Beckett Article - DBJ
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Beckett covers bases with revamp
Firm buys trading card publisher; changes under way
Jeff Bounds
Staff Writer
During its first 20 years, Beckett Publications was a successful, family-run, somewhat sleepy publisher of magazines for collectors of sports and entertainment trading cards and other memorabilia.
Then, in February, Dr. James Beckett, who launched the business in 1984 while a statistics professor at Bowling Green University, sold it on undisclosed terms to New York-based Apprise Media L.L.C., a private equity-backed business that acquires and builds businesses in certain media areas.
Less than six months later, what is now called Beckett Media L.P. is taking on a new look and a growth-oriented attitude.
Under Peter Gudmundsson, who became Beckett's president and CEO when the Apprise sale closed, the company is being more aggressive in letting the world know about its products and services, and in pushing what the company says is the fun of card collecting.
That includes a "Got milk"-style advertising campaign it will kick off at a trade show later this month. Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony posed for free for one ad, and a July 19 photo shoot is scheduled for Texas Rangers All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira, who is also doing the work gratis. Talks are under way with other pro athletes as well.
Taking on controversy
In addition, Beckett is pushing to get more PR for card collecting and trading, and showing a new willingness to tackle controversial subjects on its editorial side. One example: whether allegations of steriod use have hurt or helped the value of San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds' trading cards.
Gudmundsson, whose résumé includes running his own publishing shops and the Internet employment-services firm Jobs.com, also restructured the company, both figuratively and literally.
For instance, Beckett's print operation was on a separate floor at its North Dallas Tollway headquarters from its Internet business, which includes an online price guide for trading cards and a cybermarket where dealers can sell individual cards. Gudmundsson moved the Web division to the publishing floor, so the two operations could sit together.
Where the Internet business had also been responsible for Beckett's internal technology needs, Gudmundsson created separate departments to handle those functions. "People were confusing technology decisions and merchandising decisions," he says.
And, in a bid to boost advertising, he hired a new advertising sales director, Rudy Klancnik, and is "revisiting" compensation and incentives for the sales staff. Advertising has historically accounted for about 10% of Beckett's total revenue, "which for an enthusiast publisher is surprisingly low," Gudmundsson says. "In three or four years, I want to see it at 25%."
In addition, Beckett's seller, James Beckett, is serving as an adviser to the newly restructured company.
Market forces
Beyond reshaping the company, Gudmundsson will also have to deal with issues in the sports trading-card market. Products and services for sports collectibles, including 11 magazines and a sports-card appraisal service, account for the bulk of privately held Beckett's roughly $25 million in annual revenue.
A recent study commissioned by New York-based Topps Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: TOPP) pegged the current market for sports cards at approximately $300 million in wholesale dollars. The market has fallen 15% annually for the past five years and has been in decline since peaking in the early 1990s, according to Topps, the only publicly held maker of trading cards.
The two biggest issues in driving away kids and casual adult collectors, according to Topps: Too many cards -- and high prices for card packs. Packs range from $1 to $500 apiece, and typically contain five cards.
That, in turn, has hurt trading-card pubs like Beckett. Scott Kelnhofer, editor of Beckett's primary competitor, Iola, Wis.-based Card Trade, says that 10 years ago, there were three or four publishers aiming at the card market. Now, Beckett and Card Trade are "pretty much it," he says.
Reducing supply
Gudmundsson does not dispute the problems afflicting the sport-card industry. But he contends efforts are under way to reduce the number of sports cards on the market, which he says will help Beckett by increasing demand and reducing confusion among collectors bewildered by the plethora of products. Indeed, Topps and other major card makers have had discussions with professional sports leagues and player unions -- from which they acquire licensing rights necessary to print the cards -- on how to cut down supply.
In addition, New Jersey-based Fleer/Skybox International, one of the biggest players in the industry, earlier this year stopped producing cards while its management decides on the company's future direction.
Gaming and entertainment cards don't share the oversupply issue, but have their own set of quirks for Beckett to grapple with.
Dennis McAlpine, managing director of the Scarsdale, N.Y. media and entertainment research firm McAlpine Associates, says the market is driven by a small number of big hits, such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Gudmundsson agrees, and says Beckett can quickly add, subtract, or alter its five entertainment-oriented pubs as tastes change. When the Pokemon craze crested, the company revamped a magazine dedicated to it into "Beckett Anime," he says.
Link
Firm buys trading card publisher; changes under way
Jeff Bounds
Staff Writer
During its first 20 years, Beckett Publications was a successful, family-run, somewhat sleepy publisher of magazines for collectors of sports and entertainment trading cards and other memorabilia.
Then, in February, Dr. James Beckett, who launched the business in 1984 while a statistics professor at Bowling Green University, sold it on undisclosed terms to New York-based Apprise Media L.L.C., a private equity-backed business that acquires and builds businesses in certain media areas.
Less than six months later, what is now called Beckett Media L.P. is taking on a new look and a growth-oriented attitude.
Under Peter Gudmundsson, who became Beckett's president and CEO when the Apprise sale closed, the company is being more aggressive in letting the world know about its products and services, and in pushing what the company says is the fun of card collecting.
That includes a "Got milk"-style advertising campaign it will kick off at a trade show later this month. Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony posed for free for one ad, and a July 19 photo shoot is scheduled for Texas Rangers All-Star first baseman Mark Teixeira, who is also doing the work gratis. Talks are under way with other pro athletes as well.
Taking on controversy
In addition, Beckett is pushing to get more PR for card collecting and trading, and showing a new willingness to tackle controversial subjects on its editorial side. One example: whether allegations of steriod use have hurt or helped the value of San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds' trading cards.
Gudmundsson, whose résumé includes running his own publishing shops and the Internet employment-services firm Jobs.com, also restructured the company, both figuratively and literally.
For instance, Beckett's print operation was on a separate floor at its North Dallas Tollway headquarters from its Internet business, which includes an online price guide for trading cards and a cybermarket where dealers can sell individual cards. Gudmundsson moved the Web division to the publishing floor, so the two operations could sit together.
Where the Internet business had also been responsible for Beckett's internal technology needs, Gudmundsson created separate departments to handle those functions. "People were confusing technology decisions and merchandising decisions," he says.
And, in a bid to boost advertising, he hired a new advertising sales director, Rudy Klancnik, and is "revisiting" compensation and incentives for the sales staff. Advertising has historically accounted for about 10% of Beckett's total revenue, "which for an enthusiast publisher is surprisingly low," Gudmundsson says. "In three or four years, I want to see it at 25%."
In addition, Beckett's seller, James Beckett, is serving as an adviser to the newly restructured company.
Market forces
Beyond reshaping the company, Gudmundsson will also have to deal with issues in the sports trading-card market. Products and services for sports collectibles, including 11 magazines and a sports-card appraisal service, account for the bulk of privately held Beckett's roughly $25 million in annual revenue.
A recent study commissioned by New York-based Topps Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: TOPP) pegged the current market for sports cards at approximately $300 million in wholesale dollars. The market has fallen 15% annually for the past five years and has been in decline since peaking in the early 1990s, according to Topps, the only publicly held maker of trading cards.
The two biggest issues in driving away kids and casual adult collectors, according to Topps: Too many cards -- and high prices for card packs. Packs range from $1 to $500 apiece, and typically contain five cards.
That, in turn, has hurt trading-card pubs like Beckett. Scott Kelnhofer, editor of Beckett's primary competitor, Iola, Wis.-based Card Trade, says that 10 years ago, there were three or four publishers aiming at the card market. Now, Beckett and Card Trade are "pretty much it," he says.
Reducing supply
Gudmundsson does not dispute the problems afflicting the sport-card industry. But he contends efforts are under way to reduce the number of sports cards on the market, which he says will help Beckett by increasing demand and reducing confusion among collectors bewildered by the plethora of products. Indeed, Topps and other major card makers have had discussions with professional sports leagues and player unions -- from which they acquire licensing rights necessary to print the cards -- on how to cut down supply.
In addition, New Jersey-based Fleer/Skybox International, one of the biggest players in the industry, earlier this year stopped producing cards while its management decides on the company's future direction.
Gaming and entertainment cards don't share the oversupply issue, but have their own set of quirks for Beckett to grapple with.
Dennis McAlpine, managing director of the Scarsdale, N.Y. media and entertainment research firm McAlpine Associates, says the market is driven by a small number of big hits, such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Gudmundsson agrees, and says Beckett can quickly add, subtract, or alter its five entertainment-oriented pubs as tastes change. When the Pokemon craze crested, the company revamped a magazine dedicated to it into "Beckett Anime," he says.
Link
So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
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