Success Quote by Tom Hicks

In the bluntest terms, Hicks is selling a theory of loyalty that sounds noble and functions as strategy: fans will tolerate losing if you give them the optics of effort. Coming from a businessman rather than a coach or player, the line lands like a quiet admission that “trying” is not just a moral value in sports, it’s a marketable product.

The intent is managerial reassurance. Championships are scarce, expensive, and partly out of anyone’s control; credibility is cheaper to produce and easier to narrate. “You don’t even have to win” lowers the bar on purpose, then “show you’re really trying” raises it in a way that’s conveniently unverifiable. Trying becomes something that can be performed: aggressive trades, visible investment, public-facing accountability, even the carefully timed press conference that signals urgency. It’s effort as theater, calibrated to keep season-ticket holders buying into next year.

The subtext is the modern sports bargain: fandom isn’t purely about results, it’s about being invited into a story. Fans will accept a rebuild, a near-miss, a bad injury year, as long as the organization treats them like partners in a struggle rather than customers being upsold. That’s why the wording matters. “Draw the fans” frames attendance and engagement as the core metric, while “really trying” acknowledges the cynicism of a fan base trained to sniff out indifference, penny-pinching, or complacency.

In an era when franchises are both civic symbols and entertainment assets, Hicks is articulating the minimum viable legitimacy: not victory, but visible ambition.