A key reason sports brands are so successful is the relationship they have with each of their consumers, or fans. Being a sports fan-and loving a team brand-transcends a person’s job, family or social status. “Fans experience pleasure and satisfaction with successful teams,” writes Baylor University marketing professor Kirk L. Wakefield in his book, Team Sports Marketing, “but, they also experience feelings of delight or excitement that deeply resonates within the identity of the individual fan, such that the effects are likely to be long-term. … Sports teams develop a faithful fanatical following primarily due to high levels of identification…”

It is this identification that professional and amateur leagues in general, and teams in particular, play on (or prey upon). Wakefield points out that a dedicated sports fan has “an enduring involvement with the sport and situational involvement with the event.” A fanatical soccer fan, for example, will have “an ongoing interest or concern with the sport on a day-to-day basis.” That same fan, if dedicated to a particular team, will also watch or attend games, check scores online, follow the team’s star players and buy team merchandise. This is the kind of brand involvement some product brands can only dream about.
Identifying with a particular team brand is a strong fan motivator. “Highly identified fans are likely to Bask In Reflected Glory [BIRG] by doing such things as wearing team-identifying apparel after a team win, describing team wins in terms of what ‘we’ did, and, in general, seeking to enhance their public image by connecting with positive aspects of the team,” Wakefield writes. “The result of BIRGing is enhancing self-esteem in the highly identified fan.” According to Wakefield, the more identified a fan becomes, the higher the level of his or her team involvement.

Incredibly, Wakefield writes, “identification with a sports team seems to shield against the potential consequences of death…evidence suggests that one’s identification and involvement with a sports team in some ways makes the highly identified fan feel immortal.” Now that’s the ultimate in brand loyalty.

There is a hierarchy of sports brand fanaticism. Some fans of a particular sport might identify with a league or association, such as the International Soccer League, the NBA (National Basketball Association) or NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing). Others might identify with different sports under the same umbrella brand, such as the Olympics or the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). Or fans might be intent on supporting a single team brand, often because of school or hometown affiliation. And then there are the multisport fanatics, supporting several sports, leagues or teams at once. Typically, each of these leagues or teams positions itself as a distinct brand with its own logo, merchandise and marketing program.

This presents a big branding challenge: There are so many sports brands in existence that sports fans in general may be spread thin. In their book, The Elusive Fan, authors Irving Rein, Philip Kotler and Ben Shields say competition among sports brands for market share is increasingly intense because of fragmentation. They believe there are six distinct sports sectors vying for fans’ attention: older sports (such as European soccer and Major League Baseball), reemerging older sports (such as cricket, rugby and golf), school sports (high schools, youth development teams and the like), new sports (extreme sports and paintball, for example), declining older sports (such as boxing and horse racing) and sporting goods (including team merchandise and sports equipment).

That means each sports team needs a multifaceted branding strategy to keep fans loyal. Traditionally, teams hitch their stars to star athletes. But now these brands, say Rein, Kotler and Shields, “must also broaden their star power mix to include facilities, food, teams, places, events, and individuals, such as owners, who have not been a part of the storyline. Star power needs to be redefined to connect with more fans, maximize all the attributes that a sports product has to offer, and ensure a constant flow of sports branding material to convert into star status.”

The authors point to Manchester United as an example of a team that “has been transformed into a highly profitable company and an identifiable global brand.” Manchester United became a megabrand due to developing the best talent, careful attention to managing and growing the business, and an aggressive distribution strategy. Today its arsenal includes branded restaurants, stores, a cable television network, a stadium, the use of new media and unorthodox ways to expand into new markets, such as a marketing partnership with the New York Yankees.

Sports leagues and teams continue to attract and retain sports fans, as well as commercial sponsors, but for the first time in a long time, the sports world is feeling a money pinch. In fact, a recent study indicates that over half of companies surveyed “plan to cut 2009 sponsorship spending, including sponsorship in the sports world, while almost as many are seeking to get out of current deals…” (”Over half of firms to cut sponsorship spend – study,” Reuters, March 10, 2009).

That may be why sports brands are beginning to look for new and novel ways to generate revenue from their fans. For example, the storied New York Yankees, MLB’s most valuable team, just opened a new Yankee Stadium this season. Soon afterward, the Yankees organization announced it would market its own grass: Yankees Sod. “It may cost a few thousand dollars to cover a large backyard, but the sod comes with a certificate of authenticity from Major League Baseball, complete with the counterfeit-proof hologram, declaring it to be the official grass of the New York Yankees” (”Yankees Grass Is Now a Brand,” The New York Times, March 22, 2009).

Barry Silverstein is a freelance writer/marketing consultant and co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, The Breakaway Brand.

www.brandchannel.com