Brown (l) said that he would like to see the league grow its attendance to 7,000 fans per gameSANDY BROWN
Tomorrow night's MLL All-Star Game at Harvard Stadium will be the "first big test" for Sandy Brown, who "took over in February as commissioner," according to Joe Halpern of the BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL. Brown said he was expecting less than the 10,000 fans who attended the game four years ago when it was last held in the Boston area, though he added, "I don't need to see 10,000 there for us this year to consider it a success." Brown: "If we got 7,500 there and we provide them an entertaining evening of quality lacrosse ... I'd be fine with that." Brown said he has spent most of his time since becoming commissioner "listening and talking to our stakeholders, players, sponsors, fans owners" and determined that "job one, two, and three for all of us are to figure out ways to fill the seats." Brown: " We need people in the stands and we have to create a game-day experience that in my view should be second to none. It should be value for money." He added, "What I've been telling all my team presidents is that each of you needs to have a little P.T. Barnum menu at your venues. You have to have a promoter mentality and you've got to get people to the games and you need to get them to keep coming back. The only way to do that is provide a top-notch entertainment at each game, both on the field and in the stands. We can do it and we need to do that." Most MLL teams currently average around 5,000 per game, but Brown said, "By extending our season and investing in a comprehensive digital strategy, I expect we can quickly grow our attendance to 7,000 fans per game." Meanwhile, he said the league needs to look at expanding into the "markets that are strongest for us, which are probably Orange County, California and San Diego." Brown: " We also have interest in moving [a] franchise into the Minnesota market. But whatever we decide to do, we need to make sound business decisions on where ever we decide to go" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/27).
