RESEARCH: 2009 SUMMER OMNIBUS STUDY AVAILABLE FOR COMPLIMENTARY DOWNLOAD - Focus on MLB, Mid-Season Golfer Update and Fan vs non Fan Attitudes

›  Which professional sports are perceived to have gained the most in popularity over the past two years and which professional athletes are most admired? ›  Do baseball fans believe that Pete Rose or Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame?  Do they agree that the winning league in the All-Star game should get home field advantage for the World Series? ›  Should athletes be eligible for major sports drafts before graduating from high school?  Should there be a rookie salary cap? ›  How pervasive is the belief that the NCAA should institute a playoff system in college football? ›  Are golfers bullish on the short-term improvement of the economy, and do they still see themselves spending and playing as much as they did last year? ›  How do sports fans stack up against non-fans in their values and attitudes on technology,  their retirement and the pressures on American society?

LAST TO ADDRESS GOLFER TRENDS/MINDSET AT IBS USER CONFERENCE IN SEPTEMBER

SPORTS & LEISURE RESEARCH GROUP President, Jon Last will deliver two keynote presentations to golf facility owners and management at the upcoming IBS User conference in Las Vegas, September 21-22. Drawing from extensive tracking research on golfer attitudes, Last will examine key trends that impact golf marketing and player retention, and provide thoughts on opportunities and challenges confronting the industry as the 2009 season enters the fourth quarter. For more information on the conference, visit www.goibs.com/intro_to_registration.html

POV/RESEARCH: THE “SANDWICH GENERATION” PRESENTS NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPORTS, TRAVEL, LEISURE MARKETERS TARGETING A PRIME LIFESTAGE

For years, it has been an accepted belief that as affluent adults approach and move through their 40s, they enter the prime years when the desire for conspicuous consumption alone, makes them most apt to invest in big ticket recreational pursuits like country club memberships, exotic vacations and season tickets, to name a few. But as noted in the recent GolfWeek article on the state of private clubs, where I was extensively quoted, the entrance of those Americans born from 1960-1970 into this lifestage, presents unprecedented challenges, and a “new normal” for marketers looking to capitalize on this age demographic. READ MORE»

SLRG IN THE NEWS: DON'T BECOME AN ROI MEASUREMENT VICTIM

As sports property holders, sponsors and their agencies face louder and more incessant demands to demonstrate return on their marketing investment, it becomes all too easy to fall into the commoditization trap that has become so prevalent in ROI research today. SPORTS & LEISURE RESEARCH GROUP President Jon Last addressed the major pitfalls found in “typical” ROI measurement currency and suggested ways to navigate around them and derive more productive insights that can help optimize sports marketing relationships in an August Media Post-Marketing: Sports article. You can download the article here.

JON LAST TO DELIVER TWO SEMINARS/PRESENTATIONS AT IIR's OCTOBER 2009 MARKET RESEARCH EVENT; DISCOUNT TO NEWS & VIEWS READERS!

It's not too late to join SPORTS & LEISURE RESEARCH GROUP President Jon Last at the Institute for International Research (IIR) 2009 Market Research Event. This year's event will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada in October. Last will participate as part of the event's Research Industry Summit on Data Quality, a gathering of leading experts from the profession, being coordinated by Bob Lederer of RFL Publications, a leading publisher of industry trade publications and outspoken advocate of data collection quality efforts in the profession. In addition to participating in the Summit, Last, who has spoken at the event, twice, previously, will also chair a pre-conference seminar on “Do-it-Yourself” research. Readers of News & Views can learn more about the conference and receive a 20% discount on registration at www.themarketresearchevent.com. Use the discount code, TMRE09JLAST.