Fan Loyalty & Engagement

Everyone loves to support a winning team, but who supports the team when they are losing? The people who support their teams even when they are losing are called “loyal fans”. “During the good times and the bad, these fans are always there to show their support.”  Loyal fans contribute to an organization’s revenue. They pay for tickets to games, pay for parking at the venue, and pay for food at the venue all generating revenue, even when they are losing. Loyal fans are important to sports organizations because they “keep the lights on.” Teams are currently studying and coming up with new ways to increase fan loyalty and engagement.

Organizations are turning to technology to increase fan loyalty. A big issue at sport venues across the country is the lack of Wi-Fi access. People want to post video and/or post to their social media accounts showing what they are doing and where they are doing it. The new Sacramento Kings arena is scheduled to open in October 2016 and, "slated to be the techiest arena in the league.” Keeping the millennial in mind, the venue will be able to accommodate 500,000 snap chat posts per second. The Detroit Piston’s created a game day email that can be updated in real time every time you open it. Before the game, you can get real time stats on the players. During the game, when you have to go to the bathroom, and don’t want to walk away from the game, you can get real time score updates as you wait in line. The Detroit fans have responded favorably to the new email with 49% increased mobile engagement. For organizations trying to build more and keep their loyal fans in attendance, they must come up with creative ways to engage them before, during, and after the game.

There are various ways to engage fans. The Golden State Warriors have done a great job of engaging fans before the game. It is known that if you arrive to a Warriors game an hour and a half early, you will see Steph Curry put on a show with his 15 minute warm up routine. After his warm up, he takes the time to meet and greet with fans in the venue. This has spread from Warrior home games to road games as well. Allowing fans to watch the warm ups of their favorite team is something special to them, as it is not televised. Athletes taking the time to meet and greet with their fans is something special that money can’t buy. The gesture makes fans feel special. During the game, team's venues should be Wi-Fi accessible and able to handle the web traffic of the patrons. We live in a social media world. People want to document every aspect of what they are doing. After the game, some organizations produce small concerts with major artists to entertain fans. The Detroit Piston’s organization has a real time travel map to give you the quickest route in and out of the venue, so you can avoid sitting in long traffic lines and get home quickly.

Organizations go through winning and losing streaks. It is important that organizations keep their loyal fans engaged during both the good times and the bad times. Loyal fans tend to pass their habits on to their children. If you ask most people who their favorite team is and why, they will probably tell you that they grew up watching that team with their parent. You can almost say loyalty is hereditary. With this next generation of loyal fans, organizations must incorporate technology. The next generation rarely sits still. They are constantly multi tasking on their phones. If organizations do not give them the ability to use their phones at the venue, they could risk losing a generation of fans and risk losing money in attendance.

References:

Wagner, K. (2016, January 6). The Sacramento Kings are building the NBA’s techiest

            arena, a 21^st century coliseum. Recode.net. Retrieved from

            http://recode.net/2016/01/06/the-sacramento-kings-are-building-the-nbas-techiest-arena-a-21st-century-coliseum/

Wander, E. (2016, April 6). The Detroit Piston’s are sending emails that change

            every time fans check them. Adweek.com. Retrieved from 

            http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/detroit-pistons-are-sending-emails-change-every-time-fans-check-them-170603

Yi, J. (2011, January 25). The value of the loyal fan. SportsNetworker.com.

            Retrieved from http://www.sportsnetworker.com/2011/01/25/value-sports-loyal-fan/

Dear Jahlil Okafor

Recently, Philadelphia 76’ers rookie center Jahlil Okafor has been making sports headlines for the wrong reasons. Okafor was suspended for two games for a fight in Boston, MA with a heckler. The 19-year-old NBA rookie was also accused of using a fake I.D. at a Philadelphia bar in October. Okafor was a star at the University of Duke under coach Mike Krzyzewski. During his freshman year, Duke won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship. After winning the championship, Okafor entered the 2015 NBA draft and was drafted third by the Philadelphia 76’ers. Okafor is currently the star of a losing 76’ers team with a 1-20 record. If I had the opportunity to talk to Okafor via email or in person, I would say the following to him:

Dear Jahlil Okafor:

I want to help you. I believe the circumstances you are going through are hiccups on your road of life. Hiccups, that if not addressed, can turn into another “what-could-have-been?” episode of ESPN’s 30 for 30. I spent 16 years working in radio. At times, I worked at the #1 radio station in the market and at other times I worked at the worst radio station in the market. When you have not worked in a competitive environment, you do not understand how it may mess with your mind. Going from winning to losing is hard. You start to question yourself. For me, I questioned if I should have left my previous radio station for the new station. Maybe I wasn’t as good as I thought. Maybe I had committed career suicide. Once you say “maybe” too many times, you have mind trapped yourself into a dangerous place - the place of self-doubt. Now you are questioning everything about yourself. To make matters worse, I was alone in a new city with no family. Everyone just assumes you are happy because you are making more money than you once were. No one factors in all the other aspects of life that kick in with your new environment. In my opinion, Philly is the realest city on the planet. I know people say that New York is tough; “if you can make it here you can make it anywhere.” As a person who has lived and worked in both cities, I’m here to tell you, “Philly is tough!” When the people of Philly love you and embrace you, they do it with their WHOLE heart and soul. But when their team isn’t winning, oh you will surely feel the wrath!! Right now you are feeling the wrath of losing, and it doesn’t feel good. I know that feeling as well.

I want you to consider another dynamic; how great would it be for your career and for the Sixers franchise if you were the reason the team turns around? Now is not the time to hang around with a bunch of people who constantly tell you how great you are, hanging on to you for access to the VIP section. Now is the time to get serious. You need to seek out NBA veterans, seek out your old coach Mike Krzyzewski, or seek out a person from your faith. You need an outside voice to tell it to you straight, but also willing to walk that road with you. Assigning security to you (as the Sixers organization has stated they will do) is a Band-Aid; it does not address what is happening in your head. I don’t want you to be a statistic. I don’t want you to become the poster child for why college athletes should stay in school longer. I want you to be the poster child for the future of the NBA. You are an awesome player on a bad team. Let’s work together to focus on your greatness. Too many people want to talk about you, judge you and make you a headline on their sports show. I want to help you.