SBartlett's Blog
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Preface
Now with this concept of ‘simulation sports games’ on our hands these days, why not role play not only as an athlete, but as an entrepreneur. But now, change it up and you don’t have to role play in some aspects. What if you actually were managing a business in a way that paralleled reality with fantasy. What if success in fantasy land meant you were progressive with your own business intellect – learning business strategies that can be applied to real life scenarios? Learning how to draft contracts, send off proposals, accounting principals that save businesses money, investing tips and strategies, real estate management. That’s where my game concept plays on in the post below.
This project is the result of months of work, combined with years of my experiences in the sports management and marketing field. While at the University of Miami, I entered this business plan into the school wide entrepreneur competition. There were over 500 contestants, and I finished less than 5 points away from being the in the final two.
This work was derived from unconscious inspiration, unwavering dedication in my work and studies, and genuine love for doing what I do. Some ideas in this out line may be considered unorthodox; I consider them visionary and daring outlooks. This outline represents my pursuit to break into the game industry and change its landscape at the same time. Enjoy.
-SBartlett
Sports Management Educational Software©
Steven Bartlett
Bartlett Sports Group, LLC
Sports Business and Sim City Meets Higher Education
1.0 Product Ownership: The company is named Bartlett Sports Group, LLC. It was created and registered by Steven R. Bartlett in 2008. Steven Bartlett, 24, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education with a degree in Sport Administration from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in May 2009.
Since then, Steven has worked with International Management Group in sports marketing & entertainment on various projects including marketing and sponsorships with the Sony Ericsson Open 2010. Currently, Steven is a staff writer & game reviewer for OperationSports.com – dedicated to sports gaming. His experience writing for OperationSports.com as a regular contributor has given him the chance to learn about the market and needs of sport-game consumers; this includes one-on-one interviews with game developers on Fifa Soccer, NBA Jam, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf, Madden NFL 11, and more. Steven was recently accepted to Suffolk University Law School in 2010.
All rights are reserved for the following, but not limited to, the product description, theory, and foundation for the framework of an educational computer program solely to Steven R. Bartlett.
2.0 Products and Services: Business Management Edu Software Description
Our product is a form of educational software geared towards business and sport administration curriculums within places of higher education. The software’s purpose is to give consumers and students alike an overview of managing a sports franchise, from top to bottom. It places users in control of, but not limited to, managing finances, facilities, real estate rental and leasing, ticketing, management, marketing (sponsorships and promotions), contracting with other agencies while dealing with social, economic, and legal aspects of running a pro sports franchise.
Key Areas:
Accounting, Business Law: business organizations and personal property, commercial and creditor rights, legal and social aspects of business regulation, contract law, real estate transaction legal aspects, international business law, intellectual property law; Finances: financial management, investments, securities, wealth management, stocks, bonds, options, futures, trading, buying, selling, insurance, and loans; Facilities, human resources; Real Estate: rental and leasing, mortgaging, appraisals; Ticketing; Marketing: sponsorships and promotions, market analysis, international marketing, marketing; Management: operations, business models, business ethics, systems analysis, entrepreneurial science, organizational behavior; International Finance & Marketing, and Economics.
The key component of the product is our Sophisticated Solutions using business school curriculums for the software. Each course here at the University of Miami in the School of Business has certain lessons that must be taught. We will utilize these lesson plans to create goals within the software. Using definitions, formulas, and lessons from smaller college book publishers that have yet to venture in the multimedia segment, the course load will be unique to the institution’s syllabuses. These smaller publishing firms that wish to expand provide excellent partnership opportunities. The software will conceptualize the lesson plans learned in-class.
The software is to be built to stream and track all data across each segment of the business and rate your success equip with rankings and more. Essentially, you will be graded and receive feedback on your ability to achieve goals formulated from lesson plans and curriculums from respective universities.
Our unprecedented techniques allow students to build, manage and learn how all the aspects of their curriculum tie together. By applying the material learned in class onto digitally created scenarios, students have a chance to obtain hands on experience in ‘real world’ situations that will be beneficial for their overall understanding of the coursework. An all-encompassing multimedia experience that can be used with multiple texts is an indispensable asset to any educational establishment.
Revolutionize Education & Sports Gaming: Customization
At the same time, the sports in-game will be playable in the form of Sony Playstation 3 graphics and game engines. Groundbreaking software such as MLB ’10 The Show game play can be used as examples as how the sports in-game will play like. Users can score the game winning three against one another, and then run the front office from any department across the sports franchise they are in control of. Think: NFL Head Coach and Sim City meets a college curriculum.
If necessary, the sports game engines and graphics (on field) may be downgraded to last-generation systems. This will cut down on memory, and still allow users to enjoy the sports titles while customizing virtually everything on the field and in-stadium right down to the stadium sponsored drinks on the sidelines with considerable detail.
The facilities are to be constructed to the highest of graphical capabilities with, but not limited to, the Sony Playstation 3 computer as shown in the video-presentation. Our software theoretically may be developed for Mac and Windows based personal computers as well, but there are significant advantages using the Sony Playstation 3 computer with its graphical & processing prowess, networking capabilities, and memory storage at a substantially more economical price than high-end desktop personal computers.
Design your team's stadium
Further, integrating an online content management systems (CMS), users will be able to discuss with peers problems they wish to solve within the lessons. This can be done with the power of the Sony Playstation 3, and it’s universal serial bus (USB) ports and the Linux based Operating System custom built for the Sony Playstation 3 equip with word processing and web browsing. Our software will add to these capabilities.
Manage the facility and real estate with lesson plans from the textbooks
In-game CMS features will allow for: conversations and real-time editing of documents, strategies, and even share each other’s in-game interface together in discussion rooms. The main menu will include a web browser so students can feel as though they are on their personal computer’s desktop while the software runs. It will be a hub for news allowing for RSS feeds, instant messaging, and private message inboxes.
Other online and save features will include: friend lists, class enrollment list, course information, and document sharing including favorites sharing of websites and resources, threaded (archived) conversations for real-time edit, import & exporting features to personal computers, mobile updates, import graphics for advertising from jpeg files, e-mail & instant messaging system that transmits live characters as they are typed.
Our software will include, and not limited to any of the following aspects of sport and business to be customized:
Finance: hard salary caps, soft caps, revenue sharing, and other collective bargaining agreement structures from various professional sports leagues, TV contracts, stadium sponsorships, financing from various banks, credit unions, city bonds, etc.
Assign stadium sponsors, draft contracts with in-game word processor; review with professors.
Marketing: team marketing through newspaper, online, magazine, radio, TV, and event promotions; player marketing through newspaper, online, magazine, radio, TV, and event promotions
Facility Management: ticket revenue, parking revenue, field costs, surface and materials, premium seating, adding seating, vendor deals, weight room, aerobic room, rehab facilities, pools, spas, training rooms, MRI rooms, transportation for the team via bus or plane
Genereate foottraffic with business strategies and concepts found in lesson plans
Roster Management: lineups, injuries, IR, training assignments, coaches/staff, player progression, free agency, sign and release players, player draft, scouting, arbitration, player options, outright assignments, player contract limits, waivers, team options, and other CBA & contract structures.
For example, the software will engage users to draft authentic contractual agreements with sponsors that the real-life sports business industry demands, covering all legal, social, and economical aspects in fine detail within the contract. Once drafted, the contract (business deal) can be executed in the software, with results displayed via in stadium signage in strategic locations, PA announcements during live-games, or video board commercials just to name a few examples.
Also, users may start building a franchise from scratch starting with a geographical layout of land with a vast choice of facilities to choose from. Each facility type will possess certain attributes and advantages. For example, retractable roofs increase revenues to maximize events year round, but are much bigger to finance. Users will be given the option to zoom in on targeted gates of the venue to view the foot traffic, and workers at work.
3.0 Strategy and Competitive Advantages: At Bartlett L.L.C., we hope to create a sense of comfort and reliability for the consumers and also the institutions with which we deal with.
Strategy: An interactive teaching medium, such as our product, is bound to open doors both in and out of the classroom for its users and consumers. Moreover, each of our products comes with an institution- specific packages that cater specifically to the respective school we partner with through the use of school curricula, textbooks used, and also representation of colors, logos, mascots among other details. Our software looks to capitalize on the strengths of the current multimedia educational tools out there in a market segment that estimated to increase by 7.9% or $362 million by 2010.
Competitive Advantages: Creating individualized learning programs within our software with only the best technology available will help develop a breakthrough product that is unmatched in terms of flexibility and customization. Using definitions, formulas, and charts from respective book publishers, the course load will be present unique to the institution’s syllabuses.
Competitors such as Pearson’s My Lab, McGraw-Hill’s Math Zone, ThompsonNow have established online products, among other book publishing companies who also have established their ability to customize textbooks for specific institutions and professors. They have even customized some multimedia products such as online coursework and assignments. None of these companies have developed an interactive teaching medium such as ours that can simulate real-life business management linked specifically to lesson plans and course work. Our unsurpassed, beautiful graphics will make our product both visually appealing, entertaining, and a valuable learning tool at the same time. The goal is to make students feel comfortable while learning – not pressured to complete assignments on time.
Campus Technology Environment:What has given rise to multimedia content in general and integrated learning systmes in particular is the confluence of technology and instructional needs on campuses. Colleges are increasing their investment in hardware, software, training and related services. In 2006, Market Data Retrieval projected that technology spending would increase 35% that academic year to almost $7 billion from the year before. (Simba, 2006)
Maturing of the Consumer Base
According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average age of a gamer is 29 years old. This means that the average gamer has more disposable income than he had historically, when gamers were typically children. Additionally, with more adults playing games, they will spend more years in the target demographic. This shift in demographics has led to an expansion of the market. Each of the trends listed above has led to growth in the overall video game market. Further expansion is likely in the coming years as new platforms for gaming such as cellular phones emerge. The growth in the industry has also led to the consolidation detailed below as leading companies strive to control more of the profit in the industry. In particular, the market for console games has undergone some structural changes. (VC)
Although there are no direct products in competition due to the fact that our product is so specialized, we currently have limited competitors. However, we anticipate a rise in competition once our product surfaces. Many companies such as Microsoft and Macintosh will begin developing a similar type of softwares. There will be competition with software companies, like educational resources such as Sports Business Journal, and Kaplan educational tools. Potential competition exists within all sport resources and sport products. There are many softwares and games that will compete with our product, but none of them maintain the distinct ability to fuse important aspects of business and sports into one software.
4.0 Need or Problem Addressed: Sales and Distribution Methods for Higher Education Needs: The key areas where electronic media meets the needs of professors and students, particularly those with different learning styles, are homework assignment and help, automatic grading, assessments, and classroom response systems to guide in-class teaching and learning.
As digitally enhanced education continues to grow, the need for multimedia experiences linked to textbooks is in higher demand for institutions of higher education. Since more universities are asking for compilation style textbooks, a combination of chapters from several textbooks, schools are relying less on individual authors and more on a precise and exact fit for the curriculums’ needs. Bartlett Sports Group looks to capitalize on these needs with our sophisticated solutions that have never been used before in an interactive teaching medium.
Trends: The University of Phoenix demanded flexibility in curriculum programs, essentially dictating what it would buy- offering to purchase only parts of textbooks, and because it is the largest university, publisher complied.
According to corporate executives at HarperCollins Publishers, publishers are now inputting all of their titles digitally, allowing professors to go through different books and create and assemble exact texts they desire. Often, because of the very specific nature that the texts adhere to, multimedia equipment that covers all the necessary topics is difficult to come across. In speaking with the head of books sales at York University in Canada, it became clear that an all-encompassing multimedia experience that can be used with multiple texts is an indispensable asset to any educational establishment.
Socio-Cultural Needs: Enrollment in schools is increasing globally, accessibility and the global divide is lessening. As computers become a staple in day-to-day life, the need for educational software is increasing. Total enrollment in Higher Education by Enrollment Status has grown from 15,313 million to 17,916 million in 2007.
5.0 Target Markets: There are 3 main targets for our software: colleges and universities, sports consumers, software consumers.
The college publishing market is the 4th-largest segment in the Book Industry, generating $4.58 billion in net sales worldwide in 2006 (up 2% since 2005) in an industry of $37.65 billion. The Multimedia Materials segment earned $267.2 million in 2006 and $290.8 million in 2007. We are targeting this segment as it has steadliy grown with regards to Business, Accounting, and Sport Administration majors with colleges and universities. As our company grows, we will be able to diversify our products and target different segments in the college market. There are aproximately 18 million students in the U.S. We look to target these students on and off campus.
In addition, this product will be sold to the entertainment segment of the software consumption market which holds 20% of its prospective market. Our product appeals but it is not limited to: males in the age of 16-35. Also targeted will be the sports consumers. This demographic is intertwined with the software and technology consumers.We look to target espn.com users and viewers, yahoosports.com, fantasy sports players, EA Sports fans and sports videogame consumers.
6.0 Competitors:Houghton Mifflin Co.:Private, College Publishing Revenue, 2007: $242,483,970
Jones and Bartlett: Private, Revenue, 2007: $84,208,925, 140 employees
McGraw-Hill Education: Public NYSE, Symbol: MHP, Higher Edu Revenue, 2007P: $620,684,000
Blackboard: Public NASDAQ, Symbol: BBBB, Revenue 2007P: $231,000,000
eCollege: Public NASDAQ, Symbol: ECLG, Revenue 2007P: $63,500,000, 540 employees
Although there are no direct products in competition due to the fact that our product is so specialized, we currently have many competitors from different markets.We anticipate a rise in competition once our product surfaces. Many companies could begin developing a similar type of softwares. There will be competition with educational resource companies such as McGraw- Hill, Pearson, ThomsonNow products, and Kaplan educational tools. There are many softwares that will compete with our product, but none of them maintain the distinct ability to fuse important aspects of business and sports into one software an utilize it as an educational tool. Potential competition exists within all sport consumer products as well.
Research Proposal:
We at Bartlett Sports Group want to make sure that our target market has not fully matured. Sport products is on the rise and so is technology. It is our job to make sure we create a unique product to meet the new needs and wants of the sport consumers. Based on research of VC, we believe that the core hardware, game and software markets are fairly mature. They require extensive capital investment and strong technological knowledge in order for success. The best markets for investment are those that provide valuable new products and services to software developers, publishers and gamers themselves. These are the areas that will build out the industry as it undergoes significant growth, in which our product will be a part of.
7.0 Key Approach to Marketing: Our approach to marketing is very dynamic. We look to market into various markets as we stated above in section 5, taking a new approach to each market. We look to target the higher education markets, specifically multimedia tools used in Education (Sport Adminstration) 4.6%, Accounting 2.9%, Econonomics 2.6%, Management 2.5%, Business 2%, Marketing 1.6%. Overall, they account for 16.2% or aprox. $46.98 million of the multimedia sector. begin. Also, sports consumers and software and technology users are targeted. Each one of our three main targets has their own unique marketing tactics designed due to a different makeup of demographics for each target.
We will utilize online and offline marketing activation. We will use tactics with networking sites as, Facebook, MySpace and others, which connect sport lovers and consumers alike. We also hope to promote heavily through textbook companies that can offer our product as an addition to the compilation text they are providing. We look to market with ESPN, Yahoo!, Facebook, OperationSports.com, Sports Illustrated, and technology magazines.
A demo CD will be distributed to educational institutions worldwide, which will be included in the yearly software update packages that colleges receive in order to generate interest for our product and leave the consumer wanting more.
8.0 Feasibility of the plan: 1.Develop the software in house or by a 3rd party. 2. During the pre-sales process, we will test the software with school adminstrators, and set up our marketing plan. 3. We will develop a distribution method through different portals – primarily through the internet and internal or external factory distribution partners. 4. Proceeds go to distribution parteners and the developers, Bartlett Sports Group.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths:
Techonolgy driven, growing.
Unique, innovative niche product.
Segmented.
Higher Education & Sports Business fields are vast and growing; more demand for educational training materials/tools.
Gain first hand experience in these fields with the use of the product.
We are a new company that is capable of adapting to meet consumer needs.
Full leverage of product and product extension.
Weaknesses:
Untapped market.
Venturing into risky business.
Expensive.
Glitches in system (new product).
Opportunity:
Profitable Industry.
The company has the potential to merge with a bigger and better established firm.
Potential of financial backing with educational comapnies – can improve credibility.
If successful, possibility to venture into other markets (different segments, new products).
Threats:
Credible companies may produce copy-cat products, in which they have the financial means to produce them faster and more efficiently.
Software could be looked at negatively as an expense not needed. If consumer is unsatisfied with product.
The field of software and games has already been established.
9.0 Key Management Members: Steven Bartlett, 24. Working for IMG & the Sony Ericsson Open along with University of Miami Athletics Dept. for the last three years, Steven understands the functions of athletic event management from the bottom up. His experience writing for OperationSports.com as a regular contributer has given him the chance to learn about the market and the needs of sport-game consumers. Steven brings distinct qualities unlike any other leader – his tireless work ethic has been proven many times; After overcoming illness and heart conditions in his college career, he is still achieving while being a role model in his community with Big Brothers of MA.
Robert Tufo, 24, formally of BBH-Boston, is currently working in the hedge fund sector. Robert earned his undergraduate degree in just 3 years followed by his Masters of Finance in 2009 from Bently University proving his commitment to academic excellence and this is commendable. Robert has intangible experience in key financial areas that will bring quality leadership to his duties. With his hands on experience, tremendous motivation and phenomenal ability to accomplish goals, Robert is the best young professional that Bentley University has to offer.
Brian Bartlett, 28, has helped run the Strike One Sports Complex in Danvers, MA over the past few years. With his knowledge of sport and natural financial consulting abilities, he brings many qualities to BSG. His strongest being his gift to manage the personalites of our management team with his mature and balanced perspective. With so much desire and passion in BSG, Brian keeps the goal in focus for all. He is the true cornerstone to BSG.
10.0 Projected Revenue and Net Income: Our primary goal is to capture .5% or $1.45 million of the mutlimedia sector in college and textbook publishing in our first year of selling. This sector accounts aproximately $290 million in the U.S. The projected growth rate from 2006-2010 is 7.9%.
The specific disciplines under multimedia we will target are Education (sport adminstration) 4.6%, Accounting 2.9%, Econonomics 2.6%, Management 2.5%, Business 2%, Marketing 1.6%. Overall, they account for 16.2% or aprox. $46.98 million of the multimedia sector. Our specific and measurable goal is to capture 3% of this market segement which has yet to be developed, which is aprox. $1.45 million as stated above. Introducing a truly innovative and groundbreaking software for this segment, that has yet to show any signs of maturing untill the past two years, could capture a strong portion of the market share. The more specialized to this segment our software becomes, the stronger BSG becomes to establish great credibility to develop distinct products.
Estimating a cost of $2 million to develop our product, which includes overhead, distribution and development costs, it would take 7,250 units sold at $200 each (pricing for universities) to reach our market share for each of the first two years (aprox. $2.9 million) to break even and cover all initial expenses. This is a very realistic and measurable goal based on the investments and implementation of other education companies in multimedia. We expect a big return on investment by aprox five to seven years in.
Using ThomsonNow as an example, Thomson initially shipped 1.5 million units to 2,300 schools with some 1.3 million students trained on the product in 100 different courses. In the first six weeks of the fall 2006 term, one million students had signed onto the product and used it. Overall, the number of students registered for online coursework went up 29% from 2005 to 2006. Thomson has recently partnered with a technology company to develop open-source platforms for their products. BSG hopes to achieve similar partenerships as this trend continues to grow.
Also, Sport is projected to soon to be a $324 billion industry and the software industry is steadily growing in profits of $119 billion industry. In order to tap these markets, BSG will have to diversify its products and pricing.
BSG will develop smaller, less expensive packaged versions from $80-$150 of our software for these typical consumers comparable to the pricing of Windows Vista Basic, Home Business, and Ultimate, and Office for Students, Small Business, and Office Suite pricing strategies.
Works Cited
(2007 April 4). Reliance on technology, consumer influence were driving force at 7th annual resort management conference. Retrieved June 10, 2008, from Hospitality News – Industry News Web site: http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4...+trends+%2busa
(2008 March 3). Software Publishing in the US. IBIS World Industry Report, 51121, Retrieved June 10, 2008
Brown, R., & Washton, R. (2005). The US Men’s Market: Examining the attitudes, buying habits and lifestyles of the elusive adult male consumer. Retrieved June 10, 2008
Decker, Frank (2004). Rationale, Causes, Politics and Trends in Online Education. Retrieved June 10, 2008, from Trends Article Web site: http://educatoronline.org/trendsarticle.htm
Gellman-Danley, B, & Fetzner, M (1998). Asking the Really Tough Questions: Policy Issues for Distance Learning. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 1, Retrieved June 10, 2008, from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/danley11.html.
Mickey, K, Meaney, K, & Agostino, D College Publishing Market Forecast 2007-2008. Retrieved June 10, 2008
Shah, N, & Haigh, C (2005). The Video Game Industry: An industry analysis, from a VC Perspective. Retrieved June 10, 2008
Social Trends 2005. (2005). In National Statistics [Web]. Retrieved June 10, 2008, from http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1045
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# 2
SBartlett @ Jan 6
Thanks. I was going for an RPG style sports game. The business behind sports. I've worked in the sports industry a bit at both UMiami Athletics and with IMG so I wanted to convey all the business involved with events. It could be very educational and valuable to universities but I think it would just be an awesome type of game concept.
# 3
stlstudios189 @ Jan 6
the business side of sports is really intriging and would make a complex yet indepth challanging RPG type of game thumbs up
# 5
Seanzie @ Jan 20
Is this supposed to be fun? Honestly, it was very well written, but why not go out and actually start a business? Who wants to "edit documents" in a video game? I do that at work. I guess it looks more like an educational "game" than an actual RPG or sports management sim.
Seemed more like your own resume than an actual game concept though, if I'm being totally honest.
Seemed more like your own resume than an actual game concept though, if I'm being totally honest.
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