Blue Jackets Senior VP/Sales & Marketing John Browne is trying to lure "new fans to games with good deals while not offending a dwindling season-ticket base," according to Tom Reed of the COLUMBUS DISPATCH. The team has created a "Four Subs, Four Stubs" promotion "in which fans buying four foot-long sandwiches in one transaction receive a voucher for four Jackets tickets at $5 each." The deal "was limited to 250 seats for five designated weekday games." Browne: "It's a balancing act, but we are always going to protect the value of our season-ticket holders." The team this season "suspended 'all-you-can eat nights' for single-game patrons in the Sky Terrace in response to complaints from season subscribers." Browne also said that he "doesn't like offering two-for-one ticket bargains or placing specials on the team website 24 hours before a game." The Blue Jackets have "roughly 8,000 season subscribers -- 4,000 fewer than what the NHL required when the team entered the league" in '00. However, the team's single-game ticket sales through 20 home games were up 21% from last year, and the team's recent 9-3-3 run "has been good for emotional and financial investments." Winning "drives up prices in secondary markets, which reportedly accounts for up to 15 percent of sports tickets sold." Resale website ScoreBig.com CEO Adam Kanner said that his company "receives its inventory only from ticket brokers and arena operators looking to fill seats." Blue Jackets games are listed on ScoreBig, but Blue Jackets President Mike Priest said that the team "does not furnish the company or its like with tickets" (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 2/20).
