After reading post after post about criticism of athletes, coaches, and the fanbase, I'm curious to see everyone's opinion regarding how they view the function of a fanbase.
Before you give your opinion, I think I need to specify that I am curious about your opinion on the role of the fanbase for D1 teams like Iowa and not the role of fanbases at every level of athletics. It's important to make this distinction as obviously there can be sports teams without a fanbase; however, once the sports team becomes a revenue generating component of a business, in this case an athletic department, a fanbase becomes a requirement. So, with that said, I see two ends of the fanbase spectrum:
Is the fanbase to be just a cheerleader? In this case always cheering on the team, supporting anyone who plays for the team or coaches the team, and to be a consistent revenue stream win or lose.
OR
Is the fanbase to be just a consumer? In this case viewing the sports team as a consumable commodity; consistently demanding a better product and using dollars to voice opinions ultimately eliminating loyalties to players/coaches based upon end results.
With the sports team's dependency on revenue, I cannot see how the relationship survives completely being on the cheerleader side of the spectrum; however, on the other end, I can't see a player, at this level of athletics, wanting to be treated like a commodity. So, what's the answer?
Before you give your opinion, I think I need to specify that I am curious about your opinion on the role of the fanbase for D1 teams like Iowa and not the role of fanbases at every level of athletics. It's important to make this distinction as obviously there can be sports teams without a fanbase; however, once the sports team becomes a revenue generating component of a business, in this case an athletic department, a fanbase becomes a requirement. So, with that said, I see two ends of the fanbase spectrum:
Is the fanbase to be just a cheerleader? In this case always cheering on the team, supporting anyone who plays for the team or coaches the team, and to be a consistent revenue stream win or lose.
OR
Is the fanbase to be just a consumer? In this case viewing the sports team as a consumable commodity; consistently demanding a better product and using dollars to voice opinions ultimately eliminating loyalties to players/coaches based upon end results.
With the sports team's dependency on revenue, I cannot see how the relationship survives completely being on the cheerleader side of the spectrum; however, on the other end, I can't see a player, at this level of athletics, wanting to be treated like a commodity. So, what's the answer?