Difficulty Selling Tickets Not A New Challenge For Pirates Execs
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Coonelly Says Pirates Not Trying To Sell
Very Expensive Seats In This Economy |
Pirates President Frank Coonelly said while the economy presents different challenges for selling tickets, the team is "used to selling tickets in a difficult environment," according to Paul Lukas of ESPN.com. Coonelly: "Unfortunately, selling tickets when we haven't performed well on the field is not new to us. So that hasn't really been different. ... We're at the very low end of the scale in terms of pricing. So unlike some of our counterparts, we're not trying to sell very expensive seats in this economy." Pirates Exec VP & CMO Lou DePaoli said the team's season-ticket sales are "right on par with this time last year," and renewals are "fairly strong." Coonelly noted the team learned that "Pittsburghers are a late-arriving crowd." But Coonelly said the all-you-can-eat sections at PNC Park are "always full well before the game, so that's good, because it drives people into the park." Coonelly noted the Pirates "originally targeted it to the family market," but now are expanding it "because it's very popular with the college crowd." Coonelly added PNC Park "is always an advantage, in good or bad economic times." Meanwhile, DePaoli predicted MLB attendance this season "will be down, but not as much as people think, maybe 1-1.5[%]." Coonelly said the recession is "forcing certain changes" for how teams do business, because "times like these force us to be more creative, to work harder" (ESPN.com, 4/13).
PAYING TRIBUNE: In Pittsburgh, Chris Togneri notes the Pirates yesterday dedicated their home opener to three slain city police officers, and collected money at the game to "assist the officers' families." The flags behind the centerfield fence flew at half-staff, and about 30 city police officers before the first pitch "emerged from a tunnel in the right field corner and lined up along the outfield warning track." The officers "watched in silence as the officers' names and pictures flashed on the Jumbotron and as the police color guard played 'Amazing Grace' on bagpipes" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 4/14). Pirates players and coaches for yesterday's game wore "dark blue caps with gold stitching that spelled out Pittsburgh Police." The Astros wore the same hats during pregame ceremonies (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 4/14).
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