How has fan loyalty to Big Blue changed over the last two decades?
2010- Present End of Coughlin-Era and McAdoo Inherits throne
Now is the best time to be a Giants fan, given the storied history of the past decade. The market for merchandise ha s expanded exponentially since the growth of e-commerce and the introduction of foreign markets to the NFL by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Fans’ expectations on the Giants are higher than before as they know what they are capable of. The 200 plus million dollar roster for the 2016 season paints a picture of a team destined to improve year after year. The 2014 and 2015 seasons may have been interruptions to the Giants’ final goal of winning another Superbowl in the next five years.
The Giants’ future resembles the trends in popularity as a brand with the rival baseball and basketball teams. The Yankees created a new stadium in 2009 to reestablish themselves after a steroid era that deflated many hopes of fans across the nation. The Knicks’ marketing campaign is always changing almost as frequently as the coaching staff and starting five-man rotation.
The Yanks and Knickerbockers have distinctive brands to New Yorkers, but the Giants selling point is its unpredictable success in the last ten years which cannot be written off, its players who come back as if duty-bound eager to reach the playoffs and a coaching staff has standards of winning through diligent execution as goo as any other team in the NFL. It is a special time to be a Giants fan and hopefully this will be the case for the next decade too.