Congratulations to the 2016 Chicago Cubs on their hard fought World Series victory. But what does this mean for their overall brand when the series excitement dies down?
For several generations, the Cubs have been one of baseball’s most beloved teams.
In 2015, The Harris Poll of 2,200 adults showed the Cubs ranked #3 behind the Yankees and Red Sox as “America’s Favorite Baseball Team,” despite a record of 443 wins and 529 losses from 2010-2015.
How does a team with a losing record rank with the perennial world champion Yankees in popularity? Because they WERE America’s “lovable losers.” A team, as we’ve all heard a million times this year, who hadn’t won the World Series since 1908.
Now who are they? When the World Series hype dies down, they’ll be just another baseball team. Like the Red Sox, who broke their 86 year-long curse in 2004, now the Cubs MUST win …. consistently. They can no longer be the lovable losers. The team you root for no matter where you’re from because, “they deserve it” (and they were rarely a real threat).
What differentiated the Cubs died at 12:55 PM ET on November 2, 2016.
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