Article Tools
Note: This column originally appeared Nov. 7, 2008.
It’s becoming generally accepted that a recession or prolonged slump will hurt the business of sport. Those fans not locked into season’s tickets may shy away from shelling out mortgage-payment-like sums to watch an extra game or two. And corporate sponsors are re-evaluating all of their expenditures — and sports is a big one. But if owners do feel the heat, it could be good news for fans.
The reason is simple. Good businesses are always trying to connect with their consumers to learn how to make their products better and more relevant. Sloppy businesses only do so when people stop buying (for whatever reason), and many sports organizations rely on hometown fever to keep fans buying tickets, merchandise and shockingly overpriced poor-quality food and drinks. If they start seeing attendance declines and sponsors dropping out, it stands to reason they will start paying attention and try to improve relations with both.
According to the Bonham Group, a sports and entertainment marketing agency in Denver, a financial crisis can be “an opportunity for teams and leagues to stay close to their fans and for corporate sponsors to recapture some of the value that may have eluded them in prosperous times.”
For fans, that could mean more value-added services or products, cheaper tickets and special deals. For example, even the Toronto Maple Leafs, who don’t have any current worries, gave away nearly 20,000 tickets for a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres. Sure, there was a promotional tie-in with Coca-Cola Zero, but it was also a reward for the large number of Leaf fans who can no longer afford to attend a game in person — even if they could find a ticket. “The cost of tickets today puts the game out of reach for a lot of the grassroots fans,” admitted general manager Cliff Fletcher at the time. “This is a way we can acknowledge how important they are to the team.”
Other teams are offering lesser, but no less important deals. For example, the NBA’s New Jersey Nets had a buy-now-pay-later offer that offered some season-ticket buyers until January 5 to pay up. The Miami Heat gave season-ticket holders who renewed early the chance to win such prizes as US$5,000 for property taxes and US$4,000 for utility bills. And the Sacramento Kings are trying to get their players more actively involved in the community.
Similar initiatives are happening in other sports. The NFL is actually cutting prices on some Super Bowl tickets (although 25% of the seats will cost an all-time high of US$1,000). And baseball’s Oakland Athletics are cutting average ticket prices next year by 5%. More baseball bargains are no doubt forthcoming as teams prepare for the 2009 season.
Many of these offers don’t sound like much, but consumers will always appreciate the effort. If they don’t, the next year or so is going to be a rough ride for many teams.
Rate this article
