Major League Baseball is putting additional resources behind its national promotion of season-ticket renewals for individual clubs during this postseason.
An outgrowth of the Commissioner’s Ticket Review Committee formed nearly four years ago, MLB this month is actively marketing a season-ticket renewal portal at mlb.com/seasontickets through home-plate signage in playoff club ballparks and during postseason game broadcasts on Fox, Fox Sports 1, TBS, ESPN and MLB Network.
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Postseason home-plate signage boosts season-ticket sales efforts.
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A national 60-second ad thanking fans for their attendance and promoting the season-ticket landing page will additionally debut online and on Fox during the World Series. The ad, produced with the aid of New Wave Entertainment, will expand upon a shorter but similarly themed spot that ran during the World Series last year. This season’s version of the ad, however, features all 30 clubs in some way for the first time. Individual teams also will be distributing a cut-down version of the spot through their own local channels.
“This obviously celebrates the ballpark experience, thanks our fans, and reminds them to think about next year,” said Jacqueline Parkes, MLB chief marketing officer. “But we felt strongly that we could amplify our efforts and really expand on what we’ve done with this before.”
Prior to the Commissioner’s Ticket Review Committee, season-ticket renewals entirely had been a local, club-driven matter. Playoff teams had, and still do have, the ability to use October seat availability as a driver for season-ticket purchases for the following season. But the current effort provides additional, league-level marketing help for all 30 clubs for 2015 season-ticket sales.
The increased effort is designed to encourage both new and renewal purchases of season tickets. Several clubs have already started their own active renewal efforts, but the national promotion arrives at the peak sales efforts that typically occur between now and February.
The Commissioner’s Ticket Review Committee, involving executives from the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners and led by Parkes, has spent the last several years studying several major macro-level ticketing trends, including dynamic pricing and mobile delivery. The expanding season-ticket push represents an interest in boosting subscription-based sales.
Traditionally, MLB has generated an aggregate season-ticket renewal rate of around 80 to 85 percent. But after a half-decade of essentially flat attendance, outgoing MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is still eyeing a growth spurt toward a long-stated goal of at least 80 million in yearly ticket sales, and incoming Commissioner Rob Manfred is likely to maintain that ambition.
“The mission remains the same as it’s always been. We’re trying to build fans for life,” Parkes said. “We’re doing what we can to communicate the benefits of attending games, particularly as we go into this big renewal period.”
Four clubs — Boston, the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco — are essentially sold out on season tickets, and instead are marketing access to a waiting list through the league’s season-ticket portal. As is increasingly becoming custom, numerous clubs are marketing experiential benefits for season tickets, such as meet-and-greets with team personnel and exclusive giveaways, in addition to price savings and consistent seat location. The Cincinnati Reds, as next year’s All-Star Game host club, are offering access to tickets to that event with season-ticket purchases.
MLB ended the 2014 regular season down 0.4 percent in attendance, but the total of 73.74 million represented the seventh-largest figure in league history. League attendance remains a vital indicator in the health of the sport, and industry at large.
Several other major sports leagues have engaged in similar efforts to use their postseasons to push ticket sales. The NBA, for example, during its playoffs advertises its NBATickets.com portal with courtside and LED signage.
