For Sale: Baseball team. Has not won a World Series in 100 years.
Ballpark is second oldest in the major leagues and is falling apart. Parking around stadium is horrendous. Sixteen pennants won, 0 since 1945. Asking price: $1 billion.
You guessed it, I’m referring to the Chicago Cubs who are currently being sold by Sam Zell to the highest bidder. What makes a franchise like the Cubs, one of the worst teams over the past 100 years, worth as much as $1 billion? That’s easy, it’s the brand.
If you think of a brand as “a commodity wrapped in experiences”, the Cubs have a lock on the baseball experience. From the vines in the outfield, the bleachers, the manual scoreboard, the rooftops, to the bullpens down the left and right field lines, Wrigley Field and the Cubs are pure baseball.
Fans come from around the world to experience a Cubs game. Even in losing years, of which there have been many, the Cubs have drawn over 2 million visitors. This year, they attracted over 3.3 million fans.
While other franchises are known for their winning ways (think Yankees), the Cubs’ brand has always been about the experience. While disgruntled fans have criticized management and ownership over the years, nobody can argue that the organization has done a great job of building and maintaining their brand.
For more on this topic, a great read is “The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage”, by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. In building a powerful brand, the Cubs have created one of the greatest stages, and experience, in all of sports.
Bob Murphy, Managing Partner
