Carolina Panthers, Cam Newton, Empty Seats, Social Media, and Branding

[Jeremy Igo]

There was quite a bit of a discussion yesterday surrounding the lack of fan excitement at the game. While it was not terrible, the attendance and crowd noise was not typical of a what a winning team and a home victory historically yield. Plenty of empty seats and an opposing offense that was able to utilize hard counts for most of the game. That isn't normal at Bank of America Stadium. 

So what happened? I have thoughts. 

Enter Cam Newton

When the Carolina Panthers drafted Cam Newton they found themselves completely unprepared to handle a guy with so much talent and charisma. I have heard as much from more than one source. The Carolina Panthers, and indeed the greater Charlotte area, has never hosted such an amazing athlete and huge personality. 

It would not take long before Cam Newton was not a franchise quarterback. He was the franchise. 

Cam Newton was the first player to my knowledge to ever have his own video/photo/social production team accommodated by the Carolina Panthers. A team that was present on gamedays to provide content for Cam's personal brand.  To Cam's credit, this was a brilliant business decision and forward thinking approach to today's landscape. Thanks to social media, there are no longer any barriers between celebrities and fans. Cam developed a talented and successful pipeline from himself to his fans. He no longer needed internal or external Carolina Panthers media or promotions to reach his fans. 

The end result was a dual brand franchise. The Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton, inseparable brands working together for mutual benefit. For the past several years, you could not mention one without the other. And you know what? It worked. Money was being made by both entities. Life was good. 

But now the Carolina Panthers are starting to see the down side to being dual branded. When Cam Newton is no longer at the games there is a vacuum of interest and excitement. There is no one else on the team that can even approach Cam's showmanship and theatrical ability between the plays. The Carolina Panthers Show has lost its most beloved character. They are now the "Joey" to Cam Newton's "Friends". 

So what now?

What we are seeing now from the Carolina Panthers is a marketing transition. What was once 80% Cam Newton is now Christian McCaffrey. While McCaffrey is an amazing and marketable player, he still brings a fraction of the interest that Cam Newton brought. 

When (hopefully years from now) the Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton inevitably part ways, the Panthers will need to essentially re-brand themselves to their fans. I suspect they will take all the lessons learned above and not allow other player brands to rival their own. I would be shocked to see a production team allowed for CMC or a future franchise quarterback. While great for the players and short term for the team, it is to the long term detriment of their own Panthers brand. 

[MVPccaffrey]

Anyone else notice the Hurricanes team all wearing CMC jerseys?  Nary a '1' in sight, and that increasingly includes the stands.

Winning above all puts butts in seats.  A crippled Cam leading us to 4-12 isn't some magical draw.  As our youngins mature and we round into a yearly playoff team with our MVP caliber #22 leading the way, attendance will follow.  It's his team now.

Regardless, the player-fan model was never going to be sustainable and i'd be ecstatic if as you said it was phased out from the front office.  Reeks of little brother syndrome.  When a player is good enough, the organic fan support alone should suffice.

[PanthersATL]

I was a fan of the team before Cam came on board. I'll be a fan of the team after Cam moves on to his next adventure. Cam did not change my fan allegiance - he  made the games he was in more exciting.

There are a fair number of Panthers fans who became fans specifically due to Cam. The question is what will happen to those folks when Cam is gone - have we done enough to win them over to be permanent fans, or are they going to go off and chase the next shiny object?

[ickmule]

6 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

I was a fan of the team before Cam came on board. I'll be a fan of the team after Cam moves on to his next adventure. Cam did not change my fan allegiance - he  made the games he was in more exciting.

There are a fair number of Panthers fans who became fans specifically due to Cam. The question is what will happen to those folks when Cam is gone - have we done enough to win them over to be permanent fans, or are they going to go off and chase the next shiny object?

Plenty will chase the next shiny object, but a fair amount will stick.  It’s like Michael Jordan, I pulled for the bulls because of Jordan and to this day that is still my favorite NBA team.  

[Dunn]

Cam to the NFL is like Lebron is to the NBA.  Where Cam Goes, his fans will go.  They don't stick to a team, only to a player.  It'll be a sad day when he is not in a Panthers uniform as I truly enjoy watching him play, but I'll stick a Panthers fan regardless.  

[TheRed]

Aaron Rodgers has a hell of a marketing team for himself as well. When you are a QB of that caliber it comes with the territory both good and inevitably bad. Instead of blathering on about player only fans try actually being thankful your favorite franchise backed their way into a talent like him. When he's gone he's gone, and that'll be that. Until then enjoy what's left of it, and just support the team. These circular "Cam fan" discussions only end with ignorance and bitterness that is an ugly reflection on the entire fanbase.

[Silent Majority]

Wow. No wonder this board has regressed into what the new mean is. 

[Jeremy Igo]

Just now, TheRed said:

Aaron Rodgers has a hell of a marketing team for himself as well. When you are a QB of that caliber it comes with the territory both good and inevitably bad. Instead of blathering on about player only fans try actually being thankful your favorite franchise backed their way into a talent like him. When he's gone he's gone, and that'll be that. Until then enjoy what's left of it, and just support the team. These circular "Cam fan" discussions only end with ignorance and bitterness that is an ugly reflection on the entire fanbase.

Yeah, but Aaron Rodgers has about ten percent of the charisma as Cam Newton. The effect here will be felt much greater than in Green Bay.

[Silent Majority]

I was a fan of this franchise long before Cam. I will continue after he's gone, but not nearly as enthusiastically. Cam has brought out the reality of just how bigoted and disgusting more than a few are in this fan base, the (sh) city news paper even the franchise itself. 

[TheRed]

4 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Yeah, but Aaron Rodgers has about ten percent of the charisma as Cam Newton. The effect here will be felt much greater than in Green Bay.

I don't disagree with you on that but I think the Panthers will figure it out in time.

In terms of his presence and what he means for Charlotte as a sports city I really don't think you can understate it though. Remember what it was like for Charlotte when we got the Hornets? We had a magical run with that core group of guys and it was fantastic. This was their city. That's about what it has been like having Newton as the face of the franchise all these years. Undoubtedly a true superstar no matter how you may or may not feel about him. I'm just glad to have been able to see that. Especially looking around the league at what some of these cellar dwelling teams have to offer their fanbases. Let's hope the next decade after #1 can bring even a smidge of that magic back to us. It's been a long 25 years but we could have had it much worse in comparison.

[Mr. Scot]

Christian McCaffrey is actually now appearing in commercials for Felix Sabates Mercedes dealership alongside Ron Rivera. He's also being pretty prominently featured in advertisements by the NFL, including the popular NFL 100 party commercial.

It'd be valid to say he's becoming one of the faces of the league, not just the team.

General analysis usually says that the NFL is not as star driven as the NBA.

With that said, every team uses their stars in marketing and sells jerseys.

Whenever a popular player leaves, retires or gets cut, you're gonna see a transition like this. 

[Cary Kollins]

Cam or no Cam, attending an NFL game is fugging expensive and time consuming and not something people get too thrilled about coming off one of the worst performances in franchise history.

If the team keeps winning the stands will start to fill again. I don't blame folks for not showing up for a product as inconsistent as what this franchise has put out recently though.

[WarHeel]

Meh...blowout losses will tend to do that to this fam base. Let them get a couple more W’s and watch everyone flood back in.

[DeAngelo Beason]

Cam is slowly becoming NOT the face of this franchise.  Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, this would be a one loss team if Kyle Allen had started from the get-go.

And NO, I'm not suggesting Kyle Allen is all that great.