Stadium Growth Movement

Poor Rays. As mentioned before, they’ve had a hard time selling tickets to their home games even though they’ve been playing some of the best baseball in the league. To make it seem worse, they are now playing Boston where the mega-team Red Sox have sold out Fenway Park for the 465th consecutive game. No doubt the Rays general management and the team itself is beginning to wonder what they could do differently in order to fill their pews… er, I mean, seats.

I’ve given this a lot of thought lately, and I believe I have some helpful counsel. So, if any of you have any connection with the Rays organization, please pass on my suggestions. I’d be happy to be taken on as a consultant if they’d like.

Here are seven of my more original suggestions:

1. Create a snappy purpose statement and continually instruct regular fans on its finer points so that they buy into the vision and are therefore more excited about the direction of the team.
2. Provide a first class nursery and ‘children’s game’ for the younger ones so that parents can be fans without having to be distracted by their kids
3. Begin a training program for regular fans showing them how to share the game of baseball with non-fans, and encouraging them to bring their non-fan friends to a game.
4. Identify new fans and within three days of their first visit, send a follow-up team to their door to thank them for their visit, to invite them back, and if the opportunity arrises, to share the game of baseball with them.
5. Have two ‘services’. For the first 4 innings, play the game with lots of music, and lights and noise and raucous behavior. Then, for the remaining innings, tone things down, creating a more reverent, day-in-the-park type atmosphere.
6. Reserve the best parking places for first time attendees. Clearly mark the spaces closest to the gates as ‘For First Time Visitors Only’ and encourage your regular attenders to park further from the gate to make the first visit as enjoyable as possible for the new people.
7. Upgrade the coffee to Starbucks®.

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