Star Power?

By Ross Steinman
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Widener University College of Arts and Sciences

The NBA Playoffs are in full swing. Have you noticed? No? Well, you are not alone. The NBA has failed to capitalize on the momentum from a scintillating NCAA championship tournament (otherwise known as March Madness). Why? The NBA sells "stars." The NCAA sells "team." The NBA should go back to college and take a lesson from the NCAA.

The NBA showcases the individual talents of its star players and minimizes the team aspects of the sport. I admit I tune in to watch LeBron or Kobe just like you do. However, what will happen if LeBron and Kobe—I mean the Cavaliers and Lakers—do not meet in the NBA Finals? Will the fan still watch? The NBA and its corporate partners learned this lesson the hard way just last year when the Orlando Magic met the Kobe-led Lakers in the Finals. Nike was left with only one puppet in prime time.

There is a simple solution. The NBA should focus on "team power" instead of "star power." Do you remember the rivalries of the 1980s and 1990s? This was because you had a love/hate relationship with teams. The NBA should take a page out of its own storied past.

Don’t worry NBA executives...fans will still buy LeBron, Kobe, or Dwayne Wade jerseys. They might also see the NBA for what it is: a team sport with world class athletes. NBA, you can sell this. You just need to try.

Hottest ticket in town

It's hard to say what the hottest sport ticket is right now. Last week's DelCo Times declared on the front page that the Phillies held that title. Though the MLB season is just beginning, the Phillies are town favorites. Yes, I know that the Flyers are in the playoffs and people are excited. It's the NHL playoffs, you have to be excited. If you're not a Flyers fan now, then when?
But the Phillies are selling out night after night...in April! April is not only a chilly time for fans, but it's a hundred games from what anyone would consider a race. But on Saturday night we attended the Phils-Marlins game courtesy of Titan360.com and Harmelin Media. Here's what we noticed: the place was PACKED and the fans were really fantastic. 45,000 plus fans filled Citizens Bank Park again despite the cold and wind. Moreover, the fans supported the team. Even though the Phillies were 5 runs down before fans sat down following the national anthem, the fans hung with the team, rooting for the Phils and remaining in their seats to show their support. Not until the seventh inning, after that many innings of a pretty flat Philly showing, did people really start leaving the stadium. And booing never took hold. The fans threw a lot of support toward the Fightins on Saturday night and it was a great experience.
Fans from Philly get a bad showing at times. In our ten years living out here, we have witnessed some terrible stories. Some of it is deserved I suppose, but those are rare and individual cases many times. On Saturday night, the stadium full of fans showed a great side. Maybe the Phillies are the hottest ticket in town. But the fan experience was cool to see.

Is MLS Breaking New Advertising Ground?

Last week I attended a conference about Sport Marketing in Las Vegas. One of the presentations was from a team of academics exploring fan reaction to sponsors on the MLS jerseys.

Historically, the uniforms of sports teams in most American professional leagues have been free of advertising. Uniforms have been regarded as one of the last sacred spaces where commercialism has not encroached. Many critics have suggested that these uniforms should be kept free of advertising. However, in Europe soccer teams regularly place the sponsor’s logo front-and-center. Even in the US, some sports have embraced advertising on jerseys or uniforms: NASCAR drivers are plastered with logos. PGA golfers are also not shy about generating revenues by selling ad space on their clothing. Nonetheless, MLB, the NFL, and the NBA have been hesitant to go that far. They’ve certainly considered it according to the researchers; the NBA and NFL began selling ads on practice jerseys. MLB allowed ads on jerseys in games in Japan.
But in their case history is working against them…would fans tolerate such a historical adjustment to their beloved teams? Specifically, the research team looked at a few questions that we all might have. I’ll list them below and see if any of you respond. I’ll report the findings from a nationwide study of sport fans later this week.

 Will the public tolerate ads on MLS jerseys?
 Are there differences between how sports fans & non-fans view this issue?
 Could MLS be starting a trend other pro sports leagues would mimic?
 How will increasing commercial creep affect relationships between fans and clubs?