The Padres' season-ticket sales staff "scored the highest performance rating among a field of MLB clubs in a recent mystery shopper survey" conducted by Ohio-based research firm IntelliShop, according to David Broughton of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The study, "thought to be the first of its kind to be conducted across an entire league," graded team sales agents’ "proficiency by having two dozen professional mystery shoppers telephone each club to inquire about buying season tickets." The shoppers "evaluated how well the agents performed through the various steps of the sales process." The following chart lists team-by-team rankings (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/23 issue).
| RANK | TEAM | SCORE (MAX: 100%) |
| 1 | Padres | 63% |
| 2 | Indians | 59% |
| 3t | Yankees | 53% |
| 3t | Rays | 53% |
| 5 | A's | 51% |
| 6 | Pirates | 50% |
| 7t | D'Backs | 49% |
| 7t | Braves | 49% |
| 9 | Mets | 47% |
| 10t | White Sox | 45% |
| 10t | Nationals | 45% |
| 12 | Royals | 44% |
| 13t | Dodgers | 43% |
| 13t | Giants | 43% |
| 15t | Astros | 41% |
| 15t | Brewers | 41% |
| 17 | Rangers | 39% |
| 18 | Orioles | 36% |
| 19t | Reds | 35% |
| 19t | Marlins | 35% |
| 21t | Angels | 34% |
| 21t | Mariners | 34% |
| 21t | Blue Jays | 34% |
| 24 | Tigers | 28% |
| 25 | Rockies | 25% |
| | | |
METHODOLOGY: In the month leading up to each club's home opener, each MLB team was contacted by an IntelliShop rep posing as a potential season-ticket buyer. The Phillies, Twins, Cubs and Red Sox stated, during three separate mystery calls, that they had no season tickets available. As a result, they were excluded from the survey. The Cardinals, similarly, capped their season-ticket sales shortly after the project began (after 10 mystery calls were completed), so they also were excluded. For the remaining 25 clubs, between 20 and 24 calls were made to each club, with each call marking a survey opportunity. Shoppers were educated on the teams and the physical layouts of the teams' stadiums, and they were trained to sound disappointed that the season seats they wanted would cost as much as they did once they learned the quoted price for those desired seats was more than their budget. This allowed IntelliShop to measure which alternatives the sales agents used to overcome the price objection. The survey consisted of 27 mostly multiple-choice questions. While it was possible for a team to score a perfect 100, it was improbable that every option for every question would be covered to get that 100 result.
