Post by FU73 on May 1, 2014 8:49:33 GMT -5
A very interesting article by Chris Elsberry in the CT POST about how management at Bridgeport's minor league baseball team, the Bridgeport Bluefish, has increased their home attendance. The Bluefish play next to the Webster Bank Arena at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. While the Stags are an NCAA Division 1 college basketball team at Fairfield University and the Bluefish are a professional baseball team, many of the principles of increased attendance are the same - aggressive marketing campaign, group sales drive, positive game day experience, ticket prices and being relevant to the community. The Bluefish hired 3 new people to just do group sales.
Stag MAAC Basketball needs to be sold more aggressively to the local community groups even if only by direct mailings and cold calling. IMO, the biggest increases in Stag attendance will have to come from our fellow alumni within an hour of Bridgeport and from the students, especially the 800+ new students that are potential Stag fans every September. An aggressive marketing campaign to our alumni coordinated with AR and Development (they already have our contact information but need to share it with Athletics) to get the thousands of potential area alumni connected or reconnected with Stag Basketball is needed. That should include email videos (the University already sends out a FvA Christmas greeting video so the technology is there), season ticket discounts, special ticket price promotions, receptions, mini-reunions, Clam Jam at the WBA and whatever else it takes to get our fellow alumni who have never been to the WBA for Stag Basketball to go at least once ("try it, you'll like it"). In addition, despite what some die-hards might think ("who needs the fickle students, F-them") the current Stag students are the Stag alumni fans and alumni donors of tomorrow. If you can't get the students interested during their 4 years as undergraduates then why would anyone think that it will be easier or even possible after they graduate? SJ also needs to make Stag Basketball more relevant to the students. He does not have an Ed Cooley personality but he too "needs to sell" his team and the WBA game day experience to the students, especially after last season's record setting losses. Getting out of his WAC office and into the BCC and being seen and interacting around campus is necessary. "Business as usual" is clearly not working on all fronts.
Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign and group sales drive, the Bluefish posted a solid 8.4 percent increase in attendance, jumping from 132,139 in 2012 to 157,267 last season, its best attendance total since 2010. If the organization can continue to sell the team to Fairfield County and the surrounding community, general manager Ken Shepard can hope to see those numbers rise even more in 2014.
"I think a lot of that was just being more active in the community and being more aggressive with group sales," Shepard said about the greater attendance last season. "What we decided is that we want to continue what's working well, so we've hired three new people specifically to do group sales. It's just a matter of becoming more relevant with the people in the community. The people in the community have a very positive image of the team and a very positive reflection on the experience when they come out, so it's just a matter of getting these people out more."
So, to get fans to the ballpark, and keep them coming back, Shepard and Co. have continued to try to make the overall experience as positive as possible with several nightly events.
"We are going to do the `Feed Your Face' Monday, the $19.99 all-you-can-eat-from-the-seat night, again," Shepard said. "We'll do the Kids Eat Free Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday and the Sunday Family Fun Day. And we're also going to do a 2-for-1 box seat admission special on Tuesdays."
And while box seat prices were raised 50 cents to $14, all other ticket prices have been lowered, according to Shepard. In addition, the team is offering special childrens' and seniors' ticket prices......
www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Bluefish-working-hard-succeeding-at-increasing-5439970.php
Stag MAAC Basketball needs to be sold more aggressively to the local community groups even if only by direct mailings and cold calling. IMO, the biggest increases in Stag attendance will have to come from our fellow alumni within an hour of Bridgeport and from the students, especially the 800+ new students that are potential Stag fans every September. An aggressive marketing campaign to our alumni coordinated with AR and Development (they already have our contact information but need to share it with Athletics) to get the thousands of potential area alumni connected or reconnected with Stag Basketball is needed. That should include email videos (the University already sends out a FvA Christmas greeting video so the technology is there), season ticket discounts, special ticket price promotions, receptions, mini-reunions, Clam Jam at the WBA and whatever else it takes to get our fellow alumni who have never been to the WBA for Stag Basketball to go at least once ("try it, you'll like it"). In addition, despite what some die-hards might think ("who needs the fickle students, F-them") the current Stag students are the Stag alumni fans and alumni donors of tomorrow. If you can't get the students interested during their 4 years as undergraduates then why would anyone think that it will be easier or even possible after they graduate? SJ also needs to make Stag Basketball more relevant to the students. He does not have an Ed Cooley personality but he too "needs to sell" his team and the WBA game day experience to the students, especially after last season's record setting losses. Getting out of his WAC office and into the BCC and being seen and interacting around campus is necessary. "Business as usual" is clearly not working on all fronts.
Thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign and group sales drive, the Bluefish posted a solid 8.4 percent increase in attendance, jumping from 132,139 in 2012 to 157,267 last season, its best attendance total since 2010. If the organization can continue to sell the team to Fairfield County and the surrounding community, general manager Ken Shepard can hope to see those numbers rise even more in 2014.
"I think a lot of that was just being more active in the community and being more aggressive with group sales," Shepard said about the greater attendance last season. "What we decided is that we want to continue what's working well, so we've hired three new people specifically to do group sales. It's just a matter of becoming more relevant with the people in the community. The people in the community have a very positive image of the team and a very positive reflection on the experience when they come out, so it's just a matter of getting these people out more."
So, to get fans to the ballpark, and keep them coming back, Shepard and Co. have continued to try to make the overall experience as positive as possible with several nightly events.
"We are going to do the `Feed Your Face' Monday, the $19.99 all-you-can-eat-from-the-seat night, again," Shepard said. "We'll do the Kids Eat Free Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday and the Sunday Family Fun Day. And we're also going to do a 2-for-1 box seat admission special on Tuesdays."
And while box seat prices were raised 50 cents to $14, all other ticket prices have been lowered, according to Shepard. In addition, the team is offering special childrens' and seniors' ticket prices......
www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Bluefish-working-hard-succeeding-at-increasing-5439970.php