What magic will Magic bring us?

Word got out last night, and the sports world is buzzing about it today. Guggenheim Baseball Management has been named as the group buying the Dodgers, and this is the group that has brought Magic Johnson in as a part of the deal. All they’ve got to do is pony up $2.1 billion, cross a few thousand “t’s”, dot a few thousand “i’s”, get the bankruptcy court to approve and it’s a done deal.

So what does this mean for Southern California businesses and residents? Will people come back to Dodger Stadium? Will the fare-weathered fans of So Cal embrace Dodger Blue once again?

Often when I attend Dodger games, I’m sitting in one of the upper decks, but for this mega-deal, I was in a box seat right behind home plate. It turns out, one of the courses I teach at Pepperdine University is an Integrated Marketing Communications class, and this semester the class is doing a marketing plan for the Dodgers.

It gets better. I contacted the Dodger marketing and promotions office last year, and the have been helping my students with information background research on the organization. Just two weeks ago, I brought a delegation of students to meet with three of the Dodger marketing and promotions staff. They were gracious with their time and information, but they provided some real insight to what’s going to happen this year…and I’m not sure they even knew it!

Last year was the first in many where the Dodgers had season-long attendance under 3 million. They had a challenging year: the McCourt divorce, a bankruptcy, the Manny Ramirez fiasco, and the Bryan Stow incident. None of those helped matters to be sure, but here’s the important takeaway. Erik Braverman, Senior Director, Marketing & Broadcasting, told us, “Selling tickets is all about emotion.” He went on to tell us that when the team wins, when someone has a streak, when the weather is good, or there is a fun story about a player, people decide to come out.

Well, talk about “feel good!” Magic Johnson is Mr. Feelgood for Los Angeles!

I predict that, provided the deal goes through, we will see the Dodgers far exceed 3 million people through the turnstiles. We will see a return to Dodger pride, and we will see L.A. jump to rally behind the team.

And what’s good for Los Angeles will be good for the rest of Southern California. Good business for the Dodgers is good for the city, and what’s good for the city is good for the Southland. People will be more apt to travel down south to see the Angels and the Padres. Businesses can re-up their season tickets and begin taking clients back to the ballpark.

This, friends in Southern California, is a very good thing!

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BAD FOR THE BRAND™
http://badforthebrand.com/
Jonathan Fitzgarald is a friend of ours and is currently the director of  business development for a leading Los Angeles law firm. More than all that, he writes the best blog we’ve found—ANYWHERE—on personal branding. As his “about” pages says, “Drawing real-life examples from some of our favorite personalities in entertainment, politics, and business, BAD for the BRAND™ provides commentary and advice on managing and promoting a strong, personal brand.” This blog is worth every minute you put into reading it.

USABLE INSIGHT BLOG
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This blog comes from Dr. Mark Goulston, a “business” psychiatrist. Mark has authored a number of best selling books, including his most recent “Just Listen,” as well as countless articles. Mark has the incredible ability of cutting through the fog and haze that surrounds not only today’s fast paced business world, but also our lives in general. Usable Insight will not only help you make it through the night, it will help make your days better, too.

LUCKY NUMBER 13
http://robcohen13.com/

Rob Cohen is an estate planning and trust attorney in Woodland Hills. His blog, thought, is as much about life as it is about law. Sometimes it crosses into the world of law, but it more about Rob’s experiences and examinations of life in general. Reading Rob’s blog is kind of like listening to Andy Rooney, or maybe even a Jerry Seinfeld monologue. You can almost hear, “did you ever wonder about…” when you read it. It’s a blog that is sometimes fun, sometimes serious, but always worth a read.

Lewitt Hackman General Law Blog

http://www.lewitthackman.com/blog/

Lewitt Hackman is one of Southern California’s leading multi-discipline law firms. Their attorneys are highly respected, are active in the community, and are prolific writers. This blog, one of two the firm puts out, is just what the title says: General Law. This is a great one-stop law shop, with tips, trends, and updates on all sorts of different topics. And while it is basically a legal blog, it’s very interesting reading for just about anyone.

GRACE NPC’s BUILDING THE NON-PROFIT BRAND

http://blog.grace-npc.com/

Okay, this one may be a little self-serving, but that’s life. This is the blog written by our publisher, Jerri Hemsworth. When Jerri isn’t publishing Southern California Professional Magazine or designing award-winning advertising, she’s busy doing something for a non-profit. Building The Non-Profit Brand is blog she started to help Executive Directors of non-profits learn from the vast amount of research that is out there but sometimes hard to find. If you have a charity or philanthropy that is close to your heart, turn them on to this blog. They’ll thank you for it.

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