clarinews@clarinet.com (WILLIAM D. MURRAY, UPI Sports Writer) (01/12/90)
_9_0_0_ _n_u_m_b_e_r_s_ _b_e_c_o_m_i_n_g OAKLAND, Calif. (UPI) -- Americans spend billions of dollars every year trying to develop a closeness with the sports stars they admire. They buy the shoes the athlete wears, the racket he uses, the car he drives and even the breakfast food he eats. Still, the distance remains. After the money is spent, the star is no closer -- well, no closer than 11 digits on the telephone dial. Welcome to the booming multimillion-dollar industry of the 1-900-numbers, an enterprise that has emerged from the dark shadows of the ``dial porn'' stigma to find a niche in America's rapidly expanding information age. Last year, the audio text industry as a whole brought in the neighborhood of $700 million. And analysts are predicting it will grow into a $2-to-$3 billion-a-year marketplace in the 1990s. ``I don't see anything but unlimited growth for this industry,'' said Chris Gettings, vice president of GV Communications Inc., a Washington, D.C., company that runs 900-information lines for a number of companies and athletes. ``It has a variety of informational uses from customer service to hearing from your favorite athlete or rock star.'' The use of 900 numbers by athletes took off late last summer when Oakland Athletics star Jose Canseco started his line. At the time, Canseco had been buried under an avalanche of publicity about his off-the-field problems. Canseco wanted a way to repair the damage between his fans and himself and turned to a 900 number. ``We really had no idea what to expect because it really hadn't been done before,'' said Jeff Boris, who represents Canseco for Beverly Hills Sports Counsel Inc. ``But Jose wanted a direct way to communicate with his fans. And it worked.'' But Canseco's hotline did not escape the criticism of some who felt it was an exploitation of the fans. ``He got a lot of unfavorable press concerning the hotline,'' Boris said. ``But the controversy actually helped. A lot of people called to see what the hotline was all about. And the fans we've heard from and the ones that left a message for Jose on the hotline said they liked it.'' Now, the likes of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and safety Ronnie Lott, Cincinnati's Boomer Esiason, Philadelphia's Randall Cunningham, San Diego's Jim McMahon, Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight and Charlotte Hornet star Muggsy Bogues have joined the 900 ranks. Since each phone call costs between $1.49 and $2.00 for the first minute, it would appear the athletes involved are earning a lot of extra money. That is not the case. ``I think the biggest problem we've had is convincing the athletes they are not going to make large sums of money,'' said Mike Tuckman, of Baseline Communications Inc., a Burlingame, Calif., company that runs the 49er hotline. ``It is an expensive industry to initially get involved in.'' Tuckman and his partners have spent about $50,000 already this year in communication, equipment and advertisement costs starting up their 1-900-505-TEAM number in the San Francisco Bay Area. Unfortunately, they also discovered the industry they became involved in still had a lot of bugs to work out. ``We went with Pacific Bell and wanted to do the hotline on just a local basis,'' Tuckman said. ``If I could do it over, I would have gone with a national carrier. Local systems just don't have the same degree of competence dealing with 900 lines that national carriers do.'' Tuckman also learned a hard lesson in advertising. ``We focused on radio ads initially and they just didn't work,'' he said. ``People listen to the radio in their cars and generally do not have access to a phone. Television advertising is more expensive, but gives you a better result. People generally are near a phone when they see your ad.'' The 49er hotline started slow, but received over 1,000 calls in a four-day period over the Christmas holidays. Which was not a bad total for a regional total but still less than the kind of action enjoyed by national 900 numbers. ``I think a good program for an athlete should generate about 100,000 to 150,000 call minutes a month,'' said Gettings. ``But all that money doesn't go directly to the athletes. ``The phone company generally gets about a third of the money taken in. Then you have to pay for the equipment and the advertising you do. But still an athlete can get a good return for the amount of time it takes. Randall Cunningham, for example, usually calls us on his car phone when he's stuck in traffic.'' There is also considerable delay from the time the call is made until the time the 900 company receives its money. ``There is quite a chain of payments involved,'' Gettings said. ``First the long distance company has to bill the local phone company that bills the customer. Then the customer has to pay his bill to the local company, that pays the long distance carrier, that pays us. In all it takes about 90 to 120 days from the time the call is made to the time we are paid.'' The success of athletes and rock stars using 900 numbers has had an impact on corporate America as well as fans. Many companies are now thinking about changing their 800 customer service numbers to 900 numbers. ``A lot of companies have contacted us wanting information about what it will take to set up a 900 number,'' said Gettings. ``They are thinking of changing their 800 operations to a 900 number, feeling that people will pay a little bit in return for better service. ``That's just one of a number of areas in this industry where there is the room for unlimited expansion. I think the future of 900 numbers and their use is limitless.''