It's Al Lang...For a While

Oh, as long as we play in St. Pete my expectations are very realistic. But my realistic expectations are nothing to write home about. Drawing 3500 in year three in downtown St. Pete and as defending champs isn't exciting. If they keep drawing that and maybe start seeing 4k crowds regularly, then I'll be less pissy.

 

While the club has certainly moved forward in the last twelve months in terms of marketing themselves and generating media coverage, they still lack in several key areas which are necessary to move forward. Kenn mentions effective ticket sales people being crucial to a team's success at the gate. Going off their website, it looks like the Rowdies have three 'account executives', which I assume are ticket salespeople. They were all hired in January of this year. This might mean the others weren't cutting it and they were replaced. For grins, lets say this is the case, that the club overhauled its sales department at the first of the year. Maybe this crew is a little better at their job and the results are in an extra 1,200 people per game for the first two matches. If they continue to gain traction over the course of the season, then we may be pleasantly surprised in a few months, but if it is just an anomaly based on a small sample size, then we could in the same exact boat as the last few years.

One thing I know is that no matter how many sales people they have and how effective they might be, the product they have to sell is a difficult one. Even though I personally find Al Lang convienent and think the harborside setting in downtown an ideal setting, many (from Tampa) do not. That is a problem for sure, but not insurmountable. The Rowdies have excellent dates for the matches, no weekdays, which counteracts the crossing the bridge problem to a degree.

The second problem they have with the product they are selling is that they don't have great promotions to work with. Much of minor league marketing goes to getting people to the park for reasons other than your sport. Yes, people do watch the game, but there is so much competition from people's busy lives. There are endless options for people to consider other than pro soccer. There needs to be a hook to get them off their buts and into the stadium.

I would like to see more minor league baseball type promotions. They just had dollar hot dog night (but only until halftime!) but the Threshers have a promo where not only hotdogs are a dollar, but beers, sodas, ice cream sandwiches, popcorn, etc. Heck even the tickets are a dollar ( wouldn't go that far). They also have all you can eat nights. The Rowdies have a family four pack promotion, but only for four games, the Lightning run that promo all season. So they need someone who can be a bit more creative and effective coming up with promos.
Theme nights generate interest as well. I won't be at the next home game because my work is involved in a Cinco de Mayo event in downtown Clearwater that night. Do the Rowdies even have a calendar? Get a title sponsor and have a freaking festival at the stadium, creating excitement around the event.

Which leads me to the final piece that the Rowdies are missing. Decent corporate sponsors. Sponsors that can and will promote the club through their businesses. Sponsors that will underwrite the cost of first class promotions. The Rowdies have Mainsail suites. Whoop dee doo. The Times and TBT are on board, which is moving in the right direction. Other than that, they have a mostly very small businesses. Where are the hospitals (Baycare or HCA), major retail (Publix, CVS, Hess), banks (take your pick), fast casual dining (they do have Jimmy Johns), fast food (McDonalds, Dominos, Chick fil A), and major attractions (Busch Gardens)? Compare Orlando City's roster of sponsors compared to ours.

So, based on what the Rowdies haven't done, I am modestly pleased with the attendance so far this season.

 

It's not just the location, it's the venue as well. Consider it the rusty cog that slows the machine.

 

Small front office, lack of "major" corporate sponsorship, non idea location and non ideal stadium, green ticket sales reps (two of them are straight out of college) and other factors are definitely holding the team back. Completely agree.

The location can be overcome to a greater degree than the Rowdies have shown so far. I'm first to say this team needs to move back to Tampa, but even I am willing to admit the Rowdies are more at fault than anyone else when it comes to actually selling tickets. We've had some decent crowds here and there at Al Lang and I think we the Rowdies could be averaging 4k+, if not more, if they can overcome some of these obstacles.

As far as food deals, family four packs or whatever goes, don't forget the Rowdies do not control this. The St. Pete Baseball Commission does and from what I can gather, they have been very reluctant to work with the Rowdies in this area.

It's better this year, much better. We have food special nights, we have some family four pack nights and we have a much better beer selection that even includes local craft beer and mixed drinks. But it can definitely still be improved.

 

Well ticket prices when up too. To me it is what it is..D2...unless they are saving money and they want to buy some players in future.

 

All of this is usually underwritten by sponsors, but not the type of sponsors the Rowdies have in the fold.

D2 clubs don't buy players, they sign free agents.

 

At this point, all I'm hoping for is that the club sticks around long enough to where a new owner with deep pockets comes in and takes this club to higher levels. I really don't care if we ever get back into MLS anymore. Perhaps the NASL can grow into a real solid league and legitimately compete with MLS some day. One can only dream.

 

Don't underestimate Laxer. He has lots of connections with other people with deep pockets. If he can show that the team is at least breaking even then I would not be surprised if he takes on a few more investors and gets a SSS built somewhere in the area. I would expect him to start devoting more time/money to the Rowdies as soon as the hotel project is running full steam. He had a lot of time, money, and personal cache in the hotel development and it was going south - fast. Now that it is turned around I could see him moving further with the Rowdies.

With a 3 year commitment at Al Lang that gives them enough time to build an investment plan and start, maybe finish, a new SSS somewhere. He will also wait to see what VSI manages to do on that front. At least he managed to get the practice field built, that is a big step in the right direction.

 

Fantastic. I hope you are right.

But in the meantime, more ticket reps maybe?

 

I am not usually a glass is half full kind of guy, but I am really trying to see the positives. With a very small sample, there is still a slight trend that leads to optimism, IF the Rowdies can capitalize on it.

After three matches in, our average attendance this season is 755 above the same point last season and 530 over the same point in 2011, our first season in St. Pete. Last night's match was the best attended game in the month of May since moving to Al Lang.

Guess my take away is that the needle has moved, every so slightly. I chalk it up to more brand awareness, a championship, and scheduling.

Those of us that live here can't bitch anymore about the club not getting its message out, because they are succeeding in doing that. We can nitpick about how, but we can't say they aren't doing it anymore. There is no way to measure it, but without a doubt more people in 2013 know there is team named the Rowdies and are aware when a home game is coming up.

A winning team always helps sell tickets. Hopefully this club can figure out how to stop giving up points at home and you won't have to worry about trying to sell a losing product.

Scheduling is the big key. Unlike last year, when there were several home games with seven days or less turn around from the previous one, this year the home schedule is nicely spaced. Only seven day turn around is late in the season. Quite a few times they have three weeks between matches (like between last night and the next match with Minnesota) which for a club with a small season ticket holder base is crucial. The single game crowd is crucial and the more dates you have close together, the more fatigue you get from the single match ticket buyer.

With three weeks to sell tickets, I would imagine that they will again draw 3,500 plus. It would be great if that number was more like 4,500, but we know that to do that they would need a better (maybe larger) ticket salesforce and better promos. Managment has done some things right, but still lags in several key areas in order to fill that stadium. Has the Mob ever had a chance to have a round table or open forum with the club to ask about these issues?

 

They aren't losing, but they aren't winning either. So point taken, there.

And you are right about getting the message out. It's far better than it ever has been. Spots run on all major radio stations regularly, media interest and news coverage is up quite a bit, etc etc.

And yes, ticket sales seem to be up but they aren't there yet. If they can figure out why, or if they can accept that they already do know why and work on fixing that (more reps, more promos etc) they might make some real progress.

In the meantime, a new stadium would help.

 

Let me just ask everyone this question: Is their more attractions outside soccer in Rochester or Tampa Bay area?

 

So what is it? If a city has less attractions of course the only team in town will be packed.

If you want to attract casual fans you need to look at that, soccer fans will go no matter what.

Look at Orlando for example: talked about going to MLS, Legoland buy ticket get 1 free, local concerts before game = 9,000+

then...No MLS and this saturday 6,ooo something, so explain that?

or FC Tampa Bay first home opener 8,000 something, four games later 5,000 and averaged around 3,000.?

 

The interactions between WSW and Kenn keep me coming back here. WSW for the entertainment and Kenn for the education.

 

Well, they missed my 3,500 target for last night, but not by much. Disappointing really, with three weeks lead time to sell tickets since the last home match. Once again, no strong promotions to help with ticket sales. They were offering military members free admission (and dependents half price), but not sure how they promoted that offer. Seems like they should have gone to MacDill and done some onsite sales.

That said, it was still the second best attendance for a May match in St Petersburg, only trailing the last home game. We are up about 400 per game over the same point in 2011 and 2012 with June now upon us. June games in St. Pete have never drawn higher than the mid 2K range. Once again, the club has three weeks to sell tickets for its next league match and hopefully can still reach 3,500 for the Scorpions match. The second family four pack promotion is that night and it is presented by *tbt.

Maybe they will surprise the Sounders this week and get some additional press to fuel the fire.

 

The numbers are steadily sliding back towards our usual 3k per game. Honestly, this is pretty pathetic. We are second to last in the NASL in distributed tickets. The marketing budget has clearly been increased, but there seems to be a problem with converting sales.

MAYBE IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH HAVING THREE TICKET REPS AND HAVING THEM DO MULTIPLE JOBS INSTEAD OF THE ONE THEY WERE HIRED FOR.

Whatever. I don't care and I'm kind of done trying as hard as I have been for over three years now.

 

We are sliding back at a slower rate than in the past, tracking ahead of any season in St. Pete. Furthermore, season to date average is just 150 off the average the first year in Tampa. June has been a horrible month for attendance at Al Lang, so I am reasonably confident that the club will be up six or seven hundred year over year by the end of the spring season.

The fact that we will probably draw 3,000 for this week's Open Cup match with a week's notice as opposed to the 3,300 for Saturday's match with three weeks lead time speaks volumes about the sales team. They need a bigger lead pool. They are pretty effective at selling 3,000 tickets, but haven't got a clue how to sell another thousand or two tickets. They need fresh meat to sell to.

I noticed that they recognized just four groups on Saturday. That would be a huge problem right there since group sales are crucial. To be honest, their sales staff doesn't have a lot to work with. Inexperienced, few in number, stretched too thin are all problems with the ticket staff, but they also have no compelling promotions to entice people.

 

You have done the best you could have done speedcake. It doesn't go unnoticed by other fans, and other people in the mob. I certainly appreciate it, and im not ball washing. It is honest and sincere. I, too, wish this FO would venture outside their comfort zone in spending more to market. Entice people to come to games. Do what you have to do, get creative! It's not like we are defending NASL Champions, or anything.

I really think the FO doesn't have the money, the capital, etc. to market correctly. Hire good people at their positions, pay them, and have an extremely open mind to market this team even more. If they do have the Said monies, WTF is going on then? It takes money to make money. I'm confused about this. I also realize the area where in, the league were in and so forth. But to tell me we can't get creative as minor league baseball teams to do theme nights, special prices, etc is beyond me. If we can't as a FO, or don't want too as a FO then it is time to get somebody who would do so.

 

I will ask this again. Has the ownership ever sat down and had an open forum or roundtable with its most dedicated supporters, the Mob and the STHs?

 

Thanks Frank, I appreciate that.

Bluesfan, nope. Not regarding the issues we are discussing here, at least.