Kevin Campbell

OneCourt produces haptic devices for blind and low-vision sports fans. Sports Business Journal's Ethan Joyce reported that the company secured its first Major League Baseball (MLB) #partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This partnership demonstrates one way that the #sportsbiz can better prioritize engages with fans with disabilities given they present the sports industry with a $490 Billion growth market. I examined this opportunity recently for JohnWallStreet. https://lnkd.in/gi2HayWA

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Sports marketing isn’t about logos on walls—it’s about relationships, shared experiences, and long-term growth. Katun’s partnership with the San Diego Padres is a great example of how shared experiences build trust, loyalty, and long-term growth—especially when paired with strong dealer partnerships like MOS in California. Here’s why it works. 👇 https://lnkd.in/g9_xYCD6 #SanDiegoPadres #Katun #MOS #SportsMarketing #B2BMarketing #BrandStrategy #Partnerships #Leadership #DealerMarketing

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PacWest Motocross demonstrates a scalable, aligned model for regional racing. By integrating OEM support, dealership participation, and AMA-sanctioned competition, the program strengthens every layer of the sport. Revenue is intentionally directed back to host facilities—ensuring reinvestment in infrastructure, rider experience, and long-term viability. The result is a healthier, more sustainable motocross ecosystem built from the ground up.

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The team at Hard Rock Cafe just gets it. The value of this ecosystem, the power a brand can have actually showing up for athletes and not just saying they’ll show up for athletes. It’s why we’re now launching our 4th partnership together this weekend with Maximum Cheer and Dance, LLC. Excited to keep proving out value as we at BASE Sports Group bring their brand to life in this ecosystem!

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Can't believe this was 10 whole years ago! I joined the event's media team to interview athletes for flash quotes after they exited the track but before they got to the Mixed Zone. I found an old picture from Jeff Oliver of me doing so and I was using a pen and paper (!) then manually typing them into the World Athletics computer. These days, we use automatic transcription from our trackside Virtual Mixed Zone and task someone to copy, paste, and edit part of the interview as a quote that gets uploaded. Making me feel old in the best way.

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Radio Advertising: Driving Audience Engagement and Real Business Results When it comes to high-impact promotions, radio delivers more than just impressions—it drives real business results and audience engagement. A recent campaign for a local motorcycle dealership showcased radio’s power to generate leads, grow email databases, and create an unforgettable brand experience. To celebrate a radio station’s 21st anniversary, the station partnered with a Harley-Davidson dealership to launch a custom bike giveaway. Listeners engaged in a multi-step contest, designing their own motorcycle and entering for a chance to win a $15,000 grand prize bike. The campaign did more than just create buzz—it delivered measurable business impact: • 330+ qualified sales leads for the dealership. • 850+ new emails added to the dealership’s marketing database. • 1,000+ new emails captured for the radio station. • Thousands of engaged listeners followed the live event and winner announcement on Facebook. This campaign highlights radio’s ability to integrate digital and social engagement while delivering meaningful ROI for advertisers. It’s more than just airtime—it’s about creating experiences that convert listeners into customers. How is your brand using radio to create interactive promotions and generate real business results? Share your thoughts in the comments! Source: Harley-Davidson Case Study 33 - Harley Davidson ca… #RadioAdvertising #BrandEngagement #MarketingStrategy #ConsumerEngagement #BroadcastMedia #LeadGeneration #ExperientialMarketing #BusinessGrowth

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If you want partners to renew, do not start with impressions or logos. Start with this question. Did we make life easier for our customers this season? In youth sports, loyalty is earned on long days, tight schedules, and high emotions. Brands that understand that earn a seat at the table year after year. Business development is not about chasing checks. It is about building relationships that stand up over time. That mindset has changed everything for me.

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Strong Productions Entertainment is focused on authority positioning and structured content systems for founders and business owners. Most people post content. Few build authority. There is a difference between being visible and being trusted. My focus is straightforward. Helping founders and operators build a leadership presence online through structured 30-day authority frameworks designed to strengthen trust, increase visibility, and build long-term brand equity. Phoenix-based. System-driven. Built for people who take their reputation seriously. If you’re serious about building authority in your market, let’s connect.

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The Chase is Back. NASCAR just revealed their revised season-ending championship format. The full details are still settling in, but the bigger story isn’t the mechanics, it’s why this conversation exists in the first place. The original playoff system, introduced in 2004, was designed to keep casual fans engaged once the NFL season kicked off and to avoid another runaway championship like Matt Kenseth’s 2003 title, which he achieved by scoring 25 top-10 finishes, led every week in the points except for three and won the championship over Jimmie Johnson by 90 points. That season forced the sport to rethink how it created late-season drama. Fast forward to today. The fans who are still watching NASCAR once football dominates the calendar are mostly the hardcore base. And a lot of them are not fans of a format that can reward the wrong kind of performance, or erase months of work with a September reset. Consistency, execution, and season-long excellence matter to this audience. Manufactured chaos doesn’t always land the way it’s intended. I do think this revision is a step in the right direction. But my read is that the majority of fans still want a true season-long points battle, not a format that feels more like a casino table than a championship season. You should earn a championship over 36 races, not three hot weeks. Either way, this is an important pulse check for the sport. NASCAR could use some small PR wins right now to counter a lot of negative fan sentiment. Listening to the core audience instead of trying to out-engineer them would be a good place to start. Sometimes the simplest version of the product is the strongest one. #sportsbiz 

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If your sponsorship strategy starts with logos, you’re already measuring the wrong thing. Most sponsorships are evaluated on impressions, signage, and brand lift. That’s comfortable—but it’s not commercial. The highest-performing sponsorships I’ve seen do something very different: • They create permission at the executive level • They change the quality of conversations sales can have • They accelerate trust before the first pitch ever happens When sponsorships are treated as a go-to-market lever—not a branding exercise—they stop being “marketing spend” and start behaving like pipeline infrastructure. This is where marketing and sales alignment actually shows up: • Fewer conversations • Better titles • Shorter paths to relevance We don’t evaluate sponsorships by impressions—we evaluate them by the quality of conversations they unlock.

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Proud to share a milestone for Arizona Athletics and Arizona Sports Enterprises: a 15-year, $27.7M naming rights partnership with ALKEME Insurance, officially naming McKale Center at ALKEME Arena. What makes this partnership special is how it was built: relationship-first and campuswide. ALKEME is founded and led by University of Arizona alumni, and their investment reflects a commitment to reinvest in the institution that helped shape them—supporting students, entrepreneurship, and small business engagement across Arizona. Grateful to ALKEME Insurance and our campus partners for building something that will deliver impact well beyond game day. https://lnkd.in/gpD23N3X

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PGA of America Conversion to For-Profit Process 🏌️‍♂️ Member-Protective Conversion Roadmap Step 1 – Member Vote & Transparency Require a full membership vote (30,000+ PGA Members or whatever Bylaws state). Mandate disclosure of all financials and asset valuations (Ryder Cup rights, PGA Championship contracts, HQ, investments, trademarks). Ensure a supermajority (2/3+) approval threshold. Step 2 – Independent Valuation of Assets Hire a third-party firm to value the Association’s total worth (likely billions, given Ryder Cup and media rights). Publish results to all Members so they know what they’re “owning.” Step 3 – Stock Distribution to Members Each Member must receive shares in the new corporation at conversion. Recommended model: Equal base allocation (every Member gets a block of shares). Tenure bonus allocation (extra shares for years of service, capped at 30 years). Shares must carry voting rights to guarantee governance. Step 4 – Board Structure Safeguards Minimum 51% of Board seats reserved for PGA Members. Independent directors allowed for credibility, but Members always maintain majority. Chairperson of the Board must be a PGA Professional. Step 5 – Governance Protections Golden share rule: Member ownership cannot fall below 51% without 2/3 Member approval. Voting system: Weighted to respect tenure, but capped to avoid dominance. Transparency: Annual reports must detail executive compensation, investor payouts, and Member dividends. Step 6 – CEO Hiring & Accountability Board of Directors (elected by Members as shareholders) hires/fires CEO. CEO compensation tied to KPIs: profit growth, brand expansion, AND reinvestment in Members. Annual performance review conducted by Member-majority Board. Step 7 – Member Benefits Guarantee Lock in baseline programs (education, certification, tournament access) that can’t be cut without a Member vote. Ensure a fixed percentage of profits reinvested in grassroot golf programs. Step 8 – Protect Non-Revenue Programs Move PGA HOPE into a separate nonprofit foundation. This ensures community programs survive even if the for-profit company cuts costs. Step 9 – Investor & Growth Strategy Allow outside investors, but cap their maximum ownership without Member approval. Structure capital raises so Members aren’t diluted below majority. If IPO ever happens, Members keep founder shares with enhanced voting rights. Step 10 – Long-Term Member Value Members should receive: Dividends from profits (first time ever). Equity growth if the company appreciates. Voice in leadership via Board representation. ⚖️ Bottom Line The PGA of America already acts like a business — but without accountability to the professionals who built it. If it becomes for-profit, Members must demand stock, governance rights, and reinvestment guarantees.

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MotoAmerica greatly expands its broadcast distribution for 2026 and 2027. Not only airing broadcasts on Samsung TV network, but a dedicated 24/7 MotoAmericaTV FAST channel as well. MotoAmerica is the latest addition to Samsung TV Plus’s expanding lineup of live events from leading sports leagues, including the NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, and FAST exclusive MLV coverage. With more than 100 million active users, Samsung TV Plus offers over 4,300 channels globally, subscription-free, and is available in 30 countries exclusively across Samsung TVs, Samsung Galaxy phones, XR headsets, Galaxy Tab, Smart Monitor, and Family Hub lineups. This includes the new 2026 TV series announced earlier this year at CES, spanning Samsung Micro RGB TV, Neo QLED, OLED, The Frame, The Frame Pro, and more.    Samsung Networks #MotoAmerica #motorcycles #motorsport #racing #sponsorships https://lnkd.in/dQzkh3Rq

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Sports sponsorship capital is rotating — not retreating 📈 🥤 Beverages lead 2025 spend 👕 Textiles & 💳 Financial services remain defensive strongholds 🎮 Betting/Gaming & 🧠 Tech focus on precision 🚗 Automotive reassesses ROI The signal for investors? ➡️ Fewer assets ➡️ Clearer performance metrics ➡️ Longer-term partnership value Sponsorship is no longer brand awareness. It’s a capital allocation decision. #SportsInvestment #SportsBusiness #SponsorshipEconomics #CapitalFlows https://lnkd.in/gcwtGNuN

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NASCAR recently announced plans to bring back a modified version of its early-2000s “Chase” playoff format for the upcoming season (starts Sunday with the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium). The move was less about business KPIs and more about reestablishing credibility. Prominent drivers and the sport’s fan council felt the previous structure, where one race decided the champion, was ‘a bit gimmicky’. “There were some loud voices saying that the format needed to be revisited. So, we did,” Tim Clark (EVP, Chief Brand Officer, NASCAR) said. NASCAR’s new playoff structure rewards performance throughout the season and will help to ensure ‘the right’ champion is crowned. It was also designed to restore faith amongst long-time fans at a moment when many sports properties are chasing younger audiences. “It’s a little bit of a back to our roots strategy,” Brian Herbst (EVP, Chief Media & Revenue Officer, NASCAR) said. “What we saw in the last TV deal was while younger viewers were up ~15% YoY, our core fans 50+ declined.” While every rights owner seeks to cultivate the next generation of fans, NASCAR has come to realize keeping its established audience engaged is a prerequisite for future growth. “I don't think there's any sport where you can appeal to a new fan base if you're not able to retain your core and bring them along because they're your biggest advocates,” Clark said. “We have all the data in the world to suggest that the biggest way to influence new fans is generational, which means existing fans are [shaping] the next generation of fans.” 👇 #SportsBiz #Sports #Business #Intelligence #Strategy #GenZ #GenA #Fandom cc: Randall Friedman Jacie Brandes JohnWallStreet

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Grateful to R. J. McMahon and the team at Oak Leyden for having me on the podcast. Oak Leyden’s mission — empowering individuals with developmental disabilities to live meaningful, productive lives — is the kind of work that reminds you what real impact looks like. Purpose-driven organizations like this deserve our attention, support, and amplification. I appreciated the opportunity to share a few thoughts on sports marketing, leadership, and building brands that actually matter. Truth is, any “two cents” I have to offer is only possible because of the incredible people I’ve had the privilege to be on a team with over the years. Success in sports — and in life — is always a team sport. Thanks again, RJ, for the conversation and for shining a light on a mission that truly makes a difference. 👊 Hope everyone tunes in tonight. James Michael 444 Media LLC. Steven Simmons NILENT (NIL Enterprise Solutions) #sportsmarketing #brandsthatmatter #educationelevatestheplayingfield

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