What Sports Fans Think About Pride Month Promotions

Mark Cuban claims companies that “go woke” are just doing good business. Others contend companies like Anheuser-Busch and Target have lost touch with customers, underestimate the speed of internet influence, and are reaping bad business results as a consequence. As sports leagues and teams celebrate Pride Month with a myriad of promotions, is it good business or bad business?

Aside from differences in moral persuasion, professional sports leagues have welcomed the LGBTQ+ community for the sake of diversity, equity and inclusion. Such support may be welcomed but also seen as questionable and objectionable by some or as “rainbow washing” and virtue signaling by others.

Support for the LGBTQ+ community has become a prominent promotional theme during Pride Month and beyond. These promotions have met with support and spite, including the NHL Pride Nights, MLB Pride Nights, NBA Milwaukee Bucks Drag Queen halftime show, and “NFL is gay” campaign, among others. Similarly, pride jerseys worn by players on special pride nights encountered both approval and antagonism.

Professional sports are big business. Good business is meeting the needs of consumers and adding value to current and future customers. It’s about sales. As Cuban, the star of Shark Tank, said, “It’s about taking the time to understand the needs of the person you are selling to.” Adam Silver often talks about ways to “add value” to the NBA. The NHL states it bases its business decisions on when it “adds value” to the league.

What do fans think?

Promotions play an important marketing role for professional leagues, particularly Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and National Hockey Association, not to mention all minor league sports. Promotions are often supported by sponsors who see their value to fans.

The question is: What kind of consumer promotions add value to the average fan?

To find out, data was collected from 1,158 fans in the United States across major league cities who watch at least three hours of sports a week. The question asked was, “Sports teams offer a variety of events and promotions to attract fans to games. How much value do each of these take away or add to the game for you personally?”

The randomly displayed promotions were drawn from the most common MLB pride and sports-related promotions. Responses ranged from -50 (reduces value), doesn’t matter (0), to 50 (adds value).

The sample was 58% males, 50% married, with household income reflective of the US population, with a median age of 36. Respondents were not asked about their sexual orientation.

More interesting results

1. Those whose favorite league is MLB rate the pride promotions the lowest compared to fans of other major leagues.
2. Those who attended a live sporting event in the past year score the pride promotions significantly lower than those who had not attended a game.
3. Younger fans are more likely to find value in all promotions, pride and sports-related.
4. Those with higher incomes and the ability to pay are more likely to find these promotions, pride and sports-related alike, to add value to the ticket purchase. The pattern for which promotions add value mirror the overall results.

Are pride promotions bad or good for business?

On the one hand, pride promotions don’t have much appeal to current fans. On the other hand, pride promotions appeal more to those who haven’t attended or who are younger; thus perhaps attracting a different crowd.

If the goal is to reach new fans, pride promotions may be an avenue, but one that is apt to leave some on the opposite side of the street. As others note, “In highly polarized times, no matter the cultural or political issue, broadly, 45% support you, 45% are against you, and about 10% are undecided.” That breakdown is borne out in the results of this study, where 48-55% rated the pride promotions negatively or neutral.

Some believe it’s necessary to signal LGBTQ+ fans are welcome to the game. Others, like the Texas Rangers, skip the promotion and make it a point of practice to welcome all fans and to be inclusive in hiring. Here’s to hoping for a day when we care less about promoting values and care more for valuing each other as worthwhile people.