The Earthquakes this season are running a marketing campaign "based on getting players out in the community where they can interact with fans or provide more opportunities" at Avaya Stadium following an attendance drop in '16, according to Jody Meacham of the SILICON VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL. Earthquakes COO Jared Shawlee said the "show rate" in '16 declined 15%. That came after a "year of packing the stadium with fans who sat in comfortable new seats, shielded from the sun by a wide overhang and with a fancy bar that stretches across the open end of the U-shaped stadium." This season, the "show rate is back up" to '15 levels when the "newness of the stadium and the improved fan experience it provided carried the marketing effort." The Earthquakes "hosted 24 local high school teams at Avaya for games last winter." Now players are "dispatched to Bay Area neighborhoods with balls and equipment to play with kids" and neighborhood groups have gotten "special sections in the stadium with tailgate catering from a restaurant from their area." In addition, season-ticket holders have been getting "more opportunities to meet with players and coaches at the stadium." Shawlee said that those efforts have "been quadrupled this year" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/16).
