Introduction

MetLife Insurance                      

Currently MetLife Insurance provides a service for roughly thirteen million households, and is one of the most successful providers of life insurance. They provide insurance for both individuals and businesses, and are continuing to grow as a worldwide company offering your service to Latin America and Asia/Pacific regions.

MetLife is a public company represented by NYSE, a non-profit partner. In 2004 alone they had sales of thirty-nine billion dollars with a nine percent growth. Being in the WP Carey School of business, we have been taught about company growth rates, and nine percent is amazing. I am aware that MetLife is number 37 on the Fortune 500 list, 187 on the FT Global 500, and a member of the S and P 500.

For these reasons, MetLife has the ability to give donations to the Arizona State Lacrosse Sun Devils.

Arizona State Men’s Lacrosse League

The ASU Men’s Lacrosse team is a part of the MCLA, the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association. This means that we are not a varsity sport at Arizona State, not entitling us to any funds from the school itself.

As players we are expected to pay roughly sixteen hundred dollars a year, not including equipment, just to play. That is six thousand and four hundred dollars each student athlete pays, in a four-year period, to play a sport. On top of that, the majority of our students pay for tuition, housing, food, cars, gas, insurance, the works. For these reasons it is hard to keep players.

The Solution

The proposed solution would be to have MetLife donate fifty thousand dollars annually to provide a charity event that will help us to raise seventy thousand dollars a year. It will work because between alumni and some of the wealthiest people from the tri-state will come paying a cost of thirty dollars to attend and in hopes of donating additional money. Also, this will bring in more revenue for MetLife because they will be our sponsors, and we will market their name across the West Coast. Also giving them the opportunity to get their name out there to anyone who attends the event. By raising seventy thousand dollars a year, it will help to pay for the cost of equipment and dues, eventually leading us to the point where we won’t need this event because the money we will use will come from the profits off interest.

The Value Proposition

Being the successful company that MetLife is, bringing in 36 billion dollars in 2004 I believe that they could afford to donate 50 thousand dollars a year to the ASU Lacrosse Team. By doing so and giving the lacrosse team the ability to raise the money the players will not have to pay for equipment and dues in addition to that the lacrosse team will have the opportunity to open an account to build over the years following until we can play merely off the interest on the money we have raised. This will not only benefit the lacrosse team, it will greatly benefit MetLife as well. MetLife could also write it off as a donation and it will help with their taxes. In addition, the ASU Men’s Lacrosse team will make them our sponsor.

Advantages of Sponsorship

By becoming a sponsor, MetLife’s logo will be on our jerseys and equipment providing them marketing up and down the west coast to some of the biggest cities. Also, our team program has been very successful in the past and MetLife could put whatever adds in the teams program as they want. But the biggest benefit of MetLife donating fifty thousand dollars is your company will be able to run our charity event, using it as an opportunity to get their name and information out to three hundred people, of these three hundred people, figureheads of phoenix, wealthy business owners, ASU alumni, and lacrosse alumni in particular will be attending. These are all key candidates for insurance, both individuals and business owners. I believe it will be very easy to make back the 50 thousand donated.

Competition

I believe that this will give MetLife an advantage of competing companies, and you will most likely see other companies somewhat joining in this trend because of the great opportunity that it is.

Not only is it good for marketing, but it helps customers to see that the company cares about the common person and is not only all about getting more customers. They become the insurance company that comes to mind to anyone who is affiliated with ASU Men’s Lacrosse.

Location and Time

The location for this event will be held at the Buttes Hotel, which is a beautiful hotel with much to offer. This allows anyone who attends to reserve a room if they plan on staying late and whish not to drive. The location of the hotel is a ten-minute drive from the Arizona State campus and is easy to get or give directions to. According to Todd Hunkler, The Buttes will cost the team eight thousand for one day. Considering set up, the actual event, clean up and take down, we will have to reserve the meeting room for the entire day. Because the event is at the hotel that includes valet parking as well.

Main Course

The event at The Buttes will also be catered. We would be bringing in Phoenix Fine Catering Company for their specialty in fine dining and service. Below is an example of the food that would be served along with a final price that includes everything from start to finish. Their service includes set up, service, food, and clean up.

Station 1 - From the Summer Garden
served in the patio corner outside the living room

Southwestern Caesar Salad

Station 2 - From the Land and Sea
served on the lawn adjacent to the fence across from the kitchen doors

Imported and Domestic Cheeses w/ Fresh Fruit Garnish

Grilled Fajita Style, Bacon-Wrapped Peppered Shrimp, etc. and a variety of Sauces

Hot Crab Dip w/ Dipping Toasts

Make Your Own Petite Sandwich Wraps w/ Grilled, Skewered Kibbeh, marinated Chicken or Beef, & Scallops with Sauces, Relishes, Condiments and an assortment of Nan, Tortillas, Pita, Lettuce Leaf Wraps, etc.

Station 3 - Sweet Endings
served in the niche adjacent to the kitchen doors

Chef Assisted, Make Your Own Crepes with variety of Jams, Grilled Peaches & Pineapple, Berries, Sugars and Cocoa Dust, Lemon Wedges, Fresh Fruit display

Station 4 - Wine Bar
served in the far corner below the raised patio area

Above is a chart that shows exactly what everything is going to cost from Phoenix Fine Catering. From the food itself to the people serving it. Having the event fully catered will allow us not to have to worry about anything and our guests will relax and enjoy the night. The plan was to originally have the players to do a lot of the work to save money but then we decided to have them more engaged in the event and mingling speaking to our guests showing them they type of people we are and that we deserve to be able to play without the expensive dues.

Entertainment

Arizona State Men’s Lacrosse brings your Casino Night! Casino night entails basically any game that one would find at a casino with hired dealer. Some of the games provided are Black Jack, Craps Roulette, and Poker. Not only will casino night be enjoyable for all guests, but also it is an opportunity to collect even more money. It will cost approximately ten thousand five hundred and ten dollars to rent three sets of the equipment listed below. Three sets will be required due to the large crowd we would have. So after the price of casino night, the price of food and service, and the price to rent facility the total payment will be twenty eight thousand two hundred and fifty five dollars. The team will not only be able to pay for the event, but the left over amount will be a charitable donation by our sponsors to get us on our way to earning our goal amount.

Conclusion

In ending, the Arizona State Men’s Lacrosse league is an outstanding group of young men and student athletes. All of those who played at the college level athletics know exactly how hard it is to balance a work schedule, school schedule, and your sport at the same time. I want to thank you for taking the time to review this proposition, and for your understanding of the type of situation the lacrosse team is in. This money will not only help our athletes financially but our team’s skill level as well. When we reach our goal of not having to pay dues, more and more people will want to attend ASU to play for our lacrosse team. This will give the team more talent and a better record. Again thank you for anything you could offer us.

References

Insurance Saving. MetLife insurance review. (2007). Retrieved June 20, 2007, http://www.insurance-compare-save.com/metlifeinsurance.html?gclid=CJHpqv6R54wCFQ_ThgodY1i-zg

Casino Rental International. (2007). Pricing. Retrieved June 20, 2007, http://www.casinoequipmentsalesandrentals.com/main.html

Phoenix Fine Catering. (2004). Sample Menu. Retrieved June 20, 2007, http://www.phoenixfinecatering.com/

Sun Devil Lacrosse. (2007). Team Info. Retrieved June 20, 2007, http://www.asu.edu/studentprgms/orgs/menslacrosse/team.html

The Buttes Hotel. (2207). Retrieved June 22, 2007, http://cache.marriott.com/propertyimages/p/phxtm/phxtm_home_leftimage.jpg