D'Backs Prep For '10 Season-Tix Renewals With Several New Perks

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

The D'Backs on Monday will begin season-ticket renewal sales for the ’10 season, earlier than most MLB teams, with pricing held flat compared to this year. But more notably, the club -- facing both the recession and a disappointing fourth-place campaign to date -- is initiating a widespread series of efforts designed to boost season-ticket retention. The team is marketing priority availability for '11 All-Star Game tickets at Chase Field a year earlier than most All-Star Game host teams, with full season-ticket holders offered the chance to buy additional All-Star Game tickets beyond the size of their plan allocation. More immediately, the Diamondbacks on August 28 will begin “30 Prizes In 30 Days,” a daily sweepstakes in which renewing fans are entered into drawings for prizes such as autographed merchandise, game tickets to the Chase Field Owner’s Suite, tickets to the ’10 All Star Game in Anaheim, and throwing out a first pitch to a D'Backs game. The winners will be announced at Chase Field or on TV for road games during the month. Other efforts include a new payment plan in which orders can be paid for in nine installments spread over 10 months, a priority placement for Spring Training games at the club’s new complex in Scottsdale when it opens in ’11, monthly Town Hall meetings slated for the rest of the season with Hall, GM Josh Byrnes and manager A.J. Hinch, and a season-ticket holder cocktail reception in September with players and coaches.

TEAMS AMP UP VALUE OF RENEWALS: D'Backs President & CEO Derrick Hall said, “We started last year going out early in August for the following season on renewals, and had good success, so thought was to come out again, but really ramp up the value and experiential end of this. All-Star is also a really big hook, so there’s no reason to wait on that. Sure, it’s not ideal to be where we are in the standings now going out with renewals, but if things don’t change [the rest of the season] and you wait, you’re now in October, and you still have to do renewals. The better idea is to be out now in front of the fans, communicate what our direction is, and reward them for their commitment.” The club, which entered the season at slightly more than 15,000 full-season equivalents, is aiming to stay flat through the heightened initiatives. “If we can get to 80-85% renewal and fill in the rest with new business, that would be good,” Hall said.

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