Haynes and Boone, LLP announced recently a series of breakfast roundtables that explore topical issues in the sports and entertainment industries.
The next roundtable, “Planning the 2011 World Police and Fire Games,” will be held on September 9, starting at 8 a.m., at the Down Town Association (60 Pine Street) in New York City.
The World Police & Fire Games, which will be held in the City August 26 through September 5, 2011, will be a multi-sport, Olympic-style event spread throughout the five Boroughs. As many as 20,000 full time firefighters and law enforcement personnel from 70 different countries are expected to compete in 65 sports.
The organizers of this undertaking will discuss what goes into the planning and coordination of the games, securing corporate sponsorship and media coverage for the games and will also answer questions about what will undoubtedly be one of the most emotional sporting events that this city has ever hosted, given that the Games will be played out just before the ten-year anniversary of September 11, 2001.
The speakers will include:
• Jim Carney, President and CEO of the 2011 World Police and Fire Games
• Kenneth J. Podziba, New York Sports Commissioner
• Ed Manetta, Executive Producer of Integrated Media Union Square Sports & Entertainment
• Jim Donofrio, Senior Vice President of Business Development Career Sports & Entertainment
The moderator for the event will be Ed Schauder, Head of Haynes and Boone’s Sports and Entertainment Practice Group.
While attendance at these events is by invitation only, interested parties may access podcasts at the Haynes and Boone Web site. In addition, sponsorship opportunities can be explored by contacting Cari Peretzman at 214.651.5965 or at cari.peretzman@haynesboone.com.
The firm recently held another breakfast roundtable that featured four luminaries from the baseball world, who explored the business side of the major and minor leagues.
Entitled “The Business of Baseball from the Minor Leagues to the Major Leagues,” the session included Sylvia Lind, Major League Baseball’s director of baseball operations, who detailed the league’s efforts at worldwide expansion. That campaign now includes the World Baseball Classic, which features the U.S. and national teams from foreign countries in an extended tournament during non-Olympic years.
Another panel participant, Gary Perone, the Brooklyn Cyclones director of new business development, discussed the changing relationship between minor league teams and their major league affiliates. One example he mentioned was how minor league promotions have pushed the major leagues to experiment with new concepts and to re-focus energies on the stadium experience that fans expect when they come to a game. “The right mix of messages and give-aways can be invaluable in attracting press and fan attention to minor league’s smaller venues,” he said. One of his favorite examples was when the team for one day changed its name to the “Barack-lyn Cyclones.” The idea was to key on the fact that Brooklyn turned out to vote for President Obama in higher numbers than any other borough, giving away Obama bobblehead dolls and hiring an Obama impersonator to prank the crowd. “When you go to the gate before the game and you’ve got 5,000 people waiting for a bobblehead, you know you’ve done your job,” Perone said.
Emil Bodenstein, a baseball scout, fantasy baseball columnist and CEO of Locker Room Memorabilia, was another speaker. He told the audience that events like MLB’s Futures Games have provided new and valuable venues for evaluating foreign-born talent, as well as emerging US talent.
Art Shamsky, a member of the World Champion 1969 Mets, provided insight into one overseas effort to expand baseball. He discussed his experience as manager of the Modi’in Miracle of the Israel Baseball League, exploring the reasons behind that league’s failure and the promise of its resurrection in the future.
The Haynes and Boone Sports and Entertainment Practice focuses on representing franchise owners and executives, sponsors, film-makers and producers in the sports and entertainment industries.
