Wings are #8 on Turnkey Team Brand Index
The latest issue of Sports Business Journal focuses on results of the Turnkey Team Brand Index, which took a look at all 47 markets that had at least one team in one of the four major leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL) in North America. The results of this study focused on the strength of each brand in their own market, not how they performed overall. For example, the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees are arguably the two biggest brand names overall, but they only came in at #28 and #29 respectively. I just want to focus on how the Detroit teams performed in this index.
The Detroit Red Wings came in at #8 (the only other NHL team to fare better was the Buffalo Sabres, who came in at #4) with a 122.28 rating. The Tigers came in at #11 with 118.69 rating. The Detroit Pistons were back at #15 with a 116.30 rating. The Detroit Lions came in at #117 (out of a possible 122) with only a 78.64 rating.
I thought it was interesting to find three of the four major league teams in Detroit earn placement in the top 15 brands. No other market had more than two teams in the top 15 (and that was only Boston with the Patriots and Red Sox). If you extend this to include the top 20 brands, two more cities would have two teams in the top 20 (Cleveland and Pittsburgh). I think this only helps support the concept that Detroit is a great sports city and we really do support our teams.
Those surveyed were also asked about winning tradition and the Detroit Red Wings were named the #1 team in terms of tradition with the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers following closely behind.
Two of the NHL’s original six franchises, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks, ranked in the bottom three of the NHL in winning tradition. …
The Detroit Lions, winners of NFL championships in 1935, ’52, ’53 and ’57, posted the lowest score in all of sports, averaging 2.37 on a scale of six used in calculating the index. Those same Detroit fans gave the Red Wings a 5.55, the Pistons a 5.31 and the Tigers a 4.54.
Now there are some flaws to this study, as there always are with every study. Turnkey only surveyed 200-500 people in each market for this index so if you want to just compare Detroit teams, further research should be done to appropriately determine where these team’s brands rank. I find it interesting that despite the decline in attendance at the Joe, the Wings are still considered the biggest brand by individuals in the metro Detroit area.
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One Response to “Wings are #8 on Turnkey Team Brand Index”
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November 6th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
I think you have to give a lot of credit to the Buffalo Sabres, too–and I don’t just mean for sending Hasek to the Wings a few years ago.
The fact that they’re the top-ranked NHL club in this survey is remarkable, considering that as recently as 2002, there was plenty of speculation they’d have to fold or relocate. Even in the dark days of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the Wings never faced that kind of scenario.