Sports Management Strategies
Undoubtedly, the New York mates are one of the biggest and most successful baseball teams in the United States, particularly in New York. The success factor can be attributed to several sports management strategies that give the team an upper hand in its endeavors. However, the road hasn’t been all smooth since the team has had its fair share of bad seasons, which almost tumbled its name to the dirt (Zimbalist). Nonetheless, over the years and in recent times, the team has embarked on marketing and branding strategies to heighten the team’s name and reputation in America’s baseball sports scenes. After the team’s new owner, Steve Cohen, acquired the teams back in 2012, the new management set out to rebrand and restructure the team by instigating a marketing overhaul which included updating the team’s logo design (Geller). This included customizing the logo fonts and other marketing materials, including ads, photography and signage. There was also a proposal forwarded for restructuring the official team’s playground to add new features that would give the teams a more cultural identity.
Other sports management strategies included incorporating other marketing and team management firms such as the Range Media Partners, the LLC, to lead the team’s strategic planning. Some of the initiatives proposed have been implemented, while others remain under development. For instance, there were prepositions to offer live comedy throughout the games, regular updating of the available spaces in the stadium and adding more digital screens around the stadium to give viewers a seamless experience. Additionally, strategies target the upgrade of the stadium’s and the team’s technological advancement and upgrade. These strategies aim to revitalize the team by adding new touches for a better experience while maintaining its paramount reputation.
The team’s management has constantly reiterated that it will keep adopting more strategic moves to see the team upscale itself by increasing its public exposure. To achieve this, the team hopes to raise its brand on social media, music, and films. Other strategies include enlisting sponsorships to develop new experiences for its fans bases, such as collaborating with Airbnb Inc. to host fans and others. Furthermore, other plans, including the establishment of podcast sessions targeting the Hispanic communities and the collaboration with the Fashion industry, have been underway to increase the company’s exposure by offering appealing merchandise for the audience.
Policies
The New York Mets take its business very seriously since it’s an internationally renowned baseball team based in the United States. For this reason, the team management came up with several policies, rules, and regulations that guide the team’s members, including the management, players and all other staff members. This came in the wake of several sexual harassment allegations against its staff members this year, 20201. For these reasons, the team had to devise and develop a set of guidelines that address the company’s workplace culture. As mentioned by the team’s owner upon his purchase, the changes and policies aim to ensure accountability and keep the community and the culture safe, inclusive, and respectful. For this reason, Cohen announced an overhaul of the legal team to accommodate new minds among other staff members who were found culpable of misdoings. The teams would be responsible for developing legal policies that guide the team’s culture and reputation.
The three central policies emphasized by the team’s owner, Cohen, include the ant-discriminatory policy, policies regarding nonfraternization, dating and romantic relationships to clarify what is acceptable and what is prohibited, and security policies. The anti-discriminatory policy emphasizes the maintenance of the workplace as a safe and respectful premise. This policy prohibits and rebukes any misconduct such as bullying, damaging the workplace cultures, and violation of set out rules and regulations any law. On the other hand, the policy regarding nonfraternization, dating and romanticrelationships stipulate regulations surrounding the dating lives of the staff members, including the baseball players. Upon flaunting any of the set out policies, some consequences follow up according to the detailing of those policies. Finally, the security policies stipulate on the excellent condition ideal for the security of people accessing Citified, the home field of the New York Mets (Mets). Some of the prohibitions under this policy include alcoholic beverage consumption in the parking lots and the sidewalks surrounding the ballpark, the prohibition of backpacks inside the field, and glass bottles regardless of what they contain. Other regulations also include the ejection of disorderly fans using foul languages, those interfering with the game in any way, those wearing verbally provocative outfits. Technological devices such as drones are also not permitted, and the citified reserves the right to determine what is deemed appropriate for entry into the field.
Practices
New York Met’s level of practice and training ensures that they stay in shape as they play the game. The team players and the management work hand in hand to ensure that the team stands better chances of merging victorious in their games. Therefore, the team coaches continuously devise the most workable training plans and schedules to make sure the team remains competitive at all times. Recently, the team has faced high competition, as indicated by the number of times it became last in the NL league. However, with the best strategies and practices underway, it is expected that the team will achieve tremendous results in years to come.
The team’s activities and practices aim to inspire change and make a long-lasting impact on and off the field as per its mission statements. Therefore, the team hopes to make strides towards winning more seasons so that even the younger generations can get inspired. Additionally, the New York Mets also help contribute to society through organizational initiatives that seek to improve the communities’ lives in the team’s home area. Additionally, with the vision stipulated by the team’s owner, safeguarding the cultures of the team through establishing a state-of-the-art playing field shows the team’s positive intentions.
Challenges
Like any baseball team or organization, the New York Mets have had its fair share of challenges. One of the apparent challenges which go without saying is the adverse effects presented by the covid-19. As we are aware, game schedules had to be rechecked after the onset of the pandemic. This way, just like all other teams, the team runs into huge revenues losses and reduced income. However, the team hopes to recover since restrictions are slowly getting scraped off. The second major challenge undermining the team has been the experiences of the game losses in recent times. However, the team remains hopeful of turning around in the coming seasons. The other challenge lingers around the team’s management. Some people have presented their concerns about whether Brodie Van Wagenen will stick around as the general manager for the third year in a row. In his capacity as the general manager and a prospective new owner of the team, questions linger on every fan’s mind whether the new Mets front office will retain him.
The other challenge concerns Mets’ culture change. There have been occasional changes on the front office, making fans express their concerns over culture shifts within the organization. It is alleged that Mets lacked a sense of ambition for many years, mainly due to the financial constraints of the Wilpons. However, it is hard to blame the guys in the big leagues for that. Nonetheless, Mets management needs to work out extra hard to realize an ideal environment that will harness wins for the entire organization. For instance, they need to sign in players who are self-driven to win against their competitors, this way, and tremendous results can get achieved in the team. This also calls for a culture shift from the losing mentality to the winning mentality. Another typical challenge is losses. There are no teams that appreciate losing, and this continues to be a challenge for the New York Mets.
In conclusion, New York Mets are one the most renowned professional baseball teams in America. It has, over the years, garnered its fair share of wins and losses, but it’s all part of the game. Since Cohen acquired the team as its new owner, he has been at the forefront of proposing management strategies to see the team become a world-class team. Some of the set strategies include rebranding, marketing, Technological integration, and field restructuring, which would heighten the experiences offered to its fans. Furthermore, the organization also set out several policies that would help improve relationships and the team’s efficiency in service delivery to its fans. Such policies include anti-discriminatory policies, nonfraternization policies, dating and romantic relationships to clarify what is acceptable and what is prohibited, and security policies. The team also keeps on adopting the best practices that help the team keep on getting better. However, the team has had its fair share of challenges, which it has responded to quite well.
Work Cited
Geller, Megan. “Potential sale of New York Mets to Steve Cohen falls through.” UWIRE Text (2020): 1-1.
Mets. Citi field security policies. 2021. Retrieved from; https://www.mlb.com/mets/ballpark/information/security-policies
Silverman, Matthew. New York Mets: The Complete Illustrated History. Mvp Books, 2011.
Zimbalist, Andrew. May the best team win: Baseball economics and public policy. Brookings Institution Press, 2010.
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