Saints Offering Season Tickets With Six-Month Layaway Plans
By Terry Lefton, Editor-at Large
Sports execs these days discuss the economy more than they discuss their team’s on-field performance, and sports sponsorship sales are under increasing pressure. So in what might be described as a back-to-the-future marketing move, the Saints are allowing fans to buy season tickets on layaway. A Florida-based company, eLayaway, which administers layaway programs for more than 1,000 retailers, including Dell, Gap and Apple stores, will allow Saints fans to buy season tickets in as many as six monthly payments, as opposed to the NFL norm of two payments a year. As per its normal formula, eLayaway charges a 1.9% fee for the transaction. The deal with the Saints runs for three years. “We’ve grown by offering layaway for everything from hair transplants to cruises, as businesses see the advantage of a pre-payment platform, and we just thought season tickets were a perfect application,” said eLayaway President Matthew Ryncarz. “Clearly, season tickets are discretionary spending. We are marketing this to teams as a way to maintain their season-ticket base and make those tickets more affordable.” The Saints will market the layaway program to fans via directed e-mail and e-mail campaigns, and through stadium PA announcements and scoreboard ads. Officials with eLayaway are meeting with other teams and leagues in hopes of having an agreement with at least one team in each sport secured by year’s end. Ryncarz said he is also hoping to make deals allowing fans to use layaway plans to pay for PSLs or high-priced licensed products. The company automates the layaway process, deducting payments from a bank account until the item is paid off.
MAKING A COMEBACK: Layaway plans, in which retailers hold items until consumers finish paying for them, were popular during the Great Depression and for years afterward, and have made a comeback during the current economic downturn. With consumers unable to get credit, more merchants, including Sears, have revived or expanded their layaway programs. Kmart has it as the centerpiece of a holiday ad campaign. Call it an idea whose time has come again.
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