football

Neurologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received funding to study the brain following repeat concussions. The project is one of 15 around the country selected by NFL Charities, the charitable foundation of the National Football League Owners.

Commercials during the Super Bowl may be some of the most watched ads on broadcast T.V., but Olin marketing professors say social media has changed the game. Advertisers need to engage the audience before, during and after the game with strategies that include everything from smartphones to Twitter.

Marketing students, faculty and community members at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis will critique the television commercials that air during the Super Bowl during the 8th annual “Super Advertising Bowl.” For pre-game action and a presentation by Schupp Company about making commercials effective, join the Olin community for a panel discussion on Super Bowl Sunday, February 3, 2008, from 3:30p.m. – 4:15p.m. Members of the media are welcome to attend the panel and stay for food, drinks and the game, which will be broadcast via large-screen televisions.

Washington University’s Olin School of Business will hold the 7th annual Super Advertising Bowl from 3-5 p.m. February 4, 2007. The annual event brings together Olin marketing students and faculty to critique the television commercials that air during the Super Bowl. This year Olin students will be looking for “Commercials that Win the Consumer’s Mind”—those standout ads that will have people talking around the water cooler on Monday. The student-organized activity also raises funds for the Arthritis Foundation’s St. Louis Chapter.

Photo by Chris MitchellAbove is a selection of letters football coach Larry Kindbom has collected for his student-athletes since 1998 and self-published in his “Playbook of Champions.”Instead of getting his team fired up with movies or fire and brimstone, Larry Kindbom, football coach at Washington University in St. Louis, solicits motivational letters from successful people in all walks of life. He has received responses from people such as former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, Vice President Al Gore, Southwest Airlines CEO Herb Kelleher, sportscaster Bob Costas and a host of other notables. This year, Kindbom’s taken the responses and self-published a book, “Playbook of Champions,” for his student-athletes. More…

On the heels of a highly acclaimed book on the NFL comes another football tome from Michael MacCambridge. In an era of stat freaks, over-analysis and just plain numbers-crunching, the literary world — and sports world — needed a book like the ESPN College Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Game (ESPN Books, 2005). MacCambridge, adjunct professor of journalism in University College in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, took three years worth of exhaustive research by several football experts and edited it into an easy-to-read format. More…

No ad goes unnoticed: MBA students at the Olin School of Business evaluate Super Bowl XL commercials starting at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, with pre-game lectures by local advertising professionals.

Joe Angeles/WUSTL PhotoThe National Football League season has kicked off with a bang and once again, ticket prices are higher than ever. Fans who pay anywhere from $50 to $250 for a single ticket may grouse about the price, but Dan Elfenbein, a professor in the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, said football teams routinely under-price their tickets and online ticket scalpers are reaping the benefits.

How much are these seats really worth?That teams sell tickets at prices far lower than their market value may seem to contradict economic logic. On average people who buy NFL tickets from scalpers online pay more than 50 percent above a ticket’s face value. Markups are even higher in football-loving locales such as Green Bay and New England. Despite the disparity between face value and street value, a professor at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis says it actually makes sense that owners don’t jack up ticket prices even more.

Philadelphia but up a good fight during Sunday’s Super Bowl, but in the end the New England Patriots and Diet Pepsi were the clear winners–that’s according to the votes cast by faculty and students from the Olin School of Business during the annual Super Ad Bowl event.