Fans Denied Seats to Big Game Now Receive Free Tickets for Next Year

By Andrea Kunicky

Imagine spending hundreds or ever thousands of dollars on Super Bowl tickets to watch your favorite team play plus add in all of the travel expenses just to be turned away from your seats?! That's what happened to more than 1,200 ticket holders at Cowboys Stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. 850 people were relocated to other seats and about 400 others were denied seats altogether because sections of temporary bleachers were declared unsafe and unusable.

The 400 affected ticket holders were brought inside the stadium and allowed to watch the game on monitors in a field-level club area or from standing-room locations at each corner of the stadium and were promised refunds by the NFL worth three times the face value of their tickets, which were mostly around $800 or $900 a piece.
Another item added to the list… the NFL will also provide free tickets to the 2012 Super Bowl to those affected fans.

And…why did this all happen? The NFL and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones were trying to break the Super Bowl attendance mark of 103,985, set at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA in 1980, by putting in temporary stands above the end zones, along the sidelines and selling standing-room only tickets on stairwells. The work was not fully completed and some of the seats remained vacant because of safety concerns.

“We apologize to those fans that were impacted by this,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a press briefing. “We will certainly do a thorough review and get to the bottom of why it all occurred, but we take full responsibility for that.”

I am a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan and if I had the chance to get a ticket to the most important game of the year knowing this could be a once in a lifetime experience, to then arrive and be denied my seat… I can certainly understand why many fans could be in an uproar. The NFL did a smart thing by addressing the situation in a prompt and efficient way and giving away some high priced items in return, but that will never take away the experience these fans could have had, especially watching their favorite team in the big game. You can’t refund an experience like that.

I’m sure the NFL will address this situation thoroughly and will take all the precautions to not make this mistake in a future event.

Andrea Kunicky is an Account Executive at Maroon PR. Contact her at Andrea@MaroonPR.com

The REAL Super Bowl Match-Up : The Big Game vs. New Commercials

By Katy Fincham

The Super Bowl is an unofficial holiday for most American households. Over 68% of adults are expected to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Green Bay Packers this weekend, but according to recent polls, many viewers are just as excited to see the new commercials.

Now in their sixth year, the Hanon McKendry survey consistently finds that over half of the adult Super Bowl viewers in the U.S. are looking forward to the commercials more than the game - with the number of people excited to see these ads up from 54% in 2009 to 57% this year.

Social media is also a huge component with Super Bowl advertisers this year, giving businesses an opportunity to market before, during, and after the big game.

According to an article in the Denver Post, recently Bud Light challenged consumers to guess the story lines of their three Super Bowl commercials from photos posted to their Facebook page. If the story lines are nailed, the company will launch a fourth, Internet-only ad on Sunday. The fan page had nearly 1 million fans as of Friday afternoon.

Personally, the Steelers presence in the Super Bowl makes me ill, so this year I find myself more excited about watching the new commercials and taking advantage of the social media specials and contests!

What are you most excited about – The Big Game or the New Commercials?

Katy Fincham is an Associate Account Executive at Maroon PR. Contact her at Katy@MaroonPR.com

Athletes Becoming Reporters: the Ochocinco News Network

Author: Stefen Lovelace

Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Super Bowl week is one of the biggest sports media events of the year. Reporters from outlets all over the country have been flocking to Miami this week for America's most high-profile game.

When the NFL goes over its long list of requests for media credentials, there will be four names that should immediately pop out. NFL players Chad Ochocinco, Chris Cooley, Ray Rice and Darnell Dockett are in Miami, reporting on the Super Bowl, for the "Ochocinco News Network." (OCNN)

Chad Ochocinco and other prominent NFL players will be asking the questions and giving reports during Super Bowl week.

The media-savvy Bengals receiver plans to attend news conferences and parties leading up to the title game in Miami, gathering insights from coaches, players and celebrities for his array of social networks.

As much as this seems like your standard publicity stunt by Ochocinco - the enigmatic Cincinnati Bengals reciever who is as famous for his touchdown celebrations than his actual production on the field - it seems that this network is legitimate. Not only have the four athletes been filing reports; they've also been doing the social media marketing that has become so vital to journalism.

Ochocinco and his three helpers plan to function as reporters, updating a Web site and a Twitter feed during the week. The players have hundreds of thousands of regular followers on their personal Twitter accounts and other social network platforms.

They expect to attend media sessions where players and coaches are available, conduct interviews with guests at the media headquarters, and provide behind-the-scenes glimpses at the nightly Super Bowl parties in Miami.

During yesterday's media session, Ochocinco's lack of reporting experience clearly showed, when he couldn't get a question in to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning during a 45 minute interview session. He tried, but was cut off by other reporters accustomed to having to get their questions in loudly and quickly.

Still, if anyone can pull this off, athletes like Ochocinco and Cooley would be logical choices. Both are incredibly engaged to their fans and know what type of information draws eyes and attention.

It remains to be seen what type of success this network will have and if fans really want their news from athletes with little reporting experience. At the very least, it's an interesting test-model for this type of reporting in the future.

To check out OCNN, go to www.motorola.com/ocnn.

Stefen Lovelace is an Associate Account Executive. Contact him at stefen@maroonpr.com.