I want to give an example with my business which kind of ties in with this point.
HD has been losing users slowly for years.
I own 3 magazines, and we were encountering sales dropping as well, due to the recession, and of course because so much has gone digital now. But we still had solid sales and people still really liked to read the magazine. We had a core group of advertisers that have been with us for 16 years some less, but many for 10 years. However, every once in a while one would drop out for one reason or another.
But I felt like things were heading in the wrong direction, albeit slowly, and we needed to do something. There were customers that used to advertise but stopped for some reason or another. It's hard to get those customers back, once they quit without offering something new. We would call on them, but all we could really say was "Would you like an ad this month". But the core product was the same as it was when they left, so there was no compelling reason to come back.
So, we made a pretty major overhaul, just like HD is doing now. For Chapel Hill News & Views (which is why my ID is chaplhillne), we increased the circulation from 39,000 to 45,000. We started delivering to every business in Douglas County. We added an area that we mail it to. We added a much improved online version. We enlarged the magazine from 8.25 inches wide to 9 inches wide. We added a writer. We went from 2 columns to 3 columns. Because of that, and with that as an excuse, we changed all of the ad sizes because for some customers we had not increased the rates since 2008 and the rest since 2010. By having new sizes, we were able to get more $$$ for the same space. We also designed a new logo for the magazine. We did the same type thing with Villa Rica News & Views.
By doing this, our sales are up about 15%, whereas our costs have risen, by just a fraction of that. We were able to approach advertisers (which in HD's case would be old customers) with "Look at all of these changes - this is a great reason to start advertising again" in so many words. And it worked.
I suspect HD is doing something like this in terms of their strategy - at least I hope so.
Many people have left HD over the years for one reason or another, and some of those reasons have been addressed. Some left because it was no longer a challenge. Some left because they were sick of getting poached in a system in which it is impossible to compete with schools that have more open scholarships. Some quit because they kept experiencing the scenario where they get in a battle or two, and then get piled on because they are weak. Some left because having 2 hours to do the first cycle was impossible with their schedule, or having 36 hours to scout was too demanding. The point is that they left.
So, I think it makes sense from a marketing standpoint, to try to get those users back, if they handle it right, which remains to be seen.
And it's definitely worth a gamble to see if you can come out with a product that is able to retain users more than you lose users. HD was on a slow path downward. Obviously, there will be initial losses of current users who are not happy, which is a shame. Hopefully some of them will miss the game, come back, and give the new system a fair shot.
But most importantly, the current game is not retaining users, so something has to change.
I find the new system to be much more challenging and strategic, and engaging. I also think that by having recruiting take place during the season, there is going to be a natural inclination of new users to want to stick around to see the players they just recruited play next year. That could be a big deal.