If you work in sports business, are visiting Miami and want to be inspired by the value of culture in turning things around, stop by the Miami Marlins and see if you can get a few minutes with President of Business Operations Chip Bowers. My last two trips to the area, one in March (check out the Portada piece with him here), and this past week for the Sport Business International Conference, involved a listen in with the Marlins president, and the growth in the culture of the franchise. Make no mistake, the Marlins have a ways to go to rebuilding and embracing to fabric of a city and a region that is sometimes skittish about professional sports, and has lost trust in a brand that has won on the field at times, but has never found the ways to build for the long-term.
Coming from the Golden State Warriors, Bowers saw how culture on and off the field was key to franchise restoration. From a communications standpoint, Golden state was always looking to be the aggressive disruptor to gain market share, and always, as long as longtime PR head Raymond Ridder has been there, sight to find the ways to identify with all areas of the communication and storytell to a larger audience of all backgrounds. That permeated to the business side as a new group led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber took over, and coupled with a steadfast plan on the basketball operations side, the Warriors blossomed.
Can that happen in Miami? Many of the things Bowers talked about in the spring seem to be taking hold, and a visit to Marlins Park found a staff that could not be more interested, accommodating and looking to improve the fan experience.
Some of Bowers thoughts this past week at the W in Miami Beach
“We preach patience but we can’t have any.”
The message to the fan base from the baseball side has been pretty clear. This is a longer turnaround, now with Derek Jeter at the helm, and it is going to take time. However finding ways to effectively storytell with the current lineup is of the essence. Anyone looking to invest as a season subscriber or a group buyer or even a small brand needs to have their needs addressed now, and listening and acting on good suggestions is key. For a franchise that was not listening for a long time, doing the little thigs to create a fan for life is important.
“We lost a generation of fans because of a short-term attitude, we need to build that back.”
One constant in South Florida is the transient nature of the community. People come from all over for short periods of time or to relocate, and they grew up being fans of visiting teams where they hailed from; Chicago, New York, Boston, even Atlanta. The short term prospect was sell to them, get their money and then bring them back to root for the other team when that team came back in. What was lost in that play, was the chance to cultivate a new generation of young fans who would come with a parent or a grandparent and who could become Marlins fans for life. A 20 plus year cycle was lost because there was no push to make young people, or even transplants, love the Marlins brand. By starting at the grassroots and catering to fans needs as an organization, building Marlins fans is the priority, and keeping them around us now the bigger focus. How? Again by listening and acting on what it will take to win their confidence.
“We believe that we are a gateway franchise and have asked Major League Baseball if there are games or platforms being taken to Cuba or anywhere else in Latin America we should be the first call.”
There is no doubt that the new immigrant from Latin America, especially those with disposable income, are looking to South Florida as a base. It is also no secret that the fan base is critical for the growth of baseball beyond borders. Bowers wants the Marlins brand to be the one first exported south by MLB, whether it is with media deals, new brand partnerships or fan extensions. If baseball wants to test anything in the warm waters of the Caribbean or Central and South America, the Marlins want to be the proactive first stop.
“English is the second language of most of our fans. We need to make sure we are finding ways to authentically engage with them if we have a shot at being successful.”
When you get to Marlins Park the home of the former Orange Bowl, you see the diverse multilingual neighborhood that surrounds it. For years that neighborhood, and its potential fan base, was passed over by a team that saw more lucrative plans from Anglo fans in the outlying areas. However with a fan base, especially a middle income fan base on the rise, whose first language is not English, it is Spanish, the team needs to literally make a cultural shift. Don’t be the ugly Americans in a market where you have distressed inventory. Find ways to embrace all forms of Latino culture effectively, authentically and intelligently in whatever language they speak, and the language of the Marlins brand wins.
Of course none of this is going to be easy and there will be some mistakes made along the way for a fan base used to being misled and wanting to spend dollars on winning, but doing the little things for rainy days, even in sunny Miami, is the first step in building confidence, and in having heard the story at seasons beginning and now at its end, and seeing progress first hand, makes the Bowers Marlins team in the front office one to both follow and root for going into the winter.
Hitting a baseball is not easy, winning over a multicultural fan base isn’t either, but Miami may be on their way, one conversation at a time.
