Mobile ESPN To Sponsor NFBC Welcome Receptions

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:23 am

We're proud and glad to welcome Mobile ESPN to the NFBC family as we've reached an agreement with the new wireless provider to sponsor the Welcome Receptions in each city. We'll have more details on the actual events as we move forward, but we're off to a great start with this new partnership.

This is the first step in a relationship we think will expand as we both grow together. We'll provide coffee, juice and donuts in each city as you register on Saturday, March 18th courtesy of Mobile ESPN and we may even have something special on Friday afternoon in Las Vegas. Again, we're still working on the details but hope to have more news in the next few weeks. We might even have a nice giveaway in each city courtesy of Mobile ESPN.

In case you haven't seen it yet, this new cell phone is going to revolutionize transmission of sports news via the cell. According to Mobile ESPN officials, it’s the only wireless service made by sports fans, for sports fans. Launched nationally during the Super Bowl, Mobile ESPN is unlike any other wireless carrier, bringing a truly immersive experience to the diehard sports fan. The phone offers one-touch, personalized access to real-time scores, player and team stats, exclusive video highlights, breaking news, and game alerts, all with an easy-to-navigate, visually stunning display.

To check out the product, go to:

http://mobile.espn.go.com

We've got more announcements on the way, but this is a good start to the weekend. Again, more updates on this as we get closer to Draft Day, but we'll have some fun with this!

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:32 am

mmmmm jelly donuts

JohnZ · Post by **JohnZ** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 11:40 am

Me thinks we are the ideal group for testing this for a year...

Spyhunter · Post by **Spyhunter** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 1:29 pm

BTW: Some of my Deloitte colleagues helped ESPN do the strategy and plan on this project

Spy

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:03 pm

Originally posted by Spyhunter:

BTW: Some of my Deloitte colleagues helped ESPN do the strategy and plan on this project

Spy Toilet and Douche were involved with this project? Cool!

I saw this advertised during "The Big Game" -- actually looks pretty cool. I checked the link and service is not being offered in Queens yet. Interesting...

viper · Post by **viper** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:13 pm

In New York, if juice and jelly donuts are offered on Saturday morning, every one can save about $20 on breakfast.

devilznj · Post by **devilznj** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:08 pm

Hah! Yeah, I ate at the hotel "buffet" for breakfast at the NY Hilton last year with my daughter and her friend and it cost me $80 for some fruit and scrambled eggs. BRING ON THE DONUTS.....

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:18 pm

This bears repeating:

mmmmmmmmm jelly donuts

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:20 pm

Originally posted by devilznj:

Hah! Yeah, I ate at the hotel "buffet" for breakfast at the NY Hilton last year with my daughter and her friend and it cost me $80 for some fruit and scrambled eggs. BRING ON THE DONUTS..... WTF!! time to bring your own eats

bp_ · Post by **bp_** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:17 pm

Hah! Yeah, I ate at the hotel "buffet" for breakfast at the NY Hilton last year with my daughter and her friend and it cost me $80 for some fruit and scrambled eggs. BRING ON THE DONUTS.....

You gotta get a bagel while in NYC. It is the official breakfast food of the city and the cheapest option outside of a piece of fruit.

Heffer · Post by **Heffer** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:18 am

and the best bagels in the world

eddiejag · Post by **eddiejag** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:37 am

You would think for 350.00 dollars a night in NY , YOU WOULD GET A COUPLE EGGS. NOT.

bjoak · Post by **bjoak** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:50 am

I want to know if they will be presenting demos on the phone.

[ February 13, 2006, 10:51 AM: Message edited by: bjoak ]

GoldenEagle · Post by **GoldenEagle** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:55 am

If anybody is bellyachin' about the price of breakfast in NYC, you'd better hold on to your wallet when you check out the price of the ESPN Mobile.

The 900 minute/month voice plan is $84.99/month but only includes 100 messages/alerts. So it's another $7.99 for 500 extra messages/alerts. And the insurance on the phone is $8.99/month. So that's $102 plus tax so you're looking at out of pocket of $125/month out of the gate or a cool $1500/year.

Plus roaming out of network is $.49/minute and the overages aren't showing...

And do you really want to read an entire column by Peter Gammons or Jayson Stark on the tiny type size of your cell phone?

And if you really love the GameCast or watching replays, you're going to suck up an hour or two a day during baseball season, so that will cause you to need a 3000 minute/month plan, which is $174.99/mo. With text, insurance and tax, that's about $220/month or $2600/year.

So even if they gave away free phones ($199 price) to everybody, ESPN would be raking it in.

[ February 13, 2006, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: GoldenEagle ]

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:09 am

Thanks for the info, GoldenEagle. That was really useful, as I had not yet taken the time to research what the service pricing would be.

That said...

Marketing 101: MobileESPN correctly figures that people who are willing to pony up $1,250 for a fantasy baseball league are probably an excellent target audience for a device that will rack up $2,500 in annual charges.

I'm still on the fence about whether I would sign up for this--it's not even available in Queens as of now. That said, I will definitely enjoy the demo and, more importantly, the free breakfast buffet.

GoldenEagle · Post by **GoldenEagle** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:20 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Marketing 101: MobileESPN correctly figures that people who are willing to pony up $1,250 for a fantasy baseball league are probably an excellent target audience for a device that will rack up $2,500 in annual charges. Yes, good test marketing opportunity for ESPN. Because if they get a really low response rate from this narrow group of very enthusiastic 300 with disposable income, then they know their chances of getting better percent response from a broadcast audience will be even tougher...

The concept might be a bit ahead of its time. And the Internet isn't broken. Most fantasy guys need time to sit down and digest what they see, compare data to their roster, free agent list, standings, etc. and not simply catch a score on the run...therefore the utility value of the MOBILE part is diminished to fantasy owners.

[ February 13, 2006, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: GoldenEagle ]

viper · Post by **viper** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 8:43 am

don't recall reading that I had to get a phone in order to eat their jelly donuts. Still, buying some bagals, cream cheese and OJ the night before seems like a wise idea.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:27 am

after this year, they should have a "Gekko phone" in honor of the first guy to win 100K in fantasy football and baseball

Rey · Post by **Rey** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:44 am

Gekko Phone. I like it.

We can pack it with loads of features, like the "Muuuaaahahahhaha" ring tone, and free text messaging, to allow users to write on and on and on.

Unfortunately, the phone comes with a $100,000 price tag...but only during Football season. During baseball season, we can market it as a $100,000 phone, but actually sell it for free.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:42 am

Originally posted by Rey:

Gekko Phone. I like it.

We can pack it with loads of features, like the "Muuuaaahahahhaha" ring tone, and free text messaging, to allow users to write on and on and on.

Unfortunately, the phone comes with a $100,000 price tag...but only during Football season. During baseball season, we can market it as a $100,000 phone, but actually sell it for free. this is classic!! thanks for the belly laugh today. well done!

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:02 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by Rey:

Gekko Phone. I like it.

We can pack it with loads of features, like the "Muuuaaahahahhaha" ring tone, and free text messaging, to allow users to write on and on and on.

Unfortunately, the phone comes with a $100,000 price tag...but only during Football season. During baseball season, we can market it as a $100,000 phone, but actually sell it for free. this is classic!! thanks for the belly laugh today. well done! [/QUOTE]Props to Rey.

Out of curiosity, will MobileGekko be sponsoring the "red herring" message board posts over the next 4.5 weeks? I need to know which players to place on my MUST HAVE list.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 11:51 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Out of curiosity, will MobileGekko be sponsoring the "red herring" message board posts over the next 4.5 weeks? I need to know which players to place on my MUST HAVE list. MobileGekko will be telling people what must be told

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:10 pm

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

quote:Originally posted by King of Queens:

Out of curiosity, will MobileGekko be sponsoring the "red herring" message board posts over the next 4.5 weeks? I need to know which players to place on my MUST HAVE list. MobileGekko will be telling people what must be told [/QUOTE]You're ruining all my fun -- I was hoping to steal Chris Young in the 8th round. Now I'll have to reach for him in the 7th.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:13 pm

Originally posted by King of Queens:

You're ruining all my fun -- I was hoping to steal Chris Young in the 8th round. Now I'll have to reach for him in the 7th. it's not about fun. it's all business playing at these stakes.

GoldenEagle · Post by **GoldenEagle** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 3:37 pm

MobileGekko phone would have dedicated buttons for:

TRASHTALK

DISINFO

INSERTPIC

BRAG

EGOBUILD

[ February 14, 2006, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: GoldenEagle ]