two million pages views daily and represent some of the Internet's heaviest traffic, yet they rank far behind traditional media on trust and are the most likely group to be rejected (29 percent) for a press pass vs. traditional media (8 percent).”

Press passes should have restrictions and should not be freely given to just any bloggers. Sports owners, love media coverage, but they want to have it according to their standards. If a blogger cannot comply to specific rules and standards that traditional follow then they should not be in attendance. Or the bloggers should just pay for their own ticket.

References:

Derek Hacket Former Southern University and A & M College Sports Media Specialist

http://anthonymcfadden01.blogspot.com/2010/05/media-rights-broadcasting-and-press.html

http://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=108

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2008/03/15/access-to-pro-sporting-events-for-sports-bloggers.php

http://scottkelby.com/2009/shooting-indy-report/

http://armchairgm.wikia.com/Bloggers_and_Media_Credentials

Biggest Sports Business Conflict in the last 5 years: 2011 NBA Lockout

In my opinion, the biggest sports business conflict in the last 5 years is the 2011 NBA Lockout. It was the fourth lockout in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA).  The lockout began on July 2011, and lasted for 161-days. It postponed the beginning of the regular 2011-12 season, from November 1 to December 25, and decreased the regular season to 66 games from the original 82.

There were circumstances separating the owners and the players, represented by the NBA. While the lockout was going on, teams could not sign contact players, sign contracts, or trade players. Nor was there access to staff, trainers, or NBA facilities.

The fundamental conflict of the NBA lockout was money. Stephen Greyser, instructor of The Business of Sports said in an interview with Harvard Extension Blog, “It’s a $4 billion plus business, and the biggest issue is how to divide basketball related revenue. “

As the primary matter of the NBA lockout was how to divide revenue, there was another issue of the hard versus soft salary caps. The NBA has a soft salary cap, in comparison to the NFL and NHL hich have hard, with barely no exceptions. . However, they do have the Larry Bird exception, which has some exceptions, yet allows teams to go over the salary cap to sign and re-sign their own players. However some, “NBA teams also pay the ‘luxury tax’ based on total payroll,” Greyser said.
This luxury tax is an additional expanse of another area of argument. However, it does not put player against the owners, yet owners versus owners.  “If a team really wants to pay a lot for players and go over the cap it pays a tax,” said Greyser.
An article by Nancy N posted in Harvard Extension Blog stated, “The Lakers pay $110 million, including the luxury tax, while Sacramento only has a total payroll of $45 million. The owners purport that this is not a matter for the players, but if the luxury tax on the highest payroll was a stiffer tax then it would tend to keep the payroll from escalating.”
On September 13^th, 2011, the union and owners met again to negotiate but the negotiation did not work out. The main source of disagreement regarding the salary cap, remained. The union wanted to continue with the structure of soft caps. However, the owners disagreed and demanded to formulate a hard cap for the team payroll. The players were willing to reduce their salary in exchange for the owners cooperation with the salary cap. However, the owners were reluctant to accept. They believed that they had the most control in negotiation of NBA matters, and refused to give leverage to the players. 

On November 26th, 2011, a provisional deal was met . Afterwards, owners let players have unpaid workouts at team sites on December 1. On December 8^th, 2011 the deal was approved. Free agency, trades, and trainings camps started the next day. 

I think that this is a big sports issue because the owners didn’t seem to think of everyone’s involvement as a whole. And because of their initial lack of cooperation to give the players leverage within rights to salary caps, let to a hold up is season. The lockout not only affected the owners and players, but all the staff that come into play when running the NBA and it’s games. Everyone suffered in some shape or form, the custodians, referees, snack bar employees, media, sponsors, and fans alike.
The NBA lockout put a halt to many productions and salary going into the pockets of the producers. However, when the issues were resolved, the staff whom kept up with the maintenance was back up and running.


References
http://bostonglobe.com/business/2011/11/11/broadcasters-scramble-cope-with-nba-lockout/3VcgB0EZXc6ljaoNr7DTcP/story.html

http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2011/11/nba-lockout-dilemma-the-lockout-valid-debate-or-stubbornness

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/12/08/labor-deal.ap/index.html#

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nba-bitter-lockout-ends-lebron-james-kevin-durant-finals-article-1.1097006

The Cost in a Name

Nearly two years ago, in August, China saw the budding athletic ability in New York Knicks NBA starter, Jeremy Lin. A sports ball maker in eastern China registered his name trademark for $710 a year and a half ago.

The trademark is now an issue because Jeremy Lin would like to have the rights to his own name.

However, Chinese laws grant favor to whomever registers the trademark first, which in this case was China.  Lin, 23, rose to fame this year after sitting on the bench to starting for the Knicks.

The ball maker company, Wuxi Risheng Sports Utility Co, registered his name as trademark. It also obtained the trademark of variations of his name,"Lin Shuhao (in Chinese characters) Jeremy S.H.L. (initials of Lin's Chinese name)", according to the website of the trademark office of China's State Administration of Industry and Commerce.

In August all Trademark rights were approved to the ball making company for $710 USD.  However, this causes discrepancies for Lin, because he signed a three-year contract in 2010 with Nike whom would like to profit off of his name.

Considering the fact that China has different laws from the U.S. which give the trademark, “Jeremy Lin” ownership to Risheng, I recommend that Lin take it as a loss. In China the first to register gets the rights, and can use the trademark or not. In America we must have a valid reason as to why we want to trademark something. There are two different govern laws going on. In China, the trademark “Jeremy Lin” should be in the possession of Risheng because their legal representative believed in Lin’s potential obviously before anyone else thought to trademark it. Risheng legal representative, Yu Minijie said, “Lin caught her eye when she saw him playing on Chinese television in 2010.”

"I'm a Harvard fan ... I like him very much. He gave me a lot of surprises and inspiration," Yu told Reuters.

However, in review of other articles, it was revealed that she would sell the trademark, “Jeremy Lin” for a reasonable offer. But as of now no one has offered her anything.

Lin did however, win ownership of trademark “Linsanity.” As many as 12 other applicants applied for trademark of the name as well. People were waiting to see what ruling the judge would make regarding. The judge decided that Lin should be the one profiting from his own fame and granted him the trademark, Linsanity. This trademark currently is a part of the Nike contract and shoes and sports clothing line is attached to it.

Though Lin doesn’t have rights to his own name in China til 2021, he still is well off for a 23yr old, Harvard Economics graduate. He is currently on a $800,000 a yr term with the Knicks and has endorsement deals. It was stated by Reuters that he is worth well off 15 million dollars. I think that he should let China keep the trademark and continue on with his newly famed success as a superstar. 

References

http://gothamist.com/2012/02/18/linsanity_law_jeremy_lin_applies_to.php

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-05-25/jeremy-lin-linsanity-trademark-new-york-knicks-carmelo-anthony

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27/jeremy-lin-trademark-scooped-chinese-company_n_1303271.html

http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2012-05-25/jeremy-lin-linsanity-trademark-new-york-knicks-carmelo-anthony

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2012/6/2/3059549/jeremy-lin-trademark-linsanity-copyright-patent