The Fan Experience: Cuban Has It Right
I’d describe myself as a universal sports fan — I’ll watch just about any sport, if only to witness that little edge that separates the pros from the Joe’s. I won’t get into how deflated I feel when someone doesn’t “leave it all on the field” but it should suffice to say that I have high expectations of the athletes and supporting organizations. Sue me for wanting too much.
A recent post from Dallas Mavs owner Mark Cuban stood out at me because it seemed so obvious and yet it came across as revolutionary. He verbalized what should be obvious to all other professional sports teams but clearly is not considered most of the time. The essence of his message was, going to a game is about the *experience* and *not* about the actual game. I mean, of course it’s about the game but that’s not why we all go. After all, there’s no rewind and slow motion and pause at an actual event. You don’t get all the great viewing angles sitting in a particular seat, etc. At home, in HD, with a DVR is about as good as it gets for purely watching the game. So why go to a game ever? For the *experience*. Done right, it can totally be worth not having the power to pause or being able to grab a $1 beer out of your own fridge or “hit the head” without waiting in line. The memory of my youth tells me it used to be done right more often.
I still take my kids to one Dodger game every year but it’s not even close to being what it was like 30 years ago. There’s no tailgating allowed anymore which was half of the experience. Food and beer prices have gotten ridiculous — The feeling I get (and it could be just me) is that the Dodger organization acts as if they’re doing me a favor by allowing me to attend; I’m not a customer whose business they need to earn. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why tailgating is prohibited these days (lawyers!) but shutting that off is taking the easy way out. Rather than put more security on detail they simply disallow an integral part of the experience. They could get me to 3 or 4 more games per year if they provided me the ability to give my kids memories similar to my own youth with my dad.
I think Cuban is on the right track and addressing the single reason why folks go to games. Perhaps tailgating is forever gone but other things can be done to provide an experience that trumps our “3 TVs in the house, DVR, internet connectivity, private bathroom” home experience. Unless more owners start to think like Cuban I have to think that in a generation or two there won’t be much in the way of attendance for any team. And this especially applies to football! Go Packers!