Munster fans’ loyalty can’t be taken for granted
To an outsider, the amount of emotion invested in sports seems over the top, but for those of us who are passionate sports fans and who are accustomed to witnessing the All-Ireland competitions, the Six Nations or the Premier League saturating the media coverage for months on end, the ritualistic traditions and the opportunity to obsessively connect with others through our favourite team seem completely justifiable.
You see, sports feeds our collective need to belong, and if the 112m people who watched last year’s Super Bowl and the 2.3bn who watched the last World Cup is anything to go by, then you understand that the constantly evolving sports industry is big business.
And yet, with satellite television and digital media now saturating the sports market and high ticket prices affecting attendances, the changing economics of this industry requires that much now needs to be done to maintain that romance and feel good factor amongst its fans.
While the biggest priority for most sporting organisations still remains — looking after their number one source of revenue, their gate sales — we must recognise now that success alone or a solidly performing team does not necessarily translate to full stadiums. To that effect, we must also recognise the impact that digital media has had on the way that fans now view sports, with social channels in particular now allowing them to get and feel more “connected” to their favourite athletes, teams and the sports brands. It’s only by tapping into the power of the community that sporting organisations can fully understand what their fans want by way of improving ticket sales.
Full stadiums, apart from gate receipts, mean so much more than just greater merchandising and food and beverage opportunities.
They mean fan energy and as anyone who has witnessed a big game at Croke Park or Thomond Park will testify — live sold-out sporting arenas translate into more passion and more entertaining matches, which in turn leads to greater sponsorship opportunities.
No-one should ever underestimate fan energy and one man, it seems, who very much understood the full potential and ultimate impact of a community backing ambition was our own Declan Kidney.
It was he who understood that the Munster team needed to break down all the barriers, that might have been there in traditional GAA strongholds throughout the province, and he did this by holding training sessions right throughout the province. Perhaps one of his greatest achievements, though, was he was able to “connect and unite” the often differing Cork and Limerick rugby communities under one banner “Munster” — motivating his players to believe that better people make better players and that they could not only compete with but win against their more illustrious opponents in Europe.
That Munster eventually conquered Europe says as much about the “collective” team effort and leadership than any star individual.
It was the sum of the parts that counted and that alone was enough for Muster’s legion of fans who proudly wore their provinces colours and tirelessly travelled Europe to share in their odyssey.
Today, it seems that gradually Munster is becoming more and more of a Limerick brand — now that its centre of excellence and stadium are both based there. That’s fine, but Munster’s lack of ambition to further develop the full potential (no Champions Cup matches and just four Guinness PRO12 games) of the Republic’s second most populated city with all of its corporate industry doesn’t reflect well on the huge efforts that were made in the past or for that matter for its own commercial well-being.
Fans are fans and they vote with their feet, and more importantly their purse strings, but their loyalty and connection to Munster cannot be taken for granted — especially now that Munster are no longer as successful or as visible as they once were.
Brian Cody in Kilkenny knows all about the value of community support, so too does Jim Gavin in Dublin. They also understand the importance of communicating and making the community part of the team’s journey.
By doing so they also maximise the full potential of the organisation, warts and all. But is anyone listening?
