"Baseball and hockey fans have been the most disappointed and this is dramatically effecting fan loyalty rankings," said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys' president.

League rankings have shifted since last year with Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League taking the most punishment. The category loyalty drivers ­ Pure Entertainment, Authenticity, Fan Bonding, and History & Tradition ­ have been pummeled this year by the steroid scandal and the hockey lockout. League loyalty (benchmarked against and index of 100) currently stand as follows:

1. National Football League (112)
2. National Basketball Association (109)
3. Major League Baseball (91)
4. National Hockey League (80)

The MLB, one of the strongest sports in 2004, had an index strength equal to the NFL as measured against a fan ideal of 120 before the steroid revelations. After grand jury hearings, MLB loyalty strength decreased to an index of 94. Currently overall loyalty strength is 91, the lowest ever recorded for baseball.

"Athletes taking performance-enhancing drugs erodes trust and the bonds that fans form with players and, therefore, loyalty," noted Passikoff. "When you speak of the trust placed directly in the players themselves and relationship between players and their fans, unadulterated talent is most important."

The National Hockey League lost nearly 25 percent of its fan loyalty this year. "You can't disappoint a fan much more than just not showing up," said Passikoff. "It's going to take more than advertising and arena giveaways to win back these fans."

The most-loyal fans were found for the following teams in each of the leagues:

National Football League
1. New England Patriots
2. Philadelphia Eagles
3. New York Jets
4. Green Bay Packers/Indianapolis Colts/New York Giants (tie)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers

National Basketball Association
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Detroit Pistons
3. Los Angeles Lakers
4. Sacramento Kings
5. New Jersey Nets

Major League Baseball
1. Boston Red Sox
2. Houston Astros
3. New York Yankees
4. San Francisco Giants
5. Cleveland Indians

National Hockey League
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. New Jersey Devils
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. Dallas Stars

League rankings can be found at http://www.brandkeys.com/awards/sports05.cfm

Br and Keys, Inc. assesses fan loyalty from among 12,700 self-classified league and team fans. Fans are drawn from the team's SMSA, although, as Robert Passikoff noted, "it was a lot harder to find hockey fans this year." The assessments take into account the degree to which steroid use and strikes, winning the Super Bowl or World Series, how the teams play (including their win/loss ratio), and having coaches and players with whom fans can bond affect fan loyalty. "You need to build to History & Tradition. It's not something that comes easily," noted Passikoff, "and you can't take it for granted."

It's been a hard year for baseball and hockey, "but managed well, they can come back," said Passikoff. But Passikoff also cautioned marketers that they must avoid "The Field of Dreams Syndrome." "Marketers and advertisers think that if they 'build it,' consumers will come. But that's just not the case," said Passikoff. Marketers need to have an intimate knowledge of the category and consumer values that can be best leveraged in the particular situation.

"You can always fill a stadium. But loyalty strength as low as we're seeing for baseball and hockey, will always result in decreased TV viewership and purchase of league licensed products," noted Passikoff. "Some of this can be offset by marketing, but only if marketers address the right fan loyalty values in the right way."