Sirius XM Fumbles The Ball Again
Sirius has had the NFL for years. Every year investors wait with baited breath for the NFL on Sirius ads to begin. Each year brings disappointment as very few ads are ever seen. The NFL kicks off the 2008 regular season on Thursday, Sept. 4 and there should have been, as there should have been for years now, a major campaign of “every team, every game!” It worked well for XM in the second quarter as we witnessed better than expected numbers. I attribute those numbers to a well run campaign to inform the masses of their MLB offering. I can still hear Big Poppy saying in that strong Latino accent; “read my lips, every GAIN!”
I have seen dozens of Direct TV ads for the start of the NFL season. Most people however have cable television and have very limited options when it comes to listening to their favorite teams. There are tens of millions of “out-of-market” NFL fans who do not subscribe to Direct TV. As a Dolphin fan who lives in the Northeast, this is one of my favorite things about Sirius….especially this time of year. The boys come over on Sundays and we barbecue and listen to the game on the back deck, shoot hoops or entertain the masses….
Yet not one commercial has been played. Not one print ad has been spotted. Sirius is fumbling the ball on this one, again. The popularity of fantasy football leagues has broadened even further the opportunity for Sirius XM to cash in on this very expensive NFL deal. With an estimated 35 million out-of-market fans, Sirius is passing on $5.5 BILLION in potential annual subscription revenue.
There are two places I know of to learn that Sirius XM has every NFL game. Sirius.com and NFL.com. Of course, you have to fish around the NFL.com website to find the radio link that links to Sirius, which of course you would have to be looking for to spot. And if not for a few mentions in conjunction with the signing of Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, another NFL season will kick off while others pay Direct TV $275.00 extra for football season, while the $12.95 Sirius option remains unknown to most fans.
It seems to me that if Sirius had no involvement with XM prior to the merger, that they should have had plenty of time to develop a marketing campaign directed towards the 2008 NFL season. If the merger had not been approved, it would have only been prudent that a forward looking business plan should have been put into place. The merger should not prevent Sirius from aggressively marketing one its most prominent content exclusives to increase productivity in the third quarter. It certainly did not stop XM.
Hopefully in writing this I have handed the ball to Sirius XM. Its now up to them to run with it.
Position: Long SIRI
Amen brutha.
Been saying this for years now.
They could have gotten Brett Favre to do a commercial saying how XM subscribers don’t have to “switch” teams anymore to listen to EVERY NFL game.
Or perhaps they could have aired a commercial with MAD DOG that not only promotes HIS new show…but the UPCOMING NFL SEASON!!
I’m no marketing genius…but COME ON. Pay me the big bucks…cause this is a NO BRAINER.
Sirius is definitely “dropping the ball” with in regards to the NFL.
You could even have Brett Favre or some other NFL star mimic Big Poppy with “EBERY TEAM EBERY GAME!” and then have Big Poppy pop up and say “HEY! Dats my LINE!”
That way it becomes clear that the new company has BOTH the NFL for the new season AND the MLB for the playoffs.
Anyway…whatever. We can only wait and see what Mel has to say after Labor Day.
BM,
I agree with you 100%. Have you contacted SiriusXM management and voiced your opinion? I have said this right after the merger, they had 17 months to put plans together in the event of merger approval. What have they been doing?
While I agree they should be advertising, I don’t agree that its the same as actually watching the games on TV
Mel stated he was an operator, not a visionary. Doesn’t he have a visionary on staff? Even an operator should have had a lot of things ready just in case this merger was approved. It hasn’t been that long since the merger was approved, but so far it does seem disappointing. And I read a lot of articles and comments where it is clear that a lot of people do not understand the basics of what happens now that the two are merged. I sure hope the holiday season has some great promotions at the retail stores and on TV/radio. I like many things better on radio than on TV, since you can do other things while listening, and avoid those long commercials. They need heavy advertising now while the merger news has created widespread awarness.
Brandon,
If you are a Dolphins fan, you have more problems to deal with than NFL on Sirius…
I agree completely. I have never noticed the issue myself because I am an XM subscriber, and XM is advertised faily decently throughout the baseball season.
Sirius has always had a marketing problem, though. When is the last time you saw a Sirius commercial in the last two years which really emphasized Stern? Or NHL? Or NasCar? The answer: You haven’t. You cannot pay top dollar to recruit this kind of stuff and then not advertise the fact that you have it. It is a waste of money.
I have seen lots of SIRIUS NFL advertising in the past. Two years ago they sponsored the post game show on the NBC Sunday Night game and they always had on during Notre Dame games as well. Also if I remeber correctly most of their ads were on DirecTV so it might depend on who your TV service is through.
In tonights Bills Vs. Colts game there has been a SIRIUS commercial durring every break. There was 5 in the first half hour alone. Is that enough for you?