SBJ/SBD Conference Wraps Up With Social Media, Ticket Sales

Katz Says Social Media Is A Daily Sales Channel

Several sports media execs Thursday afternoon participated in the final panel of the SBJ/SBD Sports Facilities & Franchises conference titled, “Social Media and Sports Franchises: What Does it Mean and Where is it Going?" SportsFanLive.com Founder & CEO David Katz said, “With social media you have a sales channel and a communication channel that is daily. ... This is a direct line of communication which can be used to present ticket opportunities, value-added opportunities … and for fans to not feel like they’re being sold to all the time.” Big Spaceship Founder & CEO Michael Lebowitz said, “The conversation’s happening and it’s going to happen without you -- get in there, but do so methodically. ... There needs to be an authenticity." Lebowitz added, "What social media outlets have done is made brands transparent and there’s no hiding anything anymore. ... You can’t be everywhere at once.” KickApps CEO Alex Blum: “You need to syndicate the experience that’s going on within your brand out on these social networks because fans exist out there that haven’t been exposed to your site.”

TIME TO CLEAN IT UP: Katz then switched gears and discussed the negatives of franchise sites, saying, “The biggest negative to the team sites and the league sites is that the content feels sanitized. When you commit to social media, and I think you have to at this point, you have to go in with a different mindset than you may have had in the past. You need to give people the freedom to behave like fans." Katz contends teams need to find a way to capitalize on the use of Twitter and social media that updates in real time. Lebowitz said, “You need to understand the value of each platform and what type of content is appropriate. Modulate your voice: some spaces you want to have a much quieter voice, some spaces you want to have a very loud voice.” Blum discussed a bottom up strategy to recruit more interested fans by “bringing the leagues down to the local level” and being involved with local media, “which then feeds into the local team and ultimately the league.” Lebowitz jumped into the conversation concerning click-through rates saying, “Click-through rates on traditional advertisements online might not be the key metric to look at. Those teams that have affectively deployed our ‘contextually integrated’ way have seen anywhere from 10-300% in audience growth and levels of engagement at their site.” He then addressed the final question of what will be the biggest social media trend in the coming months. Lebowitz “People who can create actual value…from raw data. But you have to be downstream to get it and downstream, if you follow enough people, is moving really, really fast.”

Cartmell Says Sports Industry Is On "New Threshold" Of Reaching Out To Fans

THAT'S THE TICKET: Earlier Thursday, in a panel titled, “Driving Ticket Sales and Incremental Revenue: Providing Value, Filling the House," Aramark Group President of Sports & Entertainment Liza Cartmell opened the discussion saying the industry is on a “new threshold” when it comes to reaching out to fans. Bruins Senior VP/Sales & Marketing Amy Latimer touched on the culture change that has happened in Boston over the past decade, saying people “only want winning” and how that “raises the bar” to what a team offers to clients and sponsors. MLS Red Bulls VP/Marketing & Sales Andrew Lafiosca described the “point of difference” for the new Red Bull Arena, and how the marketing of premium seats has been concentrated on offering more of a “community feel” among members. He said the decision to not optimize the facility for music events was a decision based on credibility. Lafiosca: "Our goal is to become the Garden of soccer. ... We want to be known throughout the United States as the home of soccer.” ISC Senior VP/Business Operations Grant Lynch said fans want them more involved in social media, Facebook and Twitter. He said the sport is in a “cooling period," much of which can be attributed to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his position within the sport. Lynch said, “If he could get back up into the top five -- two or three -- in the sport, we would see probably a 5% lift in ticket sales.” Saints VP/Ticket & Suite Sales Mike Stanfield and Latimer both touched on targeting marketing at specific groups to drive ticket sales and keeping an eye on secondary pricing. Latimer: “We used secondary pricing to gauge our ticket pricing in the playoffs. It’s a tool for us. ... It gives us a gauge about what to do for the next round.”

Lafiosca (l) And Grant Discuss Utilization Of Athletes In Creating Fan Experience

PLAYER INVOLVEMENT: The discussion then moved to using athletes to help make a more complete fan experience. Grant: “We need to control the total cost of the weekend. The hotels like having their way with our fans -- in a bad way.” Lafiosca added, “We have a building to sell in a down economy with a limited budget -- we need the guys (players, coaches) to get it. ... We have to make sure they understand why we are doing this because if they understand why they have more of an interest and more of a desire to be a part of it.” Latimer: “The one thing to be successful is ... it’s partially our job to put players in position to be successful. ... Once you start to personalize, then you get an even better buy-in.” Cartmell then made the suggestion of differentiating the experience for fans at the stadium by “activating what’s going on in the building," possibly by putting “unique footage” on the screen in the suite. Cartmell: “There needs to be a rethinking of the value proposition being provided in each of those areas."