John Wooden Trophy Image Stands Tall, but Sponsor Drive Falters

Absent the sterling reputation of its namesake, the John R. Wooden Award would amount to little more than a stylish blend of zinc alloy, brass and polished walnut. Largely on the power of the legendary UCLA basketball coach’s good name, the Los Angeles Athletic Club has positioned it as the sport’s version of football’s famous Heisman Trophy.

Yet, as presentation expenses for the 23-year-old award grow--a top collegiate athlete will be honored with it this Friday night--the private club has been forced to weigh cherished traditions against the new need for sponsorship dollars to defray the costs. And the LAAC’s decision to control how the trophy’s image is used has dramatically narrowed the award’s appeal to sponsors.

“If a potential sponsor can’t use the [trophy’s] image in advertising, the question is, what are they getting out of the deal?” said Lance Helgeson, senior editor of Chicago-based IEG Sponsorship Report. “So if all you’re getting is your name on the program and a quick mention during the event, that’s not a lot for your money.”

The LAAC has scrambled to find corporate sponsors in the decade since club officials directed the Wooden staff to find alternative funding. Executive Life Insurance Co. was forced into bankruptcy shortly after signing on as the award’s first sponsor. Subsequent deals with a trading card company and a sports equipment manufacturer were short-lived. Imagyn Medical Technologies Inc., the club’s current sponsor, was delisted by the Nasdaq small-cap market last year after its trading price sunk below minimum levels.

The LAAC could make its sponsorship search easier by tapping into traditional sources of sports-marketing funds, observers say. But out of deference to Wooden, who retired in 1975, the club rejects revenue from beer and tobacco products companies. The trophy’s caretakers also nixed a lucrative deal with a national fast-food chain that wanted to turn the highly respected award into a popularity contest by passing out Wooden ballots at its restaurants.

“There’s nothing wrong with commercialism,” said Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, the longtime Wooden friend and LAAC executive who created the award. “I just would not subject Coach Wooden to anything I didn’t think wasn’t worthy of his name. And I would hate to have to tell Coach that a fast-food place was going to be advertising with pictures of our coaches and players.”

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Wooden, 88, is revered in large part because he demanded that his players excel in the classroom as well as on the court. Although Wooden recognized the value of athletic ability, he believed that success was driven by such attributes as faith, integrity, self-control and honesty. The annual trophy is designed to recognize athletes who display those traits--and each year, a handful of leading players fail to make the Wooden ballot because of academic shortcomings.

Executives at New York’s Downtown Athletic Club, which houses the 65-year-old Heisman Trophy that is awarded to a college football player each year, voice similar concerns.

“You can’t get greedy,” said Rudy Riska, executive director of the Heisman Trophy Trust. “What you don’t want to do for the sake of making money is to put yourself in a position that would come back to haunt you.”

How long can the purists’ attitude survive?

“Old-style athletic clubs like the LAAC and the Downtown Athletic Club are increasingly going to be run by younger sports-marketing professionals,” said David Carter, a consultant with Los Angeles-based Sports Business Group. “As a result, you’re going to see a continuing trend toward sponsorships.”

Sponsorships and TV deals are considered a necessary evil in the $5-billion sports-marketing industry, which is awash in awards and trophies.

“To survive, an award has to break through the clutter by constantly reinforcing its heritage,” Carter said. “But to do that degree of marketing takes corporate sponsorships, because these clubs don’t have the budgets.”

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Marketing has always lingered in the background of the Wooden and Heisman awards. Clubs that initially footed the bill for trophies viewed them as an effective way to market their facilities to potential members. More recently, college athletes recognized that the trophies could bolster their value when they turned professional.

Both awards have been part of television deals in recent years--the Heisman with ESPN and the Wooden with Fox. The clubs remain title sponsors of the trophies, but each has signed up presenting sponsors that, in return for six-figure payments, receive limited rights to use the awards in their marketing. And both clubs are recognizing the value of enlisting past winners to appear at golf tournaments and social gatherings where they mingle with the sponsors’ guests.

The better-known Heisman could become involved in additional deals that would result in Heisman clock towers being built on campuses where gridiron greats have played. The Heisman trust is working with an Atlanta licensing firm to install Heisman Trophy merchandise racks in college bookstores and is talking to a medical products company about a possible endorsement.

In a world where the Olympic rings are for sale, the two collegiate trophies represent a throwback to simpler times. Sponsors say there is a niche for awards such as the Wooden and Heisman.

“We’re a hamburger chain, and our whole business is merchandising,” said Denny Lynch, vice president of communications for Wendy’s International Inc., which sponsors the Heisman’s high school All-American team. “But one reason the Heisman and Wooden awards have their reputations is because they’re not heavily commercialized.”

Wooden award executives say they’re concerned about Imagyn’s financial difficulties but express confidence that the small company will continue to sponsor the trophy. Imagyn Chief Executive Charles Laverty said the company’s six-figure annual payment represents a solid marketing opportunity.

“We’re there solely because of who the award is based on and the principles that he represents,” Laverty said.

In return for its payments, Imagyn’s name is mentioned during the nationally televised awards program. It distributes awards banquet tickets to doctors who might buy its products. Publicity generated by the sponsorship “makes it easier to recruit on college campuses,” Laverty said. Wooden also has visited Imagyn’s Newport Beach headquarters to talk with employees about his coaching philosophy.

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Sports marketers agree that the Wooden and Heisman programs must continue to walk a fine line as they try to safeguard the integrity of their awards and their financial health.

“What we’re selling is history and our reputation,” Llewellyn said. “That’s a tough sell, but it’s not impossible.”

* ADDED REVENUE: Baseball considers putting ads on players’ sleeves. D1

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Team Leaders

The Wooden and Heisman trophies (named after college coaches) celebrate outstanding college athletes.

Heisman Trophy

Man behind the trophy: John W. Heisman, football coach at several colleges between 1892 and 1927. First awarded in 1935. (Heisman’s name was added on 1936 trophy.)

Television network: ESPN

Title sponsor: New York Downtown Athletic Club

Presenting sponsor: Wendy’s International

Most recent winner: Ricky Williams, Texas

Voters: Sportswriters, sportscasters

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John R. Wooden Award

Man behind the trophy: John R. Wooden, born in 1910 in Martinsville, Ind. The former UCLA men’s basketball coach won 10 NCAA championships and 19 conference championships and enjoyed four undefeated seasons.

Television network: Fox Sports Net

Title sponsor: Los Angeles Athletic Club

Presenting sponsor: Imagyn Medical Technologies

Most recent winner: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

Voters: 1,000 sports reporters at newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations nationwide

Sources: Los Angeles Athletic Club, New York Downtown Athletic Club