The Marlins will lower season-ticket prices by up to 25%, depending on location and tenureGETTY IMAGES
The Marlins are "cutting costs on season tickets in a bid to fill seats" at Marlins Park, where average attendance of 10,088 this season "ranks last in the majors," according to Clark Spencer of the MIAMI HERALD. Marlins President of Business Operations Chip Bowers said, "I don't want the narrative to be we're lowering ticket prices because we have to. The reality is we're lowering ticket prices because we screwed up to begin with. We weren't very smart. So we had to take a step back and say everything needs to be [scrapped]." Spencer noted the season-ticket push is the "first for new ownership," which took over in October after season-ticket sales were "already in full swing." The Marlins will lower prices by up to 25%, "depending on location and tenure." The team will also increase "'member' benefits with discounted food and beverage prices, as well as a points-reward system fans can use to interact with players, watch batting practice on the field, and change the bases between innings." Bowers said, "We gave them better incentives to be a member, everything from introducing a 12-month payment plan for most of our members. We took a really, deep hard look at how do you create more value around being a season-ticket holder?" Bowers also said that the team is "creating new seating sections" for millennials, which include "lower-cost barstool seating and standing-room only areas." Bowers: "The first step of any is admit your have a problem. We had a problem. We weren't structurally sound" (MIAMI HERALD, 8/26).
