In 2012, Los Angeles Dodger fans were in near revolt.  The team was then purchased by Guggenheim Baseball Management and the Dodgers now lead Major League Baseball in attendance. But is the fan’s renewed enthusiasm a popularity surge or brand loyalty?

For my final practicum for my Masters, Communication Management (MCM) at the University of Southern California, I created a model tailored to measure brand loyalty in sports. Surveys were conducted with 200 participants, all had attended a Dodgers home game in the last two years, to determine the current brand loyalty of the Los Angeles Dodger’s fan base. This model can be fine-tuned and applied to any product. You can find the literature review, which details the discovery phase of the model, here.

From this study there were several high level takeaways.

• The Dodgers have very medium Brand Loyalty with 65 to 69% falling in the medium range across all categories.
• Fans do not know what the Dodgers stand for or what they represent.
• While management and the players are well liked, there is a lack of emotional connection. Fans like the Dodgers but don’t need the Dodgers.
• In general, fans are unfamiliar with the Dodger legacy.
• While fans think overall the Dodgers are a value, individual parks purchases such as food, merchandise and parking are thought of as overpriced. This is interesting, as the Dodgers’ prices seem in line with the MLB average.

Starting point solutions for a long-term strategy:

• The Dodgers need to incorporate a more personal touch, using authentic two-way communication.
• The Dodgers could do a better job in communicating their value.
• The fans need a reason to root for the organization beyond wins and losses. They need ideals to rally behind.

Check out the Executive Summary (6 minutes) or detailed full project (30 minutes),

Executive Summary (6 Minutes) Press play and use the arrows ( < >) to navigate. If the presentation is not loading please view at Prezi.com or on YouTube.

Full Project (27 minutes)