Jason Collins was the first openly gay male athlete in any of the four major North American sports. After a 10-day trial, he signed a full contract with the Nets NBA team, and then, we knew he was going to stay in the league as the first openly gay male player. His jersey, number 98, became the number-one selling jersey that month. It sold more than Kobe’s jersey, more than LeBron’s—it’s important to understand that.
So, who bought those jerseys? Who basked in the glory of Jason Collins? The gay community, the people who support the gay community and so on. By the way, Jason Collins wore number 98, which is an unusual basketball number. So, why did he have that number? What does 98 represent? Well, 98, in the gay community, is known as being the year that Matthew Shepard, a teenager, was murdered in Wyoming just for being gay, and the community said, “This is enough.” That’s where they drew the line. If you’re a part of that community, you know what 98 means.
The jersey was even more powerful. It’s not enough to just bask in the reflected glory. It’s important to truly understand the language of the community and let the members of it bask in the glory in a way that’s right for them. In marketing, this is what’s referred to as the principle of basking in reflected glory.
If you fast-forward to the present day, you’ll see there are other moments people want to bask in. You’re watching TV, and some guy says some phrase in a post-game interview that’s really funny. How do you bask in that moment? Well, in the digital era, there’s now a company called Fanatics.
Fanatics has a room with 100 televisions. Guys are watching 100 live sporting events going on, and maybe they see a moment in a post-game interview, or perhaps they hear some kind of phrase starting to emerge. In 15 minutes, they can generate merchandise that allows you to bask in that moment. They’re using the same principle of basking in reflected glory that Robert Cialdini coined. It’s one of the great sports marketing principles, and it’s all about you.
It’s all about you showing up the next day with your Green Bay Packers jersey on because they happened to win Monday Night Football, and on Tuesday morning, you want everybody to know that you support the Packers. That’s you basking in the glory of the win.
If you’re interested in sports management education and global sports trends, exploring an online sports management education may be your best option. It’s a convenient way to learn a variety of valuable lessons that will help you pursue a sports management career.
