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Dear Sports Marketers
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During the fourth quarter of the Buffalo-Cleveland game on Monday night, one could hear, faintly in the background, the sound of the song “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. Now, it may have been a motivational tool for the Bills, or it could have been marketing genius.
For most teams, college or professional, the marketing staff has two goals. Butts in the seats (not just ticket sales, the fans actually have to come to the game) and subsequently, game experience.
Simply put, the idea is to attract people to purchase tickets to the game and entertain the fans so they have a positive experience and ideally, come back for more. Talk to any pro sports or college marketer and they will substantiate.
There are many elements that make up this theory: concessions, facilities, music, gift shop inventory, entertainment during time stoppages, etc. But what the Bills did by playing this particular song was make the atmosphere jovial. Everyone loves that song. I don’t know a single person that, when that song comes on, doesn’t throw tone-deafness out the window and sing along like a sorority girl. Especially people who are deliriously tired, freezing and ever so slightly drunk. For example, thousands of people at a Monday Night Football game.
The Boston Red Sox play Sweet Caroline, and it’s a huge tradition that fans look forward to in the seventh inning (or fifth?). This, maybe subconsciously, creates intimacy between fans forcing them to forget, even for a minute, that the team may be losing. They forget because they are enjoying themselves.
A lot of teams are REALLY BAD at this particular facet of the in-game experience. Teams that, perhaps, sell out their seasons or teams that aren’t struggling to sell tickets. They believe they don’t have to try as hard. Fine, go with tired songs like “Crazy Train” or “Let’s Get it Started” or that ridiculous instrumental “The Zombie” or even the pre-game hymn “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” that they have played at EVERY SPORTING EVENT IN THE LAST DECADE. But in the interest of full disclosure, your fans are only coming because the team is winning, or the other pro team is on the road. Not because they love coming to eat chips and nacho cheese out of a bag and sing along to “Everybody Dance Now.”
Use a little imagination, mix it up, please get rid of the “Office Linebacker” video clip and make sure those butts are parked, even when the team is on the Highway to Hell.
That’s why they pay you the big bucks, right?
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