As the San Jose Earthquakes prepared for the opening of 18,000-seat Avaya Stadium last year, the club took a hard look at a number of its business practices, including its approach to sponsorships.
In their former home, the 10,525-seat Buck Shaw Stadium, the Earthquakes had amassed nearly 65 sponsors but almost all on one-year deals and “for not a lot of money,” said Jared Shawlee, the team’s vice president of sales and strategy, who’s been with the Earthquakes since 2007. “We decided to flip that model on its head,” Shawlee said, “relaunching our approach and saying that less is now more.”
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SHAWLEE
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Specifically, the Earthquakes decided they would limit their number of partners to 40 and would require at least a three-year commitment.
The strategy paid off. The club saw an increase in total sponsorship revenue of 187 percent year over year, and the average deal size went up 332 percent, Shawlee said. And for Shawlee, in large part because of that work, he was named by MLS last week as the league’s corporate partnerships executive of the year.
The recognition was part of MLS’s annual awards program, occurring in Baltimore as league and team executives gathered for business meetings and, on Thursday, for the league’s 2016 player draft.
“Historically, one of the biggest challenges for MLS on the partner side is that many of the companies we’re signing with, we’re their second- or third-largest partnership,” Shawlee said. “Almost every partner we have at the stadium now, we’re their No. 1.”
In addition to Shawlee, MLS last week recognized New York Red Bulls general manager Marc de Grandpre, who received the Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year award for his team’s overwhelming commercial success and sponsorship growth in 2015. Sporting Kansas City repeated as corporate partnerships team of the year, in large part due to its new stadium naming-rights deal with Children’s Mercy.
Also honored was the New England Revolution, named the ticket sales team of the year. Revolution President Brian Bilello said the foundation for the team’s 2015 work was set the year before, when the club advanced to the MLS Cup championship match.
| Award |
Winner |
| Doug Hamilton Executive of the Year |
Marc de Grandpre, New York Red Bulls |
| Ticket Sales Executive of the Year |
Chris Gallagher, Orlando City SC |
| Corporate Partnerships Executive of the Year |
Jared Shawlee, San Jose Earthquakes |
| Marketing Executive of the Year |
Teresa Tatlonghari, Orlando City SC |
| Ticket Sales Team of the Year |
New England Revolution |
| Corporate Partnerships Team of the Year |
Sporting Kansas City |
| Marketing Team of the Year |
LA Galaxy |
| Club Retailer of the Year |
LA Galaxy |
| Partnership Marketing Activation of the Year |
Orlando City SC (Publix Tailgate) |
| Ticketing Sales Innovation Award, presented by the National Sales Center |
New York Red Bulls (Red Membership Campaign) |
| Social Media Activation of the Year |
New York Red Bulls (#NYisRED) |
“By being able to host two [playoff] games, including a leg of the Eastern Conference finals, it of course helped drive additional revenue and ticket sales, but we also wanted to use that info in perhaps another interesting way,” Bilello said. “Taking a look at who was buying tickets on that extreme short notice highlighted who might be interested in buying more.”
New England’s attendance for 2015 was up almost 18 percent compared with the year before, to an average of 19,672 fans per game. The team’s base of season-ticket holders has grown 20 percent, Bilello said.
New England had been working on building out its ticket-sales capabilities for several years, Bilello said, and the work done in 2015 served as a culmination of sorts. While the effort spanned the club, Bilello specifically noted the work of James Mullins, the team’s vice president of ticket sales and customer service.
The gains also come as New England continues to build toward the goal of moving from Gillette Stadium to a soccer-specific venue in downtown Boston.
“I think a lot of the stuff we’re doing will hopefully make that process smoother,” he said.
