Ways To Increase Game Attendance (an open letter)

[cls77]

The ongoing Season Ticket Holder roundtable thread gave me the idea for an open letter to management for ideas to increase attendance. At the time of this posting the Bobcats are averaging 14,649 fans a game, or 76.8% capacity http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/attendance?sort=home_pct&year=2010&seasonType=2
I'm pretty certain anyone here who has been going to the games would say the actual number is much lower.

I don't believe its all related to winning. While a few more W's might be nice, there has to be things the team can do RIGHT NOW to put fans in the seats. If you look at the top teams in attendance you still have a fair amount of .500 and below teams rounding out the top 15.

So what ideas do you all have?

I might update as more come to mind but here are a few.....

1. Use November/December to study what parts of the arena are selling or not. Launch a new single-ticket/multi-game price package to reflect the areas that aren't selling well.

2. Create a new program that lets you trade in your single-game ticket to upgrade to a multi-game package at a significant discount. ie You purchase a $30 ticket, "upgrade" at the box office during or after the game to purchase another 4 for $70 (5/$100 instead of $30/game or something like that) -- I see this all the time at Carowinds, The Biltmore, etc. and I know I'm not the only sucker for them! This targets people who go to the game on a lark, but enjoy the experience and guarantees them to come to at least a few more games during the season.

3. Target younger kids / college. Theres over 100,000 kids in the Charlotte Mecklenburg school district and probably another 10,000 new college (UNCC, Johnson C. Smith, Johnson and Wales, Queens, CPCC, etc.) students every year. Donate a large sum of free voucher tickets (with a 50% off discount for parents/other family) to give out to every K-12 school for good grades -- sell bulk tickets to college student unions at a great discount.


4. Market more outside of Charlotte. I drive a lot around the region for my job. I barely see advertising in Charlotte... I see absolutely nothing 5 miles outside of the city. Do at least basic marketing around the areas around the city. Sponsor a charter bus to take fans into the game from Hickory, Shelby, Rock Hill, Mooresville. Send Rufus and a player out to some of the schools that aren't just in Charlotte. Send memorabilia or marketing materials to sports bars.


Thats what I have so far. I understand ticket prices are a part of the revenue machine... but what good is it if you can't even fill up half the arena? Sell out a game and I promise you will generate more money via concessions, merchandise, fostering team loyalty than a Tuesday night game with 8000 fans paying full price.

[SWedd523]

I think one of the biggest things keeping the fans away is our style of play. Fans love to watch uptempo, run and gun style basketball. They hate watching grind it out for 24 seconds, then turn it over basketball.



I say get Michael Thompson to put in a good word for amour and let him handle Marketing. We'll have sellout crowds in no time

[amour217]

Well for starters, the Bobcats need to identify their target audiences before going ahead with any particular marketing scheme. I'm no marketing guru or anything, but at the simplest level, you can split the Bobcats' target audience into three groups: younger (which can be broken up into college age, high school, kids, etc), adult/older, and families.

Each group has their own issues/concerns, so the team needs to work on identifying which issues or messages are the most important to them. For example, in the younger age group, a college-aged individual might stay away because they think the Bobcats just plain stink, so we need to market the games as a freakin good time. Older-aged individuals will have different issues, be it angst about the Hornets leaving, the Arena being built, etc: so we'll need to possibly show the team as relevant and an asset to the community. Different groups = different messages.

I think the Sprite thing is good for families, and the Bobcats need to continue building upon the affordability aspect, maybe think of adding parking into a family deal...it can't hurt. Also, a good idea I was thinking of was maybe doing something where before or after a game dads can take their kids on the court to shoot around or run around or whatever...baseball teams do this (with kids running the bases) with tremendous success, plus it further adds to the fun aspect of a game, for kids and parents alike...I mean how many of us have been on that court, right?

I don't mean to be a hater, and I Know I've said this a ton already, but this "Play the Right Way" thing this year is a flop, IMO. The minute I saw the ads I was like "That doesn't make me want to go to a game any more than I already do...and I consider myself a big fan." Maybe the Bobcats need to consider doing something different or weird. Like I said before...the Houston Rockets 100 points = free chalupa thing was huge...or when the Dallas Mavericks showcased those extremely fat dancers. It made people pay attention, and in order to succeed in Charlotte you need to win over the casual fan, and in order to do that the Bobcats don't just need a marketing change, they need an organizational change.

[jdub28]

I might be the biggest whiner about this, but maybe if the team could split the bill for state wide television coverage it would encourage more people to go. Me and my family used to make the trip at least once a month to see the Hornets, and I just can't convince them to do the same for the Cats. I showed most of my family the high lights from the Raptors game and a lot of them are planning to make the trip tomorrow to see the team have a fighters chance against the Lebrons.

Most casual NBA fans in NC don't even know who Gerald Wallace is.

[Shrimpy_Jackson]

I might be the biggest whiner about this, but maybe if the team could split the bill for state wide television coverage it would encourage more people to go. Me and my family used to make the trip at least once a month to see the Hornets, and I just can't convince them to do the same for the Cats. I showed most of my family the high lights from the Raptors game and a lot of them are planning to make the trip tomorrow to see the team have a fighters chance against the Lebrons.

Most casual NBA fans in NC don't even know who Gerald Wallace is.

I agree completely more tv coverage gives you more fans who know the players and actively want to go and see them.

[x2pacalypse]

im still waiting to get games on TV

[TattoodCats4life]

I've been to enough games to say where things are lacking, and for me especially this season its affordability. I know i know... we have some of the cheapest seats in the NBA, but ticketmaster fees and the like drive up the costs significantly.

What they should do is something similar to what the checkers do where they sell an "open seat voucher" i.e. say for example, spend $150 and get 10 "vouchers." On game day you can exchange the vouchers for any available upper level seats, use 2 per game for 5 games, or use 8 one game and 2 for another. The benefit is first of all they get that money now and who knows when the person will use the tickets, it doesnt impede any other ticket sales (i.e. if the game sells out, the voucher holder doesn't get a seat, so that sell out games can still happen and earn them more money). The benefit for the voucher holder is no ticketmaster fees, and if the game is a midweek not sold out game, they may end up getting GREAT seats for $15 each.

Another idea would be a bounceback plan. i.e. if your in the stadium and buy tickets before half time get tickets to <organization picked game, i.e. midweek low attendance opponent game> for say 50% off.

I hope they pick up some of these ideas. As much as I'd hate to have ticket availablity go down, I'd love to see us sell out at least half the time.

[Keetch]

....you can split the Bobcats' target audience into three groups: younger (which can be broken up into college age, high school, kids, etc), adult/older, and families.

Actually, I think the target audience isn't primarily "people" per se at all, but businesses. Of course, businesses are made of people, so the package must still entertain.

It's a rare individual or family that will (or should) spend 10's of thousands of dollars for 3 years of lower level seats. With that kind of money you could probably start your own food bank.

Which leads me to my main complaint. Prime tickets for professional sporting events, like the compensation for professional athletes; is off the charts out of whack with reality. It's the ruin of pro sports.

[Robertpel9]

I think the tickets are very affordable. I have two Lower level seats in sec 116 on an isle right next to the club section - GREAT view for $2400 total for the year

That's 43 nights out and to me is a solid deal. There was no multi year commitment etc

The product on the court needs to SUSTAINABLY improve. Want attendance to go up do two things in this order

1) Win more than half your games
2) Get the games on TV where te whole area can see it

It is that simple

[Keetch]

I think the tickets are very affordable. I have two Lower level seats in sec 116 on an isle right next to the club section - GREAT view for $2400 total for the year

That's 43 nights out and to me is a solid deal. There was no multi year commitment etc

I see what you're saying. The top of Section 116 has been reduced and now sells for $30 a ticket in a Season Ticket Package. That's not too bad. Probably the best seat in the house for the money.

My problem is that to get between the baselines on the lower level (and that's a lot of seats), those two tickets cost $198 a game minimum. That's insane IMHO, and may be why those seats are often empty. There's a huge disparity. Here's another one. My tickets costs $130 each. The seat RIGHT NEXT TO ME on my left costs $275. That's $550 for 2 tickets! God Bless America.

Though I'd been told a couple years ago that all those seats were sold out. I've always wondered why so many were left empty then.

[Keetch]

Let me suggest one other concern about corporate ticket holders.

Say I buy 2 of those $275 seats. What's that x 43 games? $23,650, which is enough to cover the teams cost of Gerald Wallace for about one quarter of one game. Okay, so I'm Bank of America. No big deal. Okay, so I'm a small business and 2 of those 86 tickets help me secure a $300,000 contract. Cool. The rest I share with employees, partners and other clients. But often, nobody uses them because, well nobody's interested or we forget we even have them. The seats aren't for fans per se. They're business assets for occasional redemption.

...which brings this full circle. If the team is winning, or otherwise has great star appeal; those businesses will be more apt to use them, rather than waste them. The value of the asset improves greatly. Still, win or lose, the premium tix are purchased by businesses who can afford them, not individuals.

On the other hand, now say I'm a REAL BOBCATS HOMER and I'd like to be close to the action, close to the floor. Personally, I probably can't afford it; at least I probably shouldn't afford it. No way it makes any entertainment/economic sense whatsoever.

[cls77]

I've been to enough games to say where things are lacking, and for me especially this season its affordability. I know i know... we have some of the cheapest seats in the NBA, but ticketmaster fees and the like drive up the costs significantly.

What they should do is something similar to what the checkers do where they sell an "open seat voucher" i.e. say for example, spend $150 and get 10 "vouchers." On game day you can exchange the vouchers for any available upper level seats, use 2 per game for 5 games, or use 8 one game and 2 for another. The benefit is first of all they get that money now and who knows when the person will use the tickets, it doesnt impede any other ticket sales (i.e. if the game sells out, the voucher holder doesn't get a seat, so that sell out games can still happen and earn them more money). The benefit for the voucher holder is no ticketmaster fees, and if the game is a midweek not sold out game, they may end up getting GREAT seats for $15 each.

Another idea would be a bounceback plan. i.e. if your in the stadium and buy tickets before half time get tickets to <organization picked game, i.e. midweek low attendance opponent game> for say 50% off.

I hope they pick up some of these ideas. As much as I'd hate to have ticket availablity go down, I'd love to see us sell out at least half the time.

Tatt - great ideas and the Cats actually implemented a lot of these last year with success. They would often advertise future games with significant discounts (50% / buy one get one free) if you purchased by the end of the game. I had a lot of friends who continued going to games because of those discounts.

And great ideas from everyone as a whole... I will try and compile some of these once I get back from vacation.

[jdub28]

Is there a thread to mention upcoming deals? For tickets, jerseys all things Bobcat

[bozzy]

Why would more fans show up if most people in the area don't even know they exist? The fact that they don't even care to fix the TV deal is enough for me to never attend another game. I haven't seen a Bobcats game in two years (in person or on TV). I don't doubt it will change either since the marketing department at the Bobcats is full of idiots.

[amour217]

I don't doubt it will change either since the marketing department at the Bobcats is full of idiots.

I wouldn't go that far, they're not idiots.

I think the hardest part of marketing is getting buy-in from the higher-ups. At my job I have a ton of out-of-the-box, unusual, and sometimes weird ideas that will get us major attention...but these ideas always need approval...and whenever I ask, 99.9% of the time I'm told no. In fact, the few times I've been able to get my ideas off the ground, most of them I've had to do without any approval from supervisors, and then I had to apologize for it later. Did they work? Yes. Did they like the ideas? Yes...now they're slowly starting to give me leeway, but it's slow-going.

We all know Bob Johnson doesn't give much of a crap about marketing this team...I'm not sure he even cares about winning, per se. He wants to pay the bills and pad his pocket...so I'm sure he wants the marketing department to play it safe and do it on the cheap...

[jdub28]

I wouldn't go that far, they're not idiots.

I think the hardest part of marketing is getting buy-in from the higher-ups. At my job I have a ton of out-of-the-box, unusual, and sometimes weird ideas that will get us major attention...but these ideas always need approval...and whenever I ask, 99.9% of the time I'm told no. In fact, the few times I've been able to get my ideas off the ground, most of them I've had to do without any approval from supervisors, and then I had to apologize for it later. Did they work? Yes. Did they like the ideas? Yes...now they're slowly starting to give me leeway, but it's slow-going.

We all know Bob Johnson doesn't give much of a crap about marketing this team...I'm not sure he even cares about winning, per se. He wants to pay the bills and pad his pocket...so I'm sure he wants the marketing department to play it safe and do it on the cheap...

Doesn't making more money and increasing the fan base go hand in hand?

The worst part is I still see way more Hornets jerseys, jackets, sweatshirts, and that kind of stuff than Bobcats. They can't even replace the team that left what, 7 years ago? It shouldn't be that hard to get a state with basketball in it's blood to love a NBA team.

[Dcarnys]

Honestly they should have the players with more exposure in the community. Have Crash go practice with the Mooresville Blue Devils :biggrin:, have Tyson Chandler in one of the Malls around town, have one DJ host a youth basketball tournament. These are all things other teams have done with some success and the cats should do them too.

[Walt Cronkite]

Product has to be fun to watch. I think fans winning doesn't necessarily have to be the answer as long as the games are close and the team plays a fun style... but that hasn't been the case during the Bobcats. We play a style of basketball that is hard to watch unless you expect that the team has a legit shot of winning, not just playing hard. That said, I think things will continue improving this season and as long as LB is around... but after that the franchise really needs to take a look at itself and either hire a coach that is going to be able to keep winning or play a style that is entertaining.

[cls77]

Anybody catch this promotion with the Bucks? I would definitely commit to this and know we would be able to find 99 others too. Utilize the perpetually empty lower-lower level corners for this.

Lots of respect for Andrew Bogut on this one too... he makes over $6 million but this has to be at the least a $100,000 commitment for 100 lower level tickets over 41 home games (they can't all be from his player allotment)

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/bucks-fans-respond-to-boguts-incentive/

I'm thinking Desagna Diop needs to step up and purchase 1000 lower-level tickets to make up for his craptastic value to the team.

[teej]

^Or anything like it.

They're the guys who, when we played there, were chanting "Who's your next team" to SJax. They're awesome.

[RandomAtlantaHawkfan]

..Play the Hawks every night...jk

Make the playoffs,..and the next year people will come. Not breaking the doors down..but 15,000 a night...

[Wolfpackbobcat]

Im sure we can have a squad 6 here with all the college basketball around here...students already stand the whole game and yell..bring some of them to the arena....Id do it if i were in Clt

[ND22]

I could make a facebook event and invite people.

[Muttley]

I think Jeff Van Gundy did something like this in Houston too, with much success. (Well, maybe it didn't help him keep his job, but it seemed to help the franchise.)

[Black]

I just thought of a surefire way to improve ticket sales:

Michael Jordan will sit in a randomly selected seat in each half, meaning, you have a chance to watch a half of basketball with Jordan. Talking hoops, shooting the shit, whatever. People would buy into that, I guarantee it.

[teej]

I just thought of a surefire way to improve ticket sales:

Michael Jordan will sit in a randomly selected seat in each half, meaning, you have a chance to watch a half of basketball with Jordan. Talking hoops, shooting the shit, whatever. People would buy into that, I guarantee it.

This, + "squad 6" Charlotte style, + Mark Cuban's style bodypaint section (paint yourself in the teams colors, get in free, first 50 ppl only), would make the arena rock.