USA Swimming blow's it again

Clemmons - your point is absurd, NBC needs to "give back." They paid around a billion for the rights to the Olympics, they put the money up front BEFORE any ad contracts were signed. There are many instances of upfront sports contract like this killing companies. Now you are proposing in addition to putting their financial stake on the line they should also give away ad space to organizations they are already featuring in prime time? If you can get that going, you are on heck of a salesman. They could run a bottom line banner like ESPN with information on "how to contact" for a few seconds every few minutes, like going into or coming out of commercial time. Actually, that'd probably be way too often, but you get my drift.

Paul Smith - I was being sarcastic. Of course they are entrenched in their ways and disorganized. The Jessica Hardy case is a glaring example. Sorry....I'm OD'd on geek's sarcasm and at times find it hard to believe that anyone else can pull it off. So while were at it...how is USMS going to take advantage of all the great press and excitement of swimming? Saw a news anchor say she was going to start swimming today because she was so motivated.....hello USMS.

I need to help clarify this subject. USA Swimming may be entrenched in its ways but it is not disorganized. Jessica Hardy problem... caused only by the lab, not any thing USA S could have known or done at the time. The lab has taken total responsibility for the delays. And just to be a grammar Nazi, there should not be an apostrophe in the word "blows" in the title. To the point, USA S has done a remarkable job of public relations beforehand and will reap rewards after the Olympics are over. Spending millions on an ad or campaign during the event that has a dubious or marginal possibility of return would just be wasteful. For all of the things USA Swimming is, it is not stupid.

i think just seeing phelps swim and win will inspire kids to join swim teams and do summer league what do you think USS Swimming should be doing? It's kind of like with music marketing we don't jump up and down when SONY releases a new CD we buy artists we like and pretty much don't care who their label is it's a shame that tara kirk and lara jackson got screwed out of going to the olympics why can't swimming have alternates like gymnastics? why not train and take the third place finishers just in case They knew 4 years ago that the Olympics would most likely be a huge event for them with Phelps having a real shot at 8 golds... The press coverage about swimming /Phelps has been unprecedented Yet with millions watching the swimming events going nuts have we seen one blip from them? Not even a 10 second banner with the web address.... Even Croc's whose stock has gone from 70 to 4 in the last 8 weeks is advertising... A complete lost opportunity on their part...kids/parents who may know nothing about the sport will be seeking out teams and coaches and many will ultimately find them but can you imagine what could have been? Then again this is the same organization facing a massive civil suit for being inept in how it handles the JH situation...I've also heard that the notification was faxed to their offices on Friday the 18th and sat there for 3 days till someone noticed on Monday...nice.

On its face, this is a simple question but really quite complex. It would be millions during swimming finals but who knows during lesser sports or local spots or not on the main NBC coverage channel. A slick 30 second ad during prime time swimming would have cost millions and millions. I'm also not sure how much USAS would even benefit from commercials. I have a close friend who runs a gymnastics center and they go nuts in Olympic years. At our local swim club the increase in traffic due to the Olympics is also out of control. The spotlight on the sport is probably much more effective than an ad. NBC is already doing the heavy lifting for swimming by showcasing it, having USAS spend a few million on an ad wouldn't do a lot, in my opinion. However, a banner on the web site or links to USAS on the video section for swimming might be money well spent, but not sure how much that costs.

You're right, Paul. Ball dropped in a major way.

For what they charge for USA Swimming yearly membership, I think that they could afford one spot.

Why didn't you suggest this before the games? Trust me when I tell you there are people far more connected to the organization than I am who have. JS has mentioned 100x before that USS has never approached him or any other former OT/NCAA/National team members for support....I think I've seen one letter come to me. Seems to me that the organization is entrenched in its ways and somewhat disorganized...maybe the folks who run the show are simply "comfortable" and not really all that interested in putting in the time/effort/money to really attempt to grow the sport.

Paul/Geek, Wait a minute here. With the ton of money that NBC is reaping off the airing of this event, don't you think they could comp the various sports entities some free air time to show how/where it is you can make contact with a particular sport? I mean why doesn't NBC support the sports that are supporting NBC? This would be beneficial to all parties IMO. And no, I'm not looking for a "free lunch", just a symbiotic relationship.

I can see the point about missing an advertising opportunity but a statement like that alone is pointless. First, what would it have done - that's called the value proposition - that's not already being done? You have to quantify that not just make some statement. Second, how much would it have cost? Look at the advertisers in the marquee hours, these are multi billion dollar companies with huge obscene marketing budgets, market budgets probably multiple times greater than USAS's total budget. Also, you need to understand how this works. It's probable that you can't get a single ad, you have to buy a package and that is very very expensive. Swimming always gets a bump from the Olympics so not sure how spending huge $$ on an ad would help anymore that what NBC is already doing. Money better spent - Google paid ad when people google USA Swimming or Swimming or Local Swim Programs. Clemmons - your point is absurd, NBC needs to "give back." They paid around a billion for the rights to the Olympics, they put the money up front BEFORE any ad contracts were signed. There are many instances of upfront sports contract like this killing companies. Now you are proposing in addition to putting their financial stake on the line they should also give away ad space to organizations they are already featuring in prime time? If you can get that going, you are on heck of a salesman.