Quote:
Originally Posted by Déjà Bru
Steinbrenner as a man was despicable
Yet I have always rooted for the Yankees in concept and I always will. Why? Because they are an embodiment of New York? Maybe out of habit? Heh, try rationalizing this! I would be interested in reading your thoughts.  |
The owners of Wal-Mart might do things that many people do not agree with but those same people will still shop at Wal-Mart.
Sports is a little different than consumer goods, of course, but all businesses strive to make people believe that they are more than businesses and using those businesses is more than just a businesses transaction. Sports, for reasons that are probably obvious, are better at doing this than many other types of companies - few people probably remember the first time they went to Wal-Mart, more will remember their first baseball game.
Yes, they use the methods you mentioned, and more
There's a reason they are the New York Mets not the Citi Bank Mets. There's a reason the Yankees are associated with the Bronx. There are reasons the Rockies, DBacks, and Marlins were all associated with their states and not cities. And why the Marlins rebranded as "Miami".
There's a reason for the "true fan" narrative - "I was there through thick and thin. I'm a Yankee fan (I'm a Ford guy. I'm a Toys R Us kid)". It's all branding and getting people to incorporate a product deeply into their lives.
As a kid growing up in the US, I had favorite football, basketball and baseball teams. As an adult I had favorite football, basketball and baseball teams. Living in Europe, where those three sports weren't as ubiquitous, I stopped paying attention to NFL and NBA almost entirely. And I got more into baseball. But, in a different way. I disassociated myself from it, in part. Sports, especially football and basketball, weren't as important a part of who I was. When I met people they didn't ask me within the first few minutes about who "my team" was (They sometimes asked about futbol, but, I didn't have a team). In still have a favorite baseball team. But not in the same say that I used to. Baseball the sport is more important to me than it was. Allegiance to one team, much less important. Being a baseball fan became a part of my identity. Being a Dodger fan, became a less important part.
MLB and individual teams want people to be fans of teams. Want people to identify with specific teams. If you identify as a Yankee Fan, you "have to have" Yankee gear (members of social groups very often dress in a certain way from MAGA hats to rosaries to all black with eyeliner to suits and ties to whatever). Fana declaring loyalty to a team is a way for that team to get money from the fan