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Springfield

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Jtshear
Words 803
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Larry Buckingham is the marketing director for the Springfield Nor’Easters, a new single A minor league baseball team, located in Boston Massachusetts. Larry’s job is to design a ticket package that will not only maximize the team’s income, but also maximize game attendance. The Nor’Easters have an ambitious owner, Jimmy Mercante, who wishes for the team to break even in its first year. Springfield is a stereotypical working class town with about ¼ of the community under the poverty line, and a median income of about $31,046. This means that it is up to Larry, as marketing director, to really differentiate his product and provide extra incentive for fans to come to games. His strategy will include how much to price the various ticket packages for the 38 games at home. He also knows that he will be able to supplement profits with income from concessions and sponsorships. According to a local reporter Larry needs to focus on a few select fan bases: die hard sports fans looking for games close to home, families, college students, and little league baseball players. To find out what the local fans wanted he decided to get advice from fellow marketing directors, conduct a market survey, and look at available statistics. Ultimately his major concerns with pricing are to make sure that he doesn’t make prices so low that fans will not show up for games, and to not price tickets so high that fans can’t afford tickets.

Larry needs to be aware that this community is very careful about where it spends its dollars. In looking at Larry’s market survey about 60% of participants said that they are not baseball fans; less than half of the participants, about 28%, said that they had been to a professional game in the past year. Baseball is a sport that is growing less and less popular in America, today, due to its slow pace. If Buckingham hopes to be successful, it is important that he must target the individuals who play and still have a love for the game. He should also attempt to market to new fans to get them involved in the game, for example, hosting a new fan night. The team needs to focus on making the stadium an entertaining and family friendly environment, as over 60% of the surveyed population has at least one child. It is my recommendation that Larry not necessarily focus on having high ticket prices, but instead focus on creating an entertaining atmosphere as well as making money at the concession stands and through corporate sponsorships. Fellow marketing directors throughout the league shared the sentiment that concessions play a major role in profits. According to a conversation Larry had with a fellow marketing director, one team “makes more than half its revenue from snacks, souvenirs, and arcade games alone.” I think that Larry should also charge more for certain seats in prime locations; and have open seating priced less expensive than covered seating.

It is important that Larry really campaigns to differentiate his product. Larry must avoid marketing myopia. He can do this by offering an environment that is more than just your average baseball game that will appeal to a wider audience. While the team can compete on price, that is not the only option. To compete with others, it is important to excel in other areas, such as quality. By offering various promotions, wearing special jerseys, having entertaining announcers, and playing popular songs, the team can create an entertaining experience that will have customers coming back for more as well as creating a competitive advantage for the Nor’Easters. I recommend that ticket prices should on par with fellow minor league teams, local college teams, and the Springfield Falcons. That would be in the range of $5-10 per adult based on seating and about half that price for children. Though ticket revenue may not be as high with low-medium ticket prices, 45% of fans surveyed said that they were willing to spend $6-$10 per person on concessions and souvenirs. This should well make up for the revenue lost in lower ticket prices. On the other hand, season tickets packages should be priced lower than single ticket by about 20-30%. This will help get fans in seats and create fan loyalty. By improving the product, overall demand for tickets will inherently increase, at which time prices for single tickets and 5-group tickets should be increased to meet this demand.
It is important that Larry continues to create hype in Springfield for this team. Fans need to be aware of games and promotions, as well as the exciting atmosphere provided at the stadium. He needs to continue to survey city and market to fans who are eager to attend games and purchase season ticket packages.

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