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Introduction

A Brief History Of Sports Talk Radio

All About Rome

The Importance Of Being Jim Rome

The Long History Of Sports Talk Radio In Madison

How Madison Won A Tour Stop

Now The Real Work Begins: The Setup

The Big Day: Anatomy Of A Jim Rome Tour Stop

To The Winner Goes The Spoils

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It's the big day. Clear Channel-Madison Account Executive Jenifer Connor is jubilant. She's carrying an armful of "Badger Bells" and a broad smile for everyone she meets.

The Badger Bell promotion to raise money Make A Wish was her idea and Connor was pleasantly surprised by Jim Rome's reaction.

"A couple weeks ago, I sent Romey a bell," Connor says, "and he just started ringing it. He said these bells are phat. Yesterday I talked to Romey and it was like, 'this isn't the Ice Bowl, but Romey, you're going to do the Ice Tour.' He rang my bell right there."

Rome isn't due to hit the stage for another couple hours, but Connor is already partying. After all, several weeks of hard work is done and it is now time to celebrate a job well done.

"We've been working our little tales off," Connor says.

****

After winning a Jim Rome Tour Stop for Madison, something many would have considered unthinkable, ESPN1070 Operations Manager Tim Scott had to be thinking of the old adage, "be careful what you wish for, you may just get it."

Fortunately, Scott and his staff had ten weeks to pull the event together; they had known Madison had won the Tour Stop a month before the public announcement

Still, ten weeks proved a short time for all the work that had to be done. Money was needed to pay for production costs. They had to go out and sell. Somehow upward to 10,000 to 15,000 event tickets—ducats in the Rome gloss—had to be distributed. And they had to go out and sell. A production company needed to be selected and supervised. And they had to go out and sell. Guests had to be books. And they had to go out and sell.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that they had to go out and sell?

"For four months," Scott said, "I basically shut down. I passed the ball on all my duties at IBA (WIBA AM, ESPN1070's sister station) to someone else because I had to focus that much attention on that. It's a living, breathing thing."

For Scott, the bottom line was literally the bottom line.

"Our goal with this was just to break even," Scott said. "We did and we made a little bit more. We weren't in this to make money. We were in this to promote our product and our station."

In the meantime, however, Scott knew full well that his head was the one on the chopping block if things it didn't work. Clear Channel, which owns ESPN1070, would not bail him out, nor would it help defray costs, but the expectations were clear.

"Here's the response I got from corporate," Scott said. "'You better pay for it. You better make sure you've got this covered.' That's what we got from corporate.

"You have to understand. The misconception is that Clear Channel oversees, that there's a guy in San Antonio or there's a guy in Covington or there's a guy in Cincinnati that says, 'Tim, do this. You gotta play these songs. You run these talk show hosts. We're going to bring in Jim Rome because you've been a good affiliate.' That's bullshit."

"If Tim Scott doesn't produce at this level, Tim Scott's out of a job. If Tim Scott and (General Manager) Jeff Tyler don't cover the costs of Jim Rome, Tim Scott and Jeff Tyler won't be able to talk to you. It's our responsibility. Our necks are on the line here."

According to Scott, the issue of what in some ways is an incidental relationship with Clear Channel popped up when they shopped for a production company to do the show. Clear Channel Entertainment produces concerts, but could Scott expect a sweetheart deal because his station is a Clear Channel affiliate?

"When we went out to get bids for the production costs, we didn't even go with Clear Channel Entertainment because it was too expensive," Scott said. "So we went with somebody else. So there's my help from Clear Channel. They didn't even give me a break."

The production company that proved cheapest had actually worked with Rome before on the Kansas City Tour Stop. Scott said that prior to the Kansas City event, held earlier in 2002, each Tour Stop had it's own production company, usually based in the the Tour Stop city.

"Well, so some shows are better than others," Scott said. "They had this group in Kansas City that was contracted to put on the show. It was the most incredible show they'd ever done. They said afterwards, 'you know what. Let's just use one guy and so anybody who wants a Tour Stop, you can go and seek out other bids.' But there was a criteria you have to follow and what they did was they took the production manager who put on the Kansas City show and said if you want to use a different production company, that's fine, but Jimmy Delmonico, he oversees that whole show.

"We sent out bids to other places but decided to go with Jimmy because it was just as easy and it was cheaper than anybody else. They gave us a good deal because of our market size and I think there was a real willingness from their standpoint to make this happen."

With this headache all but eliminated, Scott was able to concentrate on how he was going to pay for the event. Scott said one thing he learned was the importance of having a good staff. However, at ESPN1070, his staff was essentially him and former Aaron Sims, his former co-host on the station's local show, "The Bullpen." Otherwise, it's essentially a syndicated radio station.

"We had to take as much staff from the IBA sales staff as we could," Scott said. "It wasn't easy. It really wasn't easy. We busted our ass to make it happen. The reason we did is they told us, everybody who had a Tour Stop found you can't put a price tag on hosting one of these events. The residuals you'll have if it goes off well will last you a lifetime. You can't spend the amount of money in billboards and television and newspapers that will equal the goodwill you'll get from hosting one of these events."

Scott said a potential contentious issue at this stage was the fact that his programming staff had to work closely and extensively with the sales staff, but the two sides worked well together. The process also heightened a sense of mutual empathy between sales and programming which Scott said should pay long term benefits.

"For our staff, it was great for them to, from a sales standpoint and from a programming standpoint," Scott said. "It's typical at most radio stations, that sales goes this way, programming goes that way. Every once in awhile, they meet. What happened with us was it forced everyone to come together because they had to depend on each other.

"Sales has a much better understanding of our product and what we're trying to do which is going to help us in the long run because if you're selling a product and you know everything about it, you understand it, you've been involved in the on-air process, the programming process, it's going to make it that much more sellable.

"You go to a client, the client asks you a question like I want to do this promotion. They've had experience. They understand how programming works and how sales works.

"My on-air guys, they were always like sales is sales. They're the ones that drive a Lexus. I drive a Ford Escort. Well, it brought them together. Programming has a better understanding and appreciation of how sales works. They understand now the pressure these guys are under.

"My neck would've been on the line if this thing flopped from a production standpoint. Sales' neck was on the line if we didn't break even. Well everyone worked behind the scenes from an on-air standpoint. They saw how much pressure these guys were under. The constant meetings every day to make sure things were getting sold, that we met our goals. For some of us in this building, myself included, there were some sleepless nights."

Probably the best example of this teamwork involved the ticket drops, where thousands of ducats were distributed. It was a process where all parties were involved. Sales found the willing businesses, management scheduled the ticket drops and on-air personalities put the station's face on the event.

The ticket drops dovetailed nicely with sales. Most of the ticket drops were held at bars and restaurants, but some were held at other places like auto parts stores and jewelers—basically anywhere where they were welcome.

"We sold the ticket drops," Scott said. "They were part of a sales package. I had it all mapped out. I knew a month in advance where I was going to be. Obviously, we didn't tell the listeners because we wanted to keep the interest going.

"There were some people who were frustrated about the fact that we didn't just hand you some. Because we had so many weeks before the show, we had to keep the interest alive. I'm not saying the interest wouldn't be there in the show. It's just to keep the momentum there.

"About three to four weeks into the ticket giveaways, it kind of leveled off, but the last two weeks it got right back.

"We went to some places where we were just overwhelmed. The stories we have, the pictures we have of people waiting in line. It's crazy."

Sales staff set up the ticket drops by letting these businesses know that they would be mentioned on the air and that on the appointed day, a flood of Jim Rome fans would walk through the door.

Sometimes "The Bullpen" did live remote shows from these businesses; sometimes the ticket drop would start before or after the show.

For the sales staff, the ticket drops were an excellent icebreaker to bring aboard potential sponsors, and this had to have been an attractive selling point to the sponsors, especially the way many of the ticket drops were conducted. For instance, if the ticket drop began at six in the evening, people might line up at five, but ducats might not be distributed until eight.

"You didn't force people to buy," Scott said, "but the idea is you know what will bring them in your building. We'll make them stay an hour. Now if you don't bring enough wait staff to go up and down the line asking people if they want something to eat or drink, that's up to you. All we can do is guarantee we will put people in your building."

I commented to Scott that at times it seemed like everybody was standing there with their hands out. He got a bit testy at that.

"I guess that's an interesting way to look at it," Scott laughed. "I guess I don't agree with it. Sitting on the other side of the desk, put yourself in my shoes. You have to understand to put on a show like this, it's a tremendous financial responsibility. Not everybody is going to be happy with it.

"You have to understand too that part of the advertiser's deal is that these are people maybe that know about their club. Primarily, most of them didn't, so what they wanted was people to stay in their club awhile."

Overall, the process of distributing enough ducats to ensure a packed house was indeed daunting, especially considering that Scott knew full well that to draw 9000 people to the event, the station would have to distribute considerably more ducats than that. A few other area stations were given ducats to distributed, but Scott said he couldn't depend on them to hand out enough.

"I can't even tell you how many ducats we got," Scott said. "That was the tough part on putting a number on attendance because you didn't know. And remember, with a free ticket, there's not a financial commitment to go. If you paid twenty-five dollars for a ticket or say a hundred and fifty for Elton John and Billy Joel, you're not going to miss it."

According to Scott, there were around 30 ticket drops. He and the rest of the on-air staff covered most of southern Wisconsin. His favorite story involved maybe one of the most off-the-beaten-track locations, the Countryside Inn in Edgerton, just northwest of Janesville, in the southeastern corner of the state.

"It was Friday night," Scott said. "It was like a little diner restaurant type place. Typical place and they provided us with every special that night for us to try. We had steak. We had broiled fish. We had battered fried fish. We had french fries, cheese curds. It was wrong, all this food. Our cholesterol level must have jumped a hundred percent."

In general, Scott said the process was, "kind of neat. Mainly it was just the people that was neat. In our business, you don't touch enough people. We can't see our audience. It was really a good experience for us to find out who are listeners are."

Let's see, so they've got the barn and the scenery, the tickets are distributed, the sponsors are lined up, just one thing is missing—guests, and it wouldn't be a Jim Rome Tour Stop without guests.

According to Scott, the dynamic between the radio station and Rome's people, in terms of booking guests, was simple.

"We did everything," Scott said. "They didn't do anything. We did it all. That's the thing you have to provide, all the guests. They don't track them down. We do."

But there's one advantage to booking guests for a Tour Stop.

"You know what it cost us to bring all these guys in?" Scott said. "They did it all for free. That's the amazing thing."

In the post event press conference, Rome commented that he felt the roster of guests was very good, and it was probably the largest number of guests ever at a Tour Stop. The list included Badger Football Coach Barry Alvarez, Badger Basketball Coach Bo Ryan, Milwaukee Brewers Manager Ned Yost and Milwaukee Brewers President Ulyce Payne, Green Bay Packer offensive tackle Mark Tauscher, Madison golfer Jerry Kelly and Packer legends Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston.

The process of booking guests actually began with the bidding process even before Madison won the Tour Stop. In the package, Scott included a list of potential guests. Once word came down that the Tour Stop would be held in Madison, it was time to work with that list for real.

According to Scott, Rome's people made certain suggestions as to who they wanted to see on the guest list. Scott then submitted a list of who they could get. In so doing, me mined all the connections he had accumulated in years of working in radio in Wisconsin.

"Then we met in the middle," Scott said. "They wanted Fuzzy Thurston because they had met him. They wanted Fuzzy again. With Jerry Kramer, I had some connections with Jerry through charity events we'd been involved in.

"With the Brewers, I know some people over there real well. So I told them, 'I know where you guys are going and what you're trying to do. You need to be here. You need to be in front of these people.'"

Yost and Payne were booed by the Madison crowd. Scott was not surprised by the reaction. Most likely, neither were Yost nor Payne, but they both probably knew it was important to come and face the music.

"I knew that was going to happen," Scott said. "They knew it was going to happen. I said, 'you need to be here. These people need to hear your message.'

"They do these community outreach programs in different markets. Somebody's assigned to Madison. Somebody's assigned to Green Bay. I said, 'all these people are going to be here in one spot. It's like having your winter caravan all rolled into one.' I said, 'get on-stage and tell them your message.'

"They bought into it. They said yeah. They still joke about it. It was pretty rough. Romey was nervous about what the crowd was going to do."

Scott said at that time he submitted a list of guests he actually thought he could get for that date, keeping in mind the fact that players on the Packers active roster were unavailable because there was a game the next day. For the same reason, Milwaukee Bucks were most likely unavailable, though actually, Scott said they almost got Ray Allen and Tim Thomas, but at the last minute Bucks Coach George Karl apparently vetoed the appearance. The Bucks played a home game that night, but Karl mostly likely realized it would have been difficult to explain why two starting players were stuck in Madison, if a sudden snow storm had struck.

Alvarez and Ryan were not difficult to secure because, obviously, they both live and work in Madison, though they both had to squeeze their Tour Stop appearance between practice and film sessions. Tauscher was available due to an injury and the fact that he had played football at Wisconsin made him a good fit.

Tauscher, however, was not supposed to be an on-stage guest, according to Scott. Originally, he was "B-list" meaning he would appear at the autograph signing, but would not actually come on-stage.

Scott said that while Rome's people suggested guests, they also vetoed guests they didn't feel had enough national star power to be "A-list" celebrities and part of the actual Tour Stop show. Madison boxer Eric Morel was vetoed for that reason, despite being a world champion. Former Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Panos was as well.

As for Tauscher and Kelly, Scott had to go to bat for both of them.

"Romey's people were kind of like, 'Jerry Kelly? Who the hell is he?' Initially what we'd talked about was an A-list and B-list of celebrities. As we got closer to the date, I kept telling them that Tauscher, Jerry Kelly, they were going to be real good and finally they caved in, so they added the extra names."

According to Scott, Tauscher and Kelly were helped by the fact that some pretty big fish had slipped off the hook. Joe Theismann was in the area doing the Packers-Vikings game, and was willing to come to the Tour Stop, but could not due to a production meeting. Hank Aaron was a possibility, but he had a charity golf tournament that weekend. Robin Yount and Paul Molitor were approached, but to no avail. Bob Uecker was in Arizona. Sean Jones had a prior commitment. Matt Kenseth had a NASCAR cruise. Jim McMahan and Mike Ditka were considered as well.

As it turned out, Tauscher and Kelly were a big hit, both with the audience and with Rome. And they had a great time, as did all the guests, though Ryan seemed more than a little bewildered by the whole spectacle.

"They had a great time," Scott said of the guests. "They were blown away by how many people were there. Tauscher had a blast.

"I spent some time with Jerry before the show. He came in and he still didn't have an idea. We took him backstage. This was about ten minutes before the show starts. We walk out and he's like, 'look at all these people.' I'm like, 'yeah, man, they're here to see you.'"

Kelly went on-stage and just did what came naturally and within a few moments, he probably realized what Jenifer Connor knew from the time she woke up that morning, that it was party time.