With ample bias and nervous excitement I’m pleased to note that our Mighty Chicago Cubbies take on the lowly los angeles dodgers at Wrigley Field this evening to kick off the 2008 major league baseball postseason. Ryan Dempster gets the start for the Cubs, Derek Lowe for the dodgers.

Never mind that it’s literally been 100 years since the Cubs last won a championship. What’s front and center here – and always – is Cub fan loyalty, and it’s a fine customer loyalty case study in its own right.

Like it or lump it, if things don’t work out for us this October, long-suffering Cubs fans are content to once again say “next year is our year!” A World Series championship would of course be ideal. Yet, if it’s not in the cards, there is still so much aura around the Cubs – you can’t help but remain a fan, or finally become one.

Wrigley Field’s friendly confines alone provide more appeal than most ham-and-egger major league teams could ever hope for. Add a fiery manager, some refreshing beverages, and a lineup that gave us 97 wins to 64 losses this season and all of a sudden we’re cooking with gas.

Selling out home game after home game, regardless of record, is one of the biggest validation points for the Cubs’ mass appeal. Fans who follow the team from around the globe are another. Even pre-season games at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Arizona can require paying premium prices to ticket brokers just to get in and essentially see the team practice.

Maybe there’s some “lovable loser” stigma here, although I think what has really occurred over the years with the Cubs is a favorable customer experience. It isn’t just a couple players or even the team on the field (they’re quite important of course). It’s the entire package and sense of membership the Cubs brand creates.

Consider the opportunities an organization has when it achieves this kind of following. Because the Cubs have genuinely shown interest in delivering an enjoyable baseball experience for years on end, their fans are open to suggestion: new or even alternative kinds of ticket packages, online community feedback that they’d otherwise have to pay for, non-game events, and weathering potential changes in team ownership and management are just a few simple examples that come to mind.

Much of that business is for the off-season though. For now, it’s time to focus on shaking the curse and getting that ring. Eddie Vedder, Pearl Jam vocalist, Chicago native, and Cubs fan captures the feeling well with his song “All The Way.”

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