Brewers COO Rick Schlesinger recently said that the team's "late-season fall from playoff contention in 2014 hasn't had much impact on ticket sales" for this year, according to Rich Kirchen of the MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL. Asked about the Brewers' business side in '14, Schlesinger said, "I was very pleased. Obviously the best marketing tool in sports is a winning team and being in first place for 150 days and having the great start really fueled a lot of fan interest across the board and that obviously translates to revenue." Schlesinger said the Brewers' ticket sales are about 15-17% "ahead of where we were at the same time last year, which is great because it gives us that much more momentum coming in." But he added it "doesn't necessarily mean we're going to finish the year 17 percent ahead in attendance." Regarding suite sales, Schlesinger said the Brewers saw a "dramatic increase in the rental of individual suites. We are using those leads to convince (renters) that there's benefit in doing partial leases and going from one game to seven games or from one game to 10 games." He added that Volkswagen, Shorewest Realty, Party City and Experience Fitness are new sponsors for the '15 season (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 4/3 issue). Meanwhile, Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio yesterday said of talks about an extension for President of Baseball Operations & GM Doug Melvin, "A lot of it has to do with what Doug wants to do, which he's working through." In Milwaukee, Tom Haudricourt notes Melvin at age 62 "has signed three extensions" since being hired as GM in '03, "all for three years." Each time, that "gave him four years remaining on his contract." Now, Melvin is "still trying to decide if he wants to go four more seasons," and thus there has been "no pressure to finalize a deal by any certain date in talks with Attanasio" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/7).
HITTING ALL THE RIGHT NOTES: In Milwaukee, Bill Glauber notes Attanasio's late father, Joseph, for 10 years "sang the national anthem" on Opening Day at Miller Park. Though Joseph Attanasio died in January, his voice yesterday "echoed through the stadium through a recording" of his '14 performance. Mark Attanasio "stood with his family by a microphone set up behind home plate" and "wrapped his left arm around his mother, Connie" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 4/7).
