Does Signing Michael Vick Hurt the Eagles Brand?

I was asked the other day whether the signing of Michael Vick hurt the Philadelphia Eagles' brand and reputation. The question was put forward with the obvious suggestion that the signing did destroy the brand of the team.

For those who are not familiar with US sports, the Eagles are a professional football (American football, not soccer) team. Michael Vick was a professional player with the Atlanta Falcons who spent two years in prison for running a dog fighting ring and personally being involved in electrocuting, drowning, and otherwise torturing dogs. He did his time; he's out and the Eagles signed him. Many teams refused to sign him. Needless to say, this has created quite a controversy amongst fans. One sporting goods store, Dick's, has said that they will not carry Vick's jersey with the caviat, that they will if customers demand it.

Those familiar with the National Football League know that there have been a large number of players who have had legal problems. At one time, people joked that the NFL stood for National Fellons League.

The Eagles argue that Vick has served his time and that he deserves another chance. Most people know that this is not the real reason he was signed. The Eagles were not trying to make a social statement. He was signed because the team thought he was a good football player and could help the team. Otherwise, he would have been defined as ex-con not worthy of rehabilitation.

Now, what about destroying the brand? We've seen in baseball with Manny Ramierez, Barry Bonds, and others that the home team cheers and the opponents jeer those who have been accused of or admitted taking baned performance enhancing substances. The home fans want a winner. Yes, even the sophisticated city of San Francisco loved Barry Bonds who claimed he never took performance enhancing drugs but could not explain how he gain 3 hat sizes and 2 shoe sizes as an adult. He hit homeruns and won games. He put fans in the stands and built the TV ratings. Major league baseball even ignored the entire steroid scandal, relishing the fan enthusiasm for the homerun derby that broke all historical records.

So, what is the brand of a major league football team? One might want to say a community, family sports franchise, but in reality, the attributes are of a rough, oversized group of athletes expected to win for the city they play in. Owners have long understood that the public wants a winner and that they also love controversy. The Dallas Cowboys became the self-proclaimed "America's Team" with a lot of bravado and controversy surrounding less than savory players. The TV viewing audience for Michael Vick's first game will be huge.

So, for all of those who want the brand to be one thing, the owners and coaches know that what the vast majority of sports fans want is a winner. Cognitive dissonance will play its normal role in helping people to explain away those things that do not fit in their buying rationale. The brand promise of a sports team is to put a winner on the field. If they can do it with a group of "boy scouts", then fine, but the fans have not shown an inclination toward that type of team, despite all of the critics who scream about athletes being role models for young kids. The role models we have in sports are generally bad--get over it. Too many are coddled, spoiled brats who are children in adult bodies. There are many exceptions, but they do not garner the headlines.

Let's all remember that brands are not about making everyone happy or establishing a "higher order". They are only those things if it makes sense from either: 1) the desire of management; 2) differentiation; or 3) customer demand. In the case of football, none of these things is at work. The Eagles are fulfilling their brand promise to the vast majority of their fans. I imagine, though, that more of the downside will stick to the Eagles because it reinforces another brand image of Philadelphia as a city with ruthless fans and a tough, working class underbelly. If this were San Francisco, people would be much more willing to explain it away as a city that recognizes that people can learn from their mistakes.

I despise what Michael Vick did. I wish that all felons were banned from sports so that they were not role models for kids, but my desires are not what make the Eagles brand. I'm not an Eagles fan and wouldn't become one because they signed someone wonderful or didn't. They do not appeal to me as a franchise--as a brand.

While many people wish that the Eagles management would run the team differently and believe that the team turned its back on its brand and brand promise, I would suggest that the team is actually no different signing Vick than it was before. It is the same brand and has the same brand promise. The team may loose some fans, but these will likely be a small group of people who are not devoted fans--those who contribute the most to the profitability of the team.