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- Recent studies explored how Americans felt about teams whose excellence was built up over time compared to those that attained it by buying outside talent.
- Study participants favored "built" teams over "bought" teams in sports as well as among teams of lawyers.
- Fans attributed more effort and cohesion to the teams that were "built" rather than "bought."
When a franchise buys a superstar like Tom Brady, Lebron James, or Lionel Messi, the team tends to win more games. But do the fans follow? How much team loyalty is purchased along with expensive stars? Maybe not as much as some owners hope. That, for example, was reflected in the finals series between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs, where many fans expressed their dislike of the "bought" Miami team.
In a new paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Applied Social Psychology, I and other researchers at the University of Kansas asked more than 1,500 Americans how much they liked teams that purchased excellence, and compared that with liking teams that built excellence from the ground up.
The Findings
People reliably preferred the "built" teams and slighted the "bought" teams. This was true of sports teams — even ones they didn’t know, such as New Zealand rugby teams — and work teams such as a squad of lawyers.
In each of five studies, people were willing to root more for the teams built over time than those assembled from free agency and deep-pocketed owners. People preferred teams of lawyers built with time and patience over those that invited in celebrities to shine and impress others.
This preference is reliable and strong. What makes the difference?
Why Fans Favored "Built" Teams
Fans appreciate the effort and commitment required to build a team from the ground up. Hard work is a central American value, and it certainly applies to both work and sports — everyone loves a winner, but even more so when the back story is based on perspiration and determination.
Potential fans thought a gradually built team would show more teamwork, operating smoothly together as a team. The cohesion was a plus, but it was not as important as seeing hard work in building a team.
Fans prefer the teams who develop their players, invest in them, and cultivate their skills.
These findings explain part of the appeal of winning teams, and part of the appeal to faithful fans of teams that work, struggle, and manage to eke out just a few wins each season. They could also explain people’s endorsement of "Cinderella teams" in competitions like March madness. People love to see relatively unknown teams who work hard beat highly ranked teams with top recruits.
References
Gillath, O., Crandall, C. S., Wann, D. L., & White, M. H. Buying and building success: Perceptions of organizational strategies for improvement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
