Probably will do the same. It’s baffling as to the mental gymnastics he will go through to say “everything’s fine!”
You keep talking like you have some inside knowledge about all of this. I figured you may share how you know this and what all else is involved in the process.
You just won’t admit the Texans are not hurting. LOL. Sure, they have taken steps to get the fans more engaged. Hiring Ryans and the upcoming uniform changes, but fans are easy. Drafting a QB and Demeco will have the stadium full or close to it in September. Business play the long game in sports. Advertisers and Sponsors do not react to short term challenges in sports. The will negotiate now and will have a better deal when the teams starts winning. You think the Astros were worried about 2011-2014? No. They played the long game. You do things like changing uniforms back to get interest back and you continue building the team and change coaches to get the right people in place. If you don’t see the Texans are following the Astros’ blueprint as much as they can in the last year, then you are not paying attention. Bo Porter=Culley and Lovie. Their value is still $4.7 Billion. Cal would get atleast $6 Billion if he sold the team. Bringing Hannah to forefront, getting rid of Easterby ( I think Hannah is as behind that), hiring Demeco, new fan engagement, is all part of the strategy. The Texans will be fine.
...I googled it... And, also, I do marketing/advertising/communications for a living, and have previously managed sports sponsorships for years, so I have a very good idea what the process looks like (I was also part of a company rebrand, which covered much of the same territory). Lastly... common sense. All of these names, logos, colors schemes are legally protected, and changing a name requires legal due diligence to ensure trademark clearance, and the like. No league is going to be on the sidelines for what is an immensely important part of their overall operation. This article breaks down what a name change entails & why it is both expensive & cumbersome. This article covers much of the same ground - but goes into greater detail of how involved the league is (spoiler: very) The NFL is not going to undergo what is a preposterously gigantic lift (financial and otherwise) "just because"...
As someone with first-hand knowledge of this (I managed my company's very large and very lucrative sponsorship with the Astros during this period), you are not correct. The Astros were VERY worried. They sent Jim Crane to our office, personally, and rolled out the red carpet with spring training trips, player access, suite access, etc. Losing corporate sponsorships is a HUGE deal. It is a driving source of revenue (which they get to keep 100% of).
...I'm very much aware the NFL (& the other sports leagues) allow name changes, generally; I've never argued, otherwise. I mean, I've been referencing name changes throughout this discussion. Hell, I'm an old Oilers fan. Like, yeah, I know they allow it. My point - from the beginning - is that, overwhelmingly, those changes are tied to relocation and/or protests. There has not been a name change outside of those parameters in 60 years. If the Texans can manufacture a compelling (ie financial) reason to change their name, the NFL will listen. But I can promise you: 1) the Texans are not going to do that; 2) even if I'm wrong (I'm not), the NFL would not approve it*. (* as previously stated, the one wrinkle to this is Tennessee releasing the Oilers name & the NFL unretiring it - which I don't believe they'll ever do. But if that happens, *that* becomes - potentially - a very viable option, given the history with the city, etc. I still don't think the NFL would be thrilled about it, 20+ years after the fact, but it's possible...)
There is so much wrong in this. There was a time in this city where the amount of people watching the Astros and Rockets was abysmal and it hurt sponsorships. You're also crazy if you think the Texans had Lovie Smith calling potential season ticket holders, have had Cal do reddit chats and phone calls with fans, publicly talking about a rebrand years in advance, etc. all just because they think it's fun. They're doing it because they have seen a hit. I have no idea how big of an impact it is. If they're smart it's been a small impact and they're reacting now instead of letting it get worse. Sports teams 100% care about short term marketing problems and businesses absolutely do as well. Especially during and coming out of COVID. National TV deals had a huge advantage, but if your local teams were hurting and interest was down, that's an easy place to cut some costs and wait for them to get good again.
Winning certainly matters if it drives market interest. Advertisers don't care if you win, they care how many people are watching. Valuations don't include whether you win, they evaluate assets and revenue. Stadiums and cable deals are the biggest factors in valuations. The Rangers have a better cable deal ($80 million annually vs $65 ish) and a newer stadium.
Of course you do things to make them happy to keep short-term revenues going, but long-term, they were not worried because the Astros knew sponsors will be banging down their door when they started winning.
Yes, they see the short-term hit. You do everything to minimize that, however, sports are unique because of the built-in revenues that protect teams short-term (League TV revenue sharing). Teams can sacrifice some short-term for long term gains. That's why teams tank in the hope of improving.
I’m saying they’re at an all time low because of their actions/decisions, hence why they’ve had to make a full court press to change. Are you denying that? The rest of your post is simply communist Texan fan blather… you’re never going to admit that the Texans have been forced to make a **** ton of changes thanks to fan apathy at a level this franchise has never had before. The fact that you’re embracing the Texans, or any NFL team, following a baseball team’s rebuild model shows how jaded you are. Name one NFL team that has successfully intentionally executed a 6+ year rebuild with intentional tanking. And the Texans aren’t even doing that… they’re bad because they’re that bad. (And not to make you look even more idiotic than you already are… but the Astros had Springer, Altuve and Keuchel on the team during Bo Porter’s era, already well on their way to having a foundation. The Texans have… )
the Texans did do an intentional tear down post O’Brien. Not sure if you just misstated your point or if I misunderstood it, but they knew full well they’d be bad the last two seasons.
Ok Trumper. We know the Texans caused their own demise. They have taken the steps to get out of their situation. Why dwell on it? The difference in embracing an Astros-type rebuild in the NFL is that it is done at a more rapid pace because there are basically no guaranteed contracts in the NFL. You can get rid of players quicker and player development is accelerated based on limited numbers of players tied to organizations. Young players can be free agents along with draft picks. It is not an Apples to Apples comparison. The Texans could make the playoffs with the right moves this offseason and it wouldn’t be an out of this world shock.
You do need actual foundational/good players to make somewhat of a leap in this league. Or you need to be set at the lines. Or you need to have a generational type QB. "Taken the steps to get out of their situation" is you rationalizing that they're home free. They're not. Finally getting their heads out of their asses when it comes to a legit HC search doesn't guarantee much and further magnifies what a waste the last 2 years were where nothing of note was built or salvaged. So they'll start over... again. But this time with full realization that everything they've done for the last 2+ years led to the depths they are now, and the ultimate fan apathy and revenue drops that followed to eventually get to that point. Why was the organization that obtuse to begin? They honestly didn't realize that Houstonians would simply tune out when they produce failure after failure? Its simply wishful thinking of you that they're trying to emulate an Astros-like strategy... they're not. They got this bad on their own and it remains to be seen if they have the right decision-makers in place from a GM standpoint to get them out of it. He did survive the purge... but we have no idea of how the working dynamic between Demeco and Caserio is going to go. Caserio ****ing up the #1 pick this year was a pretty bad accomplishment.
Did they intentionally not get the #1 pick as well? Or they're just incompetent at tanking? And it wasn't post O'Brien... it was post Watson. And it was forced because of the total disarray the clueless ownership and front office mashup.
