Blockbuster moves that split the Los Angeles Dodgers battery of Hideo Nomo and Mike Piazza probably won't have a dramatic impact on attendance at Dodger Stadium or sales of Dodger Blue merchandise. That's because winning teams, more than popular players, are what set turnstiles spinning and cash registers ringing.
"In this era of free agency, clubs aren't as likely as they once were to hitch their marketing wagon to one or two stars," said David M. Carter, a Los Angeles-based sports marketing consultant. "And, if the new guys start winning and the Dodgers go into the playoffs, it could be 'Mike who?' "
Sports marketing experts point to last year's Florida Marlins team, which rocked the sports world and upset local fans last year by dumping star players within weeks of winning the World Series. Now the team is doing poorly. "Last year everyone was buying their stuff, and now you can't give it away," said Christian Scott, marketing manager for Sports Specialties, Nike Inc.'s Foothill Ranch-based sports head-wear division.
Dodger newcomers Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield and Charles Johnson will have big shoes to fill given the popularity of Nomo, a favorite among many Asian Americans, and Piazza, who seemed born to wear the Dodger Blue.
Experts say their fastest route to fans' hearts and pocketbooks is to carry the Dodgers into a pennant race. But retailers will hesitate to add shirts with names like Bonilla and Sheffield if the Dodgers can't catch the division-leading San Diego Padres, said Jeff Sacks, an editor with Team Licensing Business, a Phoenix-based sports marketing company.
Said Sacks: "It's all about winning, getting into the post-season and extending the [merchandise and ticket] selling season."
Nomo and Piazza also face the tough task of leveraging fan good will accumulated in Southern California. Piazza faces uncertainties created by being a free agent who could change yet again. And Nomo's future is dependent upon reclaiming the sparkling form he once showed on the mound. The Dodgers and other retailers are continuing to sell everything from $10 Nomo plaques to $200 Piazza framed baseball card collections. But observers say it won't be long before the merchandise will be on markdown tables.
And the exiled players can't count on Southern Californians for support. "Rabid fans in L.A. will probably feel slighted," Sacks said. "They very well could root against Piazza . . . who they figured would be their Cal Ripken, a guy who would finish out his career in Los Angeles."
