Durham Bulls General Manager Mike Birling deals with a 1980s hit movie, a historical minor league club and a new ballpark. Birling talks about promotions within the ballpark, refusing to provide giveaways or heavy discounts to single game customers, in order to protect the valuable price point. Birling also talks about the misconceptions of the duties of a minor league general manager and some of the new revenue streams that are just being realized by each club in the MiLB.
Bryan Killingsworth has one of the most dynamic positions in the NFL today. The VP of Marketing & Brand Strategy for the St. Louis Rams, his task is to alter the perception of each home gameday, reinvigorate fans and ensure a high attendance mark even if the team isn’t winning many games on the field. Killingsworth talks about different marketing & brand affinity concepts he’s employing, as well as his time with the Tampa Bay Rays as Sr. Director of Marketing & Promotions, where the team finally decided to drop the “Devil” from the hometown moniker.
Director of Sales & Marketing Ted Tseng has his work cut out for him at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Denver Outlaws are one of eight teams in Major League Lacrosse but have set massive attendance records in their seven-year franchise existence. Tseng talks about how the Outlaws have engaged non-lacrosse fans to provoke some of the largest attendances in the history of the outdoor sport with upwards of 29,000 or more, and make some of the other local professional teams a little jealous. Twitter: @Tseng44
Is there an ROI in social media? Jeff Lillibridge may have the answers to that. He’s worked for several years with two NBA teams, both in web services and as a sales representative. Now a VP of Social Media with Phizzle, Inc., Lillibridge explains why some teams don’t really understand the new marketplace like they should, especially search and social media, and what teams should be doing to increase their activity online to help develop an ROI.
Dave Chase has served every type of role within the world of baseball. Chase served as president/publisher of Baseball America for 17 years, President of Baseball Concessions, Inc. for 14 years, and was President/General Manager of the Memphis Redbirds for 7 years, prior to joining a Collegiate Summer League’s front office as Commissioner. Chase talks about the role of baseball in the community, why the game has changed, and his involvement as a consultant for an aborted move of the Minnesota Twins to North Carolina in 1997.
One of the newest ways to build ticket retention online is the world of “retargeting.” AdRoll is a San Francisco tech company focused on retargeting that has helped manage several online ticket initiatives for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS franchises. J. Ryan Williams explains exactly what retargeting is and some of the tactics that can be used to generate more revenue out of fans already interested in your product. An added bonus is that he can do the Arkansas Razorbacks “hog call” if you ask him.
The Fresno Grizzlies have been one of the most successful franchises in minor league baseball. No small part of that comes from their commitment to sales & promotion, exemplified by Derek Franks and his staff. Franks talks about coming into the franchise right out of college, how the club looks at promotions to the central California area, and some of the various aspects of creating a good sales menu. By the way, if any Grizzlies has information on why a fan keeps inquiring about a certain “Ghostbusters Promotion” that she thinks the Grizzlies are running, Franks would like to talk to them.
The Las Vegas Wranglers ECHL team is known for its crazy hockey promotions; they do two midnight games annually. Two of the people behind this trend to give the fans a dose of something different are Todd Hutton (VP of Sales & Marketing) and Matt Langseth (Director of Tickets). And while the rest of Vegas may be considered a "comp city," Hutton and Langseth move a ton of tickets through dynamic promotions, massive group buys and attempt to stay away from giving out a lot of premium items. They even break through the idea that people stop spending right after the holidays and talk about what really attracts fans to their product.
A companion to this podcast is an exclusive minicast for premium subscribers, where Langseth and Hutton talk about "Marketing Minors."
Pat O'Conner presented a revolutionary plan for minor league baseball's 160 teams at the 2012 Baseball Winter Meetings. Dubbed "Project Brand," the mandate aims to change how all of the teams market themselves nationally to 5-10 corporate sponsors. O'Conner talks about some of the goals of Project Brand, of how it will effect each team's marketing, revenue streams, and his belief in the "power of one." O'Conner discusses the role of the Player Development Contract Agreement with Major League Baseball which lasts until 2020 in why Project Brand is key to implement within the next year as well as how both MiLB and each minor league team will have to work together continuously to put forth the best possible activation for any corporate sponsor sold.
Scott Frasnelly is responsible for the ECHL's new corporate sponsorship agreements and attempts at continually branding itself as the premier AA hockey league in the country. Frasnelly oversees the ECHL's 23 teams, examining how to help each sales staff maximize growth in their marketplace. Frasnelly understands intimately what each team's sales staff is going through, a former member of three of the team's sales staff, rising up to CEO of the San Francisco Bulls prior to joining the league office. Frasnelly talks candidly about the state of the league, where it needs to go, and how corporate sponsorship revenue has changed for all sports teams following the 2008 economic crash.
A companion to this episode is a minicast, available to premium subscribers, where Frasnelly speaks about developing "Marketing Plans" for teams.