In most international sporting leagues today, governing bodies enforce salary caps on how much teams can pay their playing roster. Furthermore, teams who are performing badly often receive priority draft picks in order to help them rebuild for the future.
Each of these points is counterintuitive to how conventional businesses operate. By penalizing the best performing teams and providing concessions to the worst, administrative bodies are punishing success and rewarding mediocrity.
So any team hoping to build its brand as an unconquerable dynasty like the Boston Celtics in the sixties or the Chicago Bulls in the nineties is rolling the dice. Even if a team
does win a championship with a certain set of players and coaches, management then faces the tough task of re-signing personnel whose individual stock has risen by association, not to mention giving other poorer performing teams a head start in talent renewal.
As such, appeal based on the mere functionality of winning games is a crapshoot. Instead, the key is to ensure a team remains popular even when they are losing - to in effect become
"loss proof." This is a critical strategic consideration that franchise management must be aware of.
So rather than spout tired soundbites about aiming to win championships with their players acting as role models in the community, teams must become more creative in managing their reputation. Just as a conventional corporation fights commoditization to foster brand loyalty, sporting organizations must seek to engender non-functional, irrational loyalty amongst their fans and stakeholders alike. This loyalty is only achieved by gaining a clarity of purpose and direction that resonates regardless of on-field performance.
A team brand like the New York Yankees has been very consistent through its history. Love it or hate it, the Yankees' brand has always meant the same thing. Since Babe Ruth, the "Bronx Bombers" have been famous for unapologetically poaching the big name stars in their quest for more world series triumphs. In a sentence the Yankees' brand could be summed up as
"the brazen, big city bullies". Like the Brazilian national soccer team, Manchester United or the LA Lakers, this bullish "win at all costs" brand message appeals to sports fans that love to celebrate triumphs.
In a different vein, some team brands have become just as strong as the above franchises for reasons other than a crowded trophy cabinet. The Chicago Cubs brand has become iconic by frequently promising a Disney-esque cinderella story then stumbling at the final hurdle. The Cubs' brand might be
"Hope and heartbreak for the whole family". Similarly, the Green Bay Packers brand, as the only publicly owned franchise in the NFL, has resonated widely because the franchise is seen as remaining loyal to the spirit of the sport. In an era where cash flow and facilities are the only real ties to a home city, the Packers' brand might be
"The unpretentious blue collar spirit of the midwest".
Having a consistency of meaning and certainty of purpose makes or breaks the brand of all sporting franchises. It is only by living and breathing a central guiding principle that any fan, sponsor or opposing fan can articulate what a team stands for with any real accuracy. Without a Loss-Proof Brand, a franchise's popularity will fluctuate year to year based on how they are performing on the field. And with administrative bodies seeking to curb financial inequity, this is a tactic fraught with danger.
A Loss-Proof Brand weeds out ambiguity and creates a franchise that win or lose, fans, players and sponsors can rally around.
They really are. Unless there is a strategic idea that forms the vision for the franchise, the popularity of a sporting team is tied to the skill (or lack thereof) of its playing roster.
