By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com
TORONTO - SEPTEMBER 26: Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during their pre-season NHL game at the Air Canada Centre September 26, 2008 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- It had been a long day -- with another jet flight to come -- when Sidney Crosby wrapped up an interview scrum in the Penguins' locker room Thursday night in Helsinki, Finland, after an exhibition win.
A small line of people, including reporters and at least one employee of the Helsinki arena, approached with objects for the hockey star to sign. Crosby, always one to accommodate, began to comply before team officials stepped in to let the seekers know that this wasn't the appropriate setting.
Some 90 minutes later on the Penguins' charter back to Sweden, a flight attendant hurried to an overhead bin when the team operations liaison stepped to the lavatory. She pulled out a Mario Lemieux jersey and headed to where the players were relaxing and dozing in the rear for -- what else? -- autographs from Crosby and Co.
"He's very well known in Europe, for his performance on the ice as well as his marketability off the ice," Ken Yaffe, senior vice president of NHL International, said of Crosby, who turned 21 in August.
"He's been profiled by the media [in Scandinavia] because they cover the NHL as if it was a local league."
In only his fourth year, Crosby has been crowned as the league's preeminent marketing figure, both at home and abroad.
When the league decided to inaugurate an outdoor Winter Classic, Buffalo was chosen as the site, but there was little doubt the Sabres' opponent last New Year's Day would be the Penguins. In fact, NBC, which holds the U.S. broadcast rights for NHL games, pretty much insisted on it.
And when the league was looking to bolster its brand in Europe with two sets of regular-season games, it chose the Penguins and Ottawa Senators to play last night and tonight at the Globe Arena here, and the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning to play the same nights in Prague, Czech Republic.
"From the brand side, they are really front and center," said Brian Jennings, NHL executive vice president of marketing.
"Clearly, Sid is the star, and there's a ton more star power there with [Jordan] Staal, [Marc-Andre] Fleury, [Evgeni] Malkin and so on. With Sid, it's because of the type of person he is, and, clearly, he's a gifted athlete and fierce competitor. It's a real potent combination."
In 2005-06, after the Penguins won the right to draft Crosby in a lottery, he had 102 points to break Lemieux's rookie record and finished second in league rookie of the year voting. The next season, Crosby swept the league scoring title and MVP awards. He was tied for the NHL scoring lead last season when an ankle injury cost him 28 games.
"The second that [lottery] ball went to Pittsburgh, it became like this beacon of light -- OK, now there's hope and possibilities for this franchise," Jennings said. "Then, all of a sudden, it's tangible. You see this building momentum."
Third-year Penguins general manager Ray Shero has helped build around Crosby, drafting and/or negotiating long-range deals with centers Malkin and Staal, goaltender Fleury and defensemen Ryan Whitney and Brooks Orpik.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby controls the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against Ottawa Senators Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 in Stockholm.
(AP Photo/Niklas Larsson)
Malkin so far has remained more in the background, but that's mostly because the Russian player has been reluctant to speak English in public. That's changing, meaning his marketing value could soar, considering that with Crosby gone for a chunk of last season, he finished a close second to Washington's Alex Ovechkin in the scoring and MVP races.
Shero said the team's marketing value can be summed up in very few words.
"Two in particular," he said. "Crosby and Malkin. Or Sidney and Crosby."
Crosby's teammates understand the draw of the team's stars.
"Whenever you can get Sid and Geno [Malkin] over [in Europe], it's a little bit different from taking a different team," center Jeff Taffe said.
Perhaps Malkin will catch up, but Crosby, a well-spoken Canadian with all-American good looks, has a big head start.
There is essentially no NHL ad campaign or promotion that doesn't feature or at least include Crosby. Last year, the top-selling item on shop.nhl.com was a Penguins DVD of their 10 greatest games. Also on that league sales site, Crosby's jersey topped sales among player merchandise every month from September 2005 until February 2008, which is just after he got hurt. Ovechkin took over in March.
Crosby also is the most-searched player at shop.nhl.com the past three years. In addition, the Penguins' Web site led all United States teams in hits the last three months of last season.
Asked if he understands why the Penguins are coveted for special events, Crosby smiled and looked at the floor.
"I think we have a lot of guys who bring a lot of attention," he said. "That's something we should all be happy to be a part of. We should feel fortunate we get these opportunities because these are things not every guy gets a chance to do."
Although Crosby has been able to move around Stockholm with his teammates in relative anonymity the past week, the games here are hardly overlooked. They sold out quickly as did the exhibition Thursday in Helsinki, where the Penguins beat the Finnish pro team Jokerit, 4-1.
"We're honored the league thinks of us as one of the marquee teams," Penguins president David Morehouse said. "It is an exciting, energetic young team that I think a lot of people are falling in love with not only [in Pittsburgh] but across the country and across Canada and now exposing a European audience to."
So that means even more people will want a piece of Crosby -- or at least his autograph.
Shero doesn't have to look farther than several friends to know that.
"When we were leaving for Sweden and Finland, they dropped me off jerseys and stuff to get signed -- Crosby and Malkin jerseys," he said.
Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721.
First published on October 5, 2008 at 12:00 am
Sid is definitely great for marketing. Although Alexander Semin doesn't think so
ReplyDeletebut this is my take on how some athletes are able to create their own brand while others are not.
not every athlete is marketable, they have to have at least one of the four attributes i have written in my blog
http://jib-sports-culture.blogspot.com/