cpwilson80
21 Jan 2003, 01:37 PM
How to Win Fans and Influence People (http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/story?page=FranchiseCuban)
This piece is written by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He touches upon some of the steps he took to revive the Mavs.
Two things jumped out at me: how he turned around the sales department and how much concern (almost obsessive) over how the customers are enjoying their experience.
Some great quotes--
I explained to them that we no longer sold basketball. We sold fun, sore throats and sore hands from yelling and clapping.
and
My feeling is that everyone has thousands of entertainment choices and we don't want to create any excuses for them to go and spend their money somewhere else.
MLS is doing very well on the latter, but need to focus on the former. I think part of the reason for MLS' continuous changing of image is that they never had a solid target market, nor did they realize what they were selling. Was this an Americanized version of the sport (shoot-outs, counting down)? Is this purely an ethnic sport (player allocations)? Is this a family sport (lack of atmosphere for safety assurance)? Should fans know the players over teams (operation strikeforce)?
Hopefully, MLS will continue to make strides in accomidating both the hardcore fans and the casual fans. Things such as the conference at MLS Cup with the heads of MLS or Garber returning e-mails are a very positive sign. I post this article not to criticize MLS, but as a goal for them in the future.
This piece is written by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He touches upon some of the steps he took to revive the Mavs.
Two things jumped out at me: how he turned around the sales department and how much concern (almost obsessive) over how the customers are enjoying their experience.
Some great quotes--
I explained to them that we no longer sold basketball. We sold fun, sore throats and sore hands from yelling and clapping.
and
My feeling is that everyone has thousands of entertainment choices and we don't want to create any excuses for them to go and spend their money somewhere else.
MLS is doing very well on the latter, but need to focus on the former. I think part of the reason for MLS' continuous changing of image is that they never had a solid target market, nor did they realize what they were selling. Was this an Americanized version of the sport (shoot-outs, counting down)? Is this purely an ethnic sport (player allocations)? Is this a family sport (lack of atmosphere for safety assurance)? Should fans know the players over teams (operation strikeforce)?
Hopefully, MLS will continue to make strides in accomidating both the hardcore fans and the casual fans. Things such as the conference at MLS Cup with the heads of MLS or Garber returning e-mails are a very positive sign. I post this article not to criticize MLS, but as a goal for them in the future.