“A lot of this has been developed by the league around one weekend, so we’re going to have an NFL 100 weekend, and it’s going to be looking forward and looking back. We’re going to do something at a local high school, youth football level. We’re then going to announce our all-time team, and we’re going to have an event for them with the fans at our stadium that same weekend. Then on game day we’re going to make a big splash.” (“NFL Roundtable: Industry stakeholders tackle opportunities, issues league faces in 100th season”,2019). To capitalize on the passion of the fans for the game many owners are putting together events for fans to interact with the team to facilitate experiences for the youth to identify with the team and the game. Illustrating the history of football gives a perspective to new fans to get to where it is today and for old fans it allows them to relive memories. Looking forward shows fans the exciting new things coming up. Through the weekend they will also involve the youth and have events especially for them to provide a memory that will last forever to develop them into lifelong fans.

To develop events like these teams and leagues use the PREPAID model. In the early stages, they use the research phase, “Researching fans to determine fan satisfaction and what aspects of the event they would change.”  ( Wakefield 2019 para.42). This is important because it develops demographics of who’s interested in the league to develop attractions to enhance the experience of current and future fans. These activities encourage the development of communities for people to be able to identify with, thus identifying themselves with the league.

“More recent research confirms that we find those who are similar to us as attractive” (Wakefield 2019 para.31).  Once a team and the league have successfully positioned themselves as like the community, then they acquire new fans. Creating a more entertaining and intimate atmosphere will prove beneficial to a team to increase the perception of distinctiveness and attractiveness. Fans will associate themselves with these qualities because that is what they think of themselves, they believe they are unique and desirable just like the team they root for. This will connect the team's values with their own, developing them into “die-hard fans” which may skew their viewpoint of the team.

“Perceived performance often approximates actual performance, but is contingent upon the reference point of the fans” ( Wakefield 2019 para.25). When a fan has a deep passion for a team they will have different expectations for the team. If a team loses in the first round of the playoffs then this can be perceived differently based on previous success. This is important to marketers because the way the messages they send in their campaigns will be different based on the way the team is playing. If they are successful then the team will be marketed as “this is our year” if they are unsuccessful then it will focus on the community using phrases like “our team”. Having events like the NFL 100 weekend will relay messages focusing on developing communities to reinforce  “die-hard fans” convictions now and develop future fans. Messages may change due to the success of the team but the core group of fans will support the team no matter what. This weekend will allow the public to display and develop an affection for a team in the most extreme forms possible to reinforce and develop a belief that the team's success is theirs as well.

 

References

NFL Roundtable: Industry stakeholders tackle opportunities, issues league faces in 100th season. (2019, September 2).Retrieved from https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2019/09/02/NFL-100/Roundtable.aspx?hl=sport+fan+&sc=0

Wakefield, K. (2019, September 3). Membership. Retrieved from https://teamsportsmarketing.com/the-text/the-fan/chapter-2-fan-identification-passion/