Love, and not just when they’re winning

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…. I love football. While I’m in no hurry to get out of summer, I do look forward to a good Sunday of yelling at the tv, comfortably wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and sleeping with blankets and the window open. I’ve posted before on growing up a fan of the Green Bay Packers, and how I learned while in college how different Packer fans are. Living in metro-Detroit, and watching the Lions have a spectacular preseason, I’m reminded on what made me watch football all these years.

Here’s the thing: it’s not about winning. Not for me.

A coworker recently commented that she doesn’t “get football,” despite her husband’s desire to have a tv-yelling partner. I gave her my version of football, in the simplest of terms, focusing on what you really need to know. The simplest football explanation I can come up with: our 11 guys are trying to get past their 11 guys to get the ball to the end of the field as many times as posssible. The better they do, the more chances they get. The team with the most points at the end wins. There should be yelling, food and beer. Someone will spill on you; do not wear ‘dry clean only’ to the game. Plan to lose your voice.

But this got me thinking about why I love football, or really, why I love the Packers. (That’s something I’ve noticed about Packer fans too; we love them.) When I was young, in the 80s, the Packers were horrible. Horrible. Every week, we watched the game and yelled and cheered and had our hopes raised and, more often than not, dashed. We spent the week talking about what should have happened on the field, or in the office, or during the draft and how it will be better next week. My brother and his friends played football and pretended to be the Packers, and didn’t seem to notice they weren’t winning either. And we did it all over again the next week.

We didn’t root for winning. We rooted for the Packers. Winning was a surprising bonus that carried us through weeks of losses. Winning was secondary. Winning was a goal, but not the goal.

As I watch my colleagues and friends celebrate the Lion’s winning preseason, I’m a bit sad for them. Footbally in Detroit is different. Detroit fans root for winning. And it’s understandable because there are so many other teams here. Lions lost? Big deal, the Wings new season is right around the corner? Or the Tigers. Or the Pistons (well, maybe not this year…)

There are exceptions; I know. I know people who love the Lions all the time, not just when they’re winning. As a marketer, I think of loyalty  – love – differently than a lot of people. For better or worse, that’s the truth. Not surprisingly, I have some ideas. I’m not saying they’re easily executed or that I have bothered to consider all of the details (Joel Scott, your job is safe – lol)

My dad is the reason I’m a Packer fan. He loved them, and I loved him. We went to games and watched games together, yelled and laughed together, strategized and consoled together. But more importantly, we did this my whole life. When I speak to my dad now, we talk about the game and if we got to see it and what we thought about plays, or players. I learned to love football, and the Packers, from my dad. Every week. For 36 years.

It was nearly 20 years ago when I was in college and learned that local teams aren’t always on tv. Blackouts were not something I experienced as a Packer fan… being entirely season ticket holders and all. If the preseason Lions show up in the regular season, there should be no blackouts in Detroit. But if they don’t, we’ll be watching the Bengals or the Chiefs or some other team I couldn’t care less about. (Sorry, the truth hurts some times.)

With Detroit having some of the highest unemployement rates in the country, a $45 ticket can be difficult to take. I know tickets are more expensive at other stadiums. (Hell, a ticket to see the Packers in Lambeau will run you over $250 a seat, so this is a bargain relatively speaking.) But for a family of four to see a Lions’s game – before parking, food, drinks, gas to get downtown, etc – is over $200 with fees. $200 buys a lot of groceries.

My question is this: why can’t you sell a family package for $100. Two adults and two children can learn to love a sport, a team, a city, together. Sure you’re taking a loss now. But what about the long term investment into the fans? Why not give a little now and get it back in spades later when they are returning? Isnt’ investing in fans actually a self-serving move to invest in the future of the teams. How does that saying go? There’s no such thing as a selfless good deed? Yeah, that’s it. There’s no such thing as a selfless good deed.

I don’t think deals will be had at Ford Field this year. At least, not early on. They won’t have to give the seats away to sell out the game. There’s an excitement in the air that maybe the Lions won’t be half bad this year. If they keep playing the way they have been — winning the last 4 of the 2010 regular season and dominating opponents in the preseason — I give them 8, maybe 9 wins this year.

But that’s not so important to me. I’m not in it for the winning.

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