Sport

In Mark Yosts book, Tailgating, Sacks, and Salary Caps, the author discusses the ways in which the NFL has taken over the sports world and created the most successful sports league in American history. The author touches on the transformation that the NFL has taken, both on the field and off the field. More importantly, he traces the ways in which this transformation has helped the NFL to gain all-important market share both with television audiences and fans at the stadium.

The work touches on a number of key strategies that the NFL has implemented, starting first with its dedication to parity. Its revolutionary salary cap and draft structure allows for enhanced parity, giving every team a chance to compete over a five-year window. Teams that are bad are given advantages and with proper management, they can make a run again. This has helped to bring more fans to the game, as they legitimate feel as if their team has a chance.

Additionally, the league has reached out to non-mainstream fans with its marketing approach. It has turned its largest events  Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl  into events, rather than just football games. The NFL is somewhat inclusive, meaning that they dont want your entire week or even your entire day. Instead, they seek to pull in non-football fanatics for those three-hour windows where football provides excellent television entertainment.

Additionally, the NFL positioned itself for success with its innovative satellite package and its embrace of fantasy football. The league has been looking for ways to include people, and whether it is willing to admit it or not, including football bettors and fantasy football players has helped to fuel the popularity of the league. Though the NFL does not officially associate itself with gambling of any kind, it has readily created an association with games like fantasy sports and its satellite packages have fueled the sports bar craze with the NFL.

Additionally, the league has sought to develop personalized relationships with its fans. It listens to what fans want and it is constantly making changes that will benefit the fan experience. This includes both on television, with new inventions like the first down line on the screen and with other implementations at the stadium. The NFL understands that the fan is what drives it, and the league seeks to reach out to both casual and hardcore fans in different ways.

These strategies are important and they form the basis for the NFLs long-term success in dominating the sports industry.

Implementation of similar strategies in other sports
Major League Baseball has attempted to adopt one of the strategies in order to bring in more interested fans. The league has reached out to fantasy sports players, providing fantasy updates in a number of different mediums. The league began by adding a fantasy section to its website, promoting news and offering players the chance to see what was going on. Additionally, it has added fantasy games to its website, and it has added mobile game updates for fantasy players. This effort has helped to turn fantasy baseball into a multi-billion dollar industry, with more than four million players at the current time. In this, one could say that baseball has been success in implementing this strategy originally adopted by the NFL.

NCAA football has attempted to do some of the things the NFL has done with its reaching out to fans. One could argue that the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series came about as a result of dissatisfaction with the old system employed by the NCAA. Fans indicated that they wanted a way to determine a true champion, so the NCAA took action in creating the BCS. Assessing the effectiveness of the BCS is somewhat difficult, as it has been successful at pitting the best teams against one another. This was not the ultimate solution that fans were looking for, though, so it has been received distastefully. Fans wanted a playoff system, and they feel as if the BCS is not providing a true champion, though it is better than the old system.

Application of Strategies
Though Major League Baseball is a successful league, it is not truly reaching its potential. Given its place in the heart of the American public and the large degree of skilled players in the game today, the league would be well served to adopt even more of the strategies mentioned in Yosts book. A report by Sharony, Haupert, and Knowles speaks to the need for competitive balance in Major League Baseball. They write, Competitive balance is important. Studies have shown that when the uncertainty of the outcome of games decreases, so does attendance. Lack of competitive balance is not only a problem for the losers, but is a problem for the dominant (high revenue) teams as well (Sharony, Haupert,  Knowles, 1992). Though the league has seen a number of teams make the playoffs and win the World Series, a degree of competitive imbalance exists. Large market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, and Dodgers still dominate the playoff scene, while the have-nots are forced to struggle. Poor management is a huge part of the problem, but baseball would be well suited to set up some sort of salary cap system to bring teams closer together. This could increase interest, as division races would tighten up. As La Croix points out, this is something that has not only worked in the NFL, but it has worked in baseball in Japan (La Croix, 1999).

Paul Kagan indicates, as well, that baseball is in need of more connection with its fans (Kagan, 1999). The league currently suffers from severe disconnect with its fans, and it does little to reach out to casual fans. Though it has provided fantasy things for hardcore baseball fans, few people watch baseball games on Sunday or Monday nights as they do with the NFL. The league would be well served to adopt the NFLs policy of making the game right for TV. The league should listen to its fans and shorten games, making the action more conducive to good television. This would provide the league with a golden opportunity to reach out to those people who are just seeking good entertainment. Given its already existent place in the hearts of the American public, baseball should put its inherent advantages to good use through more effective television packaging. This would bring in more viewers and create more advertising revenue for the league to share among its teams. This would also help to fix the competitive balance issue, as mentioned previously.