More season ticket sales news

Like someone said in another thread, the casual fan prolly isn't too aware of what was going on to care about/understand the CA situation. I think the whole thing side-tracked season tix sales, but I can't imagine it would be more memorable than a heroic playoff run.

 

That was a thoroughly enjoyable article - especially the bit about season ticket sales. I'll be attending the home opener w/ the wife & kids & hopefully some neighbors.

 

A 15% increase is good, especially considering off-season turmoil. But I would think an increase should be expected when the team wins the championship.

Also, if you assume that the 15% season ticket increase translates roughly to a 15% increase in attendance (a big assumption), then the Quakes would still average around 20% below the league average (based on 2003 averages) and would still be around the bottom of the league in that category. So there's still plenty of work to be done, obviously.

 

A 15% increase is incredible considering that last season the league continued to track sales of season tickets until June something (the home opener at LA). I am 99% positive about this fact.

If there has already been a 15% increase by the middle of March, think what the number of season ticket sales (or "equivalent packages") might be by June - 20 - 25% conservatively? That would be a substantial increase by any evaluation.

It would be interesting if they would list the percentage increase relative to this date last season. That would be a very revealing statistic indeed.

I hope to see these types of reports from more clubs in the coming days.

Also - don't forget the inherent value of season tickets. They will boost the attendence of every match (including Wednesday nights, etc) and will raise the attendance median (a much better stat than merely average). Though JazzyJ is right that a 15% increase in season tickets does not mean there will be a 15% increase in total attendance - it will almost certainly mean a big boost in attendance for "lightly attended" matches when the season ticketholders represent a much larger percentage of the total attendance than usual. Simply having every match at >10,000 fans would be a great step in the right direction.

Increased season tickets will also mean more money for the team, as the ticket price for season tickets is fixed whereas many fans get into other games by way of discounted tickets and the like.

 

Jazzy,

You are right about more work needing to be done. However, I am also interested in seeing what the club is doing to partner with youth soccer leagues. Like last year's Fremont day. I was at the match & it was one of the highest-attended midday matches I've ever seen at Spartan. Partnering with more of those youth associations around Northern California could be a nice attendance boost - and an effective way to market the club to folks who would be more likely than not to become long-term fans.

Speaking of midday matches - I know the CW says they are a drag on attendance.

Maybe so - but the extra midday matches means I will be attending more times this year because it is hard for me to motivate dragging myself to San Jose with three kids in tow for a two-hour drive in each direction.

So, 15% upwards growth in season ticket sales is good. I can only hope that similar or better growth is experienced in group sales, corporate sales, walk-ups and all other segments of the ticket-selling market.

 

I hope that Alexi Lalas makes this a priority. As fan friendly as he has always been, it is hard to conceive of him not doing all that he can to maximize this type of initiative.

To be honest, though, the commitment that San Jose has made to drafting/signing/hiring Bay Area personalities should already be attracting people in the Bay Area soccer setup.

Maybe the Quakes need to more formally advertise this type of thing - have Lalas and Todd Dunivent or Lalas and Jamil Walker show up at clinics and/or youth tournaments for "first kicks" or awards presentations and then give way to a table of volunteers who distribute some freebies and have kids sign up for the Quakes mailing list and for youth soccer player ticket vouchers.

Quakes should look long and hard at maximizing the "empty" Saturdays that they have during weeks with midweek matches and make sure that they hit the soccer parks extra hard on those days. They should also send developmental players and other guys who don't "make the trip" on road games to do the same thing. It would be great if they made it a goal not to go unrepresented (at least by a kiosk with volunteers and some cardboard cutouts of Quake players for picture taking) at any major local youth soccer event.

I really think that midweek matches would be much less of a problem if there wasn't so much competition with cheap, available baseball - whether it is minor league or major league. Midweek (evening) matches could actually be an advantage in certain locales and at certain times of the year. Especially given the right soccer-specific atmosphere.

There will always be some drop-off, but if marketed properly and coupled with the right gimmicks (family night/bobbleheads/fireworks/concerts/etc) you could probably do a lot to boost attendance.

 

Revolt was talking about midday matches. Saturday afternoon is when a lot of local soccer leagues play, and a lot of families are watching the kids instead of the Quakes. Thus, midday matches at Spartan haven't drawn as well as evening games. But there are other folks like Revolt for whom nights are out of the question.

Very encouraging season ticket news. Got a couple of friends to become first-time season ticket holders this year. Season tickets for under $200? Can't beat that. I think everyone should take their pack of attractive season tickets to work and flash 'em around a bit.

 

Sorry I misread. Another reason why an SSS is so important - game scheduling. Although I imagine tv broadcasting has something to do with the scheduling as well.

If that is the case, maybe ya'll should not be so successful on the field - it would make you less likely to be on tv so much and you could have more games in the evening.

DC will be glad to oblige you by beating you on opening day.

 

So I guess it's an open question as to which 2003 season ticket base number they're comparing to when they say "15% increase". Are they comparing to the number of season ticket holders at the same time last year? To the number of season ticket holders at June of last year (as Liverpool_SC suggests)? To the number of season ticket holders at the start of last season? I assumed it was the same time last year. Hopefully, it's the 6/2003 number.

It's kind of confusing because there's also this one.

"Sources within the Quakes front office have indicated that season ticket sales have already exceeded last years total, with roughly a month to go before the start of the season."

So sales have exceeded last year's total, but they don't say it's by 15%. Just at least one higher. If they're already 15% over last year's total, as measured in, say June or later, then things are looking real good.

I agree with Revolt and Liverpool_SC. Partnering with youth leagues seems like a great way to improve attendance, both short and long term. I've mentioned on other threads that, based on the little info I have, I think this should be their main focus in marketing the team.

 

ST sales are important when combined w/ an SSS: it guarantees the club enough revenues for a mid-week game, which could then be shown on ESPN2. W/ less competition mid-week (especially in the fall), ESPN would actually pay MLS (not vice-versa, like it is now) to play the game.

 

I thought about that too, but on the Quakes site, they call real season tickets "season tickets" and seem to break out "mini-plans" as a separate category. At least that's how their web site is organized. They may still be combining those numbers in their stats.

 

I still think we'd get a huge boost by a ton of half-price promotions, early enough in the season where people could get a feel for the excitement, quality and value offered and get in on at least some mini plans.

I'd make it easy to get the discount such as bring in any Bay Area sports' teams ticket, etc. Especially if we would cater to the Shark's fans as their season winds down. (Which, by the look of things might not be til June...) But there are a ton of ways we could offer these discounts - Boy Scouts, Bring in a Sierra Mist can, show your report card, etc. At this point all I care about is getting them there.

Also good to see bridges being built to the hispanic community-Radio broadcasts, spots on TV. It would certainly help our attendance if we could capture a small share of the local fans who happen to be hispanic and love soccer. (As opposed to the snobs that beleive if it isn't MFL, it isn't worth watching.) As we saw during last season, for the objective fans, once they see the team, they'll support it. Like every other potential fan out there, it just takes getting them into the stadium. However, given their love and knowledge of the game, this segment of the population is already half sold.

I only hope all this increased focus isn't just greasing the skids for CA to take over...

 

I wonder how they factor in people who bought season tickets part way through the season last year?

I was showing up for every home game and buying a full price ticket for months, until I found out about some of the other perqs (that's my big beef with the Quakes' marketing; they don't communicate the perqs well to potential customers). I bought a rest-of-the-season package and then renewed it just recently and am now a "normal" season ticket holder (seat N3/12/1, if you want to say hi).

So am I part of the 15% increase, or part of last year's base, in that figure? My bet is the former.

 

They generally keep track of both full season tickets and "season ticket equivalents." The STE's include all of the full tickets plus fractional counts for people who buy partial plans or buy season tickets after the season starts. Who knows what stat they use when they issue vague info to the press.

 

As Peter Wilt has said in a few threads regarding ST #s, it's not about how many you sell, it's about how much revenue you generate. And while getting good #s for low priced tix is nice, and looks good on paper, it all boils down to how much money you make.