‘Light the Beam!’ Here’s the social science behind why the Sacramento Kings’ laser went viral

On Kings victory nights, you can hear the chant ringing through the Golden 1 Center, through downtown Sacramento, through video clips splashed across Twitter.

Light the Beam! Light the Beam!

There’s something magical and unifying about that column of violet soaring up to the heavens. Not only does the beam scream, “Victory!” It also feels uniquely Sacramento.

And there’s something about that phrase, “Light the Beam!” – the way it rolls off the tongue and the victorious rush of energy that follows. It’s irresistible, even to a non-Kings fan.

So, why do we love the beam so much?

“It’s like a perfect recipe for creating something that people want to be a part of and share with others,” said Jesse Catlin, a professor of marketing at Sacramento State’s college of business.

“You’ve got the emergence of a likable, exciting team that’s winning games after a seriously long playoff drought,” Catlin continued, noting that he himself grew up cheering for the Kings. “And the fans are primed and ready to embrace the moment.

That combined effect of “right place, right time” has created a buzz that goes well beyond basketball, Catlin said, and appeals to people who may have little interest in the Kings, or even sports in general.

Everyone loves an underdog story, and the Kings’ resurgence – the team is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 – likely accounts for much of the beam’s success. But some social science is also at play.

A catchy chant and a winning team

What made the beam so successful boils down to three things – a highly visible ritual, a chantable phrase, and a winning team.

Sport marketing research shows that fans and spectators like to get physically involved with and be part of in-person experiences. The beam, while it lends itself well to viral photos and videos, also creates a special post-game moment for fans to experience together. .

“What the beam does is it’s more than just a hashtag,” said Michael Goldman, a sport management and marketing professor at the University of San Francisco. “It is something that feels a lot more physical – especially in the night sky.”

Before they became cosmopolitan marketing tactics, Goldman pointed out, high-powered searchlights were used to illuminate enemy aircraft over London during World War II.

“Think about Hollywood and the beams of lights that are thrown up when you think about spotlight movies,” Goldman said.

Casinos and nightclubs still use beams of light to attract guests, while event planners use them to elicit the glamor of a red carpet affair.

The beam’s “observability” – or the fact that it can be seen and shared from far away – also contributes to its popularity. People will adopt something new and cool much faster when it’s easily visible and recognizable, Goldman said. He pointed to Apple’s distinctive white earphones, which stood out from competitors for their shape and color, and the subsequently unique shape of Apple’s AirPods.

The Kings’ beam, made up of six 300-watt Laser Space Cannons, lights Sacramento’s skyline with the team’s signature violet hue. From miles away, fans and non-fans alike can simply look to the sky and feel a small part of their team’s victory.

Even for away games, Beam Team devotees congregate outside Golden 1 to watch the ritual victory lighting – not unlike New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square awaiting the ball drop. As they chant, “Light the Beam!”, they know their brethren inside the arena are also shouting the same three words.

Why is that phrase so loveable? Probably because it’s so chantable. Three syllables, like U-S-A.

“That’s why our friends in politics talk about, ‘Lock her up,’” Goldman said. “It’s short, it’s sharp, it’s very easy to remember.”

Bum, bum, bum.

Light the Beam.

“If you say the same things and chant the same chants, that’s pretty welcoming and a pretty powerful connector,” Goldman said. “And that’s when people open their wallets and spend money in order to express the ways they’re a part of that group.”

The most important driver of the beam’s success, though, is the team.

New coach Mike Brown made winners out of a team that suffered through 16 losing seasons, 12 coaching changes and countless NBA draft misses.

Two smart trades – for sharpshooter Kevin Huerter and big man Domantas Sabonis – and successful draft picks in De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray infused the team with youthful talent and a glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, this might be the year to end the playoff drought.

The team delivered the franchise’s first seven-game win streak in 18 years. Murray dethroned Donovon Mitchell to claim the record for most 3-pointers made in a rookie season.

“I highly doubt the beam would have this kind of success or traction during the more difficult seasons,” said Catlin.

Since its installation on Sept. 16, affectionately known as “916 Day,” the beam has been lit 48 times. Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé even invested in a bigger and brighter beam ahead of the team’s six-day homestand in December.

At the same time though, research suggests that too much winning could lessen the beam’s emotional power.

If the Kings were perennial championship contenders and won all the time, Goldman and Catlin agreed the beam probably wouldn’t have made the same splash. The uncertainty principle – not knowing whether the team will win or lose – generates excitement and riles up fans.

“The research tells us that it’s all about being competitive,” Goldman said. “If there’s a chance I’m going to win, then I’m in. If there’s no chance I’m going to win, then I’m out. If there’s no chance I’m going to lose, then I’m also out.”

The beam lures new disciples

The beam was listed as a “place of worship” on Google Maps for a reason: it’s a holy experience.

Not only has the new tradition energized current Kings fans, but it’s drawn in a new class of fans who came for the beam and stayed for the Beam Team.

“It quite literally is a place of worship – it’s a cult,” said Johnny Kwan, a UC Davis senior who credits the beam with converting him into a Kings fan.

Kwan, a San Francisco native and a self-proclaimed sports junkie, had seen photos and videos of the beam light up his social media accounts last November. He’d heard of the team’s star players like Murray and Sabonis. But, if you’d asked him who his NBA team was, he probably would have said the Warriors.

One night in November after a Kings victory, the 22-year-old decided to drive his friends into Sacramento to witness the beam’s holy glow in person.

Even from I-80, he could see mesmerizing ray of purple shooting up into the night sky. The moment he saw it, he knew he had to come back. Thus began a tradition for Kwan of driving various groups of friends — including girlfriend and future Kings-devotee Bella Jimenez — into Sacramento to bask in the beam’s glory.

Not until Dec. 19 did Kwan and Jimenez finally fork over the cash for tickets to a home game. Sadly for them though, the Beam Team couldn’t get past the Charlotte Hornets, and the sky above Golden 1 remained beamless.

“We were heckled by the opposing team’s fans,” Jimenez, 22, said.

Four months ago, the couple could only identify a few of the players whose faces adorned the DoCo walls. But after going to five more home games and watching road matchups via Jimenez’s FuboTV subscription (which she bought exclusively to see the Kings), they can now recite every name and number on the Beam Team’s roster.

They bought tickets to see the Kings take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in late March, hoping they could witness both a playoff clinch and a Murray 3-point record. Shots weren’t falling though, and the Kings barely eked out a two-point lead at the end of the second quarter.

“Are you ready for your blood pressure to explode?” Kwan asked Jimenez at halftime. “It’s gonna be a stressful second half.”

In a repeat of their first game, the couple’s final home game of the season ended without a beam lighting. The Kings fell to the Timberwolves, and the sold-out crowd was denied their playoff clinch and their laser-fueled celebration. Kwan lost his voice from cheering so much, and Jimenez was disappointed she didn’t get to see Murray break the rookie 3-point record. She still planned to buy his jersey after the game, though.

“They really do call them the ‘Cardiac Kings’ for a reason,” Jimenez said.

Will the beam’s magic last?

The phrase “Light the Beam” has ingrained itself in the national sports lexicon, and the victory beam has appeared in more than 1,000 local and national media stories across all platforms, according to the team’s marketing department.

But, how long will the beam’s magic last?

The challenge for the team going forward will be how to keep the beam tradition fresh, Goldman said. Part of that mission, he added, is protecting the ritual and its associated slogans from imitators and wannabes.

The Kings are already thinking ahead. The organization filed a trademark application for “BEAMTEAM” last November. A month later, the organization applied for the exclusive rights to use “Light the Beam” on merchandise and as a slogan in entertainment and educational settings.

The danger with commercializing the beam, though, is spoiling the fun for a fanbase that has long hungered for something to celebrate.

“This piece of their brand could be something they want to hold a little bit tighter and not make maximum profits from in the short term,” Goldman said. “You want this to be around 50 years from now, and so you want to carefully manage it.”

The Beam Team outperformed nearly every expectation this season, and if they can keep winning, that momentum will likely carry over next year. Only time can tell, though, how long the beam fervor will last.

“I would suspect that, as with anything over time, this sort of boiling-over level of excitement will wane,” Catlin said, “and maybe we see it just become more of a localized thing that people at the game participate in.”

While national love for the beam might dissipate after this historic season, that won’t matter to loyal Kings fans. They’ve never put much stock in outsiders’ opinions anyway.