Rays Break New Campaign In Hopes Of Boosting Season-Ticket Sales

The Rays yesterday launched the "first TV commercials in an aggressive television, print, Web and radio campaign," according to Robert Trigaux of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. The team is using last season's World Series appearance to try to "boost season tickets sales," which "ranked among the league's lowest last year at roughly 10,000." The team is "committing 40[%] of its advertising budget before the regular season even begins." Rays Senior VP & Chief Sales Officer Mark Fernandez: "Rebuilding season tickets is our No. 1 priority." Fernandez "would be delighted if the Rays could attract close to 15,000 regular season ticket holders." Trigaux noted the team's goal is to "draw more ticket buyers regionally." The campaign, a collaborative effort between the Rays and the team's ad agency, Tampa-based Pyper Paul & Kenney, is built around six players: LF Carl Crawford, CF B.J. Upton, 3B Evan Longoria, 1B Carlos Pena and Ps James Shields and Scott Kazmir (TAMPABAY.com, 2/2).