Link: Marketing Mark
How big of an impact can Mark Sanchez have? That’s the question to ponder. Sanchez is a major hispanic figure playing quarterback in arguably the biggest professional sports league in the world, for a team in what is one of the world’s biggest media markets. Could he have as big of an impact as Yao Ming had on the NBA or as Fernando Valenzuela had on MLB?
Of course, it is huge pressure to heap onto Sanchez’ shoulders. And, of course, Sanchez must produce for the New York Jets. He must play well, put up the numbers and win. But if he can handle both demands, put it this way: New York would be only the second-largest market Sanchez would conquer. And it would be a distant second at that.
Hispanics are the largest minority group in the United States and are growing faster than any other group. The most recent Census figures indicate that by next year Hispanics will account for $670 billion in personal income, with Mexican-American households accounting for $409 billion of that total. Hispanics also are younger and trending upward financially quicker than every other demographic. It truly is the ultimate prize the NFL has yet to win.
The NFL first began to realize the potential more than 25 million Hispanic sports fans could have on the league several years ago. But the plan was disorganized. Marketing the demographic was left mostly to individual teams and, frankly, it was not a front-burner issue. In recent years, the effort has been much more focused and league-driven.
As much pressure as Sanchez has to be a successful football player and important figure for the Jets franchise, the pressure is folded over 10 times when you factor in his impact on the Hispanic community and for the NFL on a whole. Sanchez was a near-diety in Southern California and he could be just as popular in New York and nationwide if he’s successful. Sanchez could be more than just a QB; he could become a brand, THE franchise the Jets have been waiting for since Joe Willie hobbled out of town. Now all he has to do is go out there and get it done against men 5-10 years his senior who have been making a living at this since before he could reach the countertop. No pressure, Mark.
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Absolutely no pressure Mark.
OMG, I’m gonna do something really bad if I don’t see the Jets play. I may even commit murder. I HATE THE OFFSEASON
Corey:
Not for nuttin, but, saying that Mark (maybe) ………” playing quarterback in arguably the biggest professional sports league in the world ” Is a bit of a stretch, dont you think?
Soccer has hundreds, possibly thousands of professional teams in what, 150 countries as compared to what 32 teams (not counting UFL) in two countries? C’omon now.
Corey;
Lets not forget that the ORIGINAL Mexican was Plunkett. You may not recognize the player by his last name but I bet he is as much Spanish, if not more so, than Golden Boy.
Not only Mexican-Americans… If he can get the Jets big in Mexico, they suddenly rival the Cowboys in having the biggest market
Soccer does have larger popularity worldwide, but Corey’s assertion that the NFL is larger than any professional sports league is not entirely unfounded. What’s the biggest individual soccer league in the World? Is it the EPL? Serie A? The Spanish Primera Division? I’m not sure the NFL isn’t bigger than all of these. I don’t know how you’d determine how “big” something is though.
Plunkett is indeed more Mexican than Sanchez. Both were born and raised in California, but Plunkett had Mexican parents, whereas Sanchez is a third generation Mexican-American. Let’s hope Sanchez can achieve what Plunkett did and win a Superbowl (for the Jets)!
Bent:
As always, you are ON THE CASE !!. Thanks. hank
Bent:
PS. And Plunkett was raised in “El Barrio”.
Sanchez will be a bust.
This guy is small (more like 6′ than 6′2″) and doesn’t have a strong arm. Leinart reincarnated.
The mannerisms of Sanchez and Leinart are both the same and USC plays against weak opponents.
There is absolutely nothing that I have seen from his one full season that makes me believe that Sanchez is an elite QB.
Stafford has the arm and the weapons and will prove to be the next great QB in the NFL.
I expect Sanchez to have the type of career that David Carr had with the Texans and who is now with the Giants.
The hype is just too much. Stafford wowed everyone in minicamp with his arm and all the Jets brass had to say about Sanchez is that they love his footwork.
We don’t need Fred Astaire. The Jets had a rookie called Ratliff of which should have been given the opportunity to compete with Clemens.
Woody made the Sanchez pick and Ryan the Green pick. Both of these players will prove why the Jets are the worst drafting team in the history of the NFL. I have been a Jet fan for 40+ years and am still waiting for a great NFL owner and GM to run this franchise.
2009 will go down as the year that the loyal Jet fan spews venom on the current ownership for the lousy PSL deal that the greedy bastard handed to the most loyal of all NFL fans and for the laughable Sanchez and Green picks.
Yes 2009 will be a banner year for hate against the NY Jets and it will only get worse in 2010 although the blow in 2010 will not be so bad as Jet fans who told Woody to shove his PSL’s up his ass will get redemption as team finsihes season 2-14.
Brains unfortunately are lacking in this organization where it counts most and although Tannenbaum is a smart bean counter he is not a great GM and the HC will most certainly prove that he is the exact image of his father. Decent DC but lousy HC.
Let us not forget that Woody is the biggest NFL owner scumbag of them all and that he was a NY Knick fan who didn’t know anything about the game of football and is a spoon fed billionaire that has never done a thing in his life other than raise some funds for charitable organizations by using his dads name to extoll from other rich men.
The NJ Jets are in for a rude awakening and I can’t wait to watch this lousy team fall flat on its face.
If you’d like to read a load more rays of sunshine from Mr. Optimistic here, google “Rudy Iacono”.
rudy:
USC is in the PAC-10 – they DO NOT have a cake schedule and they played and beat up on Ohio State in an out of conference game and destroyed highly-ranked Penn State in their bowl game.
Its far from an easy in-conference schedule either! Some of the teams have had down years of late but generally I put the PAC-10 in the same category as the Big-12, just a notch or two below the SEC as arguably the second-best conference in college football.