“The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York…”, starts Wikipedia in describing the Yankees. How’s that for an understatement? Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they are arguably the greatest franchise in American sports.
With the passing of George Steinbrenner we can take a look back and evaluate whether he helped or hurt the Yankees brand.
Measured by value, he helped. Under the reign of the Boss the team’s value increased by over 100 fold which doesn’t even include the new cable TV deals or the now regular 4 million plus in attendance of games paying as much or more than $1,000 per ticket. His 37 year reign has yielded positive economic results.
Yet as Jimmy Breslin so aptly points out, Steinbrenner never drove in a single run. But his commitment to improving the team was indisputable despite many detours. He often got in his own way, and that hurt the Yankees brand for many years.
That was especially evident in the long dry spell from 1978 through 1995, which included a baseball suspension by Commissioner Vincent. That also included a manager-a-year turntable that was frankly a shameful sideshow. Pride of the Yankees? How could anyone argue that those were good years?
The brand of the Yankees since the Babe has been about pride, professionalism and winning. Steinbrenner had personal pride and often articulated his desire to get the Yankees back to winning. He certainly tried to support winning over those years, but he failed big time. During the dry spell he was a poor custodian of the brand. It took him being suspended suspension and then beginning to listen to his baseball people like Gene Michael for the great teams to emerge.
This is a lesson for any business owner. Don’t lose sight of the brand, and listen to your good people about what it takes to succeed. When that happened with the Yankees, success returned. The 1996 through 2000 seasons mirrored the greatest Yankee teams of all time. The teams since then have kept the bar high.
It takes more than passion to be a great leader. George Steinbrenner had passion for winning which served him well in business. In the end that passion supported success when it was combined with the humbling of the 1990 – 1992 suspension, Manager Joe Torre and lots of great players. At last pride, professionalism and winning was restored to the Yankees when Steinbrenner realized that it wasn’t about him, it was about the Yankees.
In retrospect we can learn that listening to talented people, investing in the business and giving time for great things to develop are all keys to success for a great brand. The Yankees brand is back. Yet how would history have judged Steinbrenner through 1995? Or if those great players of the mid to late 1990′s had not been found by the Yankees scouting team? Or if Joe Torre’s professional style had not influenced and then pervaded the team?
It takes more than wanting to win to build a great brand. Thanks Derek, and Andy, and Jorge, and Mariano, and Joe, and yes, George Steinbrenner, for finally getting it right.
About Doug Bruhnke