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The Kids Are Alright: Sporting KC Marketing To Younger Fans As Club Profile Grows

Sporting KC has built up an operation that is the envy of much of the sports industry through an aggressive targeting of younger, millennial fans. But team CEO and partner Robb Heineman recalls when the operation was barely functional. Speaking at the ’16 AXS Sports Facilities & Franchises Conference, Heineman recalled buying into the MLS club a decade ago when it had 389 season-ticket holders and virtually no profile within the K.C. market. Fast forward to today, Sporting KC has 14,000 season-ticket holders, a waiting list of 5,000 more, and one of the industry’s top soccer venues with Children’s Mercy Park. “We really targeted a millennial audience that hadn’t seen the Royals or Chiefs win, and saw an opportunity to interact with them differently through social communication and put a lot of energy into communicating through social media,” Heineman said. “That bought us a lot of credibility with that audience.” As a result, the club’s average season-ticket holder is 29.4 years old, far lower than many traditional sports. “We have a population of fans that (are) very attractive. ... And we have the ability to still be scrappy. We can still take some chances.”

QUICK HITS
* On sister company FanThreeSixty, which Heineman also oversees and pools together numerous different types of data to create a unified profile of a fanbase. “Building platform software isn’t easy, and we’ve had some bumps in the road, but business is good.” The company’s clients include the USTA, among others.

* On the club’s new ticketing deal with SeatGeek: “This is very fan-centric. We’re big fans of the more open distribution, and allowing for more ways for fans to buy tickets. We will gather far more information about the fan than we’ve ever had from ticketing. We think this could be very special for us.”

* Asked about his mentors, Heineman mentioned MLS founding investors such as the late Lamar Hunt, Robert Kraft, and Phil Anschutz. “They forged the way and created the opportunity for us to be where we are today.”

* On potential MLS expansion markets: “I’d love to see a team in St. Louis. It’s an incredible soccer market, and would create a tremendous rivalry with us.”

* On what keeps him up at night: “Complacency. We’ve had a good run, but we still have issues.” Heineman cited a season-ticket renewal percentage that has fallen from 94% to 87% and a heavy dose of Sunday games fueled by national TV appearances that has also created varying start times and lower per-cap sales. 

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