Bottom Line Communications

TEAM LOYALTY--WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN?
By John Landsberg, July 07

    A fan’s relationship with sports teams is an emotional one. It really doesn’t matter whether we are talking about sports at the high school, college or professional level. Once a loyalty has been developed it is nearly impossible for a fan to root for another team.
    It is very rare when someone will say, “Boy, I love both MU and KU.” Or, “I am a diehard Yankee and Red Sox fan.”
    Being a native Ohioan, it is doubtful anyone in the state’s history ever said, “You know, I really don’t care if Michigan beats Ohio State in football this year.”
    However, as I get older, I must admit that my emotional ties with professional sports teams seem to be fading, particularly in Kansas City. Let’s face it, the Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since 1993! It is said if you look up the word “mediocre” in the dictionary you’ll see the Chiefs’ logo.
    The Royals are so pathetic they are starting to remind me of the Cleveland Indians of my youth. The Indians sucked so much in those days they would talk about the great World Series team of 1948.
    Today, Royals fans talk fondly about the great World Series Championship of 1985. Does anyone realize since that great 1985 season there are kids who were born that year and can now go watch the Royals at Kauffman Stadium and get legally drunk? And they do.
    In marketing circles they stress it is important for a business to develop a “relationship” with the customer. Customers who feel they have a relationship with your business will be loyal for years to come. You can sell them new products and even raise prices and they will still stick by you.
    In Kansas City both the Royals and Chiefs seem to have taken the average fan’s “relationship” for granted for way too long of a time. Both teams have introduced new products and raised prices, and are now nearing that tipping point where the average fan’s loyalty now seems to be simply taken for granted.
    The Royals’ season is basically over by June of each season. The team loses a game 15-1 and Manager Buddy Bell says in his trademark monotone voice, “Yea, they (fill in the team name) really hit well tonight…” It’s tough to get excited about a team when the manager seems bored with it himself.
    But, it’s the Chiefs who seem intent on breaking the emotional relationship with the fans. The treatment of Trent Green once again reinforced that it is no more a “team” than a corporation that says its employees are one big “family.” The Chiefs are a “BUSINESS.” To head honcho Carl Peterson, Green was just part of the “PRODUCT” that is put on the field.
    When Green was injured last season one wonders if the Chiefs’ brass really looked on him the same way as an owner does when his racehorse breaks down during a race. Fans develop feelings about players. Most liked and respected Green and how he carried himself on and off the field. He’s gone and now we are moving into Larry Johnson’s contract negotiations.
    As a fan, I don’t give a damn what happens with the Mike Tyson of football. Peterson and Johnson don’t give a crap about me, and I’m now at the point I don’t give a crap about them. No matter how it turns out both will walk away with millions of dollars paid by fans.
    As long as people are buying the product (filling the stands) winning or losing really isn’t important. Just like a corporate CEO who says, “People are our greatest asset” the folks at Arrowhead talk a good game about “teamwork” and such, but their only focus is on bottom-line revenues.
    Both the Royals and Chiefs have taken advantage of their customers’ relationship with them for years. It might be time for Kansas City fans to find some new teams that respect them and deserve their loyalty.