Introduction
Team relocation refers to moving a professional team between different geographic areas for various reasons linked with opportunities conducive to financial success or access to infrastructures. Despite promising larger profits, relocations are also fraught with challenges and resistance. Relocations have various positive and negative sides pertaining to owners, fans, media, players, stores, and cities; conducting them without announcements cannot be recommended.
Typical Reasons for Relocation
Relocations can have various reasons linked with the destination area’s supposedly positive influence on the team’s activities. Common causes are often related to the considerations of profitability, including the local sports organization’s debt, the small size of the sports market, or the absence of sports arenas that bring substantial profits (Andon, 2021). Insufficient fan support, which can stem from the team’s low popularity or demographic trends that minimize the number of active sports fans, can also fuel team owners’ intentions to proceed with franchise relocation. Moreover, the chance of accessing better skill development resources for the team can inform such team management moves, causing team owners to give preference to wealthier cities with tech-savvy training facilities (Andon, 2021). The relocation process can be initiated for various reasons, such as another metropolitan area’s greater fan base, better proficiency development facilities, and a more profitable market for a specific sport.
Pros/Cons
Team Owners and Local/National Media
Franchise relocation decisions’ advantages and disadvantages can relate to both owners and media. From team owners’ perspective, if preceded by careful sports market analysis, relocations often prove advantageous by generating extra profits and making new collaborations possible. Thus, relocations can enable the owners to invest in new sports or business ventures and diversify their assets. As for the disadvantages, team owners may sustain reputational risks stemming from criticisms voiced by fan communities (Andon, 2021). Fans’ adverse reactions to relocation decisions can also create disadvantages linked to the local and national media, including spreading negativity toward the team. For instance, the fan-organized “Respect Your Roots” campaign to protest against Columbus Crew’s relocation gained recognition in the media, interfering with the owner’s plans (Andon, 2021, p. 14). Concerning the advantages, media at local and national levels can also be instrumentalized to spread awareness of upcoming relocations, thus contributing to building fan bases at new locations and achieving higher match attendance rates. Thus, relocations have diverse effects, ranging from profits for owners to public outrage in the media.
Players and Fans
The discussed team management decision also has pros and cons pertaining to fans and professional sports players. With regards to fans, relocations to well-networked cities are advantageous as they can generate larger fan bases, increasing the team’s profits. However, some possible disadvantages pertain to disappointed local fans’ collective meltdowns, protests involving violence, or the need to follow the team and sustain extra expenses (Brady, 2019). For sports players, the disadvantages may include a sense of responsibility for fans’ reactions. The need for excellent diplomacy skills to handle pre-relocation interviews and avoid discrediting the owner’s strategic vision and disrespecting local fans’ suffering is another drawback aside from separations from families and communities. For players, the advantages of relocating to a larger and wealthier city are also numerous, including salary increases, the chances of getting new media contract offers, and better healthcare (Andon, 2021). Therefore, teams’ movement across various areas has profound effects on fans and team members.
Stores/Merchandisers and Current/New Cities
Other positive and negative effects of relocations pertain to stores and differences between cities. Relocation decisions may involve expanding merchandising teams and stores, which can be relatively disadvantageous due to requiring massive investments that are not always easy to handle for sports clubs in debt (Andon, 2021). Nevertheless, on a positive note, moving teams to areas with larger populations can improve their popularity, resulting in increased merchandise sales and profits. As for the current and new cities, relocations can be temporarily disadvantageous as time expenditures and rather expensive advertising campaigns are required to build trust-based relationships with the destination city’s community (Andon, 2021). Regarding the positive aspects of moving between cities, competition in the new city can be more manageable for the team. Moreover, if the team’s current city has small or inconveniently located stadiums, moving to a new location with a better infrastructure can bring profits while also reducing travel expenses. Overall, moving the sports team influences all elements of the sports market.
The Need for Announcing
As a team owner planning a relocation, I would feel responsible for making the city’s community and fans aware of the plans prior to proceeding with the move. There are two interconnected reasons for choosing this option over implementing the plan without notice. First, announcing the change would be required to express respect for the city and the local fan base by reducing uncertainty. As the team’s success is often fuelled by the city’s support, moving without notice would be extremely disrespectful. Second, announcing the upcoming relocation would be required to start social media communication and advertising events targeted at sports fans at the new location. The opportunity to engage in such endeavors would facilitate the team’s adaptation to a new socio-political climate, but doing it without explaining the move to the city’s authorities and fans would be unethical.
Conclusion
Finally, relocations in sports are inseparable from positive opportunities and the risks of uncertainty, making pre-implementation analysis crucial. Such decisions’ cost-effectiveness when it comes to the outcomes for owners, players, merchandise structures, and the team’s environment must be carefully evaluated. Relocation announcements and polite communication with local fans are also essential, as moving teams without warning fan clubs is a risky move with regard to long-term reputation.
References
Andon, S. P. (2021). From save the crew to saved the crew: Constitutive rhetoric, myth, and fan opposition to sports team relocation. Communication & Sport, 1-25.
Brady, J. (2019). Just how badly would the most diehard NFL fan bases react if their team relocated? SB Nation. Web.