Why Sports Dynasties Are Rare
The L.A. Rams won Super Bowl LVI, beating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in a nail biter that came down to the final minutes. But fans better enjoy the moment while it lasts, as it’s unlikely the Rams will be back next year due in large part to the way the organization’s management constructed this championship roster. L.A. gave up high draft capital to land veteran players, most notably QB Matthew Stafford and Von Miller.
The Rams will not have a first-round pick until 2024, and thanks to their Super Bowl or bust spending spree, L.A. is almost $14 million over the 2022 salary cap. That makes it tougher for the franchise to keep major acquisitions, including WR Odell Beckham Jr., LB Von Miller and OL Andrew Whitworth. Los Angeles may get some relief in the form of retirement announcements however, as several prominent players on their Super Bowl winning squad will be mulling their options this offseason.
Super Bowl dynasties used to be more common in past decades, but in recent years they’ve become few and far between, with one notable exception. During the 1980s and ‘90s, the Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers dominated year after year. Even the Buffalo Bills were perennial Lombardi Trophy contenders, despite never quite getting over the hump. Since then, only Tom Brady and the Patriots have developed a winning dynasty, and with Brady’s retirement, that era has drawn to a close.
So why do so few championship teams get back to the promised land the following season? Author Josh Gordon, undergraduate program manager at Lundquist College of Business and co-authors Ken Pendleton, former instructor of the University of Oregon School of Law and Prof. Gary Furlong of Queen’s University, Canada, set out to find out why. They published their findings in The Sports Playbook: Building Teams that Outperform Year after Year, in 2018.
Gordon and his fellow researchers discovered that creating a winning culture enables teams to become dynasties and how few organizations grasp this or learn how to bring it about. Building a winning culture requires effort and involves aligning the goals of everyone within the organization. Doing this doesn’t mean shortcuts, the way the L.A. Rams did in Super Bowl LVI and it doesn’t happen organically.
Gordon used two teams as examples, the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and the 1960 German Olympic rowing team, as groups that created a winning culture and mindset. The Spurs hire people who are a better fit rather than just talented superstars. The German rowing team was filled with athletes who loathed each other, but each player knew their role and worked together to outcompete and dominate their opponents.
The Cincinnati Bengals seem more committed to solving their problems and making it back to the Super Bowl, than the Rams, who were more than happy to mortgage their future to win a title on home turf. The Bengals’ offensive line needs shoring up and QB Joe Burrow and the team’s staff vowed to fix their weaknesses after their heartbreaking loss.
Give credit where credit is due, the Rams are Super Bowl champions. But while LA was victorious on Sunday, it appears for now that the Bengals may be better positioned to compete for years to come.
-Jeff Dahlberg
Twitter: @JeffDahlberg3