Giles (r) during his tenure directed the development and launch of the successful A's Access programGETTY IMAGES
A's COO CHRIS GILES said that he has "decided to leave" the franchise and "create his own firm -- to be called Greenfield Sports Group -- to market similar, customized memberships to other franchises and create software that can enable teams to execute them," according to Henry Schulman of the S.F. CHRONICLE. During his time with the club, Giles directed the development and launch of the "successful A's Access program, which replaced the standard season-ticket setup" with a monthly fee based on how many games fans wanted to attend. Giles said of the program, "We've had a ton of success. It's a fundamentally new approach to ticketing. There's a lot of interest from other teams and properties on how to be able to do that." He added as an industry, sports needs to "start thinking about what teams can sell that can't be replicated through a secondary market transaction" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/7).
IMPACT ZONE: In San Jose, Shayna Rubin notes the A's promoted Giles to COO in '17 to "help re-establish and grow a waning fan base." He "connected immediately with them, engaging with fans on social media and opening up a more fan-friendly and revolutionary ticketing plan with A's Access." A's fans "made clear Giles made a mark on the Coliseum experience," as seen by the club doubling its membership numbers year-over-year with the launch of A's Access. While with the 49ers, Giles was "instrumental in the Levi's Stadium opening," and his experience "looked to be another necessary cog in the A's potential new ballpark transition." But now, his departure "certainly sets back a few steps the A's painstaking forward progress toward that goal." Rubin: "Giles' departure seems sudden and strangely timed" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 1/7).
