The UFC "gets it"; Major League Baseball remains clueless

With friends in from out of town, I did not watch Saturday night's UFC championship fight only because we couldn't find a viewing location not charging at least a $20 cover. But we still looked for it. We still wanted it. And that alone says a lot.

Most Americans probably don't understand all the cage fighting rules and I don't think the UFC cares one bit. They have made their product interesting, personality driven, and based on what I read Sunday, controversial too. The UFC has smartly recruited top "wrestlers" from the WWE and put them in positions where these combatants actually have to fight. And let us not forget that WWE Raw (with all its "fakeness") is the top rated program nationwide on cable year in and year out.

Baseball, on the other hand, remains a PR and marketing disaster. Obsessed with obscure statistics and pooh-poohing controversial but interesting figures, the sport is just plain boring. And the TV ratings confirm it. Baseball's head honchos (plus the non-athlete writers which it gives too much power) subvert the game's strongest personalities, start games too late, look indecisive at critical junctures, and communicate to fans poorly.

From not telling a national TV audience (and the Tampa players facing elimination) whether Game 5 of last year's World Series would be called for rain, to banishing huge stars like Manny Ramirez (the most exciting pure hitter in baseball) into lifelong purgatory for something everyone did, baseball and its writers worry about all the wrong things. And some of it could be traced to that awful decision to declare a tie in the All-Star Game several years back.

"Well, everyone's out of pitchers", explained Commissioner Bud Selig. He completely forgot that millions of viewers had invested four hours into a game that now ended in blah. Not controversy - just blah. And because at that time, the All-Star game was purely an exibition, wouldn't it have been fun to allow position players to return and watch Derek Jeter try to pitch? Or A-Rod? Or Manny throw a fastball in dreadlocks? Now THAT would have been interesting! You can bet the ranch the WWE or UFC would have been all over that. But baseball misses PR opportunities all the time and then botches crisis management.

Hence, the overreaction that the All-Star game should be played for home-field advantage in the World Series. The exhibition beauty and fan appeal a sport like the NBA has in its All-Star game (top players trying crazy shots) is now non-existent in baseball's version. It's just another game with other teams' players most fans don't know.

Zzzzz.

No wonder speculation is rampant that tonight's All-Star game will be the least watched ever.

Meanwhile, the UFC is steamrolling its way to huge numbers and bigger audiences.

Interesting matters more than boring in 2009 - but then again, it always has.

"Exhibit A" Why WiFi Itself is Good Marketing

Several months ago, my Twitter friends at @SDTips wondered whether Amtrak would soon install WiFi on its trains. Turned out Amtrak had quietly installed this service on its DC Acela service – the same route VP Joe Biden takes to and from his home in Delaware. We all got a few chuckles over Biden and then dismissed the notion of ”Train WiFi” around the nation any time soon. After all, refitting older equipment with modern conveniences must be too difficult.

Or is it?

Fast forward to June – after a cross-country flight on Virgin America (who just put WiFi on all of its planes), I grabbed an early morning Peter Pan express bus from Boston to New York....fully equipped with WiFi.

Which got me thinking....if Peter Pan can offer WiFi on a $35 bus ride, why can’t Amtrak do the same on a $125 per person regional train running the same route?

Peter Pan and other bus carriers - including customer service grease fire Greyhound – are smartly taking advantage of market opportunities born from the recession and the “new entrepreneur”. Today’s 2.0 companies are willing to give up the dining car and some leg room in exchange for several hours of productive business on the web. And they’re saving precious money along the way.

As for Amtrak, they sadly have missed yet another boat. But misguided thinking is inherent in any business run by the government. And Amtrak is a business. While I’m sure President Obama’s vision of bullet trains between San Diego and LA will be nice...someday...maybe...why not save billions in “studies” and equip those existing Amtrak cars with WiFi right now?

People who don’t think offering a value-added service has real marketing value are out of touch with the word-of-mouth marketing power that is sweeping the globe via sites like Twitter, Digg and Facebook. This blog just gave Peter Pan Bus Company positive word-of-mouth marketing and handed Amtrak a little beat-down. Neither entity paid me a cent in advertising but these words are about to be tweeted to 455 loyal followers.

Meanwhile, Amtrak still spends a fortune on traditional advertising – billboards on highways, poorly placed outdated commercials, and even a rolling sign I recently saw at an LA Angels home game (and don’t remember a word of the content). No wonder Amtrak is billions in debt.