Should the Rams be afraid of Rush Limbaugh as an owner?

If anything, the Front Office decisions have already been made and Limbaugh has already had his say.

Any move of this magnitude involves contingency plans and guidelines, contractual negotiations, severance, a host of legal coordination, etc., all to make certain that when a move DOES happen, the transition is neither disruptive nor acrimonious.

Are there last-minute changes and unforseen circumstances?

Sure.

But businessmen like Checketts and Limbaugh have enough saavy to have covered all the bases.

You’ll notice that liberal sports media outlets (including ESPN pundits) are acting like this is “OK with them”.

Of course, they don’t like it. But they’re going to roll with it because the last thing they need is to have the owners slam their doors in ESPN reporters’ faces (the owners have no beef with Limbaugh and some are his biggest fans).
 
So hoping Limbaugh hasn’t approved the executive staffing already is a moot point.

Learn something about the business world.

He’s just some political hack who joined SBNation to make snarky comments about Limbaugh.

I’m talking about 30 million (possibly more) dedicated fans, not counting the influence he has with half the country and the amount of attention and derangement he induces in the other half.

And you don’t understand the marketing tool of demos and their evaluation.

The vaguaries of demos is inexact, but the point is not to garner simply “unique” hits but to “estimate for purposes of trends”. That means: judging the “enthusiasm”, not simply a barren “number” for a theme or trend.

This isn’t “bean-counting”.

Why do you think pollsters are differentiating between “strongly approve” and “approve” in their polls?

Because those who merely “approve” are often ineffectual and apathetic when it comes to detecting trends.

The mood of those who “strongly approve” (or disapprove) are the “dedicated fans”. They are more likely to drive the trend in their direction – the moderates are merely sheep who follow the trend.

…in which a seemingly disparate or isolated factor influences another factor.

Take a look at Michael Jordan when he joined the White Sox organization, or more recently, Yao Ming joining the Rockets.

In both cases, these [inter]national figures were able to focus [inter]national attention on their organizations.

Attention on what?

The White Sox and the Rockets?

No. At least, not exactly.

On the MLB and the NBA.

These figures successfully spread enthusiasm for a game to people who were, at first, apathetic – even ignorant. This, then, carried over into seemingly uninvolved areas like Italy and Mongolia.

Michael Jordan introduced baseball to many basketball fans. Sure, they knew about baseball on an intellectual level, but many baseketball players in the inner city knew little or nothing about the game (President Obama is one of the more high-profile examples). And Baseball fans disaffected by the ’94 strike nevertheless kept reading baseball scores while Jordan played for the Barons. It kept the game alive.

As for Yao Ming, many Chinese, who knew nothing about Basketball, nevertheless cheered him on in the States. If the game was already “catching on” in China before Yao Ming came to America, it absolutelyy caught fire when he joined the Rockets, spreading interest for the game into dissociated parts of China’s society like Mah Jong, Ping Pong and Badminton associations, planting the seeds for growing the NBA’s fanbase.

Will a Giants fan see Rush Limbaugh and suddenly switch his loyalty to St. Louis?

Hell no.

You’ve either misunderstood, or failed to grasp the most basic business principle in sports.

The Rams, like the White Sox or the Rockets, are not isolated/monolithic organizations unto themselves. It is more accurate to say that they are subsidiaries or even competing divisions/departments within a larger corporate conglomerate: the NFL, the MLB and the NBA.

What benefits the larger conglomerate will inevitably benefit even its weakest department. And that department’s performance is not directly incumbent on its performance on the gridiron, nor even its performance at the ticket counter.

To put it in simple terms you can understand: It is incumbent on the Rams’ ability to generate interest and revenue for the NFL as a whole.

The Chicago Cubs are financially one of the most successful teams in the world of sports.

They’re also historically one of the worst teams on the diamond.

Industry employees, employers, owners and reporters, they all know this instinctually. Even people who hate Rush will unwittingly make his team successful by hating the Rams.

Do you hate the Cowboys or the Yankees?

Most sports fans do.

But every time you watch their games on television, read about them on the Rams or Cardinals sports blogs (at the same time skimming over the advertisements), every time an announcer takes time during a sports announcement to discuss the “Evil Empire” or take a swipe at the “Death Star”, every time you change your daily behaviour at the water cooler, or discuss how overrated or overpaid they are, every time you unwittingly spreading their influence to your friends – any little nuance and more – and you’ve become an agent to their success.

The Rams don’t have to be “America’s Team”.

With Rush, they can hold their own and reclaim their financial health, even come back from the cellar of the NFL.

They have the fundamentals for market success, given the right direction.

If Rush and Checketts succeed in their bid, Rush will give your team an immediate boost before they even get out of the gate. He’ll focus attention on them and generate a torrent of interest through his army of listeners (and his listeners’ listeners). Sports broadcasters like ESPN, who revile Rush, would be wise to downplay the change in ownership for fear of spreading his team’s popularity (and even unpopularity).

I have nothing against this sports blog, but it will be a grain of sand next to the boulder of a Rams blog on Rushlimbaugh.com.

However, this is NOT a zero-sum game. Rush will inevitably link to Turfshowtimes.com. Do you have any idea what that will do to your hit counter?

And (assuming this all takes place) whether the Rams can take advantage of this and run with the ball – that will be up to the team on the field in the years to come.