From Athletic Business
Review by Christine Steiner in KIN 332
The Walt Disney Company is known to be the best in the world when it comes to customer service. They are the leader in the hospitality industry and are viewed as the frontrunner in the amusement and resort trades. In recent years Disney has broken into the sports industry as well. They acquired ESPN, open the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, and sponsor countless athletic events throughout the year such as marathons, fitness trade shows, and competitions. Members of the collegiate athletics community have definitely taken notice of Disney’s success. The Athletic Business article “Athletic Departments Apply Disney Principles to Game Day” discusses the transition many collegiate athletic departments are trying to make from a typical game experience to a service-first, customer-centered experience. Arizona State University is one of the schools that has looked to Disney for guidance in this area. Last year, a group of ASU officials flew down to Florida to attend a three day event at Disney Institute, the professional development learning center for the company, to discuss how they could transfer the Disney experience to a game-day situation. This led to a three-month partnership between the two programs with the purpose of reevaluating ASU’s entire program, from its highest senior staff to the frontline hourly personnel. The results were unbelievable. ASU’s athletic director stated that the biggest difference now is “the customer comes first. Make the decision and then talk to us later, and we'll deal with whatever you do to fix their problem, because we want to be a solutions organization from here on out.” The marketing question is, “does an athletic department with eight home football games a year have to obsess over details to the same degree as a year-round theme park holding daily customer service meetings?” Would marketing an improved customer service fan experience really affect or benefit a team?
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