Discuss at Least 2 Reasons the Blackhawks Were once So Popular Historically

1. Discuss at least 2 reasons the Blackhawks were once so popular historically.

The Chicago Blackhawks were once perceived as one of the most successful teams in all of sports especially within the NHL. Specifically prior to 1966 the Chicago Blackhawks were the only winter sports team in Chicago. It wasn’t until 1966 that the Chicago Bulls came about and it wasn’t until the 1980’s when Michael Jordan began his historic tenure with the Bulls. In addition, to being the only winter sports franchise in Chicago the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 1962. As result of being the only sports franchise in Chicago and also the fact that the product was successful there was no getting in front of the successes for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The success of the Chicago Blackhawks from the 1960’s continued all the way to 1994 where the team would sell out home games even in the years that the team did not play well. The fans were notoriously loyal because of the players who they associated with the organization. Specifically, as quoted in a November, 1960 Sport’s Illustrated article, “Inimitable left wing Bobby Hull did more than thrill crowds with his sprints up-ice and his big shot. He transformed the Blackhawks from to Cup contenders” (Rudeen). Additional feedback from a player of that era in reference to the home arena was, “It was built like a fortress," says former goalie Tony Esposito, one of the best ever to stand between the pipes. "You had a feeling like you were from the gladiator days" (Custance). It was clear that the arena was electric, filled with fan support that ultimately fed players with emotion to truly embrace playing for Chicago. The saying, “there’s no place like” was truly appropriate in this case.

2. Discuss at least 2 facts that evidence how much trouble the team’s brand was in when Bill Wirtz died.

When Bill Wirtz, died it became evident to those who inherited the team just how poor the team’s brand had become with the city of Chicago. Supporting this negative viewpoint related to the brand were poor finance’s, poor fan attendance, and the inability of management to sign highly sought after free agents.

Related to the finances in 2004 the team value dropped from $218MM to $192MM, which was one of the largest year over year declines in team value. The decline continued in 2005 and 2006 as the value trimmed to $178MM and $168MM respectively. Additionally, fan attendance, which averaged approximately 20K nightly in the late 90’s dropped to approximately 13Kin the early 2000’s (Deighton). Based on these figures it was clear that the brand of the Chicago Blackhawks was suffering. Furthermore, it became even more evident that the brand was suffering when many key free agents chose to sign elsewhere, which was quite contrary to just a few year’s prior.

3. Discuss at least 2 management or marketing mistakes that the team made that harmed relationships with fans.

When it came to management and marketing there were a multitude of decisions that enraged fans. For example, management refused to televise home games in an effort to get fans to the arena. Aside from the strategy not resulting in higher attendance it also came to offend many fans who started to turn on the organization. In an effort to force fan attendance management instead hurt the image of the organization, which ultimately had a long lasting negative impact on the organization.

Even worse was the firing of someone who wasn’t even a player on the team. Management decided to fire national anthem soloist Wayne Messmer simply because he wanted to take on a similar role with a minor league team. Well, management treated this as treason and fired the soloist who was a crowd favorite (Shein). Management then went on to ruin relations with star player, Bobby Hull by not offering him the money the market demanded for him. This was yet another poor managerial decision that fans became enraged with. In fact, the negotiation was so toxic that when Bobby Hull’s son, Brett Hull was of age to play hockey the Blackhawks refused to sign him (Shein). The message was clear that players are disposable and this did not sit well with both the player’s and the fans, which not only hurt the product on the ice, but was also a slap in the face to the branding of the team.

4. Discuss at least 2 management and marketing steps that Rocky Wirtz made when he took over the team to rebuild the brand.

Not noted in the case study, but mentioned in a Sporting News article was that Rocky’s father had banned bottled water and noted, “If it’s water you want, the best option is that five-gallon jug with a little paper cup” (Custance). Well, one of Rocky’s first moves was to bring back bottled water, but this decision was less about water and more about