Source: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jul2007/db20070730_172552.htm
The Nevada State Gaming Control Board reported $2.4 billion in legal sports wagers in the United States for 2006. Undoubtedly, there is an indefinite amount of unreported illegal wagers. Astonishingly, the sports betting industry is more than six times larger than the 122 professional sports franchises of the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA combined! Football is the giant of sports betting, which accounts for about half ($1.1 billion) of all bets waged in Nevada. However in recent years, NBA basketball wagering has increased 24% from $513.5 million in 2005 to $635.4 million in 2006.
Recently, former NBA referee, Tim Donaghy (40), turned himself in to the authorities after admitting to fixing games during the last two NBA seasons, which included 139 regular-season games, eight playoff games, and four preseason games. David Stern, the NBA Commissioner, called the scandal “the most serious and worst situation” in his 40 years with the league. Donaghy dealt with the mob who used his gambling debt to force him to share information and possibly fix NBA games.
R.J. Bell, a sports betting expert who runs the Web site pregame.com, claims that an NBA referee can highly affect the outcome of a game compared to a NFL referee because of the number of foul calls per game; it only takes a few foul calls per game to hinder a six point spread. Bell states that bookmakers obtain an abundance of information on each team and individual players over the six month season, and are able to set point spreads that predict winners 70% of the time. “The market efficiency is higher in NBA sports betting than the NFL, making it harder for the average bettor to win money,” he says.
source: http://mediabiz.blogs.cnnmoney.com/2007/07/27/the-ugly-truth-about-online-video/?section=money_topstories
A recent report by a U.S. marketing firm, eMarketer, found that companies plan on spending $1.35 billion on online video advertising in 2008 and $4.3 billion in 2013! This is not surprising considering that Google just spent $1.7 billion acquiring Youtube and how Yahoo! and other web companies are developing their own online video sites. In addition, the two media giants, NBC Universal and News Corp., are teaming up together to form an online video venture. So how does this craze compare to the traditional TV advertising?
Last year, over $65 billion were spent on TV advertising, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The bottom line: TV isn’t going anywhere anytime soon- the two forms of advertising are still incomparable. The truth of the matter is that people still utilize TV more than the internet. “Most people still consume video on television. There is a lot of upside in online video but the business is still nascent. Conventional wisdom can sometimes get ahead of us. People act as if all TV and entertainment is on the Internet. That’s not the case,” says Paul Sagan, the Chief Executive Officer of Akamai Technologies (AKAM).
So before any small business plans on lavishly spending on internet videos thinking that it will give them the edge over TV advertising, they should consider the bang for their buck. The U.S. population is only aging and older equals less technologically savvy.
Note: The blog post for this week’s “Hear the Buzz” is from a recent experience of mine with Delta Airlines.
On July 13th, 2007, I left Detroit Metro Airport for Oklahoma City, my hometown, for a flight scheduled at 6:30pm with a connecting flight in Atlanta. The whole check-in process went smoothly and I whizzed through the security check-point. As expected the flight took off on time and arrived to Atlanta with an hour to spare. This gave me enough time to eat and relax a bit before my next flight. As I looked up to the multiple screens to find my departure gate, I noticed that my flight to OKC had been delayed for thirty minutes. This, of course, was not a substantial inconvenience so I just patiently waited to board the plane.
Thirty minutes later, the screen reported another thirty minute delay and then again, an additional thirty minute delay. In total, my flight was delayed for approximately an hour and thirty minutes. This not only aggravated my personal traveling experience with Delta, but also made it an inconvenience for the person designated to pick me up from the airport in OKC. Nonetheless, I safely arrived home and looked forward to a weekend at home with my family.
The truly terrible experience with Delta Airlines did not happen until the returning flight (July 15th) with a layover in Cincinnati scheduled to arrive in Detroit by 8:45pm. The first flight was only delayed about twenty minutes, but this was not a problem considering that I still had enough time to make it to my connecting plane in Cincinnati to Detroit. As I promptly arrived to my gate in Cincinnati, the terminal screen reported a one and a half hour delay. One and a half hours later, the same screen read off: canceled. I was then told to wait in the “customer service” line to be properly informed of upcoming procedures. All passengers were informed that the crew had already worked overtime for the day and were sent home, leaving the plane unable to take off.
For another hour and a half, I waited in line to speak with a Delta representative in order to book my next flight. Apparently, the flight that was canceled was the last plane out to Detroit and so the only option was to catch the next early morning flight. I was issued two seven dollar meal vouchers, a hotel room at the Sheraton, and a boarding pass for tomorrow’s earliest flight to Detroit.
As a result, I arrived to my destination over thirteen hours late and spent over five hours in total waiting to board an aircraft.
Delta Airline’s inability to have a “standby crew” for cases like this cost them a substantial amount of money. That day over fifty passengers were issued the same fourteen dollars in meal vouchers, a hotel room, and a boarding pass for tomorrow. In my prediction, that cost the airline nearly $8,200 ($150/hotel room + $14 meal vouchers) just for that one flight. Keep into consideration that multiple flights that day were canceled due to the same reason.
Rather than the financial loss, what’s more important is the loss of loyal Delta customers. This particular experience casted a negative view for the airline not only for the passengers that experienced the large traveling inconvenience of that day, but also for the ten to twenty people those passengers shared their story with.
These situations can without a doubt be prevented with proper management and preparation. However, many airlines these days fail to recognize the importance of timely traveling from their customer’s point of view. Major airlines seem to be steering away from their core values of providing excellent service for their travelers. In the near future, only a few companies will be left as the choice of air travel.
The mission: To help create equity in access to healthy, fresh, and sustainably-grown food in our most vulnerable urban communities.
Dr. Oran B. Hesterman is the President and CEO of the Fair Food Foundation, a non-profit organization aiming to bring fresh food to urban communities. Originally located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Fair Food Foundation is looking to open an office in Detroit. Dr. Hesterman thinks that Detroit is a key city for their mission.
In my opinion, “access to healthy food” is important, but I would question if there is really a lack of “equity” to healthy food in urban communities. I agree that there is less access to healthy food in Detroit, but do not think that creates an inequality because there is such a minimal demand for healthy food. Some make the argument that Detroit is not a healthy city because it does not have access to healthy options- others say that “wealth equals health,” meaning that people with wealth care more about their health.
Studies show that the average urban family spends approximately ten more dollars a week on food than the average suburban household. With this being said, there is obviously a choice being made by urban families when it comes to food consumption- the choice to eat unhealthy. I don’t think that there is a large market for healthy food in Detroit, rather I think maybe small organic grocery store will suffice.
In House Realty’s President and CEO, Bruce Schwartz, began his entrepreneurial career at the age of eight in Southfield, Michigan by working along side his father, a kitchen ware salesman and former 9-ball world champion. During the summers as a kid, Bruce followed his father around the country selling pots and pans out of a truck.
After finishing high school in the early 1980s, Bruce attended college for one term and decided that he wanted to change directions by dropping out, moving to Florida, and starting a family business. Him and his father launched a sports information business, which provided sports fans inside information on game forecasts. This business ran successfully for only a few years after being shut down by banks not allowing businesses to take credit card information over the phone.
Bruce was quick to start another new enterprise- home improvement. Bruce and his friend owned and operated a home improvement company that focussed on upgrading homes in nearby neighborhoods. The business flourished for only a few years until Hurricane Andrew hit and the two entrepreneurs found themselves with more work than they could handle. What initially looked like a giant opportunity ended up being a disaster and the home improvement business was forced to shut down after having more projects than they could manage.
In 1994, Bruce moved back to Michigan after receiving a phone call from a few old friends who started Rock Financial. As a mortgage banker, Bruce proved to be the best salesperson year in and year out for several years. Over the past few years, he and many of the Quicken Loans/Rock Financial executives have bounced around the idea of starting a residential real estate company. Finally, in January of 2007, a small group of motivated individuals launched In House Realty, which is based in the Quicken Loans headquarters in Livonia, Michigan.
In House Realty continues to grow as it expands its relationship with numerous nationwide real estate companies. Currently, it is leveraging its connection with Quicken Loans to generate leads.
Bill Emerson became the Chief Executive Officer of Quicken Loans in 2002 after working for the company for nearly ten years. He originally started at Rock Financial as a mortgage broker and held multiple leadership positions. His role now as the CEO is to oversee the daily management and operations of Quicken Loans.
Emerson’s leadership philosophy is simple: Leadership is doing the right thing and having people follow you; it starts with the belief system of having realistic goals that mean something to you. As the CEO of a multi-million dollar company, Emerson’s leadership not only governs the day-to-day operations but keeps up the overall morale. He is always encouraging team members (employees) to generate new ideas by fostering innovative thinking and curiosity. Even though it is not in his job description, Emerson handwrites individual birthday and anniversary cards for all 4,500 team members.
Lastly, Bill Emerson chooses to have his office on the “floor,” which is where all of the mortgage bankers make their sales calls. He believes that the “floor” is the heart and soul of the company- a place where he should be close to. His door is always open and anyone in the company can make an appointment to meet with him.
The Semaphore Enterntainment Group (SEG) started the mixed martial art sport known as the Ultimate Fighter Championship (UFC) and marketed it as a human cockfight, which initially triggered a lot of spark. However, the sport was banned in a few states and many others quickly followed- this drove the company nearly bankrupt. Dana White and a few other investors decided to take a risk in the failing business by purchasing it from SEG in 2001. Many thought that it was a poor investment decision, but these guys felt that they could turn their $2 million dollar purchase around. Their original plan was to air a few Pay-Per-Views, make a few quick bucks, and flip the company- that, of course, was not the case.
The first major business decision White made was to alter the UFC’s marketing strategy. “Human cockfights” were obviously not popular amongst legislatures so instead, he marketed the company as a sport with amazing athletes. One of their biggest challenges was to change the perception the press created for the UFC since its early beginnings. “They always say as long as you’re getting press, whether it’s good or bad, it’s a positive thing. I’ve never agreed with that. I think that too much bad press can kill you,” said White. Therefor, White took the approach of going back to the press as the “knight in shining armor” by stating that they are the good guys that are going to change the sport around.
White spent most of their initial earnings on throwing promotional events, thousands of billboards in downtown areas, and small acquisitions. At one point, he and his investors found themselves $44 million in debt. However, this did not stop them from continuing their venture, which is now worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The mixed martial arts industry as a whole has grown enormously and there’s nothing in the way of Dana ambition to grow the UFC.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/ufc/index.html
http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=LearnUFC.History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufc
This 11.6 millimeter device that includes a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it’s close to your face, 2 megapixel cam, 4GB or 8 GB of storage, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP, WiFi that automatically engages when in range, and quad-band GSM radio with EDGE is scheduled to be released in stores on June 29, 2007 at six o’clock p.m. in AT&T and Apple stores. The iPhone has perhaps been one of the latest technological devices with the most recent buzz. There have also been rumors that Apple is going to hold onto many of its units in order to keep the demand high, which of course keeps the prices high as well.
So what exactly should the “first-movers” be aware of when rushing to the store to purchase this $500 product? First of all, unlike typical Cingular/AT&T products, there will only be a 14-day return policy on the iPhones (deferring to Apple’s policy) opposed to the 30-day return policy. Early adopters can purchase this device with some ease because Apple announced that new software updates will be regularly released after identifying glitches (and yes, there will be a number of kinks discovered in this new product). Lastly, the battery seems to be the biggest of worries for potential iPhone consumers. Early on in January, (false) rumors spread that the phones talk time may only last up to forty minutes after extensive use of the phones other features such as web browsing, picture sharing, and movies. However, it is uncertain how long the battery will actually last because of its multiple functions.
Potentially, the iPhone can replace all Blackberrys, PDAs, digital cameras, and MP3 players due to its all-in-one capability. It seems as though that the technologically savvy, in particular, will appreciate this touch-screen product.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_26/c4040006.htm#ZZZ5J94SW2F?campaign_id=rss_daily
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/the-apple-iphone/
http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/#22
Like many entrepreneurs, Todd Stern began his first business at the age of eight years old raking leaves and shoveling snow in the neighborhood. He shared the story of him buying his grandmother lunch for the first time: “I was eating lunch with my grandmother and decided to pay for it. My grandmother asked me why I am paying because I was only eight, but I told her that I’m an entrepreneur.” As Todd got older, he started working in local restaurants because he knew that was the kind of business he would one day like to venture. It took years of dish washing, busing, and waitering until he developed the credentials to become the general manager of various high end restaurants.
Eventually, Todd decided to leave his comfortable lifestyle in order to take a risk- a Detroit based restaurant called Small Plates. For five years he took no salary and even found himself homeless for a few months. Luckily, he had his catering van that left him some room to lodge when money was tight. After five years of quality customer service and with only 2000 square feet and a seating capacity of seventy people, this Spanish tapas restaurant has been able to gross over $1.5 million dollars by 2006. Since its humble beginnings, there has even been national and international recognition about this one-of-a-kind restaurant in Detroit due to its friendly atmosphere and exquisite cuisine.
Furthermore, Todd plans to expand his restaurant to the suburbs of Detroit starting with Royal Oak and eventually to other major U.S. cities. This particular site will be in the former Mongolian BBQ location with the potential of producing four times the amount of revenue as the Detroit site. Todd’s greatest advice was perhaps this: “It’s about giving back. If you give back to your community, it will certainly give back to you.”
