2011 Brand Keys Sports Fan Index Scores Loyalty Winners and Losers: Phillies, Yanks, and Sox are Tops while Pirates, Oriels, Royals Trail

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NEW YORK NY March 23 – The Major League Baseball season begins Thursday, March 31^st, , opportune timing, as the  cry ‘play ball’  directly follows the release of the 2011 Brand KeysSports Loyalty Engagement Index, the annual survey conducted by (www.brandkeys.com), the New York-based brand and customer loyalty research consultancy.

The Sports Loyalty Indxe, now in its 19^thseason,was designed to help professional sports teams’ management identify precise fan loyalty rankings in hometown (and national) markets. “These insights allow league and team marketers to identify areas that need strategic brand coaching,” said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president.

The 2011 Major League Baseball’s top5/bottom-5 standings:

Top Five

1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. New York Yankees

3. Boston Red Sox

4. San Francisco Giants

5. Los Angeles Dodgers

Bottom Five

1. Pittsburgh Pirates

2. Baltimore Oriels

3. Kansas City Royals

4. Arizona Diamondbacks

5. Seattle Mariners

The Sports Loyalty Engagement Index provides a directcomparison of the intensity with which fans within the team’s SMSA support the home team versuscorresponding values for fans of other teams in the market. “That’s important because fan loyalty correlates  highly with broadcast viewership, merchandise purchase, and ticket revenue. And happier fans as well,” noted Passikoff. “Everybody loves a winner, but it’s important to note that win/loss ratios do not entirely govern fan loyalty. There are three other factors that have to be taken into account.”

Fan loyalty is driven in four ways:

• Pure Entertainment: How well a team performs, but more importantly, how exciting is their play?

• Authenticity: How well they play as a team (and in the case of MLB is it natural talent or steroid-enhanced performance?) New stadia can help propel this driver, and sometimes a new manager.

• Fan Bonding: Are players respected and admired? See “Authenticity” for additional affects).

• History and Tradition: Is the game, and the team, part of a fan’s and a community’s rituals, institutions and beliefs?

“And since overall league and team rankings do correlate with viewership and merchandise sales, and rankings can be influenced depending upon how loyalty drivers are managed, it’s critical that team marketers do accurate scouting regarding the strategic ball they intend to pitch to the fans,” said Passikoff

This year five games will be held on Opening Day, with the Milwaukee Brewers visiting the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves visiting the Washington Nationals, the San Diego Padres visiting the St. Louis Cardinals, the Detroit Tigers visiting the New York Yankees, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim visiting the Kansas City Royals.

Basketball, Football, Hockey Loyalty Index

The Brand Keys Sports Fan Loyalty Index measures all the teams in the four major  professional leagues, with this 2011’s  top-5/bottom-5 rankings as follows:

National Football League

Top Five

1. New England Patriots

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

3. Indianapolis Colts

4. Green Bay Packers

5. New York Jets

Bottom Five

1. Oakland Raiders

2. Cincinnati Bengals

3. Washington Redskins

4. Cleveland Browns

5. Carolina Panthers

National Basketball Association

Top Five

1. San Antonio Spurs

2. Los Angeles Lakers

3. Dallas Mavericks

4. Boston Celtics

5. Phoenix Suns

Bottom Five

1. Charlotte Bobcats

2. Sacramento Kings

3. Minnesota Timberwolves/Golden State Warriors

4. Memphis Grizzlies

5. Atlanta Hawks/Toronto Raptors

National Hockey League

Top Five

1. Detroit Red Wings

2. Philadelphia Flyers

3. San Jose Sharks

4. Vancouver Canucks

5. Boston Bruins

Bottom Five

1. Atlanta Thrashers

2. St. Louis Blues

3. New York Islanders

4. Phoenix Coyotes

5. Tampa Bay Lightening/Nashville Predators

“All teams benefit from increased loyalty levels, but they call baseball America’s ‘National Pastime,’ noted Passikoff, “and there are very few fans that don’t get excited about seeing a game, especially on Opening Day. After all, wasn’t it the great Yogi Berra who said, ‘A home opener is always exciting whether it’s at home or on the road.’”