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Bright House Networks Emphasizes Sports Programming

Posted on: Friday, 3 March 2006, 21:00 CST

By Alan Snel, Tampa Tribune, Fla.

Mar. 4--ST. PETERSBURG -- In Kevin Hyman's office, a 1942 photo showing Joe DiMaggio with Hyman's dad at a Hawaiian military base hangs from the wall. A football signed by National Football League stars such as the Derrick Brooks sits behind him. And Hyman's golf awards dot the room.

Sports are a big part of Hyman's life -- and a big part of the marketing push at his company, Bright House Networks.

Hyman, president of the cable TV, Internet and phone service provider for its Tampa Bay division, said his company will increase spending on sports promotions, endorsements and venues by 15 percent to 20 percent in 2006 as it prepares for heated competition with Verizon Communications Inc. in this market.

Hyman termed Bright House's sports spending as "significant" but said the total amount is less than $10 million a year. He declined to say exactly how much Bright House spends on sports-related marketing.

"With the rabid sports fan in Central Florida, it's the right emotional vein to tap to show their ... message," said Eric Land, the Bucs' chief operating officer, who worked with Bright House when he was general manager of WFLA, Channel 8. WFLA and The Tampa Tribune are news partners owned by Media General, based in Richmond, Va.

"Sports have become a venue because of the intensity and passion sports provoke," Hyman added. He noted the sports exposure is one way to combat Verizon, which Hyman noted is the eighth-largest advertiser in the country.

Bright House is closing a deal to renew a multiyear sponsorship deal with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for signage amid media exposure and is working on a naming rights deal for the University of Central Florida's new football stadium in Orlando, Hyman said.

These deals follow a major business partnership just completed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, which are carving out a section of the main concourse devoted to the company's product line of TV service, phones and high-speed Internet. The Lightning are working with Bright House on a Lightning channel.

Land noted that the Bright House sports deals are one way of distinguishing itself from Verizon as both companies go head-to-head to sell a combined cable TV, telephone and high-speed Internet deal -- known as the triple play in the technology world.

New York-based Verizon is carpeting the market with TV, radio, brochures, vans, and in-person marketing in some neighborhoods.

"They may not have the lock on the community they once had and they have to do the right things to differentiate its products and services," Land said.

"It's all about marketing the brand, whether it's sports or any other venue."

The new sports deals build on an impressive portfolio for Bright House, based in East Syracuse, N.Y., including: A naming rights deal at the Philadelphia Phillies' spring training stadium in Clearwater that's valued at $2.6 million over 10 years. Hyman said the stadium's location at U.S. 19 was a big draw.

A sponsorship deal called a "Pewter Partnership" with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that typically is worth more than $1 million annually.

A multiyear deal with the University of South Florida that includes scoreboard signs in the Sun Dome and a local sports channel that will broadcast original content such as USF football and basketball games on Catch 47. "The fact that USF is with the Big East [Conference] made it an obsession," Hyman said.

Sponsorships of the PGA golf tournament in Palm Harbor and the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Tampa. These deals "don't have measurable results. They're community goodwill," he said.

These sports partnerships are designed to build the company's base of 1 million Tampa Bay area customers.

"That level of exposure adds up to more legitimacy," said Marc Ganis, president of Sportscorp Ltd., a Chicago company that advises companies on sports sponsorships and marketing. "It can make some real sense if there is some strategy behind it."

Ganis said it's important Bright House find ways to "activate" its sponsorships, such as cellular phone or Internet demonstration stations.

"You have to find ways for the people going to the facility to try out those services," he said.

Bright House plans to do just that with fans checking out its services at the Forum and Tropicana Field, said Stephen Colafrancesco, Bright House vice president for marketing and new business development.

Hyman said the sports promotions will help Bright House continue to grow in the Tampa Bay area. The company showed 3 percent annual customer growth and 25 percent to 30 percent annual growth in high-speed Internet.

With USF moving to the Big East, Bright House also seized the opportunity to capitalize on the university moving to one of the country's high-profile sports conferences.

"They basically have all of our product," said Tom Veit, a USF associate athletic director who oversees sports marketing and branding. "If you're a USF fan, you need to have Bright House to get our programming."

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Source: Tampa Tribune

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