In the new media landscape every business must become a content publisher. How about a store that makes movies?
America’s largest sporting goods chain, Dick’s Sporting Goods, is offering public high school sports teams $2 million to help buy sports equipment. While most educators and politicians agree on the benefits of teens playing sports (physical health is tied to increased academic performance), the federal government does not allocate any formal resources to protect youth sports in the US. With $3.5 billion cut from public school sports programs in the past two years, a growing number of public schools are charging students to “pay-to-play.” As of 2010, 40% of public schools charge such fees.
To push its “Sports Matter” campaign, Dick’s has produced a documentary movie “We Could Be King” (airing April 26, 8pm on ESPN2) to drive home its message by showing the real faces of real kids in real troubled programs — Philadelphia’s Martin Luther King High School and Germantown High. This isn’t a long commercial. The 72 minute film is being directed by Judd Ehrlick (“Run for Your Life” about the New York Marathon) and distributed to film festivals (SXSW, Tribeca) by Paula Weinstein of the mighty Tribeca Enterprises. This week, the public company Dick’s (DKS) recorded a 7% jump in fourth-quarter earnings.
