Regardless of what you think about the idea, show up. We need as many people as we can to provide a great atmosphere for potential fans. Invite everyone you can (and pray to God that the Blast get there act together and win). Note: when buying drinks, buy from the south-side trailer; that is the trailer that the Blast receive money from.
Why's it bush to try to get alot of people out for your home opener. It's better than the kids drug free rallies they had the past few seasons where most working people couldn't make it on a friday afternoon. You know, if the blast had anything resembling a winning side they might draw more people. Nonetheless I will definately be there, hoping that they can at least score a goal, but I'm not too confident.
What value is a ticket to future games if the owner gives it away for nothing? No reason to do this promotion.
Do you really need an answer to that? Its a home opener and it doubles as a US open cup qualifier. Teams should be able to draw for that. If you can't do enough promotion to sell a bunch of seats for the opening game of the season, then that pretty much says it all about the team. Perhaps they shouldn't be in the league. It is completely BUSH to let people in free to the game. It shouts out "look at us, our product is worth NOTHING, so please come to our game for free." It reflects badly on the rest of the league.
While they won't get the money from tickets, one theory is that the fans will have more money to spend on concessions and apparel. This has also generated some good media here in town. Perhaps those radio/TV stations might develop a relationship that could lead to more coverage. Also, a packed stadium (and hopefully a good result from the Blast) should provide a good atmostphere and encourage people to come to more games. Risky? Definitely. Worth it? We'll find out.
My 2 cents on this as someone who is in the marketing industry... If anyone has ever been to a grocery store or a shopping mall and walked by the food court and been given a sample of something from their menu, this is essentially the same thing. One day I sat by a Chinese Place in a shopping mall and watched how many people that appeared to be walking by indecisively actually bought lunch from there after having tried their sample...I was suprised to see that about 60% of the people ended up buying lunch there after having tried the sample. With this methodology as it pertains to what the Blast are doing, they are allowing new people to sample the product, hoping that they will like the flavor and come back for more. The people that already like the Blast are coming no matter what, but if they can increase the customer base just 50%, at this level, it's huge. I think it is a wise move and will only increase their popularity AS LONG AS THEY HAVE A GOOD PRODUCT!!!!!
The Utah Blitzz let everybody in to their "home" opener free. Well, you had to buy gas for the hour and a half trip to Wendover. But once you got there, it was free to see the Blitzz.
i think its a joke. High School games arent free. People are going to say, how good can the team be if the tickets are free. It would be funny if like 1,000 people showed up.
Ever been to the grocery store and sampled their product and thought, yeah this was okay for free but I'm not going to buy it? Anyway it's really a different story. Grocery stores don't usally give away a free box of whatever they are sampling, and if they do they don't only have 14 items of that product in stock. If they did they wouldn't be giving one away for free.
You're bush!! What's your point in dogging this? Just so you can appear to be more "soccer knowledgeable"? Here's what Kim Morris (owner of the Blast) had to say about it: "This one's on us!" That's right, at 7:35pm the Blast will kick off against division rival the El Paso Patriots and anyone and everyone can get in to watch the game for FREE!! "Just decided to roll out the season in a really BIG way! It's been a tough year for a lot of folks and this is our way of saying forget your worries and just come have some fun with the Blast," states Morris." You can surmise all you want about her reasoning, but I think it's a great way to get new fans. Look, this lady has been supporting this team for a number of years now, out of her own pocket. Give her some credit already! GEEESH!
Krammerhead - (very light hearted tone, no aggression at all) have you ever registered to win something big for free, been to a sporting event where they give away free prizes or signed up for some giveaway? Well all of these are done to not only showcase products in hopes that people will like what they see, but also to collect information to turn around and market to again. When you register any of your information at a chance to win anything or even to buy something, the company uses that information to then market back to you. I'm guessing that you will say you've never done anything like this...my answer back to you is that MILLIONS of people do it everyday and it is VERY successful otherwise companies wouldn't be doing it. Giving away something for free isn't a bad thing if you gave away a GOOD PRODUCT and you take the information you gain and utilize it. I don't know squat about the Blast, but I can tell you what they are doing is Marketing 101 and a highly successful method for generating business. The proof will be in the pudding though...can they play? Are the exciting to watch? Is there reason for someone to come back and pay to watch? That's the Blast's biggest responsiblity! It doesn't matter if they pay people to come and watch, with a crappy "product" they won't be succesful.
I'll stick to my opinion thanks. We all had a good laugh at your promotion in Vancouver at the Whitecaps game Saturday night by the way.
During this past fall, Sigma Olomouc allowed everyone into a game versus Sparta Prague for free. The reason they did this was because Sigma was at the bottom of the table, and they owners felt they needed to reward the fans for still supporting the club.
I very well understand the idea of marketing and promoting a game. Thats is why teams give away things such as bobbleheads and other such gifts to get people into the doors. How about 2 for 1 tickets, chances to win prizes, etc etc etc. All is good. Letting people in for free devalues the product. Not only that but it convinces people NOT to buy tickets. Casual fans think "hey maybe if I'll wait they'll be another freebie game coming up!" People wanting to buy season tickets won't bother. Hell why should they pay if they are just going to let people in for free anyway? You can call it marketing 101 if you wish, but I've never seen Vancouver or Portland (don't know about Rochester) do this and these three teams have the highest average crowds in the A-League. Also just what information are the Blast going to get from these people who attend this free game? Are they demanding everyone fill in a form stating their name, age and current address? To address your final point, no the Indiana Blast don't have a good product. They are horrible and useless as they were last season when they won just 6 games, the season before when they won just 8 games and the season before that when they won just 9 games. Perhaps they should try that bit of marketing 101. Win some damn games.
Sort of a different story there though. Indiana is giving away tickets to the season home opener, which also doubles as a US open cup match. Whereas Sigma Olomouc was rewarding their 5000+ fans near the end of a poor season, in the case of Indiana (except for their fans who have blinders on) it looks like they are throwing in the towel before their home opener.
This kind of marketing strategy is used all over the world in many different industries. It's nothing new, and has a good track record. It might work here. Your criticisms are old and have generally proven to be baseless.
I see you edited your previous post. As for my criticism being proven to be baseless, show me where? If this strategy is so good why haven't A-League teams (MLS for that matter) all decided to do this? Tell me my criticism is baseless at the end of the year when Indiana is drawing 5000 a game. Which of course they will be doing what with this promotion going to be a real success.
Krammerhead...you make some valid points about the Blast's needs to have a better team...however I think your points would be better received with a little less negativitiy. As far as giveaways and freebies, you're wrong... and I won't waste my time writing why because after seeing your stance on several posts I see that you're just going to stand by your opinion (negative and bitter as they typically are). Have a good one...I guess
Hey, I'll gladly say I was wrong if Indiana ends up with a huge increase in attendance this season. They supposedly averaged 2173 last year in the 6760 Capacity Kuntz stadium. They are already 0-3 this season with 0 goals for 8 against, so I doubt it. Don't know why I'm being branded as negative and bitter for stating an opinion. I know I'm not the only person with these same opinions, just one of the very few with the balls to post them.
It is not like tickets to A-League games are that expensive. Most can be bought for $10 or less. If cost is the reason people don't show up for Blast games, lower your ticket prices or come up with a package scheme that is family friendly. My guess is that the attendance figures there have nothing to do with cost and that this is little more than a publicity stunt that probably isn't going to work. Hope I am proven wrong...