How “Fort Worth” Stole The Show Without Selling Its Soul!

Fort Worth and Durham have a lot in common and it isn’t bull.

While Durham is known as the “Bull City,” it isn’t because prize-winning bulls were indeed bred here at one time nor is it because the a research station for cattle is based in North Durham.

Durham’s legacy moniker is because “Bull Durham” tobacco originated here late in the century before last and the nickname, while it is no longer associated with that product, still fits.

It is Fort Worth that has a more direct claim to livestock in its heritage but both communities have a great deal in common.

• Durham and Fort Worth each co-anchor poly-centric regions where there is no dominant city at the center.

 

• Durham and Fort Worth each co-own major airports often confused as the name of a city and the identities of both communities are undermined by “hyphenation.”

 

• Durham and Fort Worth value being unpretentious and have proudly anchored their present with a faith in being historic, genuine and authentic while others have sold their soul to be “slick and big.”

 

• And apparently both communities understand that economic development is more important than “big game hunting.”

While Dallas pretends to host the Super Bowl and actual-host Arlington hopes to recoup a fraction of return on some of the more than $300 million in resident- and visitor-taxpayer-backed bonds it put up toward a new billion dollar stadium where the game takes place, it is Fort Worth that truly grasps that even without storms, mega-events like the Super Bowl are big “media events” at best while “super hyperbole” in terms of economic impact.

Two years ago, Fort Worth very quietly and successfully out hustled and out maneuvered others to be the host for all ESPN radio and television coverage for the weeks leading up to the event.

So for two weeks, 24/7 on broadcast, cable, FM, AM and Satellite, scores of shows and program hosts have repeated heralded Fort Worth…not Dallas, not Dallas-Fort Worth, just FORT WORTH!

While the sheer size of the event, even without disruptive weather events, has been shown to displace as much or more than it adds to the net economies of the communities or nearby communities where it is held…Fort Worth has cashed in on the true value of the Super Bowl as a media event.

Sheer repetition of the name Fort Worth along with descriptive commentary about the community by on-air talent lauding the iconic character and identity of the community will lower the barriers that organizations like Fort Worth’s official community-marketing organization will face as it tells the community’s story and harvests interest in that community’s brand for many years to come.