The Future Of Sports Biz?

The NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the other day.  What happens next could change the business of sports. 

According to today’s Wall Street Journal the NHL is fighting to take control of the team while in Bankruptcy.  Team owner Jerry Moyes has cash flow issues due to his primary business, Swift Transportation.  He does have someone who wants to buy the team. This would be Research In Motion (Blackberry) founder James Balsillie.  If he is able to buy the team he wants to move it to Hamilton Ontario.  Hamilton happens to fall in both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabers markets.  Of course the NHL is against this move.  They want the team to stay in Arizona. They don’t want three teams that are less then 50 miles from each other.

The big battle is this bankruptcy thing.  The NHL may not have any power over a team that files for bankruptcy. The courts take over and usually look for offers that bring the most money to the table.  They don’t care what the league thinks.  With many sports teams doing very poorly right now, this could really shake things up in major league sports. 

Ironically, the four major league sports commissioners took part yesterday in the WSJ sports panel on the future of sports.  After reading the highlights, the one area that did not get a lot of press was ticket sales.  I believe this may be one of the most important discussions.  Instead, questions ranged from fighting in sports to the future of newspapers.  Isn’t the Wall Street Journal a business newspaper?  Yes, they discussed how the economy was affecting current sales but they didn’t delve into how they plan to market tickets in the future.  David Stern (NBA) thinks they are handling the economic downturn fine.  He discussed how his teams are working hard on sponsorships, suite sales, club seats, and season tickets.  He didn’t discuss how they market the thousands of “other” seats that Joe Six-Pack buys. 

I’m sorry but this is the big problem with sports marketing.  The sports marketing methods of the 1980′s and 1990′s do not work today. I understand how much money is involved in sponsorships, club seats, premium seats, and suites.  But are they not noticing what is happening around them?  Have the watched a Yankees game on TV recently? 

Major league sports teams have forgotten about the average fan.  I am talking about the average fan that can afford average tickets.  These teams play in venues with thousands of seats.  In many cases they are not going to be filled by corporate premium seat holders and sponsorships.   Why can’t major league teams put marketing effort back into the basics of the business, putting butts in seats?

No One In The Ticket Business Is Immune

I know that the economy is affecting ticket sales when today’s Boston Globe has an article saying the Boston Red Sox need help. This means we all need help with ticket sales. 

The Red Sox hold the MLB record for consecutive sellouts at 476.  That is an amazing statistic. Of course Red Sox fans are known for being among the most passionate and loyal fans in the world.  So hearing that Red Sox management is concerned with ticket sales is a big deal.  The Red Sox are going to run a TV campaign promoting the teams greatest moments.  These spots will run during game broadcasts.  The spots are not openly pitching tickets but they are using brand marketing.

The article also claims that the team has lost some corporate sponsors and has sold fewer premium seats this year.  This is not a surprise.  Companies are cutting back.  Even when they still have budget for these perks they are feeling the peer pressure to cut the perks.  If ticket sales and fewer sponsorships are affecting this team then what is the recession doing to the rest of the industry?  No team wants this kind of publicity.  People are like sheep, they follow the flock.  It is one thing for a team to slump; it is another thing when fewer fans are coming.  I am quite sure the Red Sox are not happy with the Globe article. They don’t want to market slower ticket sales to Red Sox Nation.  I am sure that other MLB teams are going through similar or even bigger ticket & sponsor issues. 

As a marketer, you still have to have market your event win or lose.  You still have to market your brand good times or bad times.  Some ticketed brands have been very lucky for the past several years.  They have pulled back on marketing efforts because they sellout.  My theory is you always have to market.  I always live by “what if”.  Well guess what, “what if” is here.  No one is immune from this recession.  No matter how good your brand is you still have to market it.  If you are lucky enough to sellout every game or show “great”.  Why not still market to keep the brand top of mind?  Why not start pushing tickets for next year.  This might give you fewer tickets you need to sell next season.

I truly believe that event & entertainment marketers are more important then ever.  We have the unique opportunity to really make a difference in our industry.  We just need to get off our butts and work to get the customer butts in the seats.